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I have the same questions and I look forward to reading answers from those knowledgeable in the use of MSG. Many of my Cuban friends put "Goya Sazon Seasoning" in everything. I finally bought a packet and the first listed ingredient was MSG. I was afraid to use it - not knowing how much to use and being, candidly, a little "afraid" of MSG - but finally last weekend I added about 1/2 tsp. each to some chicken dishes (pot pie, chicken and dumplings, chicken soup) and it did seem to noticeably enhance the flavors.

It's my favorite, too. When I was in college, I had a roommate from Spain, who would buy 2-3 bunches of fresh parsley, chop coarsely (including the stems, which everyone always told me were bitter), saute in olive oil, douse libarally with hot sauce, and serve as a hot side dish. He claimed that this was a traditional side dish in Spain. I've never been to Spain, but authentic or not, it is extraordinarily delicious and sure surprises guests when you tell them that they are having parsley for dinner. (I sometimes saute in butter instead of oil).

The RG beans are so wonderful on their own that I don't like to do too much too them. How about doing the 90 minute bean thing but adding the sausages to the mix? Like a cassoulet? Thanks - you just gave me a great dinner idea! (I have some chipotle chicken sausage in my freezer and some RG beans in the cupboard).

And I forgot to say, Randi, your countertops and backsplash look great. Does the granite have little flecks of blue in it or is it the lighting? To me, it looks like the granite has flecks that are the same color as the backsplash. Anyway, it looks great and it is still hard to believe how quickly you were able to accomplish the remodel.

I share the thoughts of others who commend the three of you you for your candor and forthrightness on the important issue of weight control/weight loss! Regarding the eggplant, may I suggest an alternative to frying that you might enjoy (nearly) as well as the fried version? Slice and salt (or not) as you usually do, then pat dry and "butter" each slice with mayo. (Light mayo will also work). Then dredge the mayo-slathered slices in panko or other crumbs of your choosing. Place on a cookie sheet that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil and then spray the tops, as well. Roast at very high heat (450 F) and use convection if you have it. After approx. 10-15 min, watch closely and when the outside is golden brown, remove and serve as you normally would. (This also makes the best eggplant parmesan, as the eggplant is not greasy and the flavor of the eggplant shines through!) I also use the same technique for zucchini, slabs of tofu, and other things that taste good fried.

A timely blog from three excellent egulleters! Thank you times three! Randi, can you explain more about how you assign points for food - e.g., your cereal box is marked "2", but what size portion equals 2 points? Second, how do you determine the number of points that you should consume each day in order to lose weight? I take it that you first plan your dinner (and number of points) and then work backwards to plan the rest of the day?

Arroz con Pollo or Chicken and Dumplings. I use the recipes from Cook's Illustrated. They are quick, easy and delicious - especially when it's cold outside. (I substitute a whole cut up chicken for the specific parts called for in the recipes, because folks in my house like different parts of the chicken).

Kim, have you tried the Best Potluck Dinner Mac and Cheese recipe from Cook's Country? It definitely fits your criteria of "creamy, moist, deeply cheesy".

If you like Vietnamese food, there is a great section of town on Colonial Drive with numerous Vietnamese markets and restaurants. My personal fav is "Viet Town". Be sure to ask for the original menu, though - don't let them give you the "short" version. I love their green papaya salad. Also, there is an Asian supermarket on Colonial Drive (1st Oriental Supermarket) that has really good BBQ duck and chicken (takeout or eat in) and there is a noodle restaurant next door that has been recommended to me, although I haven't had a chance to try it yet. Tonyy13 is going to have a lot more info on dining in O-town. I don't know what kind of food you like, or how far you want to travel, but if you want genuine "Florida Cracker" food, I can tell you where to get swamp cabbage, gator tail, fried mullet, grits, collards, okra, etc. about 1 hour drive from Orlando in a particularly nice, historic setting. And you could stop along the way for an airboat ride. If you are looking for fine dining, though, this is definitely not going to fit the bill!

