DianaB

Just checked this out on Amazon UK after following the link provided by HungryChris. Rather than $9.99 these retail at £53.79 in the UK, postage is charged in addition. Other, more reasonable sources might be available and I will research them as the device does seem really interesting. I just couldn't believe the difference in price! I think I'll check Lehman's shipping cost, perhaps cheaper to import direct.

Anna, your adventures and bargains are always interesting and make me think that I should find time to explore the many charity shops in our local town. Unfortunately to date I've never come across anything that I thought would add to our kitchen. However, for those in the UK, Sainsbury is currently selling a range of cast iron cooking pots, pans etc at amazingly low prices when compared to Le Creuset and other better known makes. Anna's purchase reminded me of a similar pan bought for £5 a few weeks ago. I do hope this isn't considered off topic. Sometimes one can be thrifty in unexpected places....

Thanks for this, I recall reading the thread a while ago and getting as far as looking at the various devices that can be used to transform wine in this way. We are lucky in being able to get Champagne at trade price from one of the smaller growers, the only problem being that we need to predict how much we will need for a year. Out of interest, what does a bottle cost in the various parts of the world where readers from this thread buy Champagne? I guess it will be more expensive out of Europe?

Supermarkets here have been engaged in a price war in respect of champagne for some months now, some of the offers are really nice wines so we have taken advantage. This has brought us to testing the French 75 which we both really enjoy. This and other recent cocktails have been based on details from Robert Hess of Small Screen Network. His short films are a great source for beginner cocktail mixers.

It's a good while now since I started making Aviation cocktails with the help of so many of you on this forum. Scanning through subsequent messages today made me think of writing this update. Aviation was I think the second cocktail produced in our house, hence my nervous questions in 2014. We are still beginners compared with many here but I am now happy making this drink. The half bottle of violette purchased in 2014 is almost gone, at just 5ml per drink and only one other recipe tried with it (violet fizz, won't be making it again) this illustrates our appreciation of the Aviation. in the end we did make our own cherries to garnish these and other cocktails. I found a Jacques Pepin recipe somewhere, I have it noted if anyone is interested as I've long since lost the URL. So, many thanks to those of you who helped and encouraged me to make this drink and, really, towards confidence to try new (to me) cocktail recipes. Not many cocktail bars in the wilds of Yorkshire where we are based so it is difficult to know what drinks should be like. You have given me courage to experiment.

It's a long time since I've posted on this forum but some of you might remember that we (husband and I) are at the beginning of our exploration of the world of cocktails. Some of you kindly helped last year when I wanted to make an Aviation, with your help we now have that as a regular appero. I've recently discovered a series of videos on You Tube made by Small Screen Productions. There are various presenters but I particularly like Robert Hess. The problem has often been that we couldn't create his cocktails due missing ingredients, often a certain type of bitters. These seem relatively expensive to buy full size when so little is needed per drink. I was delighted yesterday when the Post Man delivered this selection of miniature bottles, obtained from Amazon The set at least gives us a chance to widen our experience without need to buy full size bottles before we are sure that we like the resulting drinks. This was a recent purchase made by my husband. I admit I didn't support the idea but in fact, in very small amounts, it can add to various food recipes and my husband came up with a great cocktail using tequila, Mozart Black and 1/2 ml of this... Looking forward to catching up on this forum.

Hopefully your new venue will be great. Would you consider streaming the master classes so that those of us without funds to cross the Atlantic can attend'? At a cost obviously. Presumably the facility will have video conference facilities so it shouldn't be too difficult or technical to organise. I would happily pay for virtual attendance, I am a complete beginner in chocolate making but my list of things to achieve in 2015 is a presentable and delicious chocolate. Good luck with all the planning for your new venue, I've organised large events myself in the past and can appreciate just how much goes into making the experience appear to run perfectly.

