gfron1

I'm not sure what Aiden will do but for me these are great suggestions. And thanks Brad for the specifics - I'll see what the cowboy and cowgirl are willing to do.

Try drying longer (depends greatly on your humidity). The point of the drying is to form a skin which then lifts (or traps in the steam and causes lift). Don't listen to my unscientific explanation however - there are many more knowledgeable voices in the first topic. But take it longer and see what happens. Also, start playing with the type of meringue. I use Syrup & Tang's Italian meringue recipe and have good skins and feet.

Going back to Thai - a basic pantry isn't even needed. For example (from my memory), here's what I bought for the class: $3.75: 3 cans of coconut milk @ $1.25 each $1.25: 1 can of Maesri curry $1.00: Bunch of lemon grass $1.00: Knob of overpriced galangal $1.00: Bunch of cilantro $4.00: Protein (tofu or chicken) $3.50: Rice $2.50: Dried thai peppers (not necessary, I could have used New Mexican chiles) $2.75: Fish sauce Stock & shrooms - were in my pantry already $1.95: Noodles for Pad Thai $1.95: Salad roll wrappers Various veggies - all were leftovers These are estimates from memory and I'm sure I'm missing an item or two but this definitely covered the Tom ka gai, Pad Thai and sticky rice dessert. So while I'm not really disagreeing, I think Thai (moreso than Indian) can be done without much of an existing pantry, and can be very fresh, very tasty and very fast. But it takes education and exposure. HERE'S my blog entry on the class.

Come on! St. Louis is not all that bad. I always have good meals when I'm there. Here are some newer places that I haven't been to yet that I'm going to check out: Aya Sofia Turkish Zen Sushi Mango Peruvian From Sauce Magazine Best of 2007: Overall restaurant 1. Eleven Eleven Mississippi 2. Sidney Street Café - this looks interesting to me 3. Harvest Seasonal Market Cuisine 4. Niche 5. Chain: The Cheesecake Factory New restaurant (these all look boring to me) 1. Franco hearty French 2. Roxane 3. Wapango 4. Rooster Crêpe Sandwich Café

Has anyone been to Akasha in Culver City? 9543 CULVER BOULEVARD Just curious - I recently heard about it.

Definitely read through some of the troubleshooting in the first macaron topic - the index will take you right to some answers. The variations in your batches seem to have more to do with whatever you might be adding. You didn't mention, but did you let them sit out and dry a bit? Regardless of the recipe I let them sit about 2 hours. That seems to really help my feet and crack. That said - yours are beautifully shaped.

Thanks for this question since just yesterday I was asked to cater a "Cowboy Chic" wedding.

I sure hope the economy leads folks to cook instead of buy cheap fast food. On another note, a month ago I taught a Basic Thai Cooking Class at my store. Eight participants, Seven courses, $25 in food. If you want to talk money, then diversify your cooking skills and learn "peasant" cooking from around the world.

I'll do that on my next batch and see how my regulars respond. I've just never done it - what a strange exotic idea

The only juice I need is for margheritas so I use what Matt uses (and I use it often).

I don't want this to go unanswered, but I'm certainly not making enough macarons to speak intelligently on the fillings. I have used caramel, buttercream, jams, ganache. My least favorite was an infused white chocolate ganache - just too damn sweet. I did do that celery curd with blueberries and that was yummy.

I'm visiting family in St.L next week so is there anything new or evolved that's worth the visit? No limits on cuisine or price (I like it all), and is anyone doing anything fun with desserts? (Ted Drews is not what I consider fun, but of course I'll wait in line at least one night.)

Ha - you must have lived in a city in New Mexico. I'm in a town 3 hours from anywhere, and my store is the only option for international foods. I was using buckwheat soba that someone upthread told me was the wrong type for what I was doing. It was also made clear I way over cooked them. I say no more, but maybe once more now that I know what I know

That make sense. I did keep them at the same temp throughout. I'll give it a try on my next batch.

Those look great yellowwmn! Glad you took the plunge. I want to split hairs here. I made these yesterday: Pretty enough and tasted just like they should, and baked enough (although I would go another couple of minutes next time. BUT, when I see what I consider perfect croissants, they are uniform in color - they don't have the light stripes at each layer transition. My coloring is from egg wash. Does this really matter, or is there a way for me to not have my light spots, or should I not be doing an egg wash and let them naturally brown?

Mine are the real things Okay, maybe they're not from France, and maybe they don't have French ingredients...what's your point!? Okay, so I used to sell authentic ones at my store so I'll make a comparison. Mine were softer (which was due to freshness). My almond meal is never as fine as I would like so I guess these were Calisson Rustic. And the recipe called for orange blossom water which has that slightly off taste - maybe a different water or make my own would have been better. So to answer your question, they were good and in some ways better than the ones we sold (fresher), but not quite as delicately flavored.

Hey - great to have you posting your pics! The dog is very cute, and I love the flat-panel TV...we're so modern

A Pig in Provence I'm only in the second chapter but so far this is a fun read. Its about an American family that moved to Provence in the 70s to try and start a goat cheese business. The more I read the more I wish I was old enough and wise enough to buy a Provencal farmhouse back in the 70s when they were cheap and untrendy

I did finally try it and I liked the recipe even more. I didn't really use a recipe, rather just poured my boiling sugar into the yolks and then the whites and whipped. The tiramisu were obviously sweeter than normal which is good to my mouth, but none of my customers complained either. I expected a texture improvement which I didn't experience, but I'm going to play some more and see if I can't get that as well. So it was a win-win and now the spouse won't pester me about this any more

I would work to get fresh berries throughout the batter and also some fun swirls.

There go the tricks of the trade (You were supposed to say I drew them carefully with a toothpick). Here are a few things I made for an NPR/PBS event yesterday: Blueberry Brioche Croissants & Pain au Chocolate Maple, Pear, Pistachio Scones (they were supposed to be walnut but I made them at 5 am, so I grabbed the wrong nut) And a little treat courtesy of Fanny the Fairy's blog - Calissons

Kim - how did you do the waves? Did you set something textured on the top or are you really that good with your hand control?

I had never heard that before but its true in my case. We don't do truffles, but the high end bars (Patric, Askinosie, Cluizel) are selling very well right now which is odd because I normally don't sell much chocolate in the summer heat.

I made raw egg tiramisu last week at my store and (besides the dozen people who bought it knowing it had raw egg) my spouse and staff flipped out. So that got me thinking of a solution that I haven't seen anywhere but surely its not a new solution. Why not boil simple syrup and incorporate into the yolks and also the whites (Italian meringue). It could be done in proportions that don't make things overly sweet, but would certainly address the safety issues. It also has promise for flavor play. The meringue would also really offer a knock-out texture. Has anyone done this before?

In the US I have had Meyenberg many times and don't really care for it. A bit too much -maybe the same thing are describing. My primary use is toast and I definitely prefer the cow.