annachan

Here are a few favorites of mine: Jardiniere Boulevard La Toque (Rutherford, Napa Valley) And I few places I wouldn't mind trying: Michael Mina Fleur de Lys Gary Danko French Laundry

That's how I have them a lot of times. Other than that, you can often find them in Chinese dessert soups.

Few ideas: Roasted potato wedges: cut potatoes into wedges, coat w/ a little oil, sprinkled w/ salt and pepper (garlic powder optional) and roast in 400 oven until golden. Serve w/ several dipping sauces, like, ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, dressed-up mayo. This can be served room temp. Dips and things: Provide several dips and a variety of food as dippers. People have already suggested spinach, 7-layer, hummus. A few other ideas are cheese, artichoke, olive (tapenade), and seafood. For dippers - chips, pretzels, vegetables (carrots, celery, peppers, etc.), sliced baguette, pita bread, crackers, etc. Sweet fondue: since you have a crock pot, maybe use it for a caramel fondue. Also get a variety of dippers such as fruits, assorted cookies and sliced pound cake. Meatballs/mini sausages in bbq sauce: this can be kept in a crockpot as well. Wraps: Get some lavash bread (or tortilla if you can't find lavash), spread some mayo and mustard on it, put some sliced tomato, lettuce, coldcuts and anything else you like. Roll it up and cut into pinwheels.

This is from an appetizer book I bought recently: Rough guide of bitesize snacks per person: As an appetizer w/ drinks before a meal: 5 As an early evening cocktail party (assume guests will go to dinner elsewhere): 10-12 Evening refreshment following a late lunch part, wedding breakfast or reception: 12-14 Light lunch or supper refreshments: 14-16

I agree with others that it's difficult to get wine by the glass. I would really recommend some higher end hotels (Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental, Excelsior, etc.) for that. And of course, the Jockey Club and the Yacht Club would definitely be good options. I think the Craigengower Cricket Club may serve wine by the glass at their Chinese restaurant as well.

North Beach: I like Panta Rei for Italian. Great fresh pasta and calzone at a very reasonable price, especailly compared to some of its neighbors.

That's a good idea. Do you have a favourite recipe? ← Don't have one for breadstick....but here's one for parmesan crisps (from Food Network). Parmesan Crisps: 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Pour a heaping tablespoon of Parmesan onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet and lightly pat down. A silicone baking sheet is highly recommended. Repeat with the remaining cheese, spacing the spoonfuls about a 1/2-inch apart. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool. Yield: 8 to 10 crisps

No fridge, that's really a challenge.....Here's what I can think of for now: Some sort of cake....pound cake, angel food cake, sponge cake....either plain or icing made with powder sugar and a little liquid (lemon juice, orange liquor, etc.) Cheesy breadsticks or parmesan cheese crisps

I am sitting at the Write Inn Hotel, in Oak Park Village, in Chicago!!! This computer has been tied up with attendees from the Edgar Rice Burroughs convention, of which hubby and I are members. Finally, it was vacant so I can get my eGullet forum fix! Haven't had any free time for Chinese food yet but we may be heading down to Chinatown tonight. Sun Wah, "the little" Three Happiness, or the Phoenix are recommended by the heartlands group, so we will head for one of those. BOT now! As for the ha gow flour, if you haven't already used the flour, why don't you try half and half? Use half the bag as is, then the other half with 1 tbsp. of potato starch? That way, you can tell the difference. Myself, I've always followed my "little old aunties" teachings. They said that the starch will improve the texture and make the dough easier to handle. ← Great idea! I think I'm able to make many batches with one bag of flour. I remember reading the instruction and it said to use 2 tbsp for one recipe.

Please do! I just went on the website and I'm very interested in their programs. I'm even considering the 6 months pastry program.

Are you referring to the white mushrooms that have tiny little caps and a long stems? Or the other ones they use in stir-fry that have stubby stems and soft, droopy black caps?

I make Tiramisu at home and don't use eggs! Here's the recipe I use: Combine: 12 oz cream cheese 4 oz light sour cream 1 cup powder sugar 5 Tbsp marsala In a separate bowl, mixed together: 1/2 cup very strong coffee (I use instant espresso) 2 Tbsp marsala granulated sugar (I can't remember how much exactly, a few tablespoons to make the coffee sweet - I usually just taste the mixture since some marsala wines are sweeter than others) When coffee mixture is cooled, assemble tiramisu by: Lady fingers (you need to get the crunchy type, coated with sugar on one side - don't use fresh ones as they will get too soggy): dipped them into the coffee mixture, sugar side down, an put them on the bottom of a glass dish (a rectangular dish or loaf pan would work). When you've got a single layer of lady fingers, top with a layer of cream cheese mixture. Keep layering until you've used all the cream cheese mixture, with the top layer being a cream cheese layer. Cover and refridgrate for at least 8 hours. Before serving, dust the top with coco powder or decorate with shaved chocolate. Enjoy!

Don't forget the other book, The New Professional Chef. I also like: Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home Death by Chocolate Dessert Circus

I just got some har gow flour. Should I try it "as is" first, or go ahead and add the starch?

Thanks for the tips. I'll be using a friend's oven, so I guess I should bring my thermometer over there.

Don't quote me on this, but I think it's use as a tenderizer.

Speaking of warming temp....I am hosting a babyshower in a few weeks. What temp is good for keeping appetizers warm? I'm not really concern about the skewer meats, more the stuffed puff pastries (not sure what stuffing yet). More along the line of the lowest setting (150F or so) or 200-250F?

To the above, I would add herbs, dried or frozen. I really like the chopped, frozen parsley and basil I get from Trader Joe's. I also have couscous in my pantry at all times. With some chicken broth (another must in my kitchen), it makes a quick and easy side dish in minutes.

I look at it from the other perspective, why is normal chicken so cheap? When you get into the details of that, the organic looks much more fairly priced. Actually, $8.50 for a whole bird sounds downright cheap to me. We can easily pay £10-12 here! ← I guess I'm still new in getting organic chicken, that's why the price is high for me. Consider that most chicken cost about $0.69 a lb here, Smart Chicken is consider expensive. Though the Smart Chicken was good, I'm not sure if it's worth the price. I'm probably going to try out some other organic brands and see how they compare.

I've been meaning to ask you, where did you get custard powder from? I went to the website you directed me to and didn't see custard powder as an ingredient. The dry ingredient were flour, starch (I used corn starch) and baking powder. Well, I showed the recipe to my mom and that how she interrupted the recipe....

I'm hosting, sort of. It will be at the expected parents' place (they have a larger home to acommodate the crowd), but I'm giving the shower.

Recently, flavored eggettes have gotten popluar. When I was in Hong Kong last year, I saw chocolate, strawberry, coconut and something else. I've also seen honeydew ones over here. I haven't seen it yet, but I would imagine a coffee flavor one to taste good or even green tea.

Where do you find the iron? ← I have an iron....my mom brought it back for me from Hong Kong....

Do you have a good recipe for the satay? The one I usually use won't work for the shower, has yogurt in it.

I went to pick up a Smart Chicken last night at Andronico's (the only listing on smart chicken's website as a seller in San Francisco) and my husband was complaining about the cost. It's $2.99/lb for whole bird. I picked the smallest one out and it's about $8.50. I'm roasting it tonight and hope that's worth the price.