jjahorn

I got some last year, and though 1/2 bean was too little for my creme brule, so I used 1 whole bean. DON'T DO IT! The beans pack a lot of flavour. I made a Tonka ice cream a few weeks ago with a 1/2 bean and it was still a little too much - but maybe was boosed by the vanilla I also had in the mix. It really seems to attach to the oils.

This point is the problem I have. I f it is expected to pay 20% tip - even when the service is unacceptable - and basically everyone does pay 20% - where is the insentive to work hard. The tip will be there anyways, even if they do a bad job, because it is expected of the patron. Other considerations - cash from day one, not having to claim (all of) it on taxes seem quite ligitimate, but working harder to get better tips, I'm sceptical.

I find in Germany there is a good mix between food coming in a reasonable time, waiting a little longer, or having it 'rushed'. You can often tell which it will be by the type of food being served - although Italian restaurants can be any of the three. What I don't like is in the other direction from Eric - having to wait when I want to pay and leave. I find so often that I can't get anyone's attention, and then I have to wait a long time for them to print and bring the bill, then wait again until they return to accept payment.

I work for a company that does PoS systems - mostly large scale, but I they have solutions for smaller firms too. They are big in Asia and Europe, but not so much in North America. Maybe you want to look at what they offer though - Wincor Nixdorf http://www.wincor-nixdorf.com/internet/site_EN/EN/Products/Software/Retail/POSSolutions/TPiBistro/node.html I don't know about this product - I work on supermarket solutions, but they are very flexible. Unfortunately I also can't tell you anything at all about price...

I made bärlauch pesto a few years ago. Really check your recipe. Mine basically tasted like pureed grass. It had a nice garlicy smell, but BLAH. It is however also good in risotto, soups, as a crust on roasts, and pairs well with tomatoes (i.e. in a tarte or quiche).

I don't understand why some people get sceptical about vegetarian meals. There are so many things to eat in the world that you don't need a meat at each of them. Many are also clasics and favourites. We probably each meat 3 days a week. As for the request that started the thread, it seems that you want to go fancy - but if people are sceptical, isn't it better to go with things they will identify with and be more comfortable with. Then they have less prejudices about the food before tasting it (i.e. mustard seed caviar??? you have to have a bit of an adventurous streak to hear that and think 'Yummy' - probably most of us here do.) What about a lasagne, a risotto, a creamy vegetable pie (or a fish pie if fish is allowed). Someone already mentioned curry. Asian stir-fries can be presented very nicely. A quiche. Pizza. I could go on and on....

I think it depends what circles you travel in and exactly which white powder it is

I have noticed a similar trend in Europe - well in Berlin at least. It takes on a slightly different flavour though. The Asian restaurants chase the trendy food, and 'evolve' to offer what they see in the media. The same resaurants will go form being Chinese to adding Sushi, then change to Thai - by adding a few Thai dishes to the menu, but keeping everything else. The last trend here was Vietnamese - so there is now a LOT of Thai-Vietnamese shops, where you still see the basic Chinese menu with expanded offerings. Now just starting up is the trend to Korean, and I'm seeing a lot of places that where Thai/Vietnam now having signs for Thai/Korean or Vieatnamese/Korean - and basically they just do a few standardizsed dishes and add some Kimchi to call it Korean.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this. The other classes they list already have ciriculum and how many hours/week are needed, this only has a description. I'm interested though, I don't buy cookbooks much anymore, instead I buy cooking science books and essays...

Just an update on this recommendation, it is Anna Kriegbaum Niederbarnimstr. 7 Berlin The slogan is 'Cake like from a different time' It is nice, very friendly and has very good quality cakes and teas at good prices. I don't see how it makes a profit, but I'm glad it is still around.

Rebooting a dormant topic: I've been practising my pie dough recently - for pies and quiche. I've always got a little leftover, and was wondering what others do with it. I usually just roll it out and spread some jam on it, make it into a pocket and bake it. This week I made a 'PB&J' sandwich out of it for my daughter that worked well (as long as you have a BIG glass of milk at hand). What do you like to do with your dough scraps?

I tried cooling and warming just the area, and the glycerin again, but all I did was chip the corner of one of the stoppers. I've given up. They will stay in my whisky cupboard and look nice. I'll upload a picture next time I have the camera around. Thanks for asking.

I tend to write my recipes down a little like a flowchart. group the items that are used together with the actions for them, then connect the groups with lines and description fo the action for combining... I think it reads easier, but maybe that's because I see a lot of flow charts in my job.

My first thought is a crisp cookie or tuile - or a biscotti. I'd lean towards a classic combo like almond, but raspberry might be a nice splash of flavour and colour.

