Darienne

I love it!!! :wub:

I admit that I paid no attention to the price of the oranges because it was for a special event. However, I was wondering how the cake would taste with regular sweet eating oranges. There was no sign of the blood red which the oranges were. Also, and this is shameful so don't tell anyone I gave up trying to get the membranes off the segments and held my fingers crossed. You absolutely could not tell the difference. There was NO sense of skin/membrane/whatever. For the sauce, I used the juice without the pulp...yes I am lazy...and added Grand Marnier as is in the 'What would Cathy Eat?' version of the cake. The sauce was great. And blood red. I think I'll make it again for our next 'occasion' with regular oranges and will report back. Or if you use regular oranges, do let us know.

From Fany Gerson's My Sweet Mexico, Helado de Pasitas con Tequila / Tequila-Raisin Ice Cream, p.184. Eight hours later and it's still sitting in a very cold freezer (-20 C or 4 below F). And it's still quite soft. A regular ice cream would be hard as a rock. It's our dog food freezer and it's too cold for ice cream. The ice cream is delicious and it's very soft and I am not surprised. The recipe which makes 1 quart calls for 3/4 cup of Tequila. Could this much booze possibly freeze in an ice cream? Did I say that it was delicious???? Has anyone else tried it? (Next weekend I am making 'Mexican' for some friends who are very excited at the prospect. Remember that we live in the far frozen north in a very provincial region. I've made the above ice cream for the over 21 crowd and am going to make Helado de Cajeta / Cajeta Ice Cream for those under.)

Made Smitten Kitchen's (adapted from A Good Appetite) Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake with Honey-blood orange compote and thick cream. Oh my. It was delicious. Five of us for lunch and we ate almost the entire cake. Oh yes! Yes, I did take a photo...but alas! the photo is too blurry to post.

It is my considered opinion that making confections is a two-person job. A friend, like my confectionery partner, Barbara, or a husband with strong arms who will butt out after he does the 'manly' parts. Alas! My DH will help me...but he won't butt out. Your bar looks delicious.

Just finished dipping some raspberry truffles in dark chocolate. No, no photos. The only way I could ever post photos of my handiwork is if I could have the photos professionally airbrushed. But they are delicious. The raspberry ganache is the most incredible I have ever tasted. Calls for 1/2 cup of Chambord. Heaven.

Lovely cakes, Genkinaonna.

This is a great idea!

You and I are obviously not going to the 'mall' at the same time.

Tablecloth if you want the wood to show. Special runner if you are not fussy about how much table shows. In our house, I would use something with a "southwest" theme. Then change the runner depending upon the season, celebration, etc.

Froze half the poblano soup in early April and ate the rest tonight with two finely shredded potatoes in it. Lessened the heat factor substantially. And was good. Thanks all.

Not exciting, but still delicious. The original recipe for Morning Glory Muffins by Earthbound Farm's consultant, Chef Pam McKinstry, 1978. And...with absolutely no tweaks...well, my apple was not organic and I had to process pineapple chunks for the called for crushed pineapple. I don't think that counts really. Oh, and I upped the cinnamon. Of course. 1/2 a muffin is my 'the pharmacist say I have to consume 150 calories taking these darned pills first thing in the am' snack.

Lovely work!!!

Sorry all. After all that planning and questions and those dreams of immersing myself elbow deep in chocolate, it has all come to naught. And I had so looked forward to meeting you all. Sorry Kerry. Please take my name off the list. Thanks, Darienne

Ended up today in Kensington Market at Perola's and went mad. Spent over $100 in 10 minutes with my eyes darting here and there madly, not able to concentrate really, barraged by too many new products. Bought some tomatillos (which are never in Peterpatch), three kinds of cheese, real chorizo, banana leaves, corn husks, canela, crema, chicharones (boy did the pups love these) and assorted stuff. Wot larks! Bought some fried before my eyes churros stuffed with dulce de leche which we scarfed as we made our way north and out of the big TO. There were some other Hispanic stores which I didn't hit...not enough time, no where to park, currently unable to walk much, etc. Next time...

