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Hot out of the fryer, the latest news on the SF donut scene. From Marcia Gagliardi of Tablehopper. http://www.7x7.com/eat-drink/dunk-or-not-some-sfs-best-and-newest-doughnuts#/0

From my friend who lives and works in Livermore:

A word of caution about the Bay Area. It's a huge 9-county region, and people's attitudes and habits about food, how much they are willing to pay for it, and how unconventional the food may be to their tastes--all those factors differ from place to place. SF is different from Berkeley is different from Marin is different from San Jose is different from Napa is different from Livermore--if you catch my drift. I recommend that your daughter look closely at the demographics of Livermore and its immediate environs. That will give her the best picture of her potential market and whether a fancy donut shop with drive-thru will work. Meanwhile, I've contacted a friend who lives and works in Livermore. If she has any feedback for your question, I'll post it here.

Or wrap the grated ginger in a square of cheesecloth, and wring out the juice thru the cheesecloth.

I opened 2010 Alysian Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley Selection. An off-year vintage of a well-known wine from Gary Farrell. I bought it on sale for about $35. Decent fruit, black cherry with a hint of smoke. Well-balanced in tannins, acidity, and alcohol. Restrained in the style of European rather than Californian wines. Fine, sweet fruit aroma. Very drinkable, and promises to match well with food.

Saveur Mag did a donut special issue last year, if your daughter wants to check it out: http://www.saveur.com/article/hub/Donuts In the Bay Area, the donut shop most like the one your daughter wants to open is, of course, Dynamo Donuts in SF. http://dynamodonut.com/ The most imaginative ice cream shops in the Bay Area, IMHO, are Bi-Rite Creamery http://biritecreamery.com/ Ici http://www.ici-icecream.com/ Lush Gelato http://www.lushgelato.com/ Tara's Ice Cream http://www.tarasorganic.com/ The DeLise Dessert Cafe has some unusual flavor combinations in its pastries that might provide inspiration for a donut version http://www.delisesf.com/delise%20complete%20menu.pdf Only a partial list of Bay Area favorites, I'm sure. Perhaps their menus can give your daughter some ideas. Your topic is a big one. Are there specific questions that you would like answered? Or specific feedback for this idea? ETA: I also did a search on Tablehopper and pulled up some Bay Area buzz for the donut scene. I haven't been to any of these shops. Bespoke is new, I've heard of the other two. Bespoke Doughnuts, Donut Savant, Doughnut Dolly. http://www.tablehopper.com/search/?cx=007739753674880073048%3Affon6-jgxty&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=donuts+doughnuts&sa=&siteurl=tablehopper.com%2F&ref=www.bing.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dtablehopper%26src%3DIE-TopResult%26FORM%3DIE11TR%26conversationid%3D&ss=2752j699448j16

A friend once brought some "Tex-Mex" siu mai (shaomai) to a potluck party. It tasted surprisingly good. It was a ground beef filling mixed with a salsa (tomatoes, garlic, onion, cilantro, chiles, salt--anything else go into salsa?). He put some shredded mild cheddar into the filling also. I didn't care for the cheese part, at least in the steamed siu mai. I bet if this filling was fried in potstickers it would taste good, with or without cheese. I suggest draining the tomatoes well so the filling isn't too wet for frying. If using fresh tomatoes, cut them up, salt them, and let drain in a sieve set over a bowl for 10 mins or more.

I notice you don't have marjoram on your list. That's a mellower version of oregano, and handy to have around in fresh or dried form. (For the carnivores out there, it goes great with grilled lamb.) I'd recommend savory if you cook beans often. That's a classic pairing. For a citrus flavor, consider dried lemon/orange peel in your cupboard, or dried lemongrass. Sorrel is also a lemony green that can go raw into a salad, or cooked in a cream sauce. One EGulleter, on another forum, said he grew sorrel indoors in a pot by his kitchen window. Also think about fennel seed, fresh or dried ginger root, and mustard seeds or dry mustard to perk up food. For exotics, there are Spanish paprika (which I like way better than Hungarian paprika) and the different kinds of pepper (e.g., Aleppo pepper, green peppercorns). Wait...have I crossed into spices?? If you buy dried lavender, make sure it's a culinary lavender. Lavandula xintermedia "Provence" lavender is commonly sold as an herb and it's suitable for cooking. The other Lavandula xintermedia cultivars, such as "Grosso," have a strong camphor flavor and they're better for oils or potpourri. Lavandula stoechas cultivars (aka "rabbit ear" lavenders) are generally not suitable for cooking--they're bitter. The Lavandula angustifolia varieties are known for a sweet taste and recommended for cooking. I don't think Lavandula angustifolia is sold as widely as the more prolific Lavandula xintermedia "Provence" lavender, but you might be able to find it in a specialty herb store. One tip from a chef that I found handy--if you buy a fresh bunch of herbs, like oregano, and you don't use it all, lay it on a plate on your kitchen counter. Use it up as it dries. It's fine if it's only semi-dry, and when fully dry, it's fresher than the dry herbs you usually buy at the store.

