Marlene

I'll be reading along with interest as we will be in Paris and then Barcelona at the end of May!

I would also like to know if the stainless steel finish scorches. ← At least on the Cuisinart, the stainless steel finish does not scorch. I gave this one to my sister in law for Christmas and she loves it. It does have a nice size capacity.

The household model of your fab professional meat slicer. It's the "Waring Pro." Here it is: my slicer ← this is the one we have and we love it.

Sigh. My son is one of those who grew up eating in front of the TV, and mostly still does. When he was young, it was the only place I could get him to eat, and frankly, after 8 hour crying jags from colic, I was just happy for the peace, and to finally get some food into him, regardless of where he sat. And absolutely I made him special meals as a baby. I was far more concerned with getting food into him than having a battle of wills with a six month old. However, we've been taking him to restaurants since he was six years old. He can discuss the menu knowlegably with the waiter, order properly, and hey, he even knows which fork to use. His tastes are far broader than mine and he will happily order lobster, crab, herring and other things most kids won't touch. These days, he's willing to try almost anything, although he would not as a young child. He will wear a suit to a really nice place and has done since he was very young. He wears tuxes to formal nights when we cruise. He is equally comfortable sitting around the table at home during a family celebration and can converse as easily with his 95 year old grandmother as he can with his 13 year old cousin. He has impeccable manners, and I've been complemented on them more times than I can count. In fact, it's the first thing other parents say to me when I go to pick him up from his friend's places. Recently at the hair dressers, we were sitting by the door waiting for his appointment, when an elderly lady began making her way out of the salon. Without any prompting, he got up and held the door open for her as she was leaving. Am I a bad parent for letting him eat mostly in front of the TV? Has it scared him for life? Maybe, but at almost 15,he seems to be turning out just fine. I suppose I'll have to wait to see when he grows up and appears on Jerry Stringer or publishes his own Mommy Dearest. Maggie makes some good points, but in the end, it comes down to knowing your child. Like adults, each child is unique and what works on one will most certainly not work on the other, not even siblings. Raising children is not a one size fits all. What is the point here, is that children (and adults, since I've sat beside some very loud obnoxious adults in restaurants) do have to know how to behave. How you get there, is up to each parent.

Funny that you mention this, as a friend got so pissed off about it that she pitched the thing. She got a Benriner and has been much, much happier with it. I'm about to get a Benriner, I think. I have one of the cheapo plastic ones, and I hate it. ← I had an Oxo Mandoline that I absolutely hated. It didn't slice cleanly julienne or otherwise. I got a Du Buyer and I love it.

I've been using our new Miele La Perla for several months now, and I love it. The top cutlery rack is grat for getting silverware out of the bottom and has a split rack so if I've got tall wine glasses I can take out one of the racks. The second rack has an easily adjustable height feature, so I can raise or lower it if I've got tall pots and such in the bottom rack. Both the middle and bottom racks have removable inserts so I can take them out to put in tall pots, or leave them in for dishes, but it has a vase holder that goes in or out and several other features that I like. Several different cycles but the ones I use the most are "China and Crystal, economy, normal and pots and pans. All work well. The economy cycle does't dry as well though. It is so quiet I never know it's on. On the down side, the cycles seem to be quite long.

I have three different sizes of KA food processors and not one of them has ever leaked wet or dry ingredients. I've had Cuisinart, and I didn't like them as much, although I understand the old Cuisinarts are pretty good. I'd take it back and get a new one. I suspect the one you have is defective.

I love this idea. I rarely braise chicken for the same reason. The skin gets soft and icky, now matter how well it's browned before. So now, I'll brown the chicken, remove the skin and crisp it some more and continue with the braising. Brilliant.

Double Fudge Brownies This my go to brownie recipe now. I'm not much of a sweet eater, but I like brownies. They must be fudgy, but I also like my brownies frosted.

I have a GE Monagram beverage centre that I really like. We also have the GE wine centre as well. Before that we had a Marvel one. I like the GE better as it holds more, maintains temp better and is more attractive. I've not heard of U-line though. Edited to add, I googled U-line. I prefer the wine racks on the bottom as the GE has and that push button digital control in the middle of the bottom would irriate me to no end.

Wendy, does your crock pot have a keep warm feature? I usually make honey garlic meatballs in this situtation. I make them the day before, baking them as I normally do, then chill them overnight. In the morning, dump them in the crockpot when you're leaving for work. Arrive at work and plug crock pot in on low setting. It will kick over to the keep warm feature and be perfect for serving at the time of the pot luck. Ribs in the crock pot will work as well. Just cut them into single rib servings before putting them in the crock pot. You can brown the ribs or broil them the night before and chill them. I use a home made rib sauce, and pour that over the ribs in the morning and then plug the pot in when I get to the office. Edited to add, the ribs should go on the high setting once you're at work.

Ah, I have it now. The lead on the magazine, rather than the book. Still the magazine seems to be talking about grilled breads, like pizza, which is something several members have suggested they have trouble with. Again. I'll reserve judgement. Yeah, they probably want to sell merchandise, but I don't hold that against them.

where do you get that? I'm looking at the book and (of course I could be blind at this time of night) but I'm not seeing grilling recipes. Unless they are for grilled breads, which would of course be entirely acceptable. Not that there's anything wrong with Cooks Illustrated's method's either. While I often disagree with them, I've found a lot of their issues and the one cookbook of theirs that I have very helpful. I'll reserve my own judgement till I see a copy of this new magazine.

I placed an order with King Arthur earlier today so I should get a copy. I need another food magazine to read. What else would I read on airplanes these days?

I really need to learn how to make sticky rice. My husband keeps bugging me for it. Very nice Bruce!

After a week's vacation, I'm back in the kitchen. Tonight's dinner was ham steak with cider gravy, corn muffins and potato gratin.

I have the loaf pans and the individual pie plates. The loaf pans are great. Just remember that they can be a little slippery when using oven mitts, so be sure you have a good grip on one.

You just let the bread dry on the counter, then process into crumbs. You can then toast if you like.

I make the slices into crumbs first in the processor, then spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and toast slowly in a 250 oven. I never get dust.

Christine I have all the volumes as well, but the recipes everyone are talking about are in the latest one, 150 Best American

I see this never got answered. We're in Miami for one night, near the airport. Save me from Kobe Japanese Steakhouse which is where my family wants to go tonight! A Anything in this area?

Kim, I've never seen anything like those candies before. They're adorable!

I don't think so Marlene. Your cinnamon bun picture was the reason that I made them. ← Yes but your's looked so much better. In any case, the recipe I used is in Bread Baker's Apprentice. I don't have time to adapt the recipe in my own words before I leave on vacation in the morning, but I will when I get back. One thing my sister in law suggested when she made them was to use a butter, brown sugar cinnamon spread instead of the cinnamon sugar. she tried it and apparently they were divine that way.

Are you thinking of This? we do have some and it is great. I'm in, but I won't get started till I get back from my vacation.

Penne a la Vodka and of course, biscuits.