djyee100

This is only my impression, based on an unscientific but relentless perusal of Sale tables at bookstores, that American customers in general (1) hate recipes that look complicated (as in the multiple measures in the above example), and (2) hate metric measures. It seems to me that many cookbooks that do not sell have these characteristics. To be honest, when I see cookbooks like this, I don't buy them either.

Fresh jujube were at Berkeley Bowl when I was shopping there last week. I didn't buy any--didn't know what to do with them. If anybody wants to check them out, they were in that little stand of exotic fruits with the passion fruit, the starfruit, and fresh dates.

I sympathize. I've made the same mistake myself with recipes. But I've observed that the typical home cook will use volume measures, even in baking. Some of them may not have a scale, or if they have one, they won't bother to use it. It's a big deal that they're baking at all. Really. For liquids and small quantities, such as baking powder, I find the volumes most easy to measure, and accurate enough. I'm only making one cake or pie or whatever. But flour is another story. I wish baking recipes would give the weight of flour, since there seems to be a wide variation in how people measure flour by the cup. As for your very buttery cake--when Julia Child cooked chocolate souffle on her TV show, and the souffle fell, she advised people to serve it with a smile and say, "Just for you. Chocolate mousse!"

Sometimes I do a swimmer's trick for dry skin: When I've washed my hands and and while my hands are still wet, I put on the lotion. (Any cheap lotion will do.) This step seems to seal in moisture. Then I wipe off the excess lotion with a towel. I may have extra towels to launder, but my hands feel good. I also stumbled upon this great product when a store sold me a half-used tester jar for a few dollars: Cucina Hand Butter (made with olive oil). Now I buy this cream online. It works better than any other hand lotion or cream I've tried. http://us.fruits-passion.com/order/item.aspx?idprod=429

I've found this to be true also. I used to cook stock on the stovetop (uncovered), and did all that dutiful skimming off of scum. I've switched to the oven method, now cook the stock covered during the whole time, and the stock comes out very clear.

The Shakers, according to one source I read, allowed their bread to "season" for 24 hours after baking before eating it. No fresh hot bread for them. (They were strict believers in celibacy, also.) I've noticed that hot bread offers more of the fresh wheat flavor, besides very pleasurable warm texture and softness, but cooled bread allows you to taste more of the quality of the fermentation in the bread. I've never had a stomach ache just from eating hot bread. Tossing a bunch of hot loaves in the middle of a table, surrounded by friends, and eating half a loaf immediately, slathered with butter and jam, as my friends did the same--that's another story.

Here's a list of Asian markets in the Bay Area as compiled by Thai cooking teacher Kasma Loha-Unchit. http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/markets.html I visited the markets in Oakland Chinatown with Kasma when I took her intensive summer cooking course two years ago, and those stores were good (so was her cooking course).

For an imaginative and individualistic menu, I suggest Crixa Bakery in Berkeley, a local favorite. http://www.crixa.net/ It's a cafe too, so you can sit there with a nice cup of coffee and a pastry. Across the street from Crixa, you can visit Berkeley Bowl, a supermarket with an extraordinary selection of California produce and other foods. The Bowl is the only supermarket I know of where people bring out-of-towners to LOOK. Have fun!

I was in Shanghai a couple weeks ago, only for a few days. The city has become very modern and westernized, and to my knowledge most of the old street markets have disappeared. The DK Eyewitness Guidebook for "Beijing and Shanghai" gives a self-guided walking tour of the old town in Shanghai, including the food market at Dajing Lu. http://www.amazon.com/Beijing-Shanghai-Eye...87044188&sr=8-2 Is this what you mean? The guidebook also notes that this area is oriented to tourists and the prices may be inflated. (I myself opted out of touring this part of the city, and spent extra hours with the exceptional collections at the Shanghai Art Museum). Do you have the option of traveling outside Beijing or Shanghai? I spent a week in the interior, in Wuhan, Yichang, and Chongqing, and there you can still see something of the old China, including the street markets. See it before it disappears.

I'll second North Coast Brewing Company (Red Seal Ale) in Ft. Bragg. I always stop by there when I'm in Fort Bragg. A couple friends whose opinion I trust have recommended the Trinity Cafe in Mt Shasta. I haven't been there yet, but the next time I am in the area I will go. http://www.trinitycafe.net/

thanks, everyone, for your responses. Unfortunately a snafu occurred with the people with whom we were traveling, and there was not enough time to go out for Beijing duck on our last evening in the city. I was so disappointed. The next day, we had to leave the hotel at 12:30PM for our flight back to the US. I actually contemplated taking a taxi to the restaurant, which opens at 11AM, in order to pick up an order of duck. My friends pointed out that Beijing traffic being what it is, I could miss our flight, and they talked me out of the idea. Barely. The next time I'm in Beijing, Da Dong restaurant will be a top priority.

We're at the end of a 2-wk vacation in China, and our last ambition is to eat a good Beijing duck in Beijing before we leave in 48 hours. Any suggestions for a restaurant? Location? Estimated costs? We'd appreciate some help here. thanks!

I've never found a general rule-of-thumb for spice conversion and I grind almost all my spices just before I cook. Remember, for each whole spice you only have to figure out the conversion once. I write the formula on the spice label so I'll know the next time I use the spice.

Grilled Asparagus & Prosciutto: Brush the pizza dough with garlic olive oil, then top with grilled asparagus and a mixture of fontina and mozzarella cheeses. Bake. When the pizza comes out of the oven, lay slices of prosciutto on top. Serve. Bacon, Onions & Cream Cheese: Cook the bacon and onions together only until softened. Spread on top of pizza dough with dollops of cream cheese. Sprinkle generously with ground black pepper. Bake. A savory dessert pizza, Pears Walnuts & Gorgonzola. Top pizza dough with thin pear slices and walnuts. Bake until almost done. Then crumble on gorgonzola cheese. Bake another 5 mins.

