JFLinLA

No, the soft ones don't look the same, except for their general shape (of course). They really are a kind of sweet roll with filling. ← Actually, the yeast dough I make is not that sweet which really allows the focus to be on the fillings. It's rather flaky.

County offices are controlled by the County Board of Supervisors. There are 5 for all of LA County. They are: Gloria Molina -- Generally covering large portions of east LA and into portions of the San Gabriel Valley Don Knabe -- Generally covering southern portion of the County around the harbor area and up along the boundaries of Orange County Mike Antonovich -- North LA County into the San Gabriel Valley Yvonne Braithwaite Burke -- Covering central LA, south and south west Zev Yaroslavsky -- Covering central and west LA and large portions of the San Fernando Valley The district boundaries are funny. I would figure out who your Supervisor is and then bright and early Tuesday morning (after the holiday weekend) call the downtown office and ask to speak to their deputy who handles issues relating to health and food safety. I know you're pissed off but you need to be calm. These guys and gals are much nicer to you and willing to help you out if you don't seem like a loony and are respectful of them as professionals. Lay out your situation in a reasoned and logical manner. Some support from your customers would be helpful. Letters or corroborating phone calls (once you know the right staffer to call) from known chefs or restaurants would help, especially if its in their district. Media attention from the local food reporters would be good too. Best of luck.

I make 2 different kinds of hamentashen doughs. (They are probably discussed elsewhere in this thread if you go way back.) For the family, I make an old fashioned yeast dough that I got from a friend of mine. I make these in 2 sizes -- the large ones for us and the the bite-size ones for the kids lunch boxes. For the temple, I make a very easy to handle cookie dough with (yes!) margarine. That's because we get a pile of folks in the kitchen and make hundreds and hundreds of them assembly line fashion all in a matter of about 3 hours which includes rolling, cutting, filling, pinching, glazing, baking, cooling and packing. We need a dough that all of our team members can handle regardless of their baking skill or dexterity. These are the bite-sized kinds. I purchase many of the regular fillings -- poppy (mohn), prune lekvar, apricot, raspberry, almond, etc. Although I have made many of these as time allows. I also make non-traditional fillings as I never liked the traditional ones as a kid. These include caramel-pecan (from the Judy Zeidler book) and a sweet cheese filling (like the filling for a cheese danish) from my friend who gave me the yeast dough recipe. Oh yes, and after years of trying to come up with my own chocolate filling that I liked, I now use Nutella -- yum!

Right across from La Dijonaisse is Cafe Beacon. A newish restaurant that was rated #1 new restaurant in LA magazine. It won't break the bank but the food will be great. Be sure someone orders the black cod. When you're done, or before you start, wander across the street to see what they're teaching at the New School of Cooking and around the corner to browse and pick up some great kitchen and gourmet food stuff as Surfas. Does Campanile serve lunch? I didn't see that on your list.

Okay, okay, I get it. The coffee blond brownies will definitely be in the dessert bar.

Head over to the California Board and check in with the digest for the LA Times Food Section. It wasn't that long back that Russ Parsons did his ode to Meyer lemons where he discussed this issue and provided several recipes, including curd.

Okay, so I'm completely confused by all these different opinions. I've made S. Yard's curd before and really liked it. I've been thinking of trying RLB's mousseline buttercream from the Cake Bible which, to make lemon flavored, says to mix in lemon curd. If you were doing that, which curd would you use in order to ensure you had a bright lemon flavor. Please, in your response, remember that I am a better than average home baker but still not a pro. I just don't get too much chance to do buttercream so am no as experienced as I would like. Thanks.

That may be true but he is cooking for the official party sponsored by the Academy and they are always known for being somewhat stodgy. Perhaps the 90's is a big leap forward for them. Perhaps, Puck knows what his clients want. For the more avant garde, I wonder what they are serving at the Elton John/Vanity Fair party, or the Miramax party, or . . .

Rehovot -- Glad you like the blondies. They are terrific. Reporting in on the second attempt at the apricot tea cakes -- the Lorann apricot flavoring really makes a difference. I highly recommend adding about 1/4 tsp. to the recipe. I may also glaze with melted apricot jam for the real party just to guild the lily, as it were. I'll report more later with future experiments.

