apronstrings

There is also a Whole Foods in Boca, which has just been enlarged. I could spend the day there.

Padrino's, a Cuban restaurant (Boca); Bellaggio, Italian (City Place in West Palm); Mykonos, located on the water (Boca); Sundy House, my personal favorite, in a lush tropical setting (in Del Ray - a town north of Boca); The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant (Boca).These are but a few. All are lovely.

For "mazarines", you can use small tart pans. This recipe uses a short dough as well, an almond paste filling, and sugar topping. I am told you can also use those little round disposable foil baking tins.

We were at the Sundy house last week. It's as lovely as ever, and the food was fresh, flavorful, and plentiful! We sat outside in the gazebo with the tropical foliage surrounding us.

Yeah, I've seen them too but wasn't sure that's what the recipe was referring to. I'm not a great fan of Godiva...

OK then. I have some really nice hot chocolate powder I bought in Stresa. Guess I could use that. Cool, add ice, and blend.

I have been asked to make Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate for a party. The recipe calls for "3 Godiva Flowers", both black and white. What are these, and about how much does each one weigh? I want to be as close to the original recipe as possible. Thanks!

I have used the amaretti to made an indescribable and decadent cheesecake from a Maida Heatter cookbook. I also crumbled them to make a Michael Chiarello "no bake" cookie ( butter, cocoa powder, some confectioners sugar, the cookies, amaretto), Piedmonte style.

Thanks Alanamoana! I was thinkng along the lines of the Plush Puffs crunchy toppings.

I want to top a batch of marshmallows with caramelized cocoa nibs. My question(s)- At what point should I put the nibs on top of the marshmallows? If I plop the slab on top of a layer of nibs, won't there be cornstarch/sugar all over them? If I wait until they are cut, what's to keep the nibs from falling off the marshmallows?? Thanks for your advice!

I found a great recipe last year for an apple cranberry torte. It has an oatmeal crust that envelopes the sides of the cake. It uses a can of whole berry cranberry sauce, so if you're a purist you probably won't like that. It came from a lovely book entitled, Kosher By Design. Or Kosher By Design Entertains. Well, it's either one or the other. Very easy, and therapeutic to make with all the chopping and pressing. It was a hit on Thanksgiving. Sorry about your mom. Hang in there.

Rosa Mexicana has a really good raspberry salsa recipe, but it's a dessert salsa. It includes a pint of raspberries, guajillo chiles, chocolate chips, pecans and dried fruits.

And this is the Rice Pudding Cheesecake (from Rosa Mexicana) for the second dessert. I've been dying to make this ever since I found the recipe. Very unusual!

Here is the Bittersweet Mexican Torte I made for our book club yesterday.

You're welcome. The pics don't do the cookie justice-- it's much uglier than that. Enjoy!

This sounds to me like an Italian cookie known as BRUTTI ma buoni (ugly but good). There are many, many good recipes for this. I have had great success with the one from The Silver Spoon cookbook, which is now available in English. Martha Stewart's recipe comes out very nice as well. Let me know if this is the cookie you mean. Good luck.

Went to the TJs in NYC yesterday. The manager said they sent all theirs back because the weight was off. Damn. I'll just have to wait a little while longer.

I made those a few times last year. People indeed went crazy for them! In New York we call them Bollitas. I thought they were a Hispanic recipe!!!

I made that Bavarian many times right after the book came out. People loved it. But what I remember most about that recipe is her advice to mix it with your hands. Oh man, it was sooooooo cold!

Divina, Mille Grazie!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just made a reservation for the all chocolate dinner. A group of us have rented a sixtenth century farmhouse in Cortona and will be attending the chocolate festival. Can't wait. P.S. They said their English website will be up soon.

It's very true. I just saw it on ACCESS HOLLYWOOD.

Will do. Thanks for the advice. I was afraid to put the ganache in the fridge, but if you say it'll be ok...

Thanks so much! I guess 'll wait 'til the fall to do this one again. The nice shine that was on my chocolate coating layer last night became very dull when I checked on my Madras candy this morning. Still not firm enough to slice nicely. Will be eating a lot of my fiasco this evening. Chocolate flops are never a total loss, I guess. Couldn't do much with my hair yesterday, either. That should have been a dead giveaway.

I had a problem with the Madras recipe today. Though the taste was wonderful ( a curry/ creamof coconut/ butter/ white chocolate mix), I just couldn't get the white chocolate butter ganache to set up. I know that a white chocolate/cream ganache may take quite a while to be ready, but Greweling says this particular one should crystallize in 20 minutes. After 3 hours, there was a very slight change, but definitely not enough to coat with a layer of tempered chocolate. Slice it? Fuggetaboutit! What should I have done?? I did not want to put it in the fridge. Does air conditioning make any difference here in New York on an August day?

http://www.bellaumbria.net/Perugia/eurochocolate_eng.htm Try this website. Hope you find it helpful. We too will be attending the festival for the first time.