Probably too late for the OP but we have fallen in love with tiramisu in recent months thanks to a recipe on ohlavachr.co (no M, just 'co'). Search for Tiramichoux on that blog to find the perfect recipe, no gelatin. I've also been impressed with Cyril Lignac's Tiramisu Cream, using xanthan as a thickener, in my view, does not destroy the taste but keeps the cream at a good viscosity throughout. The 'Tiramichoux' was stunningly good the first time we made it and I have only deviated to make the Lignac version because ohlavache.co was down for a few weeks and stupidly I hadn't printed the recipe. Ohlavache is a great blog, some really good recipes from a blogger who has lived in the UK, Italy and France. You can find Cyril Lignac's Tiramisu revisited here: http://www.m6.fr/emission-le_meilleur_patissier/recettes-de-cuisine/mascarpone/162861-le_tiramisu_revisite_de_cyril_lignac.html Not sure how to make the links active, perhaps by magic when the message is posted, I'll read up on the advice before my next post. Ohlavache is in English Cyril Lignac's recipe is in French. Google usually offers a translation if needed. I only used the creme marscapone and the emulsion café (mixed together in Kenwwod. I reversed the measurements cream/marscapone. First time I did use a stick blender but it works fine in the Kenwood. I use the best Génoise recipe I have ever found, taken from the Roux Brothers On Patisserie. Available on Amazon.com for around $8, much more expensive here in the country where it was published. There are no new copies on Amazon which is a shame, it is a brilliant book from which I have learnt huge amounts. Please PM me if you want more details of the recipes, I guess I can't offer them as published but I can translate Lignac's version if anyone is interested. The ohlavache méthode for choux pastry is the most fail safe I have ever found, since discovery no batches lost. Sadly before I failed as often as I succeeded. Apologies if this reply is of no use in view of the time passed since the original post, I see the person that started the thread has also posted a recipe on which she or he sought feedback. Is this the recipe you used for your event, would love to know how it worked out. Edited to correct iPad auto correct.

I love reading this thread, the quality of all your meals is a constant but inspiring reminder of how much I still have to learn! Basquecook, can I join those asking for details of how you cooked your cauliflower ? Reminds me of the one decent meal I had while working in Krakow many years ago. It was just after travel to Poland opened up but food, in fact anything, was difficult to get hold of unless you knew the right people. We were invited to a family home for Sunday lunch. That lunch comprised a cauliflower that looked much like the one pictured. For those of us spoiled by choices available to us in Western Europe at that time it seemed odd to have just a vegetable to eat but what a vegetable that was, I don't think I've tasted any as good before or since.

I came across this thread when researching in preparation for a first try at the Aviation cocktail. Having obtained the necessary liquid ingredients for that cocktail I attempted to order a jar of Luxardo cherries, only to find that supplies listed last week are gone and no-one currently appears to offer them at a price I am willing to pay. We have a bottle of bright red factory produced cherries for our first Aviation attempts. Having read this thread we intend following Jacques Pepin's method to prepare our own for later. I would welcome any advice in respect of the alcohol best used. While thinking about this I remembered that I have a bottle of apple eau de vie given to me years ago by my neighbour when I was living in France. This was home (farm) made in 1975 when growers were still permitted to distil for their own and family consumption. I also have a litre of kirsch bought cheaply in a French supermarket last year; also an alternative maraschino liqueur bought at a shop that didn't have Luxardo when I was hunting that down. This photo (I hope) shows the cherries we plan to bottle and the various liquids we might include in the process (or not, eg the violette, I just wanted all Aviation inspired purchases in the picture as a record of the process towards this cocktail). I guess this might be the one and only use for the eau de vie which I recall being told is extremely potent. Even then I'm not sure that an apple based spirit will be appropriate. Perhaps combined with the non Luxardo maraschino?

The Luxardo Maraschino and the Liqueur à la Violette have arrived. I tried to order Luxardo cherries but it seems these are out of stock everywhere (or ridiculously expensive) just now. Having read the topic on making Maraschino cherries we'll have a go at that for the longer term. Too impatient for a first attempt at this cocktail we will enjoy it with a factory red cherry. I have a question in respect of cherry making but I will post it on the Making Maraschino topic in attempt to respect the various threads.

It's a good article and I'm looking forward to the book on which it is based. That particular issue of the FT Magazine had food writing as it's theme. I think you can read the magazines free on the FT website. Rowley Leigh is their main cookery contributor and I enjoyed his article in that same issue on 'foraging'. His pages are always worth a look in my view, whether or not you will want to make his weekly recipe.

I've ordered a half bottle Serres Benoit from this company: http://www.saveurs-ovalie.fr/lang-en/violette-de-toulouse/87-liqueur-a-la-violette-35cl.html Having noted that little is needed for each cocktail I decided against a full bottle at this stage.

Many thanks for your comments in respect Aviation gin. Will keep reading these forums until my half bottle of Violette arrives, will select gin then since it is easier to source, hope it doesn't take too long because I'm really looking forward to my first Aviation...