Yes, people end up at the hospital to be treated--or at the medical examiner's to be autopsied. The CDC cannot be 100% certain that all cases have been reported, and they acknowledge that. There are always limitations to this kind of numbers-gathering. That's how it is. However, I'm willing to give the CDC a high level of credibility for its botulism statistics . There are only three sources of botulism antitoxin in the U.S., which ensures unusually good recordkeeping for known cases. As for unknown cases--that's speculation. From the CDC National Botulism Surveillance:

I've heard about Beauty's Bagels also, haven't tried them. Your best NYC bagels in SF may be the ones imported from NYC. This pop-up was importing bagels from NYC and selling them day-old. Not sure what they're doing now. https://www.facebook.com/events/1399476020310344/ Have you tried the 20th Century Cafe in SF? They are selling housemade bagels. http://www.tablehopper.com/biz/20th-century-cafe/ Another pop-up in the Mission said it was doing Brooklyn bagels. It's now in transition. http://www.schmendricks.com/bagelry/ I haven't tried these places, only know about them. If you visit any, pls post what you think of their bagels. Fortunately, I'm free of bagel cravings, so this exploration is all up to you, Shel.

Lisa, The recipe cites a 30-minute maximum time to steep, which you have said is safe. Why do you assume I would take longer? My adjustment is always to lessen the time. Also, cooking neutralizes botulism toxin, which is the real danger. We have been talking about the substitution of fresh garlic in cooked dishes, yes? From the CDC: "Despite its extreme potency, botulinum toxin is easily destroyed. Heating to an internal temperature of 85°C for at least 5 minutes will decontaminate affected food or drink." http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/botulism/clinicians/control.asp In terms of numbers, some years it's 37 people dead, others 22 dead and in others 11 or 5, so yes, it varies and the numbers are far less than they were before electric refrigeration was commonplace.Pls give us the sources for your numbers. The CDC National Botulism Surveillance has reports from 2001-2011 online. For this 10-year period, the CDC reports a low of 8 foodborne botulism cases (2003) to a high of 33 foodborne botulism cases (2001). For five years of this 10-year period, no deaths from foodborne botulism were reported. For the other five years, the number of foodborne botulism deaths ranged from 1 to 3. Where the cause of the deaths was given (this was done for most of the years), none of the deaths resulted from garlic oil botulism. CDC National Botulism Surveillance: http://www.cdc.gov/nationalsurveillance/botulism_surveillance.html

The Garlic Oil recipe is a subrecipe of another recipe. It says nothing of long-term storage, and I doubt if any long-term storage is intended. If anything, people are told to refrigerate the oil prior to its use in the main recipe, for maximum safety. I posted the recipe to give the OP some guidelines of proportions (garlic to oil) and method. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I prefer to make garlic oil fresh every time I use it. It's so simple to do. Certainly that's safer, but mostly it tastes better. Thanks for expressing your concerns.

Not sure I understand your post. The recipe calls for minced garlic, not sliced. If you used a microplane, you're grating the garlic, and that method is supposed to maximize the acrid compounds in garlic. See post numbered "14" here: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/274/is-there-any-difference-between-chopped-and-crushed-garlic-in-cooking This blogger and others go into detail about the science of it all--I do like this post: http://www.skilletdoux.com/2006/07/deconstructing_.html I was taught to chop or mince garlic with a sharp chef's knife to minimize the release of these bitter compounds. Depending the recipe, try subbing garlic oil for the chopped fresh garlic. The flavor is garlicky without being overwhelming. (At least for me--I know people taste differently.) I don't recommend any store-bought garlic oil. I prep mine fresh before making a dish. Annie Somerville's Greens recipe for garlic oil here: http://ediblemontereybay.com/recipes/spring/fava-bean-puree-with-garlic-toasts-and-shaved-pecorino/ I started with this recipe and over the years I've gotten way more casual about quantities and steeping times. It works.

