Elizabeth Ann

I also just got a copy of the bread bible. My favorite so far is the heart of wheat bread. Beranbaum suggests using an instant read thermometer to make sure that the bread is done.

I got a Cuisinart 14 cup food processor with the stainless steel base from my boyfriend. My dad gave me Grand Finales: The Art of the Plated Dessert. I bought myself a Le Creuset windsor pot. My boyfriend also bought a KtchenAid warming drawer and range hood for the new house we are building. I gave a Le Creuset skillet.

I was in the Spice House yesterday and the manager told me that they may never have Sichuan peppercorns again. According to him, there is a citrus virus that is not a danger to humans, but could threaten the citrus crop. He said that irradiation will not destroy the offending virus.

Someone once gave me a bottle of "Mexican Vanilla". My son likes to add vanilla to his milk shakes so I let him use it. He said that it had ruined his shake, indeed the shake tasted just like suntan lotion! I threw the bottle away. I have tried cheeper brands of real vanilla and do not them as well as the Neilsen Massey or the stuff I buy from the Spice House. I bought some Mc Ness Vanilla on sale from Crate and Barrel and some tahitian vanilla from Trader Joe's. I don't think they smell or taste the same.

Candy Fudge Topping 1/2 c sugar 2 T cocoa 1/3 c milk 1/4 c light corn syrup 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped 2 T butter 1/3 c heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla heavy 2 qt. saucepan, combine sugar and cocoa. Stir in milk and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a full boil stirring constantly, boil 8 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate and butter until melted then add the cream. Return to heat and bring back to boil, stirring constantly. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Keywords: Dessert, Sauce, Ice Cream ( RG404 )

I like to use a bench scraper to get rid of stuck on ckicken. An occasional scrub with salt and a used lemon half get rid of odors. Otherwise, just soap and hot water. I use a separate board for chopping chocolate.

Everyone is back home now and recovering. I did get the opportunity to eat at L'Etoile and at Essen Haus. I did have some difficulty getting around, even with a map. Thanks for all the well wishes.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions. Yesterday I drove my father up to Madison and passed him the list of good eating places. My sister is there and my mom seemed to be doing well. I only had time for a nice burger at Michael's and had to head for home (have a 95 year old grandmother and two kids). Things went from bad to worse. About 3/4 of the way home, my sister called and informed me that my father was having a heart attack! Now they are both in the same hospital. This morning I'm headed back to Madison. I hope to have a good dinner tonight. Thanks again.

My mom is in the hospital in Madison, WI. She had a small stroke and it looks like she will be there for a week. Any suggestions for dining in Madison would be very helpful.

They have the best price on Neilson Massey Vanilla, less than 1/2 the cost of other stores. Their frozen french green beans are great too.

Nesita, do you know any other places in the Chicago area that serve it. I would really like to try it. No offence but, my previous experiences at The Blind Faith have been less than stellar. Maybe it has changed since I haven't been there in a long time.

There are plenty of differences between a home cook and a chef. It is unnecessary to insult the home cook. I am a home cook with 25 years of experience. At present, I regularly cook for 7 people. Home cooks do not have a support staff, I do everything from beginning to end, from marketing to dishwashing. No, I am not paid, but, the people who I cook for can't pick what they want from a menu, I decide what thet get to eat. No, I can't cook for 100 people, but I can coordinate everything so that all the food is on the table at the same time. I don't do too many fancy garnishes, thats part of what you pay for in a restaurant. Presentation at home is completely different - but not unimportant. There are also some similarities. The home cook has to be creative and adaptable to work with what is available and affordable - so does a chef. A home cook and a chef are not the same, but the differences do not mean that a home cook lacks creativity, presentation, or consistency.

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

The great advantage to having one is that you can buy all of your spices whole. Whole spices last longer. Cumin is soooo much better when freshly ground.

I love mine, get the biggest one you can. I have a cast iron one that is nice because the pestle is so heavy. The downside is it can rust so it requires special care.

I made the pulled pork as follows: Dry rub- 2T black pepper, 2T paprika, 1T salt, 1t dry mustard, 1/2t cayenne. Roasted pork butt at 250 for about 7 hrs. Finnished with a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar, a little sugar, dijon mustard. Just enough to moisten a little. It was very good. Buttermilk coleslaw was from the Aug 2002 issue of Cooks Illustrated and served on the side - very easy to make.

Made pulled pork with vinegar and mustard sauce on warm rolls, buttermilk coleslaw, tomato basil salad, baked beans, vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries.

I came across this article in the Chicago Sun Times - easier biscuits - they can't possibly taste very good.

I also loved Laurie Colwain's book especially the part about the medieval starry gazey pie. The absolute worst meal I've ever had looked so strange that I had to ask what is was. The reply, ground bologna and pickles! She actually got out a meat grinder and ground together sweet pickles and oscar mayer bologna. It was then placed on cheep hamburger buns, topped off with cheese whiz, and heated under the broiler. I can't begin to describe the taste.

Helen, According to both Robert Wolke and Harold McGee, Mushrooms do not soak up liquid like sponges. Both authors tested the theory by weighing, then soaking in cold water for 5 minutes, spin drying, and weighing the mushrooms again. Wolke found that 1 pound of white mushrooms absorbed less than 3 teaspoons of water after washing. He also tested this on brown mushrooms which held slightly more water (5 tsp. per lb.) which he found, was due to more space for water to be trapped between the gills rather than the flesh being more absorbent. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Macmillan, 1984. Wolke, Harold. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2002.

This drives me crazy. I hear "myths" from chefs on The Food Network frequently. The most recent one that I recall was Emeril, stating that the addition of a potato to an over salted soup will reduce the saltiness. Robert Wolke debunks this myth with an experiment and proves that the "only sure way to rescue a too-salty soup or stew: Dilute it with more stock-unsalted, of course." (Wolke, Robert. What Einstein Told His Cook. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002. p. 61).

I think most store brands are way too sweet. Corn syrup, in my opinion, does not belong in pasta sauce. Trader Joe's has a decent canned marinara sauce that I sometimes use as a base sauce for lasagna. A friend told me that the Silver Palate brand was good, but I have not tried it. Elizabeth Ann

Steve, U.S. Customs. The Spice House is in Evanston Illinois, they do an extensive mail order business.

I went to the Spice House today and asked for sichuan peppercorns. The clerk told me that they didn't have any. She explained that a customs agent had come into the store the other day and said that they were "interdicting" the sichuan peppercorns due to a virus. Has anyone else heard about this?

Can you believe that Oreida has come out with chocolate french fries! No wonder a children have such poor eating habbits. Check it out www.nick.com/ads/oreida/