Marlene

I have a friend who is working his way through this book. He doesn't own a vita mixer. I doubt that it is necessary for the book.

Hoshe, that was very helpful. Thank you!

Good question, but I don't think the K cups are "instant" coffee, but what do I know. I love my Keurig machine, and I just noticed single serve Keurig's at the kitchen store the other day. (just in case you change your mind on bringing in a machine).

I've had breakfast at Bouchon and really enjoyed it. Haven't tried dinner there yet. We'll be staying at the Wynn, so not quite at convenient, but this would be for a Sunday and we have no plans, so could easily make the trip over to the Venetian.

We are going to see Garth in February, hence the trip and the need for dinner at Wynncore. We'll be having steak at Delmonico's so I'd be interested in something different. Also any opinions as to whether Bouchon would be better for brunch or dinner? If brunch, that leaves one more dining option open.

We will be heading to Vegas in February. Yes I know that's a little bit far ahead. We'll be there for technically 4 nights although our plane gets in late the first night, so likely no big dining. Friday night will be Delmonico's. Sunday will either be brunch or dinner at Bouchon. I am not sure which would be better. Saturday we have late show tickets at Encore, so I would like to find a good restaurant within the complex for that night. As long as it's not fish, I'm open to suggestions! Japanese? Italian? Something else? What's good at Wynn Encore?

Pretty impressive! But: Now that's the group I want tallied! I am back at home now. Of all the cookbooks in my kitchen, my tally is about 85% of those I use for more than one recipe. I can only find 15 that I use rarely, but they are used.

Yep. It's pretty slick. Great for bread too.

and whenever I'm making a pan sauce or gravy or wine reduction, I always seem to be wearing a white shirt!

I am the world's messiest cook. I have more measuring spoons,cups etc, and I use all of them when I am cooking.

JAZ's spiced nuts are da bomb, and Diana will love them I think. What about fruitcake, with Christmas not all that far away? I have a recipe that takes six days to make rather than the 3 months of other ones, and it is awesome. That would ship well. I can't believe Diana is off to college, but I guess that will be Ryan next year!

Miss D, when I had dinner a Per Se a couple of years ago, they accommodated my mushroom allergy perfectly and while I am not allergic to fish, I don't really care for it, and they made some wonderful substitutions for me. As everyone else has noted, just let them know in advance about any allergies.

I'm here for another week and a half, then I'll come back here and give the tally. Generally speaking, the ones in the kitchen are the ones I use on a regular basis. I've got about 300 in storage and another couple of hundred in my office that I never use. But if you are asking about the active cookbook shelves, then those are the ones in the kitchen!

I'm not at home and I don't do math, but I brought 35 cookbooks to the cottage with me. Of those, I use 33 of them on a regular basis for two or more recipes in them. The other two are Robuchon and The CIA's Professional Chef 8th edition, which are mostly reference books for me. I'll look at my cookbook shelves when I get home as I have about 200 in the kitchen. But I'm not sure how many of them I've used for more than one recipe.

Penny candy. Remember when you could get a huge bag for a dime? Otherwise, butchers definitely, and milkmen. Milk was just so much better then.

Thank you!

What I'd like to see is a pictorial demonstration of your tying technique. It's beautiful. I, as I have mentioned, tie short ribs. I trust chickens, but not turkeys.

It depends on how you want to present them I think. If you're going to shred them, no need to tie. I like to tie them because they stay together better and I can slide them off the bone in one piece to lay over say, mashed potatoes. It's a personal thing. I just find that they fall apart on me if I don't tie them.

And I get that one already too. Although I was thinking about dropping it.

I wonder what happens to those of us who subscribed to both?

I also have this pan, and have never used it.

I preferred Gourmet to Bon Appetit. I never met a Bon Appetit recipe I didn't have to fix. I just discovered that the Gourmet Institute has been canceled as well for this year. It was supposed to be in a couple of weeks.

They look great! I will also have to try this one soon. Cheese and bread, two of my favourite things.

I would agree with using yukons (which is pretty much what I use for most gratins or reds. Martha Stewart makes something similar though it's not a gratin, more like a potato cake in a muffin tin. If you decide to grate the potatoes, I'd squeeze them dry first. Here's Martha's potato cake recipe for comparison 2 T soft unsalted butter 1 T dark brown sugar 1 T balsamic vinegar 1 T red wine vinegar 2 t finely chopped fresh thyme 1 small red onion thinly sliced 4 Yukon gold potatoes, coarsely grated 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten To make, butter 6 muffin cups or ramekins. In the bottom of each cup, sprinkle some salt and pepper, a bit of the dark brown sugar (you may not need the whole tablespoon) and divide the vinegars evenly among the cups. You can put a small sprig of thyme in each cup if you like, Place a small round of the red onion in each cup. Press the grated potatoes to remove as much water as you can. The toss them with the thyme and egg yolk and a bit of salt and pepper. Press the potato mixture into each cup, dot the tops with the soft butter and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until the nicely browned and tender. Let sit for a few minutes before running a knife around the edges, and invert and serve. the original recipe calls for rosemary which I found way overpowering, and they don't suggest pressing the potatoes, which I found resulted in a fairly wet potato. I think these should come out a bit crispier, which is why I suggest it here. And you may want to back off on the brown sugar a bit, otherwise, they tend to be a bit sweet. --

Whole gratins need time to sit before slicing so that they hold together. I would imagine it would be the same for individual ones. Have you rested these before inverting?