Hi DianaM, Motel 6, Niagara Falls ON, #5701. 5700 Stanley Avenue, 905-356-6696

OMG. I took cooking classes in a kitchen with one of those taps and neither I nor the other students could manage the taps properly. I can't remember which way they were set, vis-a-vis cold and hot, but they drove me crazy. All the best! (But then you are one very smart guy and you'll no doubt get it quickly! Your youngster won't have any trouble at all!) ps. Yeah. I am more than old enough to be your Mother!)

Just asked the DH how to reverse the hot and cold and he told me how. Mr. Renovations, he is. I see that you have contractors present so they can do it easily. It is a very small adjustment...which I won't bother describing because they'll do it for you. I would change them to the standard and get something to write over the incorrect directions. No question. None. IMHO. Our new stove has the burners opposite from the stove I had for I don't know how long and all the stoves before I guess, and after more than two years I still don't have them straight, even though the knobs have little circle doodads beside them. I don't want to have to figure it out each time...but I do have to. I put labels on the stove which tell me which is which. Rats.

As always I am enchanted by your creations, dystopiadreamgirl. :wub:

I know about the name and the history of the ice cream...I just can't find out what the liqueur tastes like and I can't find anyone who has tasted it.

Last week for fun I bought this little second-hand book, Homemade Cream Liqueurs, Dona & Mel Meilach. It speaks of Haagen-Dazs Cream liqueur, (I don't know how to do umlauts in this format) based on Cognac and "various flavors". Never heard of it, which means nothing, as I am not versed in this area. So Haagen-Dazs liqueur is a product with Hiram Walker. Haagen-Dazs ice cream is now a product of Dreyer's, a subsidiary of Nestle's in Canada and the USA. Apparently nothing to do with each other. I googled it this way and that and learned nothing else. Has anyone tasted this liqueur in its various flavors? My little book says nothing about what it tastes like.

Wegmans is a high end grocery store. There are tons of things to get there. If you have been across the border for more than 3 days your limit is $400 and in that you can bring back 1 litre of liquor. You shouldn't have to pay any duty on that if you aren't over your limits. Sorry, Kerry, my carelessness. I should have added ...and we have never been across the border for fewer than 3 days, usually more than a month at a time. In other words, this will be our very first experience of making a purchase in the USA on the same day of both crossing into the USA and returning to Canada. So, now we will be going across in the morning and returning in the evening of the same day, and we don't know what to expect. The little official booklet certainly doesn't answer my questions clearly. Will we be allowed to bring in more than 1.14 litres of Everclear if we pay the taxes and duties on it? Do you have any idea of what these taxes and duties will be? Is it worth doing? I would love to have some Everclear again for making liqueurs, but have no idea of how the border situation works. Thanks.

Hi Kerry, Would you please give us a for instance of what 'goodies' we Canucks can expect to find at Wegman's? And a bit more info about bringing Everclear across the border, seeing as we have never done that before. (We are always more than 7 days in the USA). So we go to the Duty Free and each buy the prescribed amount of Everclear 1.something litres, and then when we hit the border, we say we have this liquor and they say....and we pay.... Thanks. Oh...no rush on this...

I had forgotten about splitting the hot dog to allow for more charring. Thanks. I like my hot dogs well charred, with cheap yellow mustard and cheap sweet relish on the cheapest squishiest heated hot dog bun possible. Do not give me a fancy bun! Oh, and regular kettle chips, please (which is not really in keeping with the main feature, is it?) Once a month for lunch, please. That is exactly right. If the bun is just right, it will stick to the roof of your mouth, too, which for some reason is part of the perfect hot dog experience. You have hit it right on. Last time DH bought good quality hot dog buns and I was SO disappointed.

Hi MarkM, another one to try is the Hot Aztec Chocolate Ice Cream. Again, you choose the level of heat. My DH won't touch it; I scarf it down. I do love watching the reactions of folks trying it for the first time. For one second, you can see the reaction: 'Hmmm...what's all the fuss about? This isn't hot. Nice smooth cool .... oooohhhhmygawd ....' As the heat hits. (I always do warn them.) We have this huge Annual Dog Weekend in August at the farm and two years ago I did the Orange Szechwan and last year the Hot Aztec as part of the ice cream variety...people LOVE homemade ice cream...and I'll have to find another hot one for this year. Any suggestions? And I'll try the Xanthum gum next...just a smidgen. Thanks. and thanks, as always, ICM , paulraphael, for your explanations.