Ling

^It's not that it's a bad recipe, but I can't imagine it producing excellent (or very interesting) cookies. The sugar would have to be doubled to 1/2 cup for it to resemble a typical butter cookie recipe. If you're looking for a shortbread texture, you would have to substitute some of the flour for cornstarch to lower the gluten content. I don't usually bake cookies at a temperature higher than 350 degrees. Cookies are very simple to do...you can start with a simple shortbread cookie and go from there. I made at least 10 batches of shortbread over the holidays...give this a try Beat together... 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 1/2 tsp salt 1 tbsp vanilla extract 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar Add in 1 3/4 cup AP flour, and 1/4 cup cornstarch. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out with a cutter, place on parchment lined baking sheets (or a Silpat). Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven until the edges are just barely browned (or you can take them out when they're still pale, whichever you prefer). They're ready in about 12 minutes. I coat half the cookie with ganache. Just melt a few ounces of bittersweet chocolate with some cream and a bit of butter. Give it a stir, and then drizzle your cookie with the ganache. These look pretty enough and are really simple to do!

I had two failures that I was able to fix. First, my ganache split because I was being inattentive (taking something out of the oven, and I left the ganache on the element though I had already turned it off.) I fixed that by beating it with my mixer. The second failure was when I turned off the stove when the caramel pecans were ready, and went to answer the phone. Again, I left the pan on the element, and they were not burned when I got back, but more browned that I would've liked them to be. I ground them up and used in my ganache tart anyway, so no one could see the browner pieces. Still tasted good. Here's my dessert with the two "failures". (There's a layer of crushed candied pecans underneath the ganache too.) I had another minor failure--one of my batches of shortbread spread too much, and the edges were not as clean as I would've liked them to be. So when they were 3/4 done baking, I took out the pan, and carefully re-cut them with the cookie cutter. Then back into the oven for the rest of the baking time. I ate all the scraps, so they didn't go to waste.

Sure, it's my Christmas gift to you! That looks festive, Megan! Are the seeds sprinkled on pastry cream?

^CaliPoutine: I use Ina Garten's creamed spinach recipe too! I also add a bunch of grated Parm

Instead of trying to improve on this recipe, why don't you try one of the recipes already posted in this thread? The recipe you've listed is not what I would call a good recipe...and I don't see a point in improving it when (better) cookie recipes are so easy to do anyway.

Food related-gifts I got... The Susur Lee cookbook from this guy I'm dating (and he also gave me a fur scarf) The Feenie's cookbook and a set of nice plates from my best friend

I've emailed him the responses. Thanks so much!

The Tarte Grenobloise was one of the best desserts I've had this year: Here's an interpretation of the same dessert I made for the holidays. Instead of caramel pecans, I ground up some candied pecans and put a layer of that under the top layer of ganache. I have a feeling that The French Laundry meal I'm cooking this Friday, the 30th, will be the best meal I cook this year.

I'm so stuffed. Tonight I had another slice of the ganache tart, a slice of cheesecake, six butter tarts (my aunt made them...they were good), a piece of shortbread with Cacao Berry orange dark chocolate, a chocolate sable cookie with ganache and nuts (I made both types of cookies), and five or six various other cookies from my aunt's cookie tray. I'll have to put in some extra time at the gym this week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ZUCCHINI FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, this is my first post in the wine forum...I'm posting on behalf of my friend. He's just started collecting wine in the last two months, and has so far invested about $3000 Cdn. His cellar is about 1/10 full now. He buys a variety of wines from a variety of regions, at a variety of price points. Usually, he buys only a few of each bottle based on recommendations from his friend (a wine consultant) at the wine shop. His plan is to buy 2-3 cases a month. (I don't know if that info is relevant, since I don't know much about wine.) His question is how should he go about organizing his wine cellar? Should he group all the wines from, say, Spain, together? Or all the bottles from the same varietal together? Also, the cases he is buying now are mixed (1-3 bottles of each choice, I believe). Is this a good or bad idea? He has not tasted many of these bottles before. They are mostly chosen based on his friend's recommendation, and fall in the $30-$40 range per bottle.

^Thanks for the picture! I've read about the Norman Love chocolates but we don't have a TJ's up here. Which chocolate (flavour combination) stood out for you?

Glad I could help!

Merry Christmas, Daniel! The tiramisu was good--it was the restaurant's interpretation of the dessert. No ladyfingers--there was espresso-soaked chocolate cake, marscapone, chocolate curls, and a vanilla tuile. Here's a shot of the ganache tart I made for tonight. I didn't take a picture of the cheesecake b/c it's pretty boring--just a cheesecake with a shortbread base, and caramel on top.

I'm so stuffed from the prime rib tonight, but I still had room for two slices of a ganache tart and two slices of caramel cheesecake. Bedtime.

