Marlene

fifi I bought my all clad roasting pans a few years ago and they are triclad. I've heard that about the new ones. The Sur la Table ones (of which there are no stores here), looks very much like the Caphalon roasting pans recommended by Cooks Illustrated. If I can find one of those, I'm going to get one for my sister in law this year. Whatever the brand, I can't stress enough the difference a stainless steel roasting pan makes over a non stick roasting pan. Said sister in law has one of those. I bring my roasting pans whenever I go visit.

You can make all the pitches you want. I've got my fingers in my ears. I really like the All Clad Stainless steel stuff. Especially the roasting pans. Almost all my stuff is this line, although I remember Sam making a great pitch for a saute pan, and now I can't remember which one it was or I might substitute that one on my list.

I havent' seen Susur's book yet, but I have the Bouchon cookbook and it's plenty complicated.

my husband says it's easy to shop for me for Christmas. Of course it is. I give him a very detailed list. 90% of the things on my list are cooking toys. This year on my list are: All Clad Deep Saute Pan with splatter screen Chef's Choice 120 Sharpener Stainless Steel (I don't want to hear about it ok? ) Flip Waffler Lodge's Biscut pan Another popover pan 12 inch all clad stainless steel frying pan All clad 5.5 quart saucier pot A couple of Le Crueset trivets a Le Cruset wrought Iron corner pot stand like this And of course, assorted cookbooks. Stocking stuffers for me would be good vanilla extract, vanilla beans, small pouch of fleur de sel, etc. What's on your list this year?

Heck Kathleen, my cooking mistakes are plastered all over the place for people to laugh at. What are some of your favourite things to eat? So we can help suggest maybe some things for you to try! You go girl.

The slapping incident has been done to death on this thread already. Let's move on please.

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Leftie here too. I always figured being left handed absolved me from the necessity of having to switch.

I know we do this. I think we've got my printer under "shared applications" or something and then when Don wants to send something to my printer, he selects it from the menu in the printer file. Ok, that's not very technical. Sorry.

I had 9- 3 inch ribs. I'm sorry, but I have clue how much they weighed!

I have wifi and my laptop is usually set up in the kitchen. My kitchen has a built in desk area so I can keep it away from flour and other flying food particles.

How do you stabilise the cream liqueurs? I gather Bailey's uses some sort of seaweed extract to keep it stable at room temperature, but I guess (I hope!) you're not doing that. Or do you just tell people that the liqueurs need to be refridgerated and drunk by a certain date? ← It's been a long time since I made any, but no, I don't recall using any seaweed extract. I bottle it in smaller bottles and I do tell people to refridgerate it and drink it within a month. It's a bit of a pain though and BBQ sauce keeps much longer.

It's going on my Christmas list!

this one maggie?

This is the 8th year we've held this party. For the first 4 years I did it all myself. I started a weekin advance and on the night of, I found that I was so busy serving, heating etc, that I didn't have time to talk to my guests and being a good corporate wife, apparently I was supposed to. I told my husband he could have a cook or a wife at these things, not both. We've used a caterer ever since.

no alcohol. Just non alchoholic. And yes, it is high, and I suspect we are going with caterer number #2.

It's high. Keep in mind thats for china, glasses, coffee urns, chafing dishes etc as well as staff and food and our favourite canadian taxes and built in gratuity.

I have made Irish cream liquers in the past to give as gifts. Cookies, peanut brittle etc. This year, I'm going to put up big batches of BBQ sauce, bottle it in some nice bottles and give that to close friends. And I just have a thing about Hickory Farms gift baskets. I give these to all sorts of people.

both quotes are based on thirty people. 1 waitperson, 1 bartender and 1 chef/supervisor. Same amount of rental items. The hors douvres will be passed around and the main dinner is buffet.

There are links to several discussions in this post

Revised menu from Caterer #2 As you can see, both menus are now pretty similar. Whichever one I select I will be making a couple of changes to in the salad area, but for now I present these for comparision purposes. Now the kicker. All in, (including food, rentals and staff) Caterer #1 quotes at $3,054.00 . Caterer #2 quotes at $1,877.00 Cold Hors D'Oeuvres Parmesan Rosemary Crackers with Herbed Cream Cheese Mini Corn Muffins Stuffed with Turkey and Cranberry Honey Mustard Chicken Pieces Hot Hor D'Oeuvres Beef satays with horseradish sauce Bacon and Cheddar Mini Quiche Mini Potato Pancakes Salads Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad - Bowtie pasta with roasted red peppers, shaved Pamesan cheese, fresh asparagus, diced red onion and a roasted pepper marinade. Entree Roast Prime Rib of Beef(7oz) - Gorgeous prime rib cooked to medium and served with spicy horseradish and pan gravy. Roast Ontario Turkey - (3oz with 3oz dressing) Whole turkeys roasted on our premises, freshly carved and served to you with pan gravy, sage dressing and cranberry sauce. Side Dishes Romanoff Potatoes - a magnificent casserole of creamy potatoes, cheeses, scallions and sour cream. (4oz) Glazed Carrots Deluxe Bread Assortment arranged in a basket with creamy butter on the side. 30 Desserts Gourmet Cheesetray - A Cheese platter with a touch of sophistication. The wedges of Canadian and imported cheeses are elegantly presented with grape and seasonal fruit garnish and accompanied by toasts. Seasonal Finger Desserts Each one of our dessert selections is deliciously different. Fresh Brewed 100% Columbian Coffee - Orange Pekoe Tea -

Well, Marlene, how did the dips turn out? Are you ready to become a vegan, full-throttle? ← Oh yeah, I'll be turning vegan. The dips turned out just fine, although in the end my husband got it wrong. Turns out she's a vegetarian, not a vegan, so dairy was fine.

Oh boy is she coming to the wrong house. Hummus and roasted red pepper dip it is. Thanks!

I'm having unexpected company for dinner tonight. One of whom is a vegan. So I'm putting together a cruditite platter and I need a quick and easy dip recipe involving sour cream if possible. Help!

I'm inclined to agree on the salad issues. My instinct is to go with a tossed green salad, and perhaps a green been almondine and the carrots. And perhaps a simple rice pilaf. Um caramel crunch cakes are individual caramel cakes with a crunchy topping and caramel sauce. And I don't care about the strawberries, the cheese course is for me! Oh and the reason there is no seafood and only one pork dish which i may change out is : We dont' eat fish or seafood here. Well, I eat shrimp and lobster but my husband hates it. So in deference to Don, no seafood. (although I've been thinking about sneaking a shrimp cocktail platter in there! And a number of our guests are Jewish, who although they don't keep kosher, many of them don't eat pork, so I try to stay away from that as well.