Anyone tried this? http://aviationgin.com

Does buying on-line count here? Being new to cocktails I've enjoyed reading this section over the past few weeks, there is so much here to learn. Our cocktail repertoire is minuscule but we really want to make our next experiment the Aviation. With that in mind I've been looking for the ingredients and I came across a website selling half bottles of Benoit Serres liqueur a la Violette for just over 10€. Post and packing to the UK isn't cheap but given the price and availability this was still a bargain for us. It looks as though they send out all over the world. If anyone else is interested here's a link. http://www.saveurs-ovalie.fr/lang-en/violette-de-toulouse/87-liqueur-a-la-violette-35cl.html

I use the hottest water possible from the kitchen tap, this 'melts' stuck dough from the bowl and the dough hook making both simple to clean in seconds. I've tried various sponges with green scoured backs but without exception these seem to retain some of the dough however thoroughly they are washed afterwards so I've completely given up on any such aids until all visible dough has been jetted off with hot water.

English crumpets & muffins, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buttered_crumpet2.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tesco_muffins.jpg I've never before attempted to link pictures or anything else in the posts I have made so apologies in advance if the links herein don't work. Both pictures come from Wikipedia where there are articles describing both items in detail. Hopefully you can see that our crumpets are of a very distinctive style, best eaten just after toasting (using a toasting fork in front of the fire by preference) with lots of excellent butter that drips through the holes in the crumpet as it melts. Muffins here are of a much denser texture than crumpets, they an be flavoured, I'm sure I had bran and walnut in the past, they are often sliced in two and given additions sweet or savoury to make a kind of sandwich. You will find American style muffins here in England also, courtesy of Starbucks etc. What differentiates an American muffin from an American cup cake? Is it that the latter has a huge topping while the former will be plain on top? When I was young I knew nothing of cup cakes save for some little chocolate buns sold in boxes of six and with a thick layer of solid chocolate over the top, welding the cake into its paper 'cup' until the paper was torn away. Kept the cake moist if stored. Now 'cup cake' seems to be a title given to any small sweet bun, I don't believe the chocolate type of my childhood still exists. My memory says they were good, reason suggests less so, these were mass produced during the 1970s when mass produced food was less than excellent. If you get the chance of English crumpets with good butter in front of a real fire in the midst of winter take it. One of the little things that makes winter here tolerable.

Dear Anna & Kerry, I have just finished reading your adventure from start to the latest update, having thoroughly enjoyed your accounts of each day I was devastated on seeing that for this year you are almost done. I have learned so much from your writing, and from the discourse you have with those who comment on your posts. In particular I was fascinated by your experiences with the combi cooker (which I don't think we can buy yet in England), will you perhaps give an overview of your testing off this machine in due course? Much of your cooking has both impressed and motivated me, in particular the glorious fruit tarts that kept popping up, those and your breakfasts were enough on their own to keep me reading (such wonderfully cooked eggs so nicely photographed). Cocktails are a project for us to explore this year so it has been great to see your creations and also your stock of the various ingredients. I look forward to following the rest of this journey and wish you all an easy time packing up and a safe journey home. Diana PS we are perhaps not the most innovative of communities here in North Yorkshire, a decent pile of horse muck won't stay long on the road before somebody collects it up for their garden. Rhubarb grows in abundance here.

Being curious myself on this I did a quick search and found the following http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0706a.shtml Personally I freeze portions of stuff like bolognese sauce in thick freezer bags (made by Lakeland in the UK, these are much thicker than other bags on the market here), I might then put the bagged sauce into the microwave on a very low setting to begin the defrost. As soon as the bag will come away from the sauce I decant the lump of sauce into a bowl to complete the process. I checked the bags, neither pack nor bag makes any mention of microwave use. I have some small plastic trays which I also use in both freezer and microwave. On the base are symbols that I believe mean I can use them in a dishwasher and a microwave. This site has examples of symbols that indicate 'microwave safe'. http://virtualthoughts.org/2012/is-this-plastic-container-microwave-safe/ The lid for one of my trays has a microwave symbol and a freezer symbol, helpfully the words Freeze and Micro are included for those of us unfamiliar with the symbols My giant roll of cling film says Freezer Fridge & Microwave safe. In smaller letters it says for use in a microwave as a lidding agent, do not wrap food for microwave use. It says do not use in a conventional oven. The last warning brings me to another question. In recent months I have been attempting to perfect a chartreuse as an individual portion. I've seen this done on a cooking show, the chef used a circular ring to hold the thing together for cooking in a bain-marie. He wrapped cling film around the ring to form a base. They were placed in a bain-marie in a conventional oven, 80 c for 45 mins. Service was then simple, the film was removed, the chartreuse was put on the plate and the circle lifted away. I can't find any cling film locally that says it is safe (even at low temps) in a conventional oven. Any advice would be appreciated. Diana