Before I buy a cookbook, I read a bunch of recipes. If my mouth starts watering, then I know I'm onto something. So for me pictures aren't necessary, though an aesthetic design is important. Everyday Greens by Annie Somerville doesn't have pictures, only beautiful watercolors of gardens and produce, and it's a wonderful cookbook to look through. Beginning cooks I've met all like lots of pictures in cookbooks. More advanced cooks have different opinions about pictures. If the food is unusual, the kind people may not have seen or eaten, then pictures are necessary. Once in a while I find a picture inspiring me to cook, but usually not. A cookbook that is basically all text is problematic, unless I am extremely motivated to cook from the book because of its reputation. Instructive line drawings can be helpful, but not a pleasure to look at. I cook from Julia Child's Mastering the Art, etc., and Barbara Tropp's Modern Art of Chinese Cooking, despite the lackluster design. But so far I haven't tried Diane Kochilas' excellent cookbook, Glorious Food of Greece, because so much text puts me off. A final word: Nothing ticks me off more than to read a recipe, look at the picture, and realize the picture does not correspond to the recipe. Those are the books I will not buy.

Mussina, thanks for the info. I'm originally from the Boston area, and I will let people know about your restaurant. It looks beautiful, the menu sounds wonderful--a "destination" restaurant for your region. Are there other recreational or cultural activities that would bring people to your local area? People could do a daytrip from one of the cities (preferably not just on weekends), including a meal at your restaurant. Are there any B & B's close to you?

I would go into a near-empty restaurant if I felt there were good reasons for the situation, such as a remote location and a weekday night. I wouldn't necessarily have qualms about the food, but sitting alone in a cavernous dining room might be a little off-putting. (I don't know what your seating arrangements look like, of course.) The chef's prix fixe menu idea is a very good one. Maybe some advertising with a one-time discount coupon to try out the restaurant on a slow night? I've encountered some restaurants in out-of-the-way locations that do a very good business by offering specials with tour groups, resorts, and B &B's. good luck!

The original article, "Curd Mentality" by Daniel Patterson, was printed in the NY Times on July 1, 2007. Here is a link. However, you may have to pay a few dollars to view it in the NY Times archives. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/magazine...r=1&oref=slogin A friend told me about the article, and suggested buying "manufacturer's cream" from Smart & Final to cut down on the cost. Perhaps other wholesale outlets sell this product too. I haven't made the recipe yet, but I certainly want to.

I used to throw out so much buttermilk that I started keeping a list of recipes to use up excess buttermilk. I refer to the list when there's another quart languishing in my fridge. My current list: scones, buttermilk rolls, lemon buttermilk cake, buttermilk fried chicken, cornbread, pancakes, biscuits, and buttermilk bread.

Cilantro and parsley are the main offenders in my fridge. I still throw out more of these herbs than I would want to. I used to throw out lettuce until I discovered that lettuce can be sauteed like other greens (in olive oil, with garlic and S & P), and it's tasty. I saute lettuce when it's still fresh but beginning to turn brown, and not that appetizing for a salad. Lettuce gives off more water than other greens, so saute over high heat to evaporate the moisture.

This is very interesting. Some authors claim that Thai curry paste degrades in the freezer, but it would certainly be convenient to have pre-made curry paste available for weeknights. Sounds like I should do some experimenting, too. I'm curious to find out your results. Frozen curry paste doesn't taste as good as fresh, but I find it tastes better (far better) than any canned commercial brand I've used.

I make batches of Thai curry paste, which has similar ingredients, and I freeze individual portions for later use. The flavors fade over time, no doubt about it, but freezing seems to preserve the paste better than refrigeration, and it's better than making paste from scratch on busy days. After making the paste, I apportion it out with a small ice cream scoop (2 to 4 TB per portion is a handy size) onto a small square of plastic wrap or into a sandwich-size plastic bag. I wrap each portion tightly to keep out the air. Then I freeze the small packets on a sheet pan overnight. The next day I bag everything into a large plastic bag and stuff it in my freezer. When I cook something, I pull out one or two small packets, depending on what I need. I can't tell you how long the paste remains "good." I've used paste that was frozen for a couple months, and I've been happy with it.

You could also make a Mint Pesto and serve it with lamb. The above recipe should be fine, substituting mint for cilantro; just add a touch of red wine vinegar, too. My favorite go-to book when I have extra leftover herbs is Jerry Traunfeld's The Herb Farm Cookbook. http://www.amazon.com/Herbfarm-Cookbook-Je...81961689&sr=8-1 The index lists the herbs in a recipe, so it's easy to find something that can use up your excess herbs.

I'm surprised your coffee doesn't taste funny. Seriously. I've always used a second coffee grinder dedicated to spices. I use a cheap $20 coffee grinder (like this one http://www.amazon.com/Krups-203-42-Touch-C...1960702&sr=8-1), and it has always worked just fine. I still have to grind a tablespoon of rice in it now and then to clear out the different spices. One of those little brushes sold to clean out coffee grinders is also very handy. If you're cooking a lot with spice pastes, you could consider a Sumeet grinder. It's basically a small blender with a super-powerful motor. If you have the kitchen space for one more gadget... http://www.sumeet.net/

And in case you are thinking of making your own fish sauce, consider the experience of Francine Segan, as told in her cookbook, The Philosopher's Kitchen: Recipes from Ancient Greece and Rome for the Modern Cook. While researching her book, Segan experimented with an ancient recipe for fermented fish sauce. This was not much more than a pile of fish heads and carcasses left outside to rot. After a few days, her neighbor politely knocked on her door and asked if her cat had died. End of experiment.