Darienne

Would you mind explaining the above sentences a bit? How could 4 small packets be used with multi-dozens of cookies? And how could two packets be enough? Two packets used how and where? Thanks.

In 2010, I will keep better lists of what's in the freezers, both in the cellar and upstairs. We will eat more stuff from the freezers before it is beyond rescue. I will freeze less stuff!!! I will find a decent recipe for okra and eat it, even if I do so alone. And with my DH looking on and making rude remarks. I will learn how to make bread. Finally. I will teach my 'up the road' neighbor how to work with chocolate because she has been begging me for years now. I will grow an indoors herb garden. It's already set up and ready to go.

O.K. Remember that you did ask. Our dogs get to drink it.

No advice to give to you but hope that others can help you. The promise I made to those who had already made Black Cake was not to try to make the burnt sugar syrup but to buy it...which I did. I can now see what can go wrong. My Black Cake never got made...this Christmas did not turn as out we had planned...but I do have the loveliest rum-macerated fruit sitting waiting for me along with commercially purchased burnt syrup and mixed essence. Soon, I hope. All best to you, Phoenikia

Your bread looks wonderful. Truth told, I have never made a loaf of bread from scratch.

John Rosevear said what I was thinking. You can eat locally when you live below a certain agricultural zone. We live on the Canadian shield and are very limited. But then...The Fat Guy reiterated his point and all was once again clear. Thanks, FG

I'd like to add cooked radishes. One year it rained endlessly and we had this bumper crop of huge radishes. Why we always plant radishes I don't know. I don't even like them. Somewhere in the depths of my muddled mind I recalled that some Scandinavian country actually cooked and ate radishes. I simply boiled them like potatoes and poured a cheese sauce on them. I could not believe it! They loose their red color and their sharp bite and they were DELICIOUS! Never had a bumper crop since.

Ditto to just about the entire quotation from Tri2Cook. It seems we can't even get local corn at the corn stands now in August. It's all from from a few hours south during late summer/early fall We just muddle on.

You can almost add CA strawberries to the list. No, not the best. But so improved over the last few years as to be quite amazing! ...or are we 1) lucky? 2) lacking in all sensibilities?

Christmas didn't turn out quite the way we had hoped this year, but at least tonight I made this Christmas Cranberry Galette from RLB's Pie and Pastry Bible. I made one last year too, but was too embarassed to post the photo. I kept last year's photo to keep me humble. I'm going to try for some vanilla ice cream (cornstarch base) to go with it.

Well, you do learn something new everyday and not all of it is happy. I knew that the Paderno sold locally was made in PEI (and China and Indonesia), but had no idea that there was another Paderno company in Italy. I think I had better go and have a quiet cup of coffee.

Right now in Canada, there is the huge twice a year Paderno sale. All our local Paderno stores have on sale this 14L stock pot w/cover reg. $313.00 for $99.00. No one is answering the phones today and I have no idea of whether they would ship to the States or not, of if this is what you want or not. One thing I can tell you, is that this model is made in Canada, not China. I can send you some addresses and numbers if you are interested. I do like Paderno and own quite a number of pieces which are MINE, MINE, MINE and no one else touches them!!! Hmmm....I might even buy this one. I usually buy one piece a year.

Dear Confiseur, I am so glad that you wrote. I had the feeling that the standards and the pieces must have been amazing and enchanting. Please don't watch the show...you will be so disappointed. Rather like watching the movie after reading a book you loved: Chocolat, for one. How lucky for you that you could attend.

CKatCook was correct in that the work was beautiful. However that having been said, the program was dreadful...not worth watching at all. Just called friend Barbara who also saw it and she agreed. You can't make a one hour meaningful program about 19 different chocolate chefs from 19 different countries with 19 different judges and several commentators, including Andrew Shotts (who did give it his best shot). Not to mention that each competitor had to make four different kinds of creations. The camera zipped everywhere, staying for only one or two seconds on each competitor or piece. You couldn't even tell what you were looking at some of the time. There was way too much useless chit chat with certain chefs...notably the one from Mexico and the one from Germany. Heck, the chef from the USA was French. Not sort of French, real French. There was nothing about most of the chefs and their work at all. No mention of the Russians or Spaniards. The Canadian chef got three seconds worth. So, if you missed it...you missed basically NOTHING!. So there. IMHO.

DL has this excellent recipe for 'Fresh Ginger Cake' in Room for Dessert. He serves it with 'a dollop of tart lemon curd lightened a little with whipped cream'.

Ditto for me. Just five minutes ago.

Sounds delicious. I could have made one with candied orange peel if our female Spoiled Rotten-weiler hadn't eaten most of the peels as they sat drying. Who knew a dog would eat orange peels?

Hooray for you. I've now had two messages in the last week promising it to me " Estimated arrival date: January 25 2010 - February 10 2010" I live in Canada, so it's bound to be later than in the States. I too pre-ordered it in October. How does it look on first view?

A short candied orange peel story to share: Two days ago I candied the orange peels from our supper Orange Julius type drinks and left them out on a grate to dry out in the kitchen. A crash suddenly in the middle of the day. Our female Spoiled Rotten-weiler, Sable, had eaten almost all the candied orange peel. Who would have thought that a dog would eat orange peels? Even with sugar syrup on them? A hurried call to the vet said she would be fine and so she was.

Thanks for sharing that great story.

No. No. My information is that it is TONIGHT, December 22nd. But you could check again with TLC. Oh...perhaps my info is for Canada?

Might be fun to watch

Hi Ilana, My ignorance shines through. What is cb? Cocoa butter is about all I can think of. Thanks.

We used to eat bluefish when we were really, really poor. Never liked it. Our dogs ate canned mackerel for years. But we never even tasted it. My Mother's family ate herring pickled and as a child I hated it. So much for those three fish.

Parsnips. I had never tasted them until two years ago when I decided we should try them. Yummm... We are not quite vegetarians, but my favorite parsnip dish, and the one we will eat on Monday night for Winter Solstice celebrations is roasted fall vegetables: parsnips, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, with Brussels Sprouts and mushrooms. The sprouts are for me and the mushrooms for DH.