laurenmilan

I've seen custom-decorated cake with a marblelike layer of white chocolate ganache (blue and pink swirls of colored feathered in the ganache (while still wet, I assume.) How do you apply the food color without it pooling? Should it be mixed with something else? Thanks in advance...

I've been very eager to view it myself, since purchasing and trying out "Kitchen of Light" (I have a Swedish fiancee, and I'm learning Scandanavian cuisine.)

Waltzed past La Fontana last week on a Saturday at 7PM. Almost completely empty, it seemed. Very depressing. As a student, I always took a sidelong glance whenever I passed that place... it always had that forbidden appeal to it, the "you're not good enough for this place" feel. It's a little sad to see that even La Fontana cannot keep business up these days.

Just checked out those photos... mmm, pastry cases.... BTW, the Praline purses were just terrific, served at just below room temp. Terrific texture on the hazelnut mousse, and somehow that meringue stays nice and crispy. Anyone have other recommendations for my next purchase from the pastry/cake section?

? There is none? Aw to heck with it then....

Can't say I blame her... the employee discount alone is worth it. Kinda like when I ran the cookbook section at Borders...

LOL, for someone like me, it's a big deal when I use Scharffen-Berger or Valrhona, and that "B" line has consistently been the best quality I've had available to me. It'd probably be prohibitive for me to start setting my standards any higher than that, even if I COULD find better brands... LOL, this is my problem... I'm a little too highbrow for TV Food Network's forums, but far, far too lowbrow for egullet's tastes.

Actually, they do sell Vahlrona chocolate in bars, right next to the Pierre Herme chocolates, as well as having a very good selection of chocolates otherwise.

7 months and counting..... If it were classic-style rice pudding, it woulda been closed by now, to be sure. But what they're dishing up is a type of dessert rarely seen outside Eastern European kaffeehauses, which is both comfort food and now, exotic treat, with a wonderful texture and a skilled application and combination of flavor, not unlike the gelaterias that the owner was attempting to imitate. I'd really love to see it continue on as a flagship store with a successful wholesale business. It's more fulfilling than the vast majority of $5-10 desserts I try in restaurants. That, and I'm itching for a cookbook

I'm more for the silky rather than dense cheesecake myself (and at room temp, not pulled outta the fridge), and I love Zabars. My favorite, though, is my own homemade ones, from my caterer aunt's recipe.

Rafferty's is a place that's packed every night, a little on the expensive side and renowned for its desserts (you have to wander into the gourmet shop and look, drool, and choose.) Problem is - the entrees aren't that great - or unique - there, good burgers but nothing unusual or standout. And the desserts are gorgeous but frozen (shipped in from upstate NY). Many are delicious though, but not as good as a well-made inhouse dessert, and not worth a 1-hour wait for a table... Cafe 52 on Easton avenue gets their desserts from the same place, and if I get a hankerin' I just go there and get some with a cup of coffee.

Especially considering that, unlike diner rice pudding, this stuff has whipped heavy cream folded into it in the last step...

It's great to hear that one's opening in Hunt Valley, MD. I go to 2-3 sci-fi/fantasy conventions there a year, and one thing we always are in need of is bargain eats (since the mall closed down, we lost a main source of food within walking distance of the hotel, and get stuck waiting for hours outside Carabbas or Outback). Having ready-to-go meals, regular groceries/snacks (at good prices, if Princeton's any indication) will be nothing short of a godsend to us hungry geeks!

Wegmans openings are to "foodies", what Black Fridays are to shopaholics. It's crazy, but you just *gotta*...

I was just in a wacky mood, and had to go check it out myself today. And yes, it was an unwise decision, I admit it.

Um, hmm, we're different cuz we're um... Okay, we're not that different, we're probably nuts too! Except of course, for the fact that, we both came into there knowing what to expect & how much it would cost. So I just made my way around the aisles as best I could without bumping into people. In the crowds I was stuck in, there was a lot of "man, look at that price!" and "what the %*$@ is that?" going on: good old fashioned "sticker-shock." And because of this, there were a lot of people standing and staring, mid-aisle and agape, much in the way that Rockerfeller Center tourists look at Dean & Deluca's truffles and coffees. There were, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of people coming in that apparently had no idea that Wegmans stores were fairly upscale in focus. Not that I don't find a lot of normal groceries in there too, but the upscale is certainly displayed very prominently, so I can understand their shocked expressions. It is a kinda shocking place for those of us used to the local Shoprite. And yep, it's definitely worth a (short) excursion for me. But nope, I won't buy all my groceries there, but I will make regular trips there (not that my local shoprite isn't also pretty crowded most times.)