Now that the Super Bowl is behind us, thoughts in LA turn to the Oscars which are now less than 3 weeks away. In an effort to make this forum more vibrant, I thought we'd see: 1. What eGulleteers are involved in any of the official/industry award festivities and what food details they are willing to share; or 2. If you are planning an "at-home" Oscar party, what you are planning to serve; or 3. If the Academy asked you to cater to official party, what woud you serve (no holds barred, you get to go wild here). Waiting to hear.

Okay, this is probably too plebian for what you want to do. Anyway, for years when I make hamantashen** I make both traditional and non-traditional fillings. Chocolate being non-traditional but the kids love it. After years of experimenting with a variety of ganache variations and other stuff that bubbled and scorched, last year I used Nutella. It worked great. ** Hamantashen is a triangular shaped pastry usually filled with poppy seed filling, prune lekvar, apricot lekvar, etc. It's eaten at the Jewish holiday of Purim which is coming up in a few weeks. In addition to chocolate, my "non-traditional" fillings include pecan-caramel and sweet cheese (like a cheese danish).

Excellent Anatolia! I'm looking forward to your results. Thanks Michelle for the lekvar recipe. Don't know if I'll use it for the teacakes but hamantashen and Purim are just around the corner.

Check this out too!

Thanks for the input. I love the concept of putting the lime peel in with the sugar. It's always the obvious and simple stuff that's great. As for the apricot, I found out that Lorann makes apricot oil flavor so I'll go checking that out.

Hi everyone. I'm checking back in after my first round of experiments based on your input here. The Lime Melt-aways are a hit! Here's my only comment. I didn't really realize how small they were. Next time out, I'm going to try making them just a tad bigger and try using the zest of 3 limes (vs. 2 in the recipe). My daughter also thought whizzing the powdered sugar in the mini-chopper with some lime zest, before dusting the cookies, would be interesting. Not a bad thought for a 12 year old. The Payard Apricot Tea Cakes were not such a hit. Everyone liked their moistness and the almond flavor that came through. However, they all universally felt that you almost couldn't taste the apricot. I will try again but I'd love your input on these thoughts: 1. Use another brand of canned apricots. The marked I went to only had their own store brand and I'm not sure how much variation there is in apricots canned in syrup. 2. Is there such a thing as apricot extract? 3. Use more apricots, maybe the whole can. Of course this changes the moisture content so I'd really have to play. 4. Rather than canned apricots, use dried ones (more concentrated flavor) and reconstitute by soaking in apricot nectar or apricot brandy. Again, moisture content issues. Please chime in. By the way, over the weekend, the Bat Mitzvah girl read through all of this and thinks well of all of you, even if you are a little strange like her mother about baking and stuff.

I think part of the problem is that folks here on eG like to talk about really spectacular restaurants. While PS is great, I don't think it has any places that would set the food world on fire. That said, I can recommend 3 places that we ate at when we were there in December that are casual and work well with kids. Las Casuelas -- This Mexican restaurant has 2 or 3 places in and around the area. Shermans Delicatessen -- 2 locations - one in Palm Springs and one in Palm Desert. Good Jewish deli food. New York in the Desert -- Good Jewish deli that is planning to take on Shermans. Good luck.

I82Much -- I'm also a home baker and still experimenting with ways to make individual, bite-sized cheesecakes. For my purposes, the square pan method cut into cubes has worked but I'm still somewhat new at it. Would you please share your recipes & methodologies here? Thanks.

If the mocha part is too sweet with milk chocolate, could you try using a semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate instead. That way you get more chocolate flavor than the sweet.

I guess the question for your friend is where is he or she heading with this. I started with the tilt-up but after a few years had gotten so serioud about baking, I stepped up. The older one works fine but I really appreciate the extra size and power of my newer one. If your freind will only bake occassionally, the smaller one is fine but if something more comes of it, a change will be in order at some point. Of course, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, "Prediction can be difficult, especially when it comes to the future."

Kevin -- These both look amazing. For the cheesecake squares, do you bake in a square pan instead so there is no waste? What size? How does this change the prep of the recipe? Are you just using the ganache from the recipe for the coating?

