Darienne

Looks delicious, Xilimmns. No photo here of last night's "Dessert as Dinner" mostly because it looked a tad like a dog's dinner...but was a great success. Mark Bittman's Free Form Apple or Pear Tart. Biggest problem making it was finding a suitable apple in Moab. The produce manager said: Use Rome apples. They were really uninteresting. Friend said: Use Honeycrisps. Ditto for taste. So bought Granny Smiths and they were fine. Miss Spies from home. But on the other hand...red cliffs, blue skies, sun and low humidity. No contest. We ate said pie with 5-year aged Cheddar brought from Ontario. Strange that in his recipe, Bittman makes no suggestion of eating the tart with cheese...

Lovely, Rwood.

Could you try to describe what camel milk tastes like...although it is very hard to 'describe' taste.

Hi Ilana, How wonderful for you all especially in a country which is so beset by bombs from those who choose to define themselves as enemies. Do write as much as you can about the Bedouin culture. We all need to understand and appreciate each other better. (Don't mean to sound preachy, but my words have just come out that way.)

I've been monitoring this topic, hoping for some input from an experienced ice-cream-butter-user. I'd never heard of using butter in ice cream although I might try it in my next batch...not for some time however...mu ice cream churner is 2000 miles away. Sounds interesting and I hope that someone who has tried it will come forth. My usual recipe is half&half, (milk), cornstarch, sugar, invert sugar, salt and whatevers in flavors and inclusions.

DH is with the Ambassador. I'm with you at this point, although I'm not crazy about fonts with serifs. That may be my old eyes... I do like the large caps with the much smaller miniscules. What font is that, please?

Great advice. Cbread is correct. We have two fonts on our own stuff, a fancy and a very plain for the contact info. Cbread has a good eye. And about the lid too. I remember when we were using a font with a horrible capital "I" and "J". I substituted those caps from another similar font which was legible and very similar. Worked well, but it was just one too many things to deal with. Picked a new font completely in the end. Good luck. It is all looking very good.

Sounds like something to try soon. I get a bit unhinged by trying new things under deadlines.

Didn't know where to put this tip, a tip which all the rest of you out there may already know. Getting the chopped nuts to stick well to the chocolate has been a problem at times for me and DH came up with a solution last night when the chocolate was already to set to receive the nuts. Put the pan under the broiler for a few minutes...keeping a sharp eye on it at all times...and the chocolate will remelt and accept the nuts big time. Thanks, DH.

Hooray for the talented...and courageous...Lior!

Thinking it over from a quiet perspective, I realize that ScoopW and Lisa Shock were on the mark. It would have been less work simply to make larger batches on the stove than smaller in the microwave. However, that would have necessitated somewhere to spread the brittle out and this I do not have away from home. I'm now making on the stove arger batches of Buttercrunch toffee...2.75 finished product per batch...and completed two batches lickety-split. Each batch spreads to only one half-sheet and this I can accommodate. Still next time, I'll bring a second sheet with me if I plan to make lots of brittle.

Ditto from me. And I would be thrilled to have a good persimmon ice cream recipe.

Why I have been so busy the last week. 5 dozen lollipops for the Moab Valley Humane Society to sell at their Dog Adoption Day. 30 gift 1/2 Christmas boxes of Chocolate Coated Almond Toffee and Nut and Seed Brittle for the Society's volunteers. This is what makes Christmas food gifts really good for me. DH helped package everything.

Thanks all for the replies. It's a good beginning.

I prefer the frozen coconut milk I can get from the asian grocery stores to the canned. Of course, they are 2-3x more expensive than canned so I tend to save them for dishes which really highlight the coconut. I still keep plenty of cans around too. You can also freeze unused quantities of that for later rather than have them go off in the fridge. But I rarely do that... I mix it up with panela or other muscavado/brown sugar, apply a little heat and use as a dessert topping. Thanks natashal1270, I shall look for frozen coconut products next time I am in our local Asian grocery store.

It's only recently that I can buy Poblanos in East Central Ontario and I can also buy dry Anchos and Ancho powder, but at pretty high prices. Now I'm in the Great Southwest, Moab, UT, and can't buy either dried Anchos or Ancho powder. A friend bought me some Anchos, but not Ancho powder, in Grand Junction, CO, at a Mexican mercado. I know I can grind the Anchos into powder. Can I dry Poblanos into Anchos? Can I dry Jalapenos into Chipotles?

Frozen coconut milk. Could you please explain how this is a basic in a freezer? Do you make it?

That's a molinillo and I wish I had the courage to take on doing a blog right now but I don't. What about Kalypso or Theabroma? Hooray for more Mexican/South American cooking!

Back in the land of incredible second hand stores. Got a brand new bread machine for $2 on 50% off Sunday for old guys. Not the best brand, but for $2 who can complain. Also found these two sieves for 50 cents each. I just love 'em.

Yes, I agree with this. I do graphics for a living and all caps are less easy to read than a mix of upper and lower case, especially with stylized lettering. If you're wedded to the font due to business reasons, that doesn't mean everything you print needs to be in that font. Use it for baked good titles, your business name, etc, but something like descriptions or ingredient lists can be set in a simple Times Roman Italic (a little stylish yet easy to read). Good luck with the packaging! Good points, Toliver. Thanks.

Frozen spinach & corn, puff and filo pastry, butter, bacon. That would be first for us. But then we live in the country.

Oh I do like that last one, with the red bottom. As for the typescript, go with what you have already picked for your business. You are correct. It's much different reading it with the tag in your hand. Our business also has a more elaborate script and it's fine from in one's hand.

I know very little about marble and have been lucky to have been gifted with two pieces of marble, the second one DH built into a wonderful rolling kitchen table for me. Both pieces are fairly impervious to wear and tear. Oh yes, chocolate in exchange for both. This past weekend I learned that apparently there is a vast difference in marble from Georgia (good) and Colorado (not good). A friend bought a beautiful marble piece of Colorado marble for a table top and it scratches very easily. I know...I accidentally scratched it myself. She says...make certain if you buy a table top, that it's marble from Georgia. Anyone know anything more about this?

OK. I think that #3, red on red, is more graphically sophisticated...but on the other hand, the red on white is more attention grabbing and more in keeping with an 'in-joke' perhaps. On the other hand, I have always hated the Leafs anyway, being a Canadiens fan through and through.

Will do so. I like the idea of drizzling bittersweet chocolate on their tops. Now both DH and the man who owns the condo we are renting thought that they were great. I'm with you though completely.