P1800Girl

Rich, There is certainly a lot to be said for that! It sounds like a great opportunity! -sabine

When I first read about the Archway demise in October, I knew I would really miss the Nutty Nougat cookies that come out only over the holidays. Somehow, someway, someone must have stepped in and resumed production at Archway because I did find a package of them (among many other Archway products) on a grocer's shelf when I was shopping in Massachusetts. I haven't looked lately, and I've found an acceptable homemade substitute for them now. -sabine

I will hunt some down, but it will probably have to wait until next week. Besides frying them up, I wonder if they can be cured, like gravlax. -sabine

Looks fabulous! Where can I get some in Portland (I'm in OOB)? thanks, -sabine

Yikes! If this isn't a sign of what's wrong with our country -- Cuisinart calls it the "Overstuffed" Sandwich Maker. Given that so many Americans are "overstuffed," it should be a big hit. -sabine

Cour de Suisse, You must be referring to this: http://www.kitchencollection.com/Temp_Prod...fm?sku=00317204 I believe they made a weak comeback in the late '80s too (I missed the 60's wave), but I've never owned one. Love to hear what you would stuff in your sandwiches! -sabine

Brilliant! Adding carrot powder to pasta dough would make some amazing looking noodles! What else do you do with the carrot powder, if you don't mind me asking? -sabine

....and getting her hands dirty: http://blogs.usatoday.com/photos/uncategor.../q1x00188_9.jpg -sabine

Bud, That is a great idea and I think I will adopt it as my 'summer' method. When it is hot and you don't have AC, adding heat and humidity to my living space is not my favorite thing to do. On the flip side, in the winter, before I start cooking in my kitchen, I often start a cast iron pot half full of water, and bring to a boil to take the chill out off my 60 degree kitchen. The other benefit to little water/lots of pasta is the ability to use homemade stocks or other flavorings for the pasta to absorb as it cooks. I wouldn't waste quarts of homemade stock for a small amount of pasta, but if I would sacrifice a quart or two to cook my pasta in if the pasta was going to absorb it. Lots of possibilities! -sabine

Choc, You are most welcome. Let us know what you think when you get them and what you make. Any questions, let me know. -sabine

Good job rescuing the can of Italian tomatoes! Any plans for its neighbor -- the 5 gallon bucket of industrial sludge? -sabine

I heard a segment on NPR about 2 months ago about the newspaper industry and job cuts. I think the numbers were 3000 in 2007, and 13000 in 2008. Not a good trend. The whole discussion that ensued was about how newspapers have had 15 years to adapt their business models to the changes brought about by the explosion of online content, yet they haven't. I subscribed to the Portland Press Herald for 10 1/2 years of the 11 that I've lived in Maine. About 6 months ago, when I picked up a Monday morning paper thrown in my driveway, I could have sworn a pamphlet had been delivered instead of my normal paper. It went quickly downhill from there -- less and less content, more and more miserable national and local economic news, and except for the cryptoquip, less and less joy in reading this paper, so I cancelled my subscription. The interesting thing is, I believe it is exactly sections like Food & Wine that readers gravitate to and look forward to each week, so cutting those is making a bad situation even worse. I read recently that Food Network has seen rising ratings lately (no thanks to me) because it is a station that one can tune into and be assured that no program will feature any bad news (unless of course, one has the misfortune to tune into a rerun of Semi Ho making her classic Kwanza cake: http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/kwanzaa-cake/1455.html)

Not if you are using it to gauge temps for a wood fired oven! -sabine

When I read your title, the first answer that popped into my mind was 'old people.' Of course, my uneducated bias is that the term was already passe when I spent summers traveling around Switzerland and France in the late 70's and certainly by the early 80's when I lived there. There may be remote enclaves of the country not familiar with the term, but they probably aren't buying your magazine or following your "Best Of" anyway. Nouvelle is now 'moyen-age', but I don't have a substitute for you as I am not sure what type of cuisine you trying to describe. -sabine

Maybe the next hot trend is Lard. At least WSJ thinks so: http://magazine.wsj.com/wsj-today-magazine/big-fat-deal/ -sabine

