lia

Thanks, made them twice since. The first night I baked them (only one log), my hubby finished them off in a sitting, and he's not a big chocolate fan. Whipped up a batch of Corniest Corn Muffins for breakfast today, fast and delicious; corn muffins and breads are something for which I never could find a decent recipe. Hubby LOVED those.

I finally made the World Peace Cookies and I don't know what I was waiting for. I also belong to the 'spread all over the baking sheet' cookie club, but the freezing and slice and bake method was a revelation. they even kept their edges, prettiest cookies I ever made.

I'm so glad this thread is still here! I made the coconut tea cake, and it's just cooled enough to eat a slice, pure heaven. I was a bit worried when it was baking because it didn't rise very much, but no worries, it's perfect.

ooh, that sounds good. flour or corn?

My mother belongs to the white/yellow/orange cheese weirdness. I always have a block of Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar in the fridge. And I honestly don't pay attention to what color I buy. Some stores have white, some have orange, I don't care. If I have the white, she doesn't eat it. Fine, BUT she purchases deli american cheese regularly and ONLY gets white. explain that one. I had a roommate who claimed she'd never tasted tuna (as in canned,) olives, or mushrooms. Nor would she. I made a puttanesca once which turned out quite tasty; she was interested since it smelled "like pizza," but wouldn't touch it once she learned it had olives and anchovies in it. This same roommate was on Atkins when it had its big rebirth a bit over a decade ago. I was eating a lot of D'artagnan or Trois Petite Cochon pates back then, and worrying about how fattening and unhealthful they were. She claimed they were fine, "Read the book!" no thanks. ETA: thought of a couple more: a friend's hubby has a variation on the no-mixing food thing. He eats each item on his plate completely before moving on to the next. And he knows it's a neurosis, doesn't care, and doesn't try to explain it. A guy i used to date refused to allow me to eat liver or goat with him ("goats eat shit."). I felt like Laurie Colwin who couldn't eat squid in its ink with her husband. (off topic - I live a few blocks away from where LC lived. The restaurant where she got the squid is also gone, 'hood just isn't the same anymore.)

This morning someone fed me a bit of a blue substance from the center of his Dunkin Donuts bagel, which I assume was supposed to be blueberry cream cheese. NAAYYYSTY. howevah, I love that fake blue raspberry flavor. Slush Puppies, Otter Pops, that blue Rose's brand crap to drizzle in a margarita, yum. Jello and Kool Aid came in 'blue' for about five minutes maybe a decade + ago.

Tried the limited edition Green Tea. So mild you can barely taste the green tea flavor.

Oh I love it. BUT....I think they should ditch the actual caramelized pears and add more pecans. The pint I ate had about two pecans in it. The pear ice cream itself is amazing. I like Sticky Toffee Pudding, but i don't think it tastes anything at all like actual sticky toffee pudding. My new favorite is Belgian Chocolate. it's like regular chocolate ice cream with ground cocoa nibs in it. probably the least sweet chocolate ice cream i've ever tasted. I loved Mayan chocolate at first taste, but I thought the fudge swirl made it waaay too sweet.

I'm reading this whole thread thinking Funyuns instead of Munchos and wondering what's wrong with all of you.

"Tony! The rollateen!" That still cracks me up. And I laughed the other night at Paulie offering to get Tony some food from Baja Fresh, pronouncing the J. somehow I don't think that's the sort of comfort food Tony needed.

Yeah, I was way off with my opinion. Monday night around 11pm, there was a line out the door.

I love original Gardenburgers and I always have a box of Weaver Chicken Rondelets in the freezer. I eat both items with cheddar cheese and hot peppers on a toasted english. There was a frozen burrito I used to buy frequently, in both beef and chicken, can't remember the brand, I think maybe Don Julio...maybe not....but it's disappeared. and I'm sad.

Managers and sous chefs are generally salaried employees and in my humble opinion, have NO RIGHT to a cut of any tips. I love the pooling system, but keep in mind that in a lot of restaurants, that tip pool also goes to bussers, bartenders and the runners...so a single waiter will end up with significantly less than what he himself made that night. At my last job, a manager who had been promoted from a waiter took a full cut of the tips one night when we were short staffed. He did work a full station, but I was furious. He's a manager, you do what you can to make sure the place runs well. And he's paid the same for his shift no matter what's going on.