This recipe is not quite like anything I've seen before, where vegetables are cooked in a flavored dough that is discarded. It does seem like a lot of work for a bunch of carrots. I'm familiar with chicken baked in bread dough and chicken baked in clay. With bread dough, you eat the cooked bread, which is soaked with juices and is yummy. In clay-baked chicken, the chicken is rubbed with aromatics, wrapped in parchment, then clay. This self-contained, cooked-in-its-juices method can make the food more intensely flavored and succulent. Paula Wolfert has a couple carrot recipes in her cookbooks that are a variation on this theme. She uses parchment to partially contain the food. In Mediterranean Claypot Cooking, Summer Carrots in Claypot: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHh19M8YNxEC&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=wolfert+summer+carrots+cooked+in+claypot&source=bl&ots=_Dp-T-mAl5&sig=EtjmBIx8uNxJwkpPy-zWBky5elk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5BP8UvGwHc7soATvroD4Cg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=wolfert%20summer%20carrots%20cooked%20in%20claypot&f=false In Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, Glazed Carrots with Green Olives: http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/glazed-carrots-green-olives I've tried both carrot recipes. I think the carrots do have a better flavor and color, and the texture is more pleasantly firm than you would get with ordinary steaming or boiling. I like the Glazed Carrots recipe better, because of the oomph from the additional ingredients. I use a stovetop claypot to ensure low even cooking, and I prefer it without the cream. FYI, another Wolfert recipe, for Baked Chicken Wrapped in Clay. The method in this recipe is closest to the OP's recipe (i.e., the food is cooked with aromatics and totally sealed). http://books.google.com/books?id=iHh19M8YNxEC&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=wolfert+Carlo+Middione+Gypsy-Style+Clay-Wrapped+Chicken&source=bl&ots=_Dp-T-mxm4&sig=RUYqmFndZKtBoo0lCAZvQ7OAogs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wBL8UqPIM4mjrQGmjIHoDg&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=wolfert%20Carlo%20Middione%20Gypsy-Style%20Clay-Wrapped%20Chicken&f=false If you make the VOLT ink. recipe, pls let us know how it comes out.

Fascinating thread, even for those of us with no plans to try making this cake. jmacnaughtan, I wonder what kind of cake your clients are expecting. It seems that there are so many variations of this cake, as well as issues about wet biscuits, too dense texture, insufficient honey flavor, etc. I don't have a fix on what the traditional cake is supposed to be like. Will "improvements" in accord with our Western tastes actually be welcome to your clients? Or are they expecting a traditional cake like babushka used to make? Just wondering.

Love the story about the pistol in the soup. I'm sure the pistol imparted a steely, mineral quality reminiscent of fine French wine. You haven't said so specifically -- Are you going to do a cheese tasting? Some people believe beer harmonizes better with cheese than does wine. (I understand what they're getting at. I still like my wine.) FYI, an article with recommended beer and cheese pairings: http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/beer_cheese_pairings Thai food goes extremely well with beer--all kinds of Thai food that I've tasted. Mexican food also. I drink American pale ale with both, mostly because I'm not much of a beer drinker so I reach for what I like and recognize. You can probably find more interesting pairings of beer with Thai or Mexican food.

I can recommend the Chef's Essences from Mandy Aftel. They are expensive but high quality. I have used a bunch of the oils, including the bergamot. Here: http://www.aftelier.com/home.php?cat=346

Funny you should ask. I borrowed a book from my public library today, Cooking With Flowers by Miche Bacher, a confectioner. Bacher suggests mixing hibiscus syrup with champagne (2 cups hibiscus syrup, 2 cups champagne) for grown-up popsicles. You can also whip it with cream for hibiscus whipped cream.

Docsconz did a long blog in 2007 about his family's trip to Peru, with plenty of emphasis on food, of course. Perhaps this will give you some ideas. Here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/100013-a-family-trip-to-peru/ If you're a salt afficianado, you can ask for some Peruvian salt from the Maras salt mines. I recommend the fleur de sel, which I brought home from my trip. It came in rough crystals back then--you'll need a salt grinder to use it. I only bought the fleur de sel, I didn't think the regular salt was anything special. About Maras: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maras,_Peru

Gruzia, thanks for telling us about this cake. What was the filling in your cake? How was it made?

Are you new to the area? In Berkeley: http://ecologycenter.org/fm/ In Kensington: http://www.kensingtonfarmersmarket.org/ In Oakland: http://oaklandcvb.com/visiting_dining_farmers.cfm There are numerous farmers markets all over Bay Area, including the East Bay. The San Francisco markets are worth checking out, especially the market in Alemany. A quick google will give you any info you need. All the farmers markets are listed on their own or affiliated websites. The Berkeley markets tend to be expensive and boutique-y. They are as politically and nutritionally correct as you can imagine. I know vendors there, and they've told me about the organic requirements for the food, the ecological requirements for packaging, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc...Parking is difficult, if you want to do it legally. The Saturday market in downtown Berkeley is accessible by BART. I still go to the Berkeley markets anyway, for unusual and excellent produce--just not every week. I don't have a favorite for any one of them. The Oakland markets are more reasonable. The Friday market in Old Oakland sells a great deal of Asian produce and I like to go there. It's accessible by BART. A cooking teacher I know likes the Grand Lake market. A foodie friend has recommended the Temescal market to me. The Kensington market is smaller, but friendly with very good if not excellent vendors. I like this one and I'll shop there if I'm passing through the area. Parking is less nervewracking than it is at the Berkeley and Oakland markets. That's not saying much, though. good luck with your shopping, and parking if you're driving...

