baroness

I don't feel it pays to cut corners - excessively - when it comes to ingredients. A loaf of bread generally takes less than a pound of flour (about 4 c to the pound), and flour is the key component. If you substitute brands and are NOT happy, you have wasted not only all the ingredients but your time and effort as well.

I have both the (now under safety scrutiny) Nalgene and Stainless Steel. I definitely prefer the steel bottles.

Chestnuts are difficult. There was a feature on WNYC on them HERE! yesterday with some tips.

I can smell them on my hands for a whole day afterwards, no matter how hard or often I scrub my hands with anti-bacterial, lemon juice, water or anything else. I wear disposable gloves to prevent this issue; works very well!

Not ONLY that it's only Lipton, but that the water is nowhere nearly hot enough and may taste somewhat like coffee.

How many guests will be served? What flavor is the cake itself?

So then, sushi, sashimi, ceviche, etc. most always carry risk?

Phaedrus is a fun site; unfortunately they haven't found two of my MIAs: Parmesan-Shredded Wheat Bread (a yeast bread recipe from when Nabisco owned the cereal brand) and 'popsicles' made of crushed fresh strawberries, lime juice, and cream of coconut (actually just need proportions here).

Doesn't freezing kill the parasites/whatever that would make sushi 'dangerous'?

I know! People drink tea everywhere - and have for many, many years!

The bakeries in the Midwest used to, and may still for all I know, sell bags of dry, very crunchy cinnamon toast. I presume they were made from leftover bread. I always wondered how they made the topping stick, as there was no discernable butter - or any other than sugar and spice - flavor.

There is a message board on the Betty Crocker site; perhaps someone there can help you. There are also MANY 'crisp' recipes.

While following another link to the NY Post, I saw this article on the fashionistas and tea here in New York. Here's a brief quote: Tea, after all, is the perfect drink for frenzied New Yorkers with a big caffeine habit — but very little peace of mind. “Tea promotes harmony and balance of life,” Tam says. “The experience is not rushed. It’s refined and grounding. Drinking tea is an art of living.”

Eek, yes. I have a dreadful microplane grater which produces big shreds. It manages to combine the propensity of a blunt knife to slip with the propensity of a sharp knife to cut. It is an effective shredder of skin and flesh. It leaves a deep, uneven and shaggy wound. It is a hateful pig of a device, and I have given up on it entirely. (Not a fault with the microplane, by the way -- just the inherent danger of the tool.) There are sliding guards that can be used on most microplanes: see here! of the wider type. There are also kevlar/cut-resistant gloves.

Erin, I see many American/'western' brands in your pantry (Gold Medal, C & H, Clabber Girl...). Did you bring these with you, or buy them in China?

I would like it, thank you for sharing! Uncle Art's Molasses Cake 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 cup butter 2 eggs, beaten 2 cups dark molasses 5 1/4 cups flour 1 rounded tsp. baking soda 1 cup sour milk* sugar for topping Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9" by 13" pan with buttered wax or parchment paper. Cream sugars with butter; add eggs and molasses. Sift flour and soda together and add alternately with milk. Mix well. Pour batter into lined pan and sift lots of white sugar (top should be solid white, at least!) over the top. Bake at 325F about 1 hour, or until pick comes out clean. Will keep for weeks. *Buttermilk or 1 T. vinegar in a cup of 'regular' milk can be substituted.

One of my bachelor uncles made a *very* molasses-rich sheet cake. Even though Uncle Art was mostly a before-his-times health/natural foods fan, this cake had a lot of white sugar poured on top of the batter before baking. The sugar made a thick, fudge-like layer at the top of the cake...delicious! I have his recipe, if there are any other molasses fans who would like it.

Chris, HERE is a recipe for a chocolate/brownie 'pudding cake'. David, your mother's cake could be called a 'pudding-enriched cake'. There are many variations on that type; they do not separate into different subtances ('sauce'/meringue/cake) as a 'pudding cake' does.

I use walnut oil in the whole-grain (yeasted) breads I make; it amplifies the nuts' flavor (walnuts or pecans, usually) in the bread.

I do this, too -- but leave them on the paper, roll or fold it up and vacuum seal it.

This is a children's craft project; resembles stained glass.

Martin Yan's WEBSITE shows upcoming appearances at several public libraries in California, as well as hosted trips to China. There are some recipes, and a venue to buy autographed cookbooks and several kitchen tools.

Diamond Crystal - I like its light, flaky texture. Morton's seems 'leaden' to me, and I have read that it IS denser, weight-to-volume, than Diamond Crystal.

I do many of the above things. On the rare occasion of making a frosted layer cake, I put 2"-wide or so strips under the bottom layer before starting. Pull them out when the decorating is finished for a perfectly clean platter!

I don't see any new/different dough hooks on the KA site. BTW, the pigtail design idea is not new; my Krups (which is at least 20 years old) has that style.