I love, love, love my Zojirushi breadmachine and I use it several times per week. However, I can imagine no reasonable standard whereby the bread that it produces could be considered "better" than a loaf from a good Parisian bakery. If I lived near a good bakery and money was no object, I strongly doubt that I would ever use my lovely breadmachine again.

My hat's off to all the artisanal bakers and folks that have the time (and energy) needed to make the perfect loaf. I genuinely appreciate the talent involved. - there is nothing better than a fabulous loaf of bread. However, I live in a place where I cannot buy such bread (readily), and between work, volunteer, and family commitments, it's just not possible for me to make "old-fashioned" bread on a regular basis. (Case in point: I received the BBA last year and have only made a few recipes because so many do require an investment of 2 days to finished product). Since I acquired a Zojirushi bread machine, however, I am no longer a slave to yucky supermarket bread. I can easily whip up a perfectly serviceable sandwich loaf in 1 hour, 54 minutes (start to finish). Total investment of human time - about 5 minutes to measure and load the ingredients. The result is far superior to supermarket bread (and I suspect less expensive, although I haven't done the math). Inspired by this thread, I measured how long it takes to make cinnamon buns using the machine to make the dough. From start to shaping the buns, a total of 40 minutes. Followed by a proof in my oven (125 F) for 30 minutes. Then bake for 15 minutes. Total time - start to finish - 1 hour, 25 minutes. (The recipe makes 20 buns, which is enough for 2 round cake pans. I give one pan to a friend, and I am a hero!) I'm sure that the 2-day method for Dorie Greenspans' pecan honey sticky buns (described in Baking from My Home to Yours) produces a far superior result. But like I said, I don't often get the free time needed to invest in such a project. Much as I love her book, like the BBA, I just find that I really don't have the time to attempt too many of the recipes. Anyway, for quick, homemade cinnamon buns , I think these are pretty good, and they are always well-received:

I took the day off from work to make cookies with my daughter and a friend. So far, we've made: Ling's Lime Meltaways Gourmet Pistachio-Cranberry Icebox Cookies CI Gingerbread Cookies Congo Bars Dorrie Greenspan's Peanuttiest Blondies We also made "Marilyn's Toffee". I don't know who Marilyn is, but this recipe has been fawned over on the CI bulletin board for years and I finally made it for the first time. I'm not a good baker or candy maker, and frankly I don't even have much of a sweet tooth, but this was one of the best things I've ever tasted! And it was fast and easy, too. The recipe is here: Marilyn's English Toffee

Meyer lemons are believed to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange or some other orange. I have a tree in my backyard and it produces copious fruits. As mentioned by other posters, the fruit generally is much less tart than a traditonal lemon. I have noticed that the really ripe fruits are so sweet that you could almost eat them out of hand . . . so, accordingly, it would be prudent to adjust your recipes to reflect the lower acidity of the Meyer lemon. In my limited experience, there is a drastic variation in the acidity of the fruit. The other thing that I've noticed is that the Meyer lemon produces significantly more juice than a regular lemon. So if you have a recipe that calls for the "juice of one lemon", take note. A Meyer is going to give you at least 2-3 times the juice that you would expect from a traditional lemon, IMHO.

A meal just isn't a meal without srirachi! That stuff is addictive. I think I could drink a glass of it. Ok, well maybe just a shot. It's definitely my favorite hot sauce.

I'm with you 100%. In fact, I just canceled my web membership and did not renew my magazine subscription. It's a good resource for the foods discussed, but they repeat recipes and ingredients. Also, for the life of me, I cannot understand the CI claim that a non-stick skillet works just as well as a wok for stir-frying. I understand that if you do not have access to a wok, that a skillet can perform as an adequate substitute, but to claim that you get the same or even better results? I don't think so. Anyhow, I'm going to try out Fine Cooking. Thanks for the recs.

