Darienne

Just when I thought I had heard of every incredible kitchen item...

Real, old-fashioned macaroni and cheese.

Hi Curls, For a first attempt, this is pretty brilliant. My first attempt looked as if the dog had helped me. Way to go!

Congratulations, Marmish, on a job well done.

...going back a bit in this thread...I should mention that I now have my very own battery-operated Trudeau pepper mill.

Dear Girl, I cannot believe that you have the temerity to blame me for your own weaknesses. I told Ed about the chopper and he just gave me the look. He does all our chopping. And also...as he calls them...'the mises' for Chinese food which we eat constantly.

Omigawd. I think I have fallen in love with the Williams-Sonoma Chopper

Well put. Exactly

Thanks all for all the posts. Thanks Karen, your post was particularly helpful. I've made a list of the useful items for us from your list and all the other suggestions given and will check it in our local Costco when I go in. As for the Amex card...if it is free, and if I pay it off each month as we always pay off our cards, then I can't see any problem...at this point. Stuff, however, has been known to arise from 'no problem' situations before and smack me up the side of the head. I'll report back anything worth noting from my end. Thanks again.

Something desserty?

Thank you.

Was just reading the new thread ' Breakfasts around the World' and discussing same with DH and suddenly remember what could be my contribution to this thread: French toast fingers at Big Boy. OMG Never get to have them because we normally travel westward and they are mostly east and southward. But I remember...

Aha. Peterpatch just got its first Superstore less than a year ago and we don't actually shop there except on rare occasions. Find their prices higher than the others, like Price Chopper and No Frills, although they do carry a few more exotic bits and bobs.

Merci beaucoup.

PH? Pierre Hermes? 10?

Hello Edward J, * I was told they accept American Express which I can get free of charge at the store. No problem there. * What is the "Stoopid" store, please, which has dairy prices on-par with Costco? Thanks

Dear Agray,, Thanks so much for your detailed reply. Very helpful to me. Ah yes, the small city syndrome. We live, of course, near Peterpatch (as we lovingly call it) near the Big Smoke as they now appear to call Toronto. We can't get all sorts of stuff and whenever a friend or we are going thataway, we call around to see what someone wants. A friend phoned me from Pickering yesterday on the way home from Toronto, and I asked her to buy X...etc. What we can't get is frustrating. What we can't get in Omemee our nearest town is enormous, starting with eggplant. However, for reasons, unknown, Omemee does carry white corn syrup which my DH couldn't find in the larger food stores in Peterborough. Who knows why? So tomorrow, I am off to Costco. Just phoned them. $55 + tax is current yearly membership and it's good in the USA. OK. DH is going to Indiana in April and I'll ask him to get stuff. If Costco USA is like Walmart Canada/vs/USA it should be fun. Thanks again.

Exquisite, Richard. I think I've got to find more talented friends, friends like you, who might 'owe' my little goodies.

Oh my!!! How wonderful.

However, YOU YANKEE TYPES CAN get pecans at Krogers and the ones in Moab were always fresh. Not as good as the ones flown in from Florida...I have written to my Moab friend to find out where they came from...but still better than most in our small city. The health food stores here with coolers have better ones tho...and way more $$$. I should do a concerted study.

The last entry on this thread was May 2004. We are now edging into February 2010 - six years later. The Foodsaver unit: is it still worth buying a Costco membership - $70?/year to buy one? What else do folks buy there now? Obviously the thread from 2004 says no fresh produce except for a couple of things are worth buying there. And don't go on the weekend. And do your homework. Etc. I am a Costco virgin...never even stepped into one yet. We have a new one in Peterborough, our closest city, and I am thinking of a short free visitor's tour tomorrow. All replies gratefully received.

Should make this list more complete by adding a classic on fudge: Lee Edwards Benning, Oh, Fudge 1990. Add: Peter Greweling Chocolates and Confections at Home, 2010.

"Any idea where she got them? I live in Miami and right now I get my pecans at Costco...wouldn't mind having another source for them" I'll email her and find out. "Do you think there is any added value to buying this book after buying the original Chocolates and Confections?" OK. If you own some good candy making books also, I might say no, especially if your budget's a bit tight. I have amassed all the best candy books as far as I can see, so perhaps it was a bit over the top. But I'm not really sorry. It's still an excellent book. I was shocked at first to read Greweling talking about using compound chocolate after the tone of the bigger book, but what the hey! PS. Check this topic under cookbooks for candy books you might own: Chocolate & confectionary Books . . . which are the best

Looked up all those recipes. Boy, if there is one thing I miss from Moab UT, it's the availability of decent pecans. They obviously don't grow them in Moab, but they can get them. We really can't get decent pecans where I live. My next-door neighbor/landlady/friend in Moab got her pecans from Florida, huge tasty pecans, and I bought bags and bags of them. I'm going to try the pecan buttercrunch. Thanks ps. As for the wiping the surface of the crunch to help the chocolate to adhere...Kerry Beal gave me the excellent advice to dust the surface lightly with cocoa. That really helps.

Thanks for the explanation, Kerry