Two proteins that I have never enjoyed are liver and octopus/squid. I try a bit of someones probably once a year (maybe a bit less) - but have found it consistantly horrible. I'll keep trying every once in a while though - maybe someone prepares it in a a way that I like. The list of foods that I'm not interested in, or don't add anything for me is quite a bit longer, but inclused most mushrooms, artichokes, bitter leafy greens, many tropical fruits...

I haven't had much luck with my first attempts at sugar or caramel based products - my 'cracker-jack' style popcorn just tated bitter, and now I've ruined a large batch of walnuts (that my daughter and I spent a good hour peeling) trying to make sugar coated nuts (like the 'beer nuts done with almonds). I didn't have a recipe and basically just made a wet caramel - brown sugar and a little water to get it going quickly. and tossed the nuts and then baked them on a low heat for a while. The 'coating' stuck to the nuts, but it is powdery and doesn't have either the intese sweetness I was expecting, or a nice shine, and they seem to actually suck the moisture out of my mouth. I popped a few into a bowl of Tonka-bean ice cream I made the next day though and they work well in it - the dryness is covered by the cream. They would work well with a maple ice cream, so not all is lost. Can anyone explain what I should have done, or have a good recipe for sugar coated nuts? I'd like to be able to understand what I did wrong.

Darienne has a good point about too much information out there. Does anyone have a good organization tips or a program for tracking web-site recipes? I don't want to print everything that looks good... I bookmark interesting ones. When I try them I move good ones to a folder liked, and delete the others, the the lists can get quite long. And of course I lost them all once because I didn't back-up my computer and had a major crash.

I have seen discussions about Ziploc bags and safety for sous vide, but not paid too much attention until now, because I didn't have an oppertunity to cook sous vide. I've been assembling the parts to make one now, and was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction. I was looking at the food bags we have here and they say on the box safe from -40C to +115C. I was hoping they would be ok for my first attempts at sous vide, until I know I want to invest in a vacuum sealer.

I'm making a broth right now, and am going to purify it like Blumenthal shows with freezing it and letting it thaw. I guess it could be called 'ice filtration' Anyways, I have done this once before, and remember that I was surprised by the amount of gelatine and elements left behind, and by the strong smell of it. My question - Has anyone come up with some good suggestions to use this 'leftover'? It seems a shame to just thrown it away.

Cookies Creme (http://cookiescream.com) is popular, medium priced and very trendy. Also hard to find. Vegetarian. I haven't bee to this one yet. Cafe: Princess Cheesecake http://www.princess-cheesecake.de/ Good brunches (Sundays - The entire Simon-Dach Str. http://maps.google.de/maps/myplaces?ll=52.51165,13.461492&spn=0.009285,0.01796&ctz=-60&t=m&z=16) as well as Nola http://www.nola.de/). There is also a wonderful little Tea cafe on the north end of Simon-Dach Str. Don't know what it is called, but it is on the west side and looks like a doll house. or afternoon tea Hotel de Rome http://www.hotelderome.com/ High End: First Floor - http://www.firstfloor.palace.de/de/first-floor.html Bieberbau - http://www.bieberbau-berlin.de/ Raue (go for lunch) - http://tim-raue.com/index.php?task=restaurant&section=karten〈=en Brunch - Jüdisches Mädchenschule (Kosher) - http://www.maedchenschule.org/de/essen-trinken.html

Thanks for the tip about the glycerin. I tried it out, but had no luck. I did 8 cycles, and thought I was getting some progress because I saw some air bubbles, then I realized the bubbles were coming from the metal ring around the neck - not from the glass stopper.

I have to agree that I'm not too happy with the 1 silicone mat that I bought recently. It is taking on a strange colour, and always feels oily. But for the price I paid for it (I bought a cut proof one) - I'm going to use it for a while longer.

The book I have is in German. The couple wrote a series of 5 books called Kanada Klassik. This book is Wildnis- & Abenteuer-Kochbuch from Brigitte & Elmar Engel publisher: Busse Seewald 1989 ISBN 3-512-00898-4 and is a mixture of stories, descriptionso f how cooking and living was in pionier times, old photos and drawings and quite a few recipes. Most of the recipes are standard stuff - pickled eggs, pancakes, jerky, bannock. but it also has how to prepare bear meat and porcupine stew, Solomon Grundy and other interesting oddities.

My wife bought me a set of 6 small glass bottles recently (seem to be from 1890-1910). The look very nice and I thought I would use them for whiskey, but there is a catch. They have glass stoppers, and 2 of them are stuck. There is liquid in the bottles, and I've pulled and wiggled, but they won't come up. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking that heating it might loosen it, but I don't want to break them.

Someone mentioned the America's Test Kitchen Compilation. I don't know ATK - and just looked it up. The individual yearbooks seem to have recipes and tips on preparation as well as tools and things. Using 'Look Inside' on Amazon, the compilation looks like it is just recipes - is that right? I like how the yearbooks show you photos with steps of doing certain activities.