Interesting to read your post, there are certainly some very talented creators of chocolates and other confections who regularly share their wonderful products with members here. I am very much a beginner in comparison with most on this site but I've found the community welcoming and there is always someone willing to help out if you hit a cooking difficulty, or to engage in debate if you are curious as to where a food tradition started, or why. Great that you are in Switzerland, the multiple-national membership here is, in my view, one of its strongest assets. Your products look great, I've seen similar in use in France. Chocolate was to be one of my challenges for 2014. I'm now thinking it might be carried over to 2015..... I look forward to getting to know you a little via the various discussions. Diana

You might find this useful, Felder's approach in the book is of a course rather than a series of disjointed recipes. Patisserie: Mastering the Fundamentals of French Pastry by Christophe Felder Available on Amazon it is one of the books you can 'preview' before committing to purchase.

The Doodie article made me think of Tim Hayward who writes a food column most weeks for the FT Weekend magazine. Recently he's written on how modern dining trends are spoiling the pleasure of sharing a meal with someone special, on egotarian cooking and on the impact of the laminator on restaurant etiquette. Mr Hayward's weekly columns are one of the reasons I maintain my FT subscription although they all appear to be available legally and without charge on the FT site via this link. http://www.ft.com/life-arts/tim-hayward Worth glancing through if you have time, as are the recipes of Rowley Leigh (and his introductions) to be found on the same site.

For me four of Louis de Funès' films stand out, L'aile ou le cuisse has already been cited in this topic but in 2011 so perhaps it deserves another mention. Starring Coluche as the son of de Funès the film is based on production of an elite restaurant guide. La Soupe aux Choux is one of the best films I have ever seen: two elderly neighbours who pass their days in their rural environment drinking and philosophising, visited by an alien from planet Oxo who sets off back with his flask of cabbage soup which proves a huge hit once back home. He wants the guys to move to Oxo with him to divulge their recipe. Might not sound like much of a film but I found it wonderful first time around and can watch it again and again. Le Grand Restaurant has de Funès as owner of a Parisian restaurant perhaps based on Maximes. Not as good as L'aile ou le cuise in my view but worth watching for the waiter training.... An older, perhaps less known film is Ni Vu, Ni Connu. This one is in black and white, de Funès lives on the margins of a small French town where his poaching feeds the local economy and it isn't until he is finally caught and imprisoned that his central role becomes evident. This film includes a fishing competition which is one of the absolute classics of French cinema. All of the above were made in French but there are subtitled versions on sale in the US (Very difficult to find in Europe despite claims on Amazon that some of their DVDs have English subtitles) La Soupe aux Choux is currently on YouTube as an entire film. No subtitles but the story is simple and the acting very visual. My husband speaks very little French and he thoroughly enjoyed this without subtitles. There is a film called Le Grand Restaurant on YouTube but this is a more recent made for TV production, not at all the same thing. I found Ni Vu Ni Connu as a free download via iTunes.

How about English words that have infiltrated French food descriptions? As with the French words used in English speaking countries sometimes the French take English words and keep the meaning, at others while English speakers recognise the words, they wouldn't use them for the same purpose. The issue is further complicated by the differences between English as used in England (I use England rather than Britain because there can be a difference in meaning of the same word in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England). 'Crumble' is perhaps the most borrowed food word in France just now but it describes a preparation that bears absolutely nothing in common with an English crumble. Rowley Leigh wrote about this recently in the Financial Times, he summed up exactly what I had been thinking. See the second paragraph here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/fdcba046-3b7f-11e3-87fa-00144feab7de.html#slide0 I lived in France for 7 years and still visit often. My local Patisserie will offer 'un brownies' , a small cake that appears to resemble the American original, I've never been able to properly explain that customers might want one brownie (no s)or several brownies (plural, so with an s. MacDo sells 'burgers' with no attempt to substitute a French title, the same word can be found all over whether the meat pattie is made of the best produce fresh each day or Macdonald style. Cake, in many variants both sweet and savoury can also be found everywhere. Generally the word appears to attach to a rectangular baked product eaten in slices. Muffins are easy to find in France, these will be American style, I've never seen an English style muffin in France. Cup cakes are everywhere and again they are American style products despite many French people thinking they are English. Chips are popular, not the kind of fried potato baton that an English person might associate with the word, rather what in England we would call 'crisps'. I'm sure there are numerous other examples, perhaps fewer than French words used in English language cooking. Interesting that the influences go in both directions, perhaps logical given the very short distance between France and England although Germany, Italy and Spain don't appear to have impacted on the French language in the same way despite their proximity.