tedwin

I think some of the chatters have unreasonable expectations. It's as if they expect a "great new find" each and every week. There are just so many restaurants Tom can juggle at the top of his list of favorites. If, for the sake of variety, Tom recommends a lesser restaurant to a chatter, I see that as a disservice to the chatter who will be out spending money. I think Tom should feel free to simply filter out those complaints from chatters that he doesn't "mix it up enough".

I've had good results using the recipes from Rustic European Breads in my Zojirushi. The recipes begin with a bread machine to prepare the dough which is then shaped and baked in a conventional oven. Also note that Zojirushi has recently introduced a new model of their bread machine BBCCX20. It doesn't appear to have any new significant features that would merit replacing my BBCCV20. . Does anyone have experience with the new model?

My friend Neal has been growing and experimenting with pawpaws (Asimina triloba) for years. If you're interested, he now has young trees on the market at http://www.petersonpawpaws.com/.

I'm stumped on the best way to make a hole in my tuile cookies. Currently, I use a template to spread the tuile batter onto a SILPAT. A hole in the finished cookie would require a void within the batter as it is applied to the SILPAT. Since batter surrounds the hole, I don't see how it can be a part of the template. Here's an example. I'd like to make a mask from tuile for Mardi Gras. How do I apply the tuile batter to the SILPAT in order to leave the eye-holes open?

You might find your muse by reading Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses by Isabel Allende. It's an exploration of aphrodisiacs and recipes.

Washington, VA is about an hour and half drive from downtown DC. Once you get beyond the sprawl of DC, the drive is very pleasant. The last time I ate there, weeknight dinners were ~$100/person and weekend dinners were ~$110/person excluding wine.

I too live in an area without natural gas. Does anyone know how cooking with liquid propane compares with natural gas?

And do you achieve a significantly smoother coating with the tumbler than you do with the wooden spoon method?

Does anyone have experience with this Kitchenaid attachment? http://beryls.safeshopper.com/231/7911.htm?407 It's awfully pricey. I'm curious as to whether it would give me a smooth coating of tempered chocolated on candied almonds.

Very doable. It's about 2 hours from DC. Book the "treatment" at one of the hot spring spas while you're there and take in a meal at Lot 12.

"Madam's Organ" in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC.

I was looking for recipes along the lines of what See's Candies calls "Nuts and Chews". Their Chews feature centers of caramel and nougat. The Nuts have centers of "crunchy, chocolate coated nuts".

I'm also interested in learning a more diverse range of molded chocolate fillings. I've done ganache and buttercreams. I'd like to learn nougats and nut fillings. Are there any good resource books?

Filling a Cuisinart food processor with too much liquid so it runs down the center post and out onto the counter top.

I have a Kazak friend whose VISA expired and must now leave the US. I'd like suggestions for a multi-course farewell menu. The problem is: one guest is lactose intolerant (no milk, cream, cheese, etc) and two are vegetarian. I was thinking of starting with a demitasse of apple-turnip soup followed by a Cesar salad in a parmensan bowl (I'll serve the lactose-intolerant guest his salad on a plate). Beyond the starters, I'm struggling for ideas. Any suggestions?