jende

Can you tell me what you mean? I still love the look, and am still planning the kitchen. thanks for bumping up the thread again. Perfect timing, I'm back in kitchen planning mode. ← Well, we couldn't let anything sit on them for more than a couple minutes (including water) for the first month because they were still curing. Now they seem pretty sturdy, but certain soaps will leave dark spots that eventually go away but I'm always worried that one time one won't. I think that the fats, acids, etc. used in kitchens might be too much for the concrete to take. I know it would stress ME out. They are beautiful, though.

help. You're not planning on doing all this yourself, are you?!

I have concrete countertops in my bathroom and I love them, but I don't think I would ever use them in the kitchen. They require a little too much babying.

Wow, those look great! Where did you buy the lacquer boxes? And are those just muffin cups that are holding the cookies?

Omigod I'm drooling at your photos and descriptions. Looks like I'll be making nachos tonight. I never thought of using bacon and goat cheese but that sounds so delicious. Normally I use really good, thick tortilla chips, chicken (if I have it around), black beans, whatever chiles I can scrape up, a modest amount of cheese (I agree that too much is just too much) and guacamole. Then I dip the individual chips in spicy tomato salsa.

My totally non-professional two cents is this: just make sure the chocolate tastes good! I've been to too many weddings lately that feature a chocolate fountain with crappy, low quality chocolate. It's such a nasty tease.

That sounds fun, but I think it would be difficult to execute in this setting because I won't have much of a budget for equipment.

I'm helping a friend by cooking for his office holiday party (for about 50 people) and I'm trying to come up with something fun. I think I'm going to do about four "stations," and I thought it would be interesting if one was interactive. Remember the mashed potato bars of years past? I'm thinking of something along those lines.

Anyone been to Rose Pistola lately? I'm thinking of putting it on my list for an upcoming trip.

I've encountered this ammonia flavor before. Definitely bad! I hate wasting an expensive piece of cheese. I'm going to make gorgonzola cheese bread today to use it up (avoiding the pinkish area). Thanks everyone.

I've always wondered about this: blue cheese has to evenutally go bad like all other cheeses, so how do you know when it's too blue? I unwrapped some dolce gorganzola last night that looked a little funky. There were some areas that were slightly reddish and some of the veining looked very green (like mold). Any insights?

The vast majority of wines are meant to be drunk in the short-term; there are very few that are age-worthy especially if your goal is to sell them for a profit. Aging primarily benefits wines that have high tannins and good structure from the start. A flimsy wine isn't going to get better because you age it. Wines that are distributed by wine clubs in particular tend to be ones that are meant to be drunk immediately as a wine club's goal is to allow you to experiment with a variety of wines. So by all means save some bottles for a special occasion if you wish, but don't hold back in enjoying these gifts now.

When "taking one for the team" means getting to eat two pies in one night, I'm always happy to oblige! I used a dark Callebaut chocolate, so I don't think quality was an issue. What I meant was that a lot of times shaved chocolate is so fine that it just seems to disappear into whatever it's folded into. I'm a huge chocoholic so I'm usually disappointed if I can see chocolate in a dish but don't get that big burst of chocolately flavor. I thought about folding chunks rather than shavings into the mousse, but I think the texture would've ruined the lightness of the mousse. Ina Garten's pumpkin banana mousse recipe, by the way, was a good one. Lots of steps, but simple to make and good flavor.

I've been happy with the Kitchen Aid I bought in 1998. It's the larger, more expensive tilt-back model. I'm just a home baker so it doesn't get heavy use, but I have used it for big batches of bread and other heavy doughs without a problem.

I finished both pies last night. With the traditional one I just melted some chocolate and then poured it onto the hot pie crust and spread it around with a short offset knife. I filled and baked the pie as usual and it turned out great. The chocolate layer didn't burn, get hard or mix into the pumpkin filling -- all the things I feared. The combination was delicious. With the pumpkin mousse tart in a graham cracker crust, I was inspired at the last minute to fold chocolate shavings into the mousse so I didn't paint the crust with chocolate. The flavors were good together, although the fine chocolate shavings didn't impart as much "chocolatelyness" as I would have liked. I think this is the one that would've really benefited from a nice layer of chocolate on the crust.

Good point. I made the two crusts today, and will make the fillings and finish them tomorrow. But I think you're right, I'm going to have a heck of a time "painting" the graham cracker crust. Suggestions?!

This is a great idea. I've been wanting to try Ina Garten's pumpkin mousse tart, so maybe I'll use that as the filling. Based on others' suggestions, I think I'll also "paint" a graham cracker crust with chocolate then bake with a traditional pumpkin filling. I'll report back after I've made the two.

I'm dreaming of a pumpkin pie that incorporates a thin layer of chocolate to the crust, a Black Bottom Pumpkin Pie I suppose. Traditional black bottom pie recipes call for a custard filling that is not baked after assembly, so I'm worried about what will happen to the chocolate if it's baked along with the pumpkin filling. To further complicate matters (maybe), I'd like to use a graham cracker crust. Any suggstions for how to pull this off?

Yep, 7 Layer Bars where I come from too, although this might be a more fitting name. Delicious none-the-less.

I've never heard of a millionaire bar. I'm intrigued.

Well, you either eat lots of it and run and exercise a lot, or you eat a little of it, and make it when you have an occasion to share. My last big one was a big thing with fresh plums in a cheesecake type filling, it was great, I got one piece and had guests taking home pieces. But I did enjoye the piece I had! Tonight I made a "muhallebi" - a milk pudding that some friends make in their restaurant, and just gave me the recipe for - very simple thing, milk, vanilla, sugar, flour, butter, and then topped with an unusual chocolate sauce - butter or margarine, sugar, cocoa and two eggs. I was so hot to try it myself that I rushed home, halved the recipe and made it. It made five bowls. I ate one. I'll hope for drop ins tomorrow I guess, cause I don't want to think how I'll feel if I eat much more of it! ← I've never been very good at that portion control thing. I'm that person who will bake a batch of brownies for a special occasion, eat the whole plan myself and then have to bake another batch. A healthy metabolism has saved me so far, but we'll see what happens when I hit 40!

(Eat a pound cake every day for a week, see how much you weigh by Saturday...or become very popular at the office and see how much your coworkers weigh by Saturday.) This is the other thing I always wonder: how are these people getting away with eating all of this stuff?! Good genes?! Whatever it is, I'm jealous. I will say that the hardest/most time consuming part of cooking and baking is cleaning up. I have mastered the art of mis en place and clean as you go, but I still find myself exhausted after a big cooking session.

I troll through this topic and drool almost daily. I assume that you're all working stiffs like me, so I'm always wondering: how do you find the time to bake these amazing creations?!

Thanks for all the good feedback. I've considered buying a wine fridge, but I'd have to give up a kitchen cabinet and it still wouldn't hold all of the wine I have. (they sure look cool, though!). Another question popped up as I was reading the reponses: is there any problem with keeping the bottles upside down rather than on their side? That makes it easier for storing in cases.

I have a few cases of wine hanging around, about a quarter of which I would consider special occasion bottles. I know it's all relative, so let's just call these bottles that I may not drink for a year or so and that cost me enough that I'd be really pissed if they went bad. I have always kept my wine in a pantry in my basement: cool temperature, no sunlight, etc. Now I'm moving into a condo that doesn't have a basement, so I'm wondering what to do with my wine. I don't mind keeping my everyday stuff in a closet, but I'm worried that room temperature is too warm for my "good wine." Plus, I'm concerned about temperature fluctuation since we tend to keep the place cool at night but warmer during the day. Any insights would be appreciated.