Lisa Shock

I like to use it in tempura batter, haven't tried it with anything else.

I've got Madhur Jaffrey's 'Indian Spice Kitchen' http://www.amazon.com/Madhur-Jaffreys-Indian-Spice-Kitchen/dp/185793640X It's a very small book, but covers 22 spices in depth, giving the Indian perspective on their use. I like it, I wish she'd do a more comprehensive volume.

Honey may affect people with compromised immune systems. That said, corn syrup, molasses, reduced maple syrup, may work. You might also try heating up some jelly/jam on the stove, rolling the dates in it, then cooling on wax paper.

I got some of the Duralex at Tuesday Morning a couple months ago.

Duralex makes some good ones, in two sizes: http://www.amazon.com/Duralex-8-Ounce-Glass-Ramekin-Set/dp/B002IVTYEC/

I use these: http://www.amazon.com/Sally-Narrow-Tip-Applicator-Bottle/dp/B004OKE2SS/ Pastry applications tend to require more precise tools. BTW, I was expecting one of the original products shown to be labelled 'Donkey Sauce.'

I have a recipe (from Scheherazade Cooks!) that calls for tomatoes, cut into quarters or eighths and gutted, to be used as scoops to eat the tabbouleh. Romaine vs tomato may be a regional thing.

I like to shop on Tuesday or Wednesday, because that's when a lot of the fresh food is delivered to the store. Sure, some stores have huge produce walk-ins on site and re-stock as needed, but, my local produce place is noticeably bare on Sunday evening through Monday. Bread is also usually on its last day on Sun-Mon, the store seems to get restocked Mon-Tues, although since I bake most of my own, I rarely buy commercial bread. I tend to buy large quantities of staples (20lb sacks of rice, 10lb bags of beans, jugs of soy sauce, etc at the asian market and 50lb sacks of flour, 10lb boxes of pasta, etc at Restaurant Depot or Costco) a couple times a year because the asian market and Restaurant Depot are kind of a big trip for me. I save some good money buying in bulk. I am lucky to live within walking distance of a produce market and a supermarket and a Trader Joe's. So, I do fill-in shopping a couple times a week for perishables. Since these stores are really close by, I don't mind dropping in on my way home from work just to see what's new. The produce market sometimes gets in some slightly damaged produce which they sell super-cheap. The only problem is that it sells quickly, so if you don't visit often you might miss getting a dozen slightly frostbitten artichokes for a dollar. Sometimes, I have no idea what's for dinner besides knowing that I've got plenty of three kinds of rice, some pasta and potatoes. I just go to the produce market and see what's good and plan my meal around it.

I suspect that the local critics will have lower expectations than the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html?_r=0

Glad you liked it! -Mexican Sprite is made with sugar, not HFCS. Regular Sprite works just fine, that's what Sonic serves in the US anyway.

I think it was probably made with a charred fruit or vegetable. The Ideas in Food people have been working a lot with charred things in the past few months. IIRC they did a lot with charred lemon ash.

A lot of mousses use gelatin.

I have always preferred Y-peelers. Been using a ceramic one for a while and really love it. I managed to get one with a very wide blade, for making potato chips. http://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-CWP-NBK-Mega-Peeler-Black/dp/B000FUJ5CO/ Ceramic is super-sharp and stays that way. Steel ones need to be honed occasionally.

Freezing is your best bet for storage. As for what to do with it, I like to recreate Sonic's cherry-limeade with it. Get a Sprite, Mexican if possible, take a tall glass and add a 1/4 lime (squeezed into cup before tossing in the wedge) and 2 tsp of maraschino juice and, if you have them, a couple of maraschino cherries. Add ice and pour in the Sprite. The actual cherries are optional, the drink will be delicious without them.

Here's a video of a woman frosting a cake with ganache you can see that it can be very thick, but also can be smoothed.

It it just on top, or is it also on the sides?

Put a ring of acetate on the outside, or build up the frosting on the sides, pour the white ganache then swirl in melted dark chocolate and allow to set up.

Botulism isn't as likely in artichokes. That said, to kill the spores, you need to get the temperature above 250° for at least 10 minutes, 30 is usual in commercial canning, just in case. So, if you can run something other than water in your circulator, yes.

I am leaning more towards a white chocolate ganache (with a swirl of dark) now, especially since the color isn't dead-white. Can you ask the bakery what they call the icing?

I break them down raw and use the bases like a root vegetable. I slice and then saute them, or add them to baked dishes like lasagne. You can slice them then microwave for a couple of minutes to par-cook and intensify flavor. I suspect, although have not tried it, that they could be frozen at this point and yield good results.

Might be poured fondant, like what is used on petit fours. If it is, it appears to be the white kind poured on, then some of the chocolate kind swirled into it. You can kind of tell that the swirling is unevenly done. I do not think the swirl is caramel (note the upper left where it's really thick), I think it's chocolate fondant thinning out in a lot of white fondant. edited for completeness

Hassouni, I pop out the plastic insert in the bitters bottles and just use an eyedropper in them to pull out as much as needed. Yes, I have to wash the dropper, but it's more accurate and there's less overall waste. Hope this helps!

BTW, I'd like to point out that color has almost nothing to do with flavor in chocolate and cocoa. The darker = richer, or, darker = more flavor, concepts are something that marketing people for cheap chocolate candy companies have been telling consumers rather loudly over the past 5-6 years. I attended a workshop at a pastry conference where representatives from several chocolate companies were present and complaining about this -and demonstrating with blind tastings that color doesn't indicate much of anything at all. There are some really excellent cocoas and bitter chocolates which happen to be light in color, or red, etc.

The charts for converting weight based measurement of dry ingredients to volume measurements are inaccurate and give people a false sense of security about using, say, cups to measure flour. One of the first things I do in basic baking classes is have everyone measure out a cup of AP flour and a cup of sugar then weigh them each on a scale, then, do it again. Everyone gets two different numbers for each product and no one's numbers match anyone else's. These disinformation-graphics just reinforce Americans' false sense of superiority and security while using a highly flawed, sloppy system of so-called 'measurement.' Yes, they have deceptively slick appearances -that doesn't excuse shoddy workmanship. It just means that we'll wind up having to deal with the thousands of poorly educated people who unquestioningly buy into these things as being actually factual. One more step backwards for American cooking, blech. Get a scale; adopting 20th century technology isn't all THAT scary, really. -My English grandmother was using one in the aughts -over a hundred years ago.

Check with your local restaurant wholesale suppliers like Shamrock, Sysco, etc. Some of them will allow people to buy from them if the person picks up at their back door and pays cash. (no delivery)