Both of Franci's linked recipes sound promising. I translated both webpages into English on Google Translate ( http://translate.google.com/ ). Cristina's recipe was in Italian and translated well. Marianne's recipe, in Czech, translated decently. Cristina's recipe was more detailed in its instructions. Cristina's recipe:

This one's a toughie. I googled "how to make Café Pouchkine russian honey cake medovik". May be duplication with some of your research. Anyway, here are the links that caught my attention. This blogger posted links for a couple recipes for the Cafe Pushkin honey cake, one of them in Croatian. http://6lumens.com/blog/tag/paris/ The English link didn't work for me, but I found it with another google search (below). Delights of Culinaria recipe: http://delightsofculinaria.com/russian-honey-cake-medovik/ The dulce de leche part of this recipe doesn't sound right. If you go back to the blogger link at http://6lumens.com/blog/tag/paris/ there's a photo from the menu that deconstructs the cake as honey buckwheat biscuit, confiture de lait (yes, basically dulce de leche), and creme smetana (the sour cream filling, which may actually be more like creme fraiche). Maybe finding recipes for each of these elements is the way to go in making and assembling this cake. I liked the explanation of method on this blog. The cook assures you that the dough is supposed to be firm, even cookie-like. After the finished cake sits in the fridge overnight, the biscuits absorb moisture from the filling, and become soft. (Note: a delicate cake might not be a good idea. It could fall apart overnight.) At least a couple bloggers mentioned that the longer the cake sits in the fridge, the better it tastes. That makes sense to me. http://twospoons.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/multilayered-russian-honey-cake/ A blogger's history of medovik, and an explanation of the condensed milk filling found in so many recipes--it's from the Soviet era. http://www.moscovore.com/blog/honey-coating-a-controversy-medovik/ BTW, my reward for doing this research--I found out a new cafe-bakery in SF is making this honey cake, to raves from bloggers and reviewers. Guess where I'm headed the next time I'm in SF. http://www.urbanspoon.com/rph/6/1782766/2667503/sf-bay-area-20th-century-cafe-20th-century-cafe-photo good luck with your cake! ETA: That's "buckwheat honey biscuits" on the cafe menu (not honey buckwheat biscuits). Those are two different things, aren't they?

Tiramisu. Really. When made well, it's a great chocolate-coffee combo. I've eaten some memorable chocolate budino in my time, also. And then there's Ricciarelli, soft almond cookies from Siena, that are sold at one of my favorite bakeries. Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask this question. I've never met an Italian dessert I didn't like. The recipe for the Ricciarelli is here. I only have the link; I haven't tried to bake the cookies myself. http://blog.marlainthekitchen.com/2012/09/26/arizmendi-ricciarelli.aspx For something new and different, I suggest a look at Rosetta Costantino's cookbook, Southern Italian Desserts. There are desserts in there that I've never seen before. Many of the pastries have ricotta-based fillings. If you make your own ricotta (and it's easy) that would be one less ingredient you would have to import. On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1607744023/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

A trio of cheeses from a shopping trip to the Cheese Board in Berkeley. When I got home, I realized that I had selected all easy, smooth cheeses, even though I tasted a bunch of different ones. The drought here continues, and the air is dry, smoggy, and pollen-laden. Very uncomfortable. Maybe that's why comfort cheeses were the order of the day. Left to right: Prima Donna Gouda "Blue Label," a very good gouda with a caramel-y note. The same company does a more mature "Red Label" version of this cheese, which has been compared to parmesan. Vallée d'Aspe, a sheep's milk cheese from the French Pyrenees, which is like ossau-iraty. Or maybe it is ossau-iraty, only not labeled as such at the store. Doesn't taste like much when it first hits the palate, then becomes rich and complex at the finish. An unusual, memorable cheese. Challerhocker, a new cheese for me to try--an exceptional Swiss cow's milk cheese, very full-flavored with a creamier texture compared to other Swiss-style cheeses. I'll add this one to my faves list. Recommended to anyone who is a fan of Alpine hard cheeses (like me). More about Challerhocker here: http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Challerhocker-Silky-dense-creamy-good-3284446.php