To be honest, I'm just trying to get through xmas brunch for 12 and dinner for 16, so I haven't given a whole lot of thought to New Year's. We usually keep it small and traditional. Perhaps it would be fun to add some modern twists or deconstructed dishes (if you are into that kind of thing) to your menu based on traditional New Year's fare. In my region, these foods would include items such as black-eyed peas, ham, collard greens, etc. However, you could do multiple courses with products that are traditional in other regions or parts of the world. IOW, the theme could be "New Year's Meals Around the World" and each course would feature a different region/culture. The common denominator is that each one is intended to bring good luck for the New Year. Just a thought - but hey, you asked for input!

I want Santa to bring me this for Christmas!! David, I love how you used a bit of the crab bisque to garnish the smoked halibut. When I first looked at your photos, I thought, "How did he do all of this in one weekend?" but then as I studied the photos again (and again, drool), I realized that the dishes have shared components. Very creative and inspiring! And BTW Ce'nedra, I like to leave out the vermicelli so that I can eat more rolls. Yours look great. I wish that I could get nice, fresh bean sprouts around here. There is not a huge demand, so the ones in the market aren't always good. Nothing worse than old sprouts!

Edible spray paint? The stuff that bakers use. I'm sure that you could use that with a stencil.

Thanks! I always heard that BW was difficult to prepare, but really, I didn't think that it was hard at all. Just time consuming!

I'm not sure why it looks like that in the picture! Following Ramsey's recipe, I only seared the tenderloin in a pan (I did not roast as many other recipes directed) and cooled it for 1 hour. Next, I applied a thin layer of mustard, duxelle mixture, and wrapped with proscuitto. Chilled again for 1 hour, then wrapped with puff pastry, chilled again, then baked at 400 F until the internal temperature reached just 120 F (about 40 minutes). Maybe the proscuitto melted? I'm not sure . . . For xmas, I'm going to kick it up a bit by adding some dried porcinis to the duxelle mix. I'm glad that I can make this the day before. It was not difficult to prepare, but it was time consuming with all the chilling and multiple steps.

Here is the result of my test run. I followed Gordon Ramsey's recipe (as shown on YouTube.com). My tasters decreed that it was a success - although I thought that the pastry could have been a bit more crispy. Also, I will reduce the salt a bit when I prepare this for xmas dinner.

Legal Seafoods will ship for a Saturday delivery for an extra $20.00. I think that if she ordered a shipment for Saturday arrival, the lobbies would still be fine by Monday, kept in the fridge with air and seaweed.

Thank you! I am actually going to do a test run tomorrow. I've never made BW before, so I don't want to experiment on the 16 people that are coming for xmas dinner. I'm also curious about the proper temperature for the initial roasting. Most recipes say to cook the beef to 120 F, then chill, wrap, etc. and proceed with the final roasting. I'm worried that pre-cookinig the tenderloin to 120 F will result in an overdone final result. The majority of these guests like their meat extremely rare - as in a maximum of 125 F. I'm thinking of cooking only to 110 F, then chilling and proceeding. Any thoughts here?

Thanks for this link! This is perfect and I have a gas cooktop so I can toast them as recommended.

Why, I'm going to order a CI wok right away! All of the points that you mentioned were dead-on. I don't have any real complaints about the CS wok, but the same things that you mentioned are aspects of it that I have noticed (e.g., seasoning is tender on the sides; the texture, if a bit rougher, would make it easier to hold food on the sides; and it's thermal properties could use improvement). I did order my BS from the factory with both big burners in front, because that's where I do most of my cooking. If I had to order it again, the only other thing that I would change is to order a second simmer burner for the rear. Even the 15k burners on this thing are pretty darn hot, as I'm sure that you've noticed. I'm also planning to install a booster fan (to assist the vent hood) in my attic. Although I ordered the strongest vent hood that I could find (a Zephyr Tempest II) that would fit my space, it's still not enough (especially when stir-frying spicy foods). I don't usually mind too much but I recently had guests who were nearly in tears by the time that dinner was ready!