patti_h

I was disappointed by the stone ground grits. They seems to have inedible bits in them (like chaff?). I'm sticking with local grits here. I have. However enjoyed the Carolina Gold BBQ sauce. Very similar to what you get in Upstate SC. It is a bit on the sweet side though. Thanks to this thread I did pick up a little can of the toasted pumpkinseed oil. Will try on my salad today.

Yes Rotuts I was quite surprised! My only plan was that since I was meeting a friend to walk at the mall I would pop in to get a visual of the size of the oven. I was waiting for it to go on sale on the website again. Couldn't find one at first and then saw their floor model on the sale table. They had two of them. Now they have one and I am re-reading this whole thread and planning to go buy chicken thighs (which are my favorite cut)! I would also like to try out ciabatta since I made a poolish this morning too, so that worked out nicely. And now my husband doesn't have to go shopping for my birthday!

If anyone is in the market for one of these, my Williams Sonoma store had two of them on clearance for $179. After stalking this thread now I have my own & can't wait to get started with all the great information that is available here! So, might be worth a trip to the mall? It definitely was for me

I highly recommend Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds! They have a really amazing variety of seeds and I have had great luck with them.

This is great- I am making a key lime pie tomorrow and I wasn't thrilled with the idea of a graham cracker crust. I'm trying out the nilla wafer crust- thanks for the idea!

My wish list has both Sean Brock and Dominique Ansel's books on it. I'm really excited about both of them, and with the way time flies both of them will be here before you know it.

Ruth they are beautiful!

I have wondered about purchasing that one. I need to up the ante with my desserts. Thanks for the recommendation.

David, I know you can get it through DoTerra. They are a company that sells essential oils- they actually do say that you can ingest their oils, unlike most essential oil manufacturers. I have not ordered from them myself though.

That makes sense, although many of his recipes call for a fruit purée, 10% sugar, but this recipe called specifically for fresh bananas. I am quite certain the problem was on my end, Michael Laiskonis is pure genius! Also, if he was making this in the restaurant, I imagine they would be eaten before they ever had a chance to start to ferment.... I truly need to do some more studying. As soon as I quit one of my jobs!

Ruth- I did, and I think I could detect fermentation. Next time I'm using Steve's recipe- It was a learning experience though! People at my parents party ate the exploded ones and said they tasted great....but that was certainly disheartening to me!

Well I'll be....never imagined that would happen. I just got finished cannibalizing two 12-piece boxes to refill all the orders I brought with me out of state this week. Next week I will be using Steve Lebowitz's bananas foster recipe he has posted here on eGullet! I have to say that this is one of the weirdest things I've had happen in the kitchen! But hey- it was a learning experience. Disappointing because that ganache had a great flavor, but Steve's sounds really yummy too. I knew the eGulleters would be able to figure it out.

I made bananas foster Bon bons for the favors for my parents 50th anniversary party favors, using the banana ganache recipe from M. Laiskonis' workbook. I made a dry caramel & added small thin shards of caramel into the ganache. They were completed Monday evening. On Wednesday I noticed a few had exploded so I replaced them in the boxes with another bonbon. Tonight I went to set them out & saw that every last one had exploded as in the attached photo. I made only one tray so I don't have a comparison. Any thoughts as to what I did wrong? I would prefer to avoid exploding anymore bonbons!

I'm glad this thread got resurrected, I've been working on a bananas foster using the M. laiskonis recipe. Steve I think this recipe sounds wonderful & I am going to give it a go. I am so thankful for all the people on eg who share information so freely. I'm really looking forward to the conference next spring.

Willow that would be fine, or if you need me to send you a check before then, that would work for me too. I am getting quite excited for this trip!

Willow I might be interested in sharing a room although I would warn you I sometimes snore! My plan is to stay Th-Sat nights. Did not reserve yet but will soon. Just waiting on some pay from catering clients.....

I'm committed too- just paid the deposit for the workshop. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun!

I am going to put it on my calendar as well! I will be solo and would like to share a room if anyone would like to share. I'll plan on arriving Friday & leaving Monday. Would like to ride share as well & I can chip in for the car/ gas- I am not any good at driving in large unfamiliar cities! Looking forward to seeing the eGullet peeps again!

Baselerd- that rice pudding dish looks delicious. I am such a sucker for cardamom!

Did you talk with Ian? He is very helpful & has helped me out with issues.

I have reduced passion fruit juice down from a quart to about half a cup, just keeping it low and slow on the cooktop. Easy peasy! I would like to do the same with cider too!

Steve I use an immersion blender too, and I forget where I read about it but I really like the way the ganache turns out when using it. I wish I could remember where I learned about that tip....

Kerry, I am afraid you will have to take me off the list. I know that it is going to be a fantastic event and I will be jealous of everyone who makes it there- we will need a full report! However, it will not be in the budget this year because my husband and I are going to take our first real vacation since our honeymoon 21 years ago. We will be going to Grenada and staying on a cocoa plantation. It won't be until November or December 2013, but we will have to save all our pennies until then!

I think we've already gone beyond crazy. We bake enough cookies to fill 35 tins and a huge platter. We struggle to find storage space toward the end - and that's with 2 refrigerators and a freezer.Edited for readability. That's a whole lot of cookies!!! I thought I made a lot, but I don't make anywhere near that!

Or go crazy on your holiday baking!