Anna N

Two doughs on the go today:

I have always known you as a very wise woman.

Missed breakfast. Most likely will miss lunch. Snacking on some Jarlsberg which I consider to be a perfect snacking cheese and not necessarily good for much else.

I believe they were wheat noodles.

I was given a gift certificate to Homesense at Christmas so today I tried my best to spend it. But rest assured did I did not buy this: But I did find it quite amusing. I don’t remember if I even looked at price since it was not calling out to me in the least.

Today Kerry chose our lunch spot. She wanted to return to Celadon House. Very strong ginger tea for Kerry but the photo is really about the cup which I thought was gorgeous. Calamari with a vinegar garlic sauce that was so good I could have just drank it from the bowl. That was just a little left after all the squid was gone and I poured it on to some rice. Chicken with broccoli. Noodle soup with crispy pork. Bowl of rice. We shared both main dishes. Our server brought us two bowls for the soup.

Gild the lily. Leave the sausage rolls!

I am so glad I keep smelling salts handy because I needed them. Cheese! Cheese! They are sausage rolls not bait for mouse traps. Horrors.

Strangely, I have no issue with raw cabbage but I can’t seem to get my head around raw Brussel sprouts. But your meal looks good and your soup is certainly creative. I seem to be falling behind in terms of creativeness in the kitchen.

I am trying to spread my wings just a little. Somebody who shall remain nameless, oh wait, I think it was @MelissaH, enabled me to purchase the Kindle edition of The Artful Baker. It is the first baking book that has managed to get my pulse loping if not racing. Having said that, today’s offering is not from that book. I seem to be missing one vital ingredient from each recipe that I wanted to attempt (simple, ordinary pantry items). And so I turned to Maximum Flavor by AKI KAMOZAWA & H. ALEXANDER TALBOT for inspiration. These are the Bordeaux-style cookies from that book. There is no illustration of the cookie and I was not familiar with it at all. It is a Pepperidge Farms cookie apparently. I live a very sheltered life. The mixing was a little unusual and I’m not sure what purpose it served. The butter is creamed with the salt and the baking soda before the sugar is added gradually and the recipe proceeds in the normal fashion. Further research suggests that I should probably have baked these longer although I still exceeded the recommended time by 20 percent or so. They seemed reluctant to turn the deep golden brown that they are supposed to be. I wondered if it had anything to do with the sugar that I used to garnish them. I only had turbinado. Regardless, they are my kind of cookie. Perfect with a cup of coffee or even without. We shall see how the gang responds.

Oh my God you’ve been watching me. You’ve picked up my habits. Although not the chili dog. Cheese yes. Large ribeye certainly...

I am incredibly sad to hear that you have concluded that closing the business is the appropriate action for you. I wish it were otherwise. But I am with @chromedome on this. It takes wisdom and courage to make such a decision. We have not heard the last of you and your cakes, Franci. Of that I am sure.

Guessing the package wasn’t biodegradable.

@Toliver is entirely to blame for my dinner this evening. Because one cannot open this book (Hog) without craving something porky. Bacon butty with brown sauce.

Damn. This is considerably more even on sale on the Canadian site and I’m still feeling a little burned by one recipe in his beef cookbook but… I did honestly try to resist. But I read the reviews on the Amazon UK site and various other reviews all over the place and I know I’m going to cave.

Supplemented instant noodles.

Not sure why these are called cheese latkes. I think of them as ricotta pancakes.

Duck ragout made in mini.

Much, much better warm.

I find it needs to be sliced almost paper thin (they recommend a Danish bread slicer!) and then used as a base for a strong tasting (e.g. pickled herring) open face sandwich. Or strong tasting canapes.

Thanks. I tried to find those recipes in Jerusalem and The Cookbook with no success. Now I see why.

Well it might not be too far off. It’s 1 1/2 kg of dough baked in an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2“ pan. Sounds like a doorstop.

Which book?

You are welcome. I have made it a couple of times and been quite satisfied.

That was my thought about your complaint.