tikidoc

Beautiful, Ruth!

I would third the Bayless places, and I especially think XOCO would appeal to a kid. Great sandwiches, and fantastic hot chocolate with a churro for dessert. If you like a little spice, order ahogada (pork sandwich with pickled onions served dipped in a bowl of spicy tomato broth) with the Aztec (spiced) hot chocolate and churros. Yum.

I already mentioned this to much of the DC area crew on FaceBook, but I will plan to drive up from Richmond VA. If several want to carpool, I can take the mini-van.

Cool! I work on the west end and live further west, so this will be an easy stop on the way home from work. Thanks Kim! And we still need to get together! Jess

Gorgeous!!! How did you get that effect? I looked for the book on Amazon and it says it is out of print. Where did you get the book?

Wow. Mine consists of a $35 heat gun from Home Depot, two stainless steel bowls, and a wooden spoon.

Can't come up with anything better than the other answers but I have to ask... WHY?

If you make enough stock often enough to justify it, you might think about getting a wort chiller (used when making home brewed beer). They work really fast for large volumes of liquid. You might be able to find one a bit cheaper, this was the first one that came up on google. http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/standard-chiller-3-8-x25-with-vinyl-tubing.html Jess

Gorgeous as always, Bob! I'd love to hear more about the techniques you used, especially the blue one and the orange/yellow/red.

Maggi sauce is cheaper too. Love that stuff.

If you have an Apple computer, my vote is for MacGourmet Deluxe. Awesome program.

Agreed. It has the feel of a bad game show. We watched less than half an episode. It was pretty stupid.

Kim, I don't know whether to thank you or curse you for introducing me to world peace cookies. Wonderful, addictive chocolate goodness. I made some yesterday and the family already wants me to make another batch.

Wine PDFs, sound really good. Can you post a recipe or link?

I make soap and it is commonly used in soap making. Most of what I have seen is food grade, and pretty reasonable. Do you want virgin or refined? Here is one place I have ordered from... http://www.camdengrey.com/essential-oils/coconut-oil-76-degrees-bulk.html

I think the Albert Uster Imports couverture is quite good quality, at a very good price. While I agree that sometimes one must pay extra for quality, I also love to find a good bargain, and this chocolate qualifies in my book.

Why don't you just call them and find out? http://www.auiswisscatalogue.com/Contact.html

I have used the Albert Uster "Orchid Line" chocolate and really like it, especially for the price. Take my recommendation with a grain of salt - I'm a relative newbie to making chocolates - but it is easy to work with and I really like the flavor of their dark chocolates. I'm not a fan of milk chocolate in general but theirs is as good as any to me and my husband, kids and friends love it. I have made stuff for friends with the white and they liked it (I really don't like white chocolate at all). Also, not sure where you are but see if you have a local AU rep for your area. We have a rep that comes to my area once a month or so, and he drops off my orders at my office, so no shipping costs. Jess

I'm going to second the recipe request... pretty please? Here you go, my dear: http://www.recipecir...er_Chewies.html - I think you'll like them! It's getting harder and harder to find Sugar Babies. I'm thinking of ordering a few cases and putting them in the freezer just in case! Kim, if you need a local source, I just saw them today at the Five Below store in Short Pump next to Trader Joe's. The boxes looked like the bigger ones you see in movie theaters.

Wow, you guys are more evil than medical staff. Lots of practical jokes take place on slow nights in the hospital. This thread has been a fun read. Not a professional kitchen story, but I did something similar when I was an intern (medical). One of the chief residents kept raiding the fridge in the call room and eating my lunches (generally very tasty ones, if I do say so myself), but as the lowly intern, I couldn't really complain. So I baked up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and put a fairly large dose of powdered habanero in a portion of the dough, and put the cookies in my lunch bag. I tasted one, the heat does not register immediately because of the sweetness, easily allowing someone rapidly snarfing cookies to finish at least a couple before the heat starts. He never stole my lunch again. Someone's been stealing my lunch. Where do I get the habanero powder?? I trained in Galveston TX (close to Houston) so things like ground chiles of all kinds were readily available. I did a Google search and it appears to be available online from many sources.

Here is a folder of pictures from the workshop. Let me know if it does not work... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4068643710988.166979.1129175141&type=1&l=66c78a96ed

I second Xoco. It has been a while since I have lived in the area, so I'm not up on most newer places but I went to Xoco a couple times on a trip back to Chicago about a year ago. I LOVE the Ahogada - a delicious pork torta served in a bowl of spicy sauce/broth for dipping. Would love to find a recipe for something close - anyone have one? I was there in the winter, so got the Aztec hot chocolate, which was excellent, but probably not great for August. All three of Rick Bayless' restaurants are excellent (and all on the same block), but Xoco is quick and cheap. If you want to try deep dish pizza, I would go to Uno's or Due's (the original Uno's, not a chain one). Chicago thin crust is also excellent but less well known. Not sure the best place for that these days.

It's back on sale...

A while back, I started a thread asking if anyone had ever taken bread backing classes with Ciril HItz. The workshop on "Fundamentals of Artisan Bread baking" just happened to be today, when we were already planning to be in the area for vacation. For those who don't know, Ciril Hitz teaches at the International Baking and Pastry Institute at Johnson & Wales University in Providence RI. He also has a side business giving half and one day classes to small groups at his family's farm near Providence, as well as teaching classes through other businesses such as King Arthur Flour. So, after some positive reviews here on eGullet, I decided to sign up and take a one day workshop. It was well worth it. I will post some pictures once I have a chance to get them on my computer and uploaded on the net (may take a while since I will have pretty limited internet service for vacation) but I wanted to put up a quick post recommending the class. If you like to bake bread and have an opportunity to take a class with Ciril, either at his house or through King Arthur, I highly recommend you take it. He is a gifted and entertaining teacher, and is a master at his craft. I learned a lot and had a fun time doing it, and left with a big bag of bread to take on vacation with us (French country loaves, honey whole wheat, focaccia, and pretzels). And the setting, out in the country in Rehoboth, MA, is lovely. The information on the available courses and dates is at http://breadhitz.com/workshopinfo.html. Pics to follow... Jess

Again, this is not going to make much of a dent in your supply, but it is something you can do with it later if you find it freezes well. I add 2Tb of finely chopped rosemary to a batch of shortbread, then sprinkle with sea salt before baking. The lightly sweet cookie is great with the addition of that salty, herbal flavor.