laurenmilan

It's that E-Gullet Effect again!

Same for me! Shoprite in Piscataway makes me wanna scream, but since Wegmans opened in Woodbridge, it's a weekly pleasure (normally only my specialty-shop excusions are a pleasure.) After a snowbound weekend, I'm going there tonight...

I'm one of these wierdos that really strongly prefers a ceramic mug, even at places like Starbucks or at work. Just doesn't feel right in paper or styrofoam (if I can help it, that is.)

Harry's Bar Cookbook, by Arrigio Cipriani, I've been a fan of the place and its history (and its drinks) for years, and as a young cook, learned a lot about quality and pleasure in cooking from this relatively thin volume. Must-try recipes would have to be: - Harry's Bar Rolls -Croque Monsieur (these always disappear fast when I put them out as appetizers) - Chocolate Cake (a dense, indulgent affair that always necessitates a trip for Callebaut) - Bellini (big surprise there) and well any of the martinis - Osso Buco - Risotto Parmagiana (this & osso buco are just the thing on a raw, miserable winter's day) About 1/3 of the books on my shelf are from restaurants, bakeries, or caterers - they seem to be so much more in sync with my own philospohy of cooking. It's about comfort, not awe, in my "book".

Hmmm, these look familiar somehow... hmm... Waitaminute! Aren't those the recipe on Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Cooking site?

I drink my coffee from bright-red latte (18-20 oz capacity) mugs I got from Pier 1. They still keep the red pattern in stock, but the mugs are long discontinued, in favor of a more humane 10-12oz coffee mug. I love the size and sturdiness of these... and I can honestly say I have only 1 cup of coffee in the AM

I order Torani Gingerbread and Peppermint syrups and replicate (admittedly much better) versions of their holiday drinks. Eggnog latte... even easier. Then again, I also put out trays of a copycat recipe of the Cranberry Bliss Bars too, so I feel like I'm harnessing the power of Starbucks and using it for good.

LOL, I've served people simple basic coffees (Maxwell House, Eight O'Clock) and have them go "man this is great coffee!" My only secret is use 1 1/2X the amount of grounds specified on the can ("midwestern coffee", I call that strength!) Like Alton Brown says, most folks say they hate strong coffee, but they really hate bitter coffee. And brewing with less means more bitterness, less body.

Hmmm, where to begin, where to begin... General Foods Int'l Coffees... had a relative that knew I was a coffee nut, and said "here, you'll love this..." as if she were serving me Illy fresh-ground espresso. What the hey... Green Mountain French Roast, I have to agree, is a doozie. Well, french roast is ALWAYS a few shades too dark for regular drip coffee... I think the worst I ever had was in a TGIFriday's though. I was really caffeine-jonesing, and ordered it with my meal, and it did have that all-day-on-the-burner taste to it. But really any restaurant coffee (aside from diners, where there's high coffee turnover) will have the coffee pot that's been sitting forever...

Top 5 would be 1,000% better if they let Bobby be himself... but then viewers might boycott the sponsors... One of his old highlights on the Today Show... going to the Doll Show in NYC, and playing around with the GI Joes "Here's the Clinton-Era GI Joe - 'Gimme yer name, rank and home telephone number! *proceeded to make GI Joe dolls smootch* " And at the boat show "That boat's wrapped in plastic - I know how that feels, I had a date last night!" I dunno, it was just a magical moment for me. Funny how he disappeared from NBC after that...

Best "corporate gifts" I've received would hafta be Fat Witch Brownies (Chelsea Market) They're pricey, but wonderful brownies in a world of overly cakey/cloyingly sweet, these are rich and bittersweet, just perfect. (one downside, they don't keep for more than a couple of weeks.) Fat Witch Bakery Web site

Cool! Marbleized fondant, I assume?

Yeah, the jury's still out as to the origin of the sheen on the cake... personally, I'd take it with or without the sheen, but hey this is a good excuse for me to try my hand at fondant (well rolled fondant). I've been looking up other examples of fondant cakes on the web, and I'm kicking myself for not having learning it sooner... what people are doing with this stuff is astonishing! I've never seen such true colors before.

1 albatross 1 ex-parrot and a coconut. halved. 1 mint, wafer thin. I think we've invented a new form of poetry!

I'd say this is a winner hands-down... except you forgot the individually wrapped Brachs caramels! :

Thanks, my only fondant experience is with the poured variety, not the rolled variety (I have made colored marzipan, both in sheets and in shapes, before, but have never marblized or shaded it.) I have 3 months before this cake needs to be made, so maybe I can at least get some rolled fondant experience under my belt, and experiment. Worst case scenario, I never quite get it to where I need it, and I just use another lesser method.

What do you mean by "marblized the fondant in the usual way?" Also, I found out that Wiltons does a Color spray that gives a mist of color to icing, that might be worth a shot too...

LOL, yes I never saw the cake in-person, much less tasted it or found out the bakery that made it in LA (the photo is from an episode of Star Trek, and I'm making the cake for an upcoming holiday party.) So I'm very willing to bet that top-level candymaking technique was used here, and it does look like it was done using that sugar airbrushing technique that Jacques Torres uses. Since I don't have access to that technology, it looks like I will have to resort to alternate means to create that effect Thank you very much, everyone for your suggestions, I know I'll be using a few of them in reproducing this cake!

Tell me about it... Maybe they could run those 2 shows back-to-back and call it "Cracker Meals".

Whoa, another Ina fan!

Before Wegmans arrived, I did the bulk of my shopping at the Asian markets, and the bulk of my dining at Asian restaurants. The more Eurocentric options in this area were pretty depressed compared to my upbringing in Northeast Jersey (ie, very Italian-american). And now I can go to Wegmans... and buy naan. no seriously, the European-style foods in Wegmans really are a treat, esp. when Corrado's is 40 miles away! (Man, I just wanna run off with the cheese-counter guy )

My first reaction when I heard a Wegmans was opening in Woodbridge was - does this area really have such expensive tastes as Princeton? I've never known it to in the past (but then again our local stores have had pretty poor selection.) Take me for example, I consider having access to Scharffen-Berger chocolate (without it being so old that it has bloom on it) or Valhrona bars, a luxury. My knowledge of better brands is very scanty. Access to Illy espresso is similarly limited, and my knowledge of high-end coffees is pretty low. And I don't know many people in this area who demand even that. Is there really a clientele in our area that is going to demand high-end product the way Princetonians do?

Thanks! Well no, I'm not sure if it was white chocolate ganache or another pourable icing. So I am open to any option using any smooth pourable icing (the effect was a blue & white swirled icing - here's a picture of what I'm talking about (please pardon the low resolution, I zoomed in as best I could.) It was shown on an episode of Star Trek, and in the "Star Trek Cookbook" (talk about your lowbrow culinary reading!) the author noted that that cake was actually bought at an upscale Los Angeles bakery. So I thought, if I asked other baking pros, they might help "clue me in" as to the technique.

That's good to hear.... I've never been in either, kinda out of the ol'price range

I found myself gaping a lot too (just went back again today) and making a sincere effort to not just stand in the center of the aisle staring... it's still hard.... I spent 30 minutes in the tea aisle alone. The other posters were right though... the coffee selection is pretty low end, now that I took the time to look it over. Illy is always great to have, but at the same time there should be more highend offering in the regular wholebean coffee side than Starbucks and the house brand.