I finally went yesterday, and have to say the maple and the coconut flavors were just wonderful, and the texture is the best I've ever had, even more amazing than the Austrian-style molded rice puddings found in Eastern-European cafes (or in my case, very good home cooks). And yes, the place was overrun, mostly by college students, tourists and the tragically hip. Me I'm just a rice-pudding junkie that had to at least try it once. I knew it'd be expensive, I knew it would be a wacky place, but I wasn't expecting the product to be so great. I would have been surprised if it were even very good. But hey, they really make a very good product here (side note, the "solo" really is 2 human portions, esp. considering how rich the stuff is.) I'm waiting for a cookbook... if I can get the recipe for the $6 brownies from the Hamptons, then I should have a right to try my hand at $5 puddin'

Ditto to that! I had the day off, so I said what the hey, and I went down there. And yes there were WAY TOO MANY FLIPPIN PEOPLE there. But yes, the "bring the whole family" stuff and the fact that every senior citizen in the tri-state area was there, standing in the middle of the aisles slack-jawed, kind of grated on my nerves (on the upside, the roads were probably much safer due to the temporary senior and soccermom-free status.) I did manage to chat with the chocolatier there (hey, they did get Pierre herme!) and the bakery counter personnel. They seemed so thrilled to see someone buying as opposed to gawking, that they chewed my ear off. I came home with some loaves of bread, and two of those Praline Purse cakes. It was a rough, jostling experience, and fortunately it looks like with the exception of the day before thanskgiving, it'll never be that berserk again. So many folks, especially those seniors, were balking at the prices (Frankly, the prices for normal foods were on the high end of average, and premium foods were competitive with the few other upscale options in the area.) For the quality I saw, it sure is worth the price - but no I don't need that quality on a daily basis. I wish them the best of luck, I was being constantly guided around by employees, so I did let them know how gorgeous the place is and how impressive its selection is. It sure looked like they needed a few kind words today... but best of luck to the Wegmans employees posting here, it really is a store to be proud of.

I just got the circular announcing the opening. I'm about 20 minutes from the store, and am really excited about it. Until now, I did the bulk of my grocery shopping at the smaller ethnic stores, because the few chain groceries in the area are not only overcrowded, but some of them (Stop & Shop?) are disgusting. I discovered Wegmans in Princeton, and love that they're not only opening here, but catering to the Asian population here. In addition, it's great to hear that one's opening in Hunt Valley. I go to 2-3 sci-fi/fantasy conventions there a year, and one thing we always are in need of is bargain eats (since the mall closed down, we lost a main source of food within walking distance of the hotel). Having ready-to-go meals, regular groceries/snacks (at good prices, if Princeton's any indication) will be nothing short of a godsend to us hungry geeks!

I took a good hard look at my collection last night while I was recipe-hunting, and well I stand corrected. My collection's not nearly as female as I thought, and after reading this thread, it's clear the "classic" writers are not as male as I thought. I tend toward restaurant/bakery cookbooks, less about trendsetting or flash (I have 15 chocolate books and not one Jacques Torres), and I've come to associate that kind of cooking with women (maybe because my 3 most used books are from the Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa shop, Sylvia's Soul Food Shack, and Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse). But yeppers, I have been a fool.

Ain't that the truth... I routinely double (or triple) the amount of vanilla in recipes. And I've found that I do much better with a generous amount of imitation than a modest amount of genuine vanilla extract.

Which cookbook are you cooking from? I'm cooking from the original Barefoot Contessa book.

Lauren, I picked up her Family Style cookbook recently and have been catching her show more regularly, and I would move her to my favorite list. That's the only book of hers I do not have yet (although I've probably done 8 recipes from that book that have appeared on her show so far... try the banana pumpkin mousse tart sometime.) I'm actually cooking through the original Barefoot Contessa book these days, a la "Julie/Julia Project". But unlike Julie, the recipes aren't making me a nervous wreck....

Speaking of Ina Garten... I've found her to be by far the most useful cook I've ever come across. I've tried about 40 of her recipes so far and I'd say about 10 of them were phemonemal from the first try, about 20 were very good or great, about 5 came out good only after the first try (or when I got lazy and fudged steps) and the remaining few I just didn't care for. I find her cooking to be very approachable for my guests, and her recipes to be definitive (I've done her brownies about 20 times now, they came out perfect all but once (I overcooked) and people love them to the point of demanding them. Ditto for the Ginger Chicken, the Guacamole, and a few other recipes. Is it going to ooh and aah foodies? No way. But my guests love this food anyway, so she's OK in my book. But yes, only an idiot would buy her salads at her store.

I tend towards the regional American cuisine books, and don't have very many of the "Standard" books like Joy of Cooking, and as a result my collection of 80+ books is about 2/3 female. A lot of restaurant/store owners and TV cooks, not many chefs. So I've got names like Lidia, Sylvia Woods, Madhur, Mrs. Wilkes, Nigella, and my new favorite, Ina Garten (I'm currently cooking through her Barefoot Contessa cookbook.) So my collection is pretty female, but only because my tastes are pretty wierd for an EGullet member