Is it possible to make this without the kahlua? EDIT: I see now that it's a sort of glaze- can you think of anything to substitute for that? ←

Thanks again to everyone. I'll have lots of testing to do in the coming weeks. Blov -- That recipe looks amazing but, as I've said elsewhere, I'm a sucker for anyting with almond paste. Regarding the G. Gand lemon layer sheet cake recipe -- I found the flavor lacking in the buttercream as well. Now, I never get much call to make buttercream and I view this as a good opportunity to get some practice. So, I'm also asking about that part of the recipe. What do you all think about RLB's Mousseline Buttercream where, to get lemon, she adds in up to 3/4 cup of lemon curd? Now, as promised, here are 2 more of the recipes in my repertoire: Cheesecake Bars 1 cup flour 1 cup pecan finely chopped 1/2 cup butter softened 1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed. 24 oz. softened cream cheese 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 3 eggs Use an 8" or 9" square pan with a removable bottom. Or, line the pan with foil with enough to hang over the sides to use to help lift out. Spray with non-stick spray. Mix first four ingredients together well and press into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 for 15-16 minutes or until light golden brown. Let. cool. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla till well blended then add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down as necessary. Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes or till center is set. Place pan on wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cover and transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 3 hours. At this point you can remove from pan and cut into bars and serve. Or, I like to freeze for later. You get a cleaner slice if you cut while still partly frozen. For chocolate marble remove 1 cup of the batter and combine with 2 ounces melted bittersweet chocolate. Put plain batter in the pan, then spoon chocolate batter on top and swirl together with a butter knife to get a marble effect. For lemon -- Add zest of 1 lemon to white sugar and swirl in a mini chopper until zest is fully combined and add sugar as per recipe. Also add 1/2 teaspoon or more lemon extract to the batter. This is the one I'd like to make caramel. Coffee Blond Brownies This is my long standing adaptation of a recipe in one of the old Silver Palate books. It's in the eGRA. 1 pound dark or light brown sugar 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 tablespoon strong espresso or 2 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water 4 eggs 2 tablespoons vanilla extract 2 cups AP flour 2 teaspoons salt 1 cup chopped pecans 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup Kahlua more or less (nuts are optional but I'd add more chocolate chips if you leave them out) My pan is about 13x8" but you can vary the size a little here as long as you're close. Butter the pan, line with parchement and butter that and then flour everything. (Okay, I'm somewhat compulsive about things not sticking.) Melt brown sugar and butter together until butter melts. Remove from heat, stir in coffee/espresso and allow to cool to room temperature. (It really doesn't need to cool all the way down. You just don't want to cook your eggs.) Once that's cool, using a mixer, beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together and mix into the butter mixture just until combined. Stir in the nuts and chocolate. Spread mixture evenly in the pan and place in a 350 oven. Bake 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out mostly clean. Do not over bake. Have the Kahlua ready. As soon as you remove the pan from the oven, using a pastry brush, brust the Kahlua over the top of the blondies. Allow to cool in the pan. Then remove entirely from the pan before slicing and serving. This also freezes extremely well whole and slice more cleanly when still slightly chilled.

Of course, there's remodeling the kitchen but that will have to wait. We've got to get kid #2 out of braces, both kids to and through college, and a myriad of other things that will all come first. But . . . sigh . . . one day . . . A girl can dream, right?

RJ -- Taylor's is it. Just west of downtown LA, sort of Koreatown area. Old LA, not stuff, no 'tude, red naugahide booths, fair prices. I learned about here in eG. Of course there's always Lawry's which is another old classic but a distinctly different feel than Taylor's.

Sinclair -- Thanks for all your thoughts. Yes, you've got it exactly right. I want things people can eat without utensils. Remember, probably half of the guests will be kids and many of the adults will act like kids. Yes, I'm skipping the choclolate fountains and fondue as mentioned in my earlier post. As for display, I sort of can't control that. As the mother of the Bat Mitzvah, I will be quite busy doing other things and I need to rely on my caterer to display the baked goods I will have left in the temple kitchen. He did a nice job for my son's Bar Mitzvah in '02. However, cutting things into interesting shapes, putting them in an attractive paper wrap, or whatever will certainly help. As for recipes, you are right. We should share them here so Rebecca T and Bloviatrix, please share the recipes here that you have been so kind as to share with me. Here are some of the recipes I have been talking about in my posts on this thread: Gale Gand's Lemon Layer Sheet Cake This also includes a nice photo so you can see how it would work for the dessert bar. My problem with this recipe is that every time I've made it, I've never gotten that punch of lemon that I think it should have. What suggestions do you have? As I mentioned earlier, I was thinking of trying RLB's Mousseline Buttercream with lemon curd. Any thoughts. Jacques Torres' Bite-Size Chocolate Almond Brownies Jacques uses flexipan molds. I use mini-muffin tins and, since these will be for a special occasion, I'll use pretty foil liners. I'll post my coffee blondie recipe and cheesecake square recipe later.