Ling

The art supply stores sound promising...I'll call around first. If I can't find it, I'll head out to PoCo...dun dun DUN! (I'll have to block off a whole day just in case I get lost on my way there.) ETA: I clicked the Ravensbergen Baking link...there's so much that I've been looking for! They have the heavy duty nylon pastry bags, which I haven't been able to find ANYWHERE! OH man...that's for the tip, Irishgirl. Looks like I have to head out to PoCo. sanrensho: I'll pick up some acetate for you in the next week or so, if you'd like.

^The curry mango sorbet sounds very interesting! (As for best restaurant dessert...I need another day to think about it. )

^as opposed to Chicken Fried Steak I think Chicken Fried Chicken is just pieces of chicken lightly pounded, covered in flour/egg/bread crumbs, then fried.

I don't think I've come across acetate sheets in any cooking supply store...does anyone know where I can find them for sure? (Gourmet Warehouse? Cookshop?)

I have no intention of storming anyone's door. I just want a souffle...?

I haven't made it yet, but this sounds good! Pumpkin Ginger Creme Caramel

Uhmm..all of the above. I like them best fresh out of the oven--they are at their moistest and fudgiest. At night, I eat them frozen, because I'm too lazy to thaw them...but I bet I could microwave them for a bit to soften them. Breakfast today was ham and eggs, the last slice of a butter cake I made yesterday, and a cup of cocoa (this time, Carnation mix )

If the food lives up to the comments noted in this thread, I doubt she is in any danger of being flayed alive.

I just tried the recipe referenced above by Steven--it is indeed soft and dissolving in texture (but the edges are crisp and quite nice). It is also quite sweet, like a cake mix. I think your husband might enjoy it.

I just pulled Gleep's butter cake out of the oven. Before doing the recipe, I guessed that it would be sweeter than Sarah's, and denser...it is in fact sweeter, but as Manoras posted upthread, it is very soft--almost cake-mix soft. I do like the subtle tang from the sour cream in Gleep's recipe, but I prefer the taste and the structure of Sarah's cake. I also think Sarah's cake is more versatile, because it is not too sweet and thus can take on a number of frostings and fillings. Gleep's recipe is nice, but quite sweet--I imagine it would nice with a tart lemon curd, and a barely-sweetened lemon cream cheese frosting. ETA: Gleep's cake is also richer, with a higher proportion of fat from the butter and the sour cream. I put the batter in an 8" pan and a 9" pan at 350 degrees; the 8" was done at 35 minutes, and the 9" was done at 45 minutes.

I've been sleeping with Tony Bourdain for a week now.

I had steak and eggs too! And also a big mug of hot chocolate, made from scratch (melted chocolate, milk, cinnamon). Mmm... oh yeah, and a brownie from the freezer. (I always have brownies in the freezer. )

^Sounds good! I had some chocolate (still working on my Michel Cluizel bars) and a slice of cake that was an interpretation of tiramisu (coffee sponge bottom layer, espresso-soaked vanilla sponge, then a gelatinous cream cheese layer) from a Chinese bakery. The cake part was good...the wobbly cream cheese layer was not so good.

^That's the first time I've heard of the term "Cowburger" (on the Yagger's menu). Not sure I like that. I'm assuming it's just a hamburger?

short ribs...at 3:31 a.m.

That's a beautiful souffle! What's the tart in the background?

I wonder if he could extend that charity to a lucky Egullet member. (Can I start sucking up now?) Hi Chef Feenie, you probably don't remember me, but I ate at Lumiere many years ago--I was 18--and brought my Lumiere cookbook for you to sign. I asked you to take a picture with me too, and you graciously obliged. Michael Smith was in that day at your restaurant--he was helping you with the prep for the evening; he was in town filming for his series. Oh, and I've been watching your show since the first season, before you came up with: "Good Food Rocks!" *crosses fingers*

Yeah...I didn't like snow peas as a kid. My mom tricked me into eating them by saying, "If you eat snow peas, you'll grow up to be as beautiful as Snow White!" Oh man...I must've been a vain girl.

The Golden Almond butter cake is indeed a delicious, homey snack. I topped it with an ground almond streusel topping (ground almonds, sugar, butter, flour, oatmeal).

RLB's Golden Almond cake (wonderful, soft crumb). I topped it with a quick streusel topping (oatmeal, flour, butter, sugar ground almonds).

I have an apron, but I don't really like wearing it. It's a pink Mashimaro apron. I generally just wear something old and ratty when I'm cooking--I have this navy blue UBC sweatshirt that I got a good 7 years ago (my mom works there, and I ended up attending that university too) that's a favourite. I get it all covered in flour and cake batter all the time. Last year, I got home from the gym and decided to start frying eggs or something--I was still wearing a sports bra and track pants. Anyway, the oil started splattering and burning my chest and torso--I got like five weird-looking small burns on my body. Always wear proper clothing when frying.

I was telling my friend about this $1000/person dinner at Lumiere, and he's had a meal in Taipei at $1000/head too. It was on top of a mountain somewhere with 15+ courses (with the usual delicacies like shark fin soup). So I guess that sort of price tag isn't unheard of. It's really hard to claim the Charlie Trotter dinner is not worth the price, given that we don't know what's being served, and perhaps more importantly, which wines are being served.

Oh man, I'll have to think of a story later to post, but I just wanted to add that I was probably the only kid who hated the food at buffets (like Uncle Willy's). It tasted horrible to me. I usually just stuck with bowl after bowl of soft-serve ice-cream. At least that was slightly better than that dry fried chicken slowly fossilizing under those heat lamps. My mom did used to ply me with "weird" treats--like bird's nest soup. I got bird's nest soup with cream when I got good grades! And whenever it was my turn to choose what kind of soup we would have for dinner, I always asked for fish maw (but not the cheap kind. My mom tried to trick me by buying the cheap kind once and I got grumpy b/c I had been looking forward to good fish maw all day. Not that I knew it was cheap...I just whined, "This doesn't taste like the fish maw we had LAST TIME!!!" I was the biggest curmudgeon. Well, I still am, actually. )

^I'm glad you didn't reduce the size of the photo. That beef and plantain picture is too gorgeous for words.

I would spend it $400 of it on a nice dinner on the town, and the other $200 on top-notch luxury ingredients to make a fabulous dinner at home.