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Graham crackers and milk when I was little at the baby sitters and when I got a little older, since Dad was a fisherman, salmon pate and ritz. Spoonful of peanut butter was always a good grab and go snack too.

In the beginning of this thread by Seth there is a list of threads on the subject. I've had some good success with No Need to Knead by Suzanne Dunaway and the Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart as well as Bread for Breakfast by Beth Hensperger. No Need to Knead is the most simple but I think the BBA by Peter Reinhart is a good starter book too because it has so many photos and detailed instructions.

Figured out this weekend that if I don't have enough bananas for a whole batch of the banana bread, a fourth of the recipe makes a perfect 6 muffins. Bake for about 25 minutes. Just right for 2 of us without having too many around the house.

I had asked him about using other fruits and he said to use the same measurements and they should all be in the same neighborhood as the strawberry and raspberry. My concern was using something like apple that has it's own natural pectin and he said it should be fine and should still turn out fairly soft. I was worried about making rubber but apparently it shouldn't happen with this pectin.

I used it in my custard in my round of the pastry challenge. Haven't used it in cake yet.

My understanding is that G pectin was formulated to make a very soft pate de fruit, one that in my opinion makes a smooth transition when biting though it and into a ganache. I wouldn't think it would work well for molded pate de fruits but I don't know that for sure.

My whole household cringed when Rachel said "ore-gone". If you're going to go to a place and do a whole show on it, wouldn't it be a good idea to learn how to say the name of the place in a way that won't offend all the locals? (Oregon sounds like or-eh-gun.) At least Bobby Flay got corrected and had a good laugh about it. Willa-mette? What ever. (Will-am-et for those not local and wondering.)

http://mappyhour.nerl.net/ Haven't waded all through the happy hours here on the site but the Portland mappyhour listings I've looked at so far seem to be really good about having the hours listed and links to websites for the restaurants. Portland City Grill would be a good place for a drink just for the view. It's almost at the top of the US Bank tower which is a block from your hotel. http://www.urbandrinks.com/main/usa/or/por.../downtown/today is another good resource for happy hour listings.

If you're staying at the Benson, Saucebox across the street has a good happy hour. I love their coconut lime rickeys, their khao soi and their crab cakes. Good to remember too that happy hours in a lot of places in Portland run not only from 3 or 4 to around 6 but also later, usually starting up again around 9. Aura, across the street from Powell's books, is another good happy hour. I've heard good things about Olea in the Pearl for happy hour. They have lobster corndogs that people tend to like. I'll try to think of some others. I think McMenamin's has a better burger than Red Robin, but they're really all about the beer. I second Karam. Good food and nice folks.

The link that Eilen gave is a handy one for finding addresses and hours of operation for places in Portland. I use that one a lot as well as Extramsg's website. They both have a list up top of current specials and events going on and you can find things like upcoming menus for special dinners at Simpatica and the like.

http://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/ chocolat-chocolat has the biggest selection I've seen. My stuff came in two shipments but it came very quickly. Chef Rubber has a small selection but they have at least one that I haven't seen elsewhere. Of course, I always fall in love with that one mold that no one else has and never want to pay shipping for just the one.

Stumbled on this thread and now I'm gonna have to stop on the way home and get some limes. I usually go Captain but I think I'm gonna have to try the Pyrats XO sitting on the counter. Haven't tried it in Coke yet. It's great in banana bread. I have some vanilla beans in vodka marinating but now I'm thinking since I really am a rum girl at heart, I should be playing with vanilla and/or spices and rum. Vodka makes me sleepy and takes the edge off a hard day but rum makes me happy! Number, please!

Class with Norman! Too cool. You go, Girl! Be sure to post after. I'll be looking forward to reading it.

ChristopherMichael, on your thread on whipping cream, I had the same question come to mind last night. It's my understanding that different creams have different fat contents and I would think that would have an effect on the ganache. I'm finding differences in buying different brands from one store to the next and some are thicker than others. I've been told that the stuff sold to restaurants does have a higher fat content.