Interesting thread..... I remember reading about Alain Ducasse writing about the same technique a couple years ago (I believe he attributed it to olive pickers in Italy). In fact, he even paired up with Alessi to design a special pot to cook the pasta in. Funny it is only a 2 quart pot: http://www.alessi.com/en/3/2021/pots-and-p...ta-cooking-unit I'll save my $200 and buy one of those 'on-sale' $70 Thermopens first and continue to use my Creuset cast iron for my pasta pot. I am always intrigued when someone comes along and turns convention on its head, especially when it is hundreds of years of convention. Jim Lahey did a similar thing when he and Bittman told the world about No Knead Bread. Did he invent it? Maybe, but probably not. Suzanne Dunaway wrote a book 10 years ago called No Need to Knead, so the technique had been documented for at least that long. As far as the energy angle goes; I can't dismiss it out of hand. It may appear miniscule in the big scheme of things, but it is the cumulative effect of exactly those sorts of small conservation steps that will get us closer to where we need to be. To be conscious of the little things is crucial to developing the mindset that we need as individuals to make a difference. -sabine

Thanks for sharing. It brings a whole new dimension to the "Eat the View" campaign underway. It also brings back vague memories of macaroni art in my elementary school days, albeit more rudimentary, and leaves me pining for the heady smell of rubber cement! -sabine

Choc, For European desserts, I would recommend Healy's The Art of the Cake, a fabulous resource for French cakes. I'm no professional baker, but have reproduced some wonderful cakes from this book that rivaled what I was used to eating in Europe. Also, for bread baking for a novice, look no further than Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes. There is a 17 page thread on here about that book alone. -sabine

gfron, I'm not sure what you mean by 'flat sided pastry form,' so forgive me if this in not applicable, but I've made formed shells by stacking mini-muffin tins -- one with the dough and another nested in it to keep them well formed. -sabine

For all of you coveting one, but who haven't pulled the trigger yet: http://www.thermoworks.com/thermapen_privatesale.html Might be a good redirect of all the money we've been saving by not going grocery shopping. -sabine

Hey HardH2O, Your kids might be impressed if you can nail down this method: http://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/flapjack...ures/index.html -sabine

Yeah, that is always the toughest area to keep clean! -sabine

Celia, Thanks a million for this opportunity to hear Peter speak. He is certainly very engaging and passionate about his subject. I've only had time to see the first 1/3, but I'm looking forward to seeing the rest soon. One thing that struck me is his discussion of other methods in the beginning of his book. He referred to the NYT No Knead bread and then Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes in passing, and it struck me as kind of 'sad,' but then again I'm a big softie. On one hand you have a guy who has slaved over tome after tome of mind-numbing detailed instruction on how to bake bread, particularly artisanal loaves. Yes, he is revered as a master in his field, but, by his own admission, his audience, the home bread baker, is a 'subculture' comprising only about 1% of the population (his estimate, not mine). So, he works for years and then, seemingly out of the blue, comes a two-pronged strike, the NYT NKB and Zoe and Jeff's book, and now people who didn't know SAF from SAS are up to their elbows in flour and fashioning their own high-temp knobs to replace Le Creuset's phenolic ones. I don't have the numbers, but my gut sense is that these two events did more to budge the needle from 1% to maybe pegging out at 2% in the span of less than 2 years time. Quite amazing, but unfortunately PR won't get much credit for that. Even to a relatively seasoned bread baker (20 years) like myself, I must admit my interest in replicating breads from PR's Whole Grain book cooled considerably after I figured out how to incorporate whole wheat flour and 7 grain cereal into my NYT and Artisan in 5 breads with spectacular results. -sabine

Peter, Check out the picture here (scroll about halfway down): http://www.billcasselman.com/canadian_food.../acadia_two.htm (sorry, don't know how to make a clickable link yet) Maybe if you asked people about 'mouse nipples' you'd get a more engaging response! Kind of look like a mutant aspargus plant to me. The little snow pancakes sound yummy too (on the same page)! -sabine

I read this book as well and enjoyed it -- I needed it for some research I was doing for an article I wrote about my friend's baking school and Le Paynol wood fired oven. It's an excellent overview of how the simple tasks that we preform easily on a daily basis were not so easy in earlier times. And DDS 641 is always a cool place to hang out in the library to discover new and old gems! -sabine