And again, I cannot imagine the restaurant winning should the customer dispute the charge. I agree that asking for a CC number is a good way to inspire people to cancel instead of just no showing; as long as the restaurant doesn't actually plan to ever collect any money. And that example quoted is just outrageous. Several days notice?? shit happens. I wouldn't go there.

Add me to the list of people who feel the restaurant worker was rude and that anyone and everyone has a right to cancel last minute if necessary...not just parents with young children. Like a waiter getting stiffed on a tip, it's a risk a restaurant owner takes and sometimes cannot be helped. To be fair, I work in an extremely busy place where no shows or cancellations on weekend nights usually cause relief since walk in business is always very strong. I question the use of collecting a CC number and charging a guest for a no show. Can a restaurant get away with this practice? if it happened to me I would dispute the charge and since they don't have a signature or evidence of my swiped card I imagine I would easily win the dispute.

I grew up thinking I didn't like pancakes because my mother only made the original Aunt Jemima in the red box. Even the thought of the texture all these years later nauseates me. I can have delicious blueberry buttermilk pancakes on the table 20 minutes after taking the flour out of the cabinet. Just as easy and sooo much better.

It's far from authentic barbecue, but it's good fast food. Great sides. MUCH better than "BBQ."

Absolutely. And if anyone hasn't made them yet and is wondering, yes they're every bit as good as the raves have indicated. and EASY.

Last night's project was the choco-nana loaf. Again it perfumed my apartment beautifully all evening. I didn't cut into it until this morning, and I dare say so far it's my favorite. Great texture, completely unlike the vanilla rum loaves...almost chewy and bready and the banana and cocoa flavors together are a winning combo.

And I did, last night. One of those batters where you have to really discipline yourself to eat no more than what's on the bottom of the bowl. And they baked up so beautifully and fragrantly. I did use a foil tent to be on the safe side, so they got no darker than golden. When I took them out of the oven, a bit of the top of one got on the foil and it reminded me of a tres leches cake, so I thought about using a sweet milk mixture to soak one of the cakes. I ended up using all the rum syrup on both of them. I loved how the cake slurped up the syrup, very satisfying. One is half gone, (hubby LOVED it) and I wrapped the second in two layers of plastic wrap as another member posted way upthread. I may still try a milk "sauce" to serve on the side, but the cake is just so delicious exactly as it is, the lily needs no gilding.

beautiful! Is it as delicious as it looks?

I made the madeleines first on my husband's request. he saw the photo on the inside cover when it arrived and called me at work and requested them so I picked up a pan on the way home. I used clementine zest instead of lemon zest because that's what I had. Perfect. And I made the buttermilk biscuits twice. the first night we had them for a late night supper with some nice ham that I fried crispy and eggs (scrambled for him and over for me.) He wanted them again last night and we ate them with jam and butter. It took about a half hour from start to eating. I'd NEVER made real biscuits before, I was always afraid to start because my kitchen's teeny and I don't really have room to knead and roll. i had nothing to worry about. I think I'm gonna do the rum soaked vanilla cakes next.

Baked Brie at TGIFriday's in Rockefeller Center after work with who knows what frozen alcoholic beverage monstrosity .

I cannot wait to get this book. I ordered it based on a freebie recipe for Classic Brownies in a TheGoodCook.com mailer. Best brownies I've ever eaten. Don't know if they're the same as the 'bittersweet brownies' that some other posters have written about, but the recipe does call for espresso powder (which I didn't use only because I didn't have it) and lining the pan with foil. I love these. Used all Scharffenberger and I won't use espresso powder next time because they're so perfect as is. Thank you to all of you for sharing your amazing photos.

I recently had a craving for that red waxed, bright orange "Gouda" that they used to sell in the dairy counter. You know, the one that tastes just like the "Edam?" I couldn't find it so I bought a mesh bag of little Babybels. Well, THOSE were certainly tasty. Smushy.