Darienne

Ditto .

I'd be curious to know if you, Emily R, are European or something else non-American. Americans usually, now only usually , like their confections and baked goods sweeter than Europeans or Canadians. I don't know about Aussies. (We are expecting an onslaught of Aussies at the farm in April/May and will inquire.) I'm Canadian, and invariably cut the sugar content in American recipes. No sense of superiority there...just childhood experiences, especially as DH and I are War Babies...is, NO sugar. We drink our coffee VERY STRONG from the getgo and find commercial coffee providers with the exception of Starbucks and other local coffee places, make their coffee very weak. As one barista in a Colorado Starbucks outlet told me: "Most American coffee tastes like weak weasel p*ss". I couldn't say, never having tasted the aforementioned beverage. So, I used very strong brewed coffee and also added a bunch of ancient instant coffee too. Then a huge pinch of espresso grounds. Plus I didn't have enough condensed milk as noted above. Maybe that made the difference. I would suggest to Emily to make it again, put more coffee into it and replace some of the condensed milk with either heavy or half & half cream. It's hard to taste the mix when it's warm because of course the cold will reduce the sweetness factor. Good luck.

So the American can and the Canadian can both hold 1 1/4 cups of condensed milk. Thank you for your help. Now I can rest easy.

4 legged variety, or in a bun type? How would a 4 legged dog get into the maple syrup? Our two dogs had just arrived and so were maple syrup-free, but their three dogs, two of them Goldens with long fur, had somehow gotten maple syrup on themselves, particularly their tails and hind feathers. Imagine a hot dog in a bun with maple syrup??? Strange pairings.

I did have misgivings about making the Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream, as interesting as the ingredients were, because I could not stand a cup of coffee with sugar in it. WOW! The ice cream is terrific. Yummy. Even DH loves it. So good. Now for the small problems. In Canada at least, condensed milk comes in 300 ml = 1 1/4 cup cans. And the recipe called for 1 1/2 cups. a) I had only one can and b) what on earth would I do with most of an opened second can? Condensed milk is not something I have ever worked into my life. So I used 1/4 cup extra half & half, and my dollop of corn syrup which now was not problematic at all. Chalk up another success for DL's Perfect Scoop (with minor variations).

We live in called east central Ontario (90 miles north and east of Toronto), Maple Syrup Land. Every hamlet in the area has a maple syrup festival. Last week we went to our neighbors round the corner (so to speak) and watched the operation -year old lath from our farm renovations, miles of plastic tubing, dogs covered in syrup...it was amazing. I had no idea what a huge operation our neighbors had. They gave us a bottle of fresh hot syrup to take home which I promptly screwed up making maple candy. (There is a tiny window in beating the candy between pourable and a huge solid lump on the receiving mold.) Then the ground-up maple sugar went into rolled biscuits with walnuts. Delicious.

Wow. Three look-ups in one post. Zo, biga, and poolish. Who knew? So much to learn, learn, learn...

Thanks Elsie. Nope, a woman cannot have too many recipes for the same thing. Elicits a lot of confusion, true, but still worth the trouble. You know, I have never had Challah with raisins in it.

I can't give you any specific directions or bakeries to go to, but if you have never eaten a Montreal bagel, straight out of the oven, do this thing. Bagels will never be the same for you again.

Just settling down to make DL's Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream, remembering that I had bought a can of condensed milk to make something or other which never got made. DL's recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk. Naturally the Canadian can, Eagle Brand, is 300 ml. Why make it easy? So 300 ml is 1 1/4 cups: 1/4 cup too small. My question: what is the measurement of an American can? No reason, just curious, as usual. (I added 1/4 cup of half and half and a dollop of corn syrup.)

Our dinner is at noon and today I made Fried Chickpeas with Chorizo and Spinach a recipe published by Mark Bittman on his blog, 19 February 10. I used 1/4 of his breadcrumb topping. As usual, I am seduced by the pictures. We added yogurt to our plates.

Thanks for including the recipe, Steve. My Cuisinart booklet doesn't have that recipe in it. Strange. Wait. My booklet is Canadian: right...half in French...therefore half the recipes.

This looks like one I can use. I have no starter for the RLB recipe. Thanks.