Wednesday dinner take-out from Parker Place Soy sauce chicken, roast pork, rice. Meat and starch...that's all I need. Wednesday night Kelsey's Split the four cheese spinach dip and a bottle of Cedar Creek pinot noir with this guy I'm seeing after we did some Christmas shopping. The dip came with triangles of fried bread instead of tortilla chips. Food was...well, what you'd expect from Kelsey's. Friday night Villa del Lupo Villa del Lupo is situated in a heritage house on Hamilton Street. The interior of the restaurant has much the same gentle charm—muted green on the walls, a small, twinkling Christmas tree on the second floor, soft candlelight. We had an early reservation (7:30pm) last night, but the restaurant was already quite full upon our arrival. Our server, Mark, was attentive and quiet, which seemed to match the hushed and intimate mood in the restaurant. The meal was wonderful; we drank a bottle of Burgundy with the dishes. Appetizers Housemade foccacia (topped with a bit of pesto and slices of tomato) Jumbo scallop, lobster agnolotti, saffron and vanilla infusion, sweet onion ragout and Veal sweetbreads, shoestring potatoes, braised greens and foie gras reduction Both appetizers were delicious, but I would have preferred a bit more crust on the scallop. The agnolotti was cooked al dente and plump with fresh lobster. We both gave the edge to the sweetbreads, though—I’ve only had sweetbreads a few times before, but enjoyed this preparation the best. Slight crust, soft and creamy interior. Heavenly with the rich sauce. Even the chard was good! Mains Rack of lamb, wild mushrooms and veal stock, potato and herb pave I thought the plating on this dish was beautiful—I cropped the picture, but the bones were so long and curved dramatically in opposite directions. My date ordered it medium, which is more “done” than what I’m used to, but it was still tender. Beautiful pave in the corner—I really appreciate it when the kitchen plays as much attention to the accompaniments as they do to the main dish. Milk fed veal Friulana, Marsala and Parma ham, braised leek and potato tart I ordered the veal and it was fine, but a bit tough, and a bit difficult to cut with the knife I was given. It was cooked all the way through, and there was a layer of cheese beneath the prosciutto. The tart was pretty—delicate, butter pastry encasing the soft mash. Desserts They were out of my first choice, the lemon tart, so I got the… Valrhona mousse bomb with candied hazelnuts Normally, the Valrhona dessert would have been my first choice, but it was my second selection last night because I had been eating my Valrhona Guanaja ganache all day at home, before dinner. The mousse was good, but I prefer very dark chocolate desserts and this was a bit sweet for me (sweetness level was between milk chocolate and semisweet). Beautiful presentation. The Valrhona was rounded out with the cream in the mousse, so I suspect that even people who are a bit turned off by the fruit flavours inherent in this chocolate would enjoy it very much. Tiramisu, vanilla tuile I know my date’s a keeper when he willingly pushes his dessert in front of me to finish after tasting it. Villa del Lupo’s interpretation of the classic dessert is great—chocolate cake instead of ladyfingers, a bit of espresso, and barely sweetened marscapone. I enjoyed this dessert more than the mousse.

Yesterday I ate a bunch of desserts all morning and afternoon. I had a variety of cookies, cheesecake, shortbread, caramel, Valrhona ganache, candied pecans...the list goes on. After dinner at Villa del Lupo in Vancouver, I had the Valrhona mousse bomb with candied hazelnuts, and most of my date's tiramisu. (And no, I did not wrestle it away from him--he gave it to me willingly after two bites! The tiramisu was the better of the two, but both desserts were good.) tiramisu: bomb: When I got home after the movie, I had a few more Belgian chocolate cookies before bed.

Oh Lorna! You just have to make everything into dessert! Then again toffee bacon is really good...maybe you're onto something [edit] I just realized I was quoting an OLD thread! Wow 2004! Oops! [/edit] ← Nutella still sounds good, one year later. Or chocolate caramel kolachy. Or chocolate, cherry and kirsh...like portable Black Forest cake. The toffee bacon wasn't my idea--my idea was the bacon brioche pudding with bourbon caramel sauce.

Omigod...I finished mine when I left the exchange!! (Plus another few dozen cookies.)

I caught the Saskatchewan episode awhile ago. (Sorry...I forget what time/day it was on.) Has anyone else been watching this series? Thoughts? It seems to be rather "Iron Chef" like, with the two chefs--er, cooks? The young men on the particular episode I was watching had mentors with them--cooking head-to-head. They have to turn out an appetizer, main, and dessert within an alloted time limit (an hour?) and there are certain ingredients they have to use.

My ganache broke for the first time today. It was fine at first, but when I left it for a moment to check on my tart shell, the ganache looked grainy when I came back. I whipped it up with the mixer, and it was better, but not 100% smooth and glossy...there still seemed to be a bit of a sheen to it. So instead of doing caramel pecans on top of the ganache, I decided to do a "nut dust" (just some nut flour) on top, and then I did a layer of chopped candied pecans. I rewarmed some of the leftover, slightly grainy ganache with a bit of whipping cream and it came together again, so I poured that over the pecans, and edged the tart with more candied pecans. I hope it tastes OK.

I still do this too! I eat Damae (beef flavour) and Shin (spicy, and the Shin kimchi bowls). I always poach eggs right in the broth when making instant noodles. It's the only way I can make a poached egg, since the nest of noodles cup the egg while it's cooking. Sesame oil and diced scallion to finish. Mmm!

I've never been subjected to the horrors of a molded Jello salad. Usually, I'm pretty adventurous and would try anything once before dismissing it, but the idea just doesn't make my mouth water at all.

The hazy border on those photographs only add to their allure. They are like the biscuits you find in the most delicious of dreams. Shalmanese: sourdough pancakes! It's been forever since I've made sourdough pancakes! They're so light and rich at the same time...Mmmm...must...make...pancakes....

I had ham and eggs. And leftovers from last night--roast pork. Then I had the last slice of my pecan tart, a pecan sable, a variety of cookies from my sister's mom (today I tried a piece of a brownie tart, a pinwheel, another chocolate crinkle, and another pecan pie bar). I also ate a bunch of candied pecans (that I using to garnish a caramel cheesecake) and cheesecake batter! Mmm...gluttony.