Welcome, Ceviz! Mine were pretty soft when I made the caribbean cocktail truffles so I popped them in the freezer for just a few minutes and rolled them gently after I took them out.

Mine used to be pristine and most of them still are but lately I've had the attitude they should show their use. Do I buy them to look pretty on the shelf? NO! I love old cookbooks from yard sales that have somebody's gramdma's notes penciled in and old clippings in them. I have a couple that I've started journaling in, leaving notes of what changes I've made and what occasion I made them for and how the evening went. I figure it might be interesting reading to someone someday after I'm gone. The beef bourguignon in my Les Halles cookbook, I find the page my flipping through and finding the stains. The one that's taken on the most color lately has been Making Artisan Chocolates by Andrew Shotts. Books look good and smell better in chocolate.

I agree that the shanghai tunnel and Voodoo donuts are over exposed. I felt they could have spent a little less time on Velveteria and gotten the general idea across and shortened the old bar footage to fit in a little bit more of Portland. There are so many other places to see. But I'm sure it can't be easy trying to put together a show on a place where you don't live. I was glad they got Apizza Scholls in. And the clamming and camping and the stuff in Seattle was cool.

I'm planning on going for the tequila sometime this week. The guys at work are eagerly waiting! And welcome back Skwerl! It's good to see you!

He has been on Oprah. “I’ve been on Oprah, and Letterman has been good to me a couple of times,” explains Bourdain. “I turned down Tony Danza. Oprah was a very strange experience. You go on because you sell 15,000 books for every minute that you are on the show. “So I’m sitting on the stage and there’s an empty seat next to me. I look out into the crowd and I can see these women that bought their tickets two years ago, and they have all bought new dresses, got their hair done and have been dieting for two years. They all had this blissed out look. Suddenly, there is a roar as The Oprah appears. I could feel myself blowing in the wind. I can’t remember a single word that I said. God knows what I said. It was over in an instant.” http://www.abebooks.com/docs/authors-corne...-bourdain.shtml The article in the magazine was on a wedding cake he agreed to make early on in his career...before he learn to make a wedding cake. How do we get ourselves roped into shit like that? I enjoyed it.

Vanessa, I just got a couple pounds of the 41% Orinoco in my big Chocosphere order (43 lbs of chocolate - woot!). I personally really dislike the E. Guittard 38% milk chocolate, but I liked this one better. I'm still not in love with it, but that's probably just my dark chocolate bias showing. ← I'll have to try the Orinoco. I like the Soleil d' Or better than Guittard's regular 38%.

Healthy benefits in caramel? Works for me, Babe! "Just packin' in the nurtrients here." (Said with mouth full.)

I have two...one is a fleur de sel guerande and the other says just sel de guerande. I used the fleur de sel. It may just be me. Everyone else liked it.

My salted caramel has great color and is nice and creamy but came out a little salty. I think I need to go back and double check the measurement I used and maybe back it off a little bit with the particular salt I used. The mango mint coriander was really nice. It doesn't scream mango but the three flavors work really well together. It's nice and delicate. So far all my ganaches have been nice and soft and creamy with a wonderful mouthfeel. Edited to say that right as soon as I posted that the caramel is too salty, coworkers are saying the caramel is the best one and I'm getting thumbs up. Just me, I guess! Oh, and I made the caramel corn last night. Ummm....it didn't make it to work. I took a bite, looked at the batch and commented that it just wasn't enough to take to work. The general consensus in the kitchen was that it wasn't going anywhere. The words I remember hearing were, "Nope. Not gonna share."

I dipped my strawberry balsamic last night. Mom is loving them. I let them dry overnight so I'll keep a couple for a few days and see how they are. Got the salted caramel waiting to be capped off tonight and I have some leftover dark shells so I'm thinking of doing the mango mint coriander tonight. I'll do milk chocolate shells later in the week and go for the pb&j and the tequila lime.

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