Thanks Dan. Braiding IS important. I don't know about making breads outside of a machine. (I was a cook only from familial pressure until 2 years ago.) Thanks also for 'AFIK'...you do learn something every day.

I am truly a bear of very little brain. DH bought me a monster Cuisinart stand mixer last year and of course it has a bread hook. And obviously I have never used it...or even thought about using it. Duh Thanks.

Thanks Judiu. I should have said that I did get some from the Internet. Was just wondering if anyone on eGullet had tried to make Challah in a bread machine. This one does look good.

As I have whined on occasion, we live in the frozen north's hinterland and a purchased loaf of challah is probably not a possibility. The other thing is that when one lives in the country, one does not easily make the trip to the city for one or two things...but does without. Assuming you could even get Challah in Peterpatch. For breakfast yesterday I made a Baked French Toast recipe which calls for Challah, of which I had none. Used a frozen french baguette instead. It was delicious. But probably not as delicious as it would be with Challah. Hmmmm... I have a bread machine. (I can't knead dough anymore.) What if I could find a good eggy Challah recipe for said bread machine.

Thanks for the tip to look at the Vietnamese Coffee ice cream. Not really geared up yet to make ice cream...it's COLD here today in the frozen northland...but I am intrigued by the ingredient list and think I'll try it. Maybe even today. I'm wondering if my usual additions of pinch of salt and dollop of corn syrup should be added here. Will report back...

This thread has really come to the foreground with me in the last two days, in conjunction with the silicone mat thread. I realized that my pans are old as the hills, rusty, unreliable...probably unsafe...ready for the garbage after up to 50 years of (mis)use and it is time to buy some new ones! Thanks to you all for the information.

My kopy-kat silpats are used mostly for chocolate and other 'not-hot' confections. And for baked dog cookies. For cookies, I now have those strange 'double air bake' things which the former tenant in our Moab house left behind. I used the silicone mats last week for the first time for meat strips. However, my cookie sheets are old and horrible and I don't feel happy putting anything directly on them. Never thought of cutting the pads up. Might try it now that I have a new bunch.

We are no longer Costco virgins. We joined and did a big shopping there this week. Exhausting to learn a new supermarket in detail and it's still far from a known quantity. Found some good buys: pecans, sliced almonds, half & half, giant trays of fresh fruit pieces and also of crudites...good for big groups like our Annual Dog Weekend in August...whipping cream (if you don't want the best quality), butter (ditto). Also paper goods, soaps and stuff. Of no use to us: canned tomatoes...can do much better on the same brands in a supermarket on sales...and this is probably the same for a lot of canned, packaged goods. They don't carry canned dog food which we use on the road or in emergencies. Questions: stuff we bought but aren't convinced on the price angle: dishwasher detergent in big boxes. Need to look in the pharmacy area. Oh we did do well on a 2-year old Balderson cheese wedge with the daily special coupon. Also there were some 'we take $3 off at the cash register' items. That was good. The jury is still out. We have extra freezer space and lots of dry goods space but limited fridge space and only two of us except for onslaughts of visitors...we are expecting a large onslaughts of Aussies end of April...so we can't use the milk in bags, gigantic OJ containers, and so on. All in all, it was...well...it was an experience.

While trying to find a photo of a bite-sized silicone pan I own to send to Aloha Steve, I came across this Perfect Brownie Pan advert. Strictly in the Slap Chopper mode, the ad itself is mind-assaulting, but the pan looks very useful. A large pan, with a set-in divider which separate the batter into sections before baking...like the old fashioned ice-cube trays (if you are old enough to recall them...I am old enough to recall a time without even an icebox. ) The ad is a tad short on specs and so I am wondering if anyone has purchased one. (I am thinking specifically of make chocolate-dipped toffee, already divided into neat pieces for me, as the makers of Enstrom toffee must do.) ??? OK. Found a review of the Perfect Brownie pan with pros and cons listed. Of special note is the fact that you can purchase one at E Bay, Amazon, or at Bed Bath and Beyond for $20, possibly under the name 'Slice Solutions Brownie Pan'.

Did not remember this ice cream and just looked it up. Did you include the chocolate covered peanuts too? I think we need permanently installed cameras in our kitchens to take those photos which everyone else wants to see.

Wonderful report Paul. I really enjoyed reading it.

Looks excellently tarted up to me.