chezcherie

hazelnut for moi. especially with sherry vinegar.

what did he call it?

oh, my goodness. my sympathies....are you not also quite pregnant? wow...i guess it's time to put your feet up and be waited on (a little early!) i'm so sorry to hear this, and hope it was no worse than a broken arm. as far as chopping anything, not that you haven't already thought of this, take advantage (or have you designated shopper do so) of the grocery store salad bar stuff...also, trader joe's (if you have one) will be a boon to you, with pre-prepped vegetables, even chopped onions, which i don't use regularly, but i sure would if i had a broken arm! if you don't already have an excellent story as to how this happened, you better create one quickly, as you will be asked a thousand times daily.

i second the pork t-loin suggstion. also trout. i love my stovetop smoker.

while i've been to new orleans a couple times, and plan to come again very soon, carnival/mardi gras never really appealed to me. until just now. beautiful. thanks for that account, brooks!

whole foods will have both manchego and quince paste. trader joe's carries manchego, but i don't think it's fabulous, and as far as i've seen, no quince paste. the other night i chopeed the last leftover serrano ham bits, and sauteed them (augmented with a little olive oil) with some greens (collard, mustard--the trader joe's bagged blend) and white beans....it was tasty! (oh--added a pinch of crushed chile flakes.)

is it somehow related to this? toilet ice is better than you think...?! ewww...my mind is filled with this image....i need coffee.

another vote for the ace hardware torch. mine lives atop my fridge, instilling fear and admiration in all who enter my domain. (it also has my business card taped on....in case i take it to someone else's kitchen---don't want to switch MY kitchen blowtorach with their kitchen blowtorch, ya know!)

i teach tapas classes, too, and i'm preparing for one soon, so this thread is awfully timely! i am loving The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen...can't decide what to recipe test (and riff from) first. Skirt Steak with Almond and Caper Salsa? Riojan Potatoes with Chorizo? How about a nice Blue Cheese and Pear Tart? (in fact, those three sound like a nice dinner party---maybe an orange, avocado and olive salad would round it all out?) great tips on all manner of spanish stuff, and full of sidebars anecdotes. if i only knew how to make the egullet link to amazon...but i bet someone will help me out...?

oooooh, purty! plus, you might get a chance to say "liebherr firmengruppe" a few times, which i think would be worth the purchase price...whatever that might be!

health department rules vary widely, but most jurisdictions won't allow home-baked goods to be sold. check with your local health dept. (your bird cookies are gorgeous!)

i know it isn't a sub-zero--iirc it's whirlpool innards? (thermador is affiliated with bosch, not wolf/sub z, but i don't think the fridge is made by bosch, either.) the thermador fridge has only been out about a year or so, though, so there won't be much feedback on long term use/repair, etc. ah, well, in any case, have fun with the remodel! btw, you can still get the "old school" black knobs with the stove---i agree the blue knobs are odd. red=wolf, blue=well, just goofy.

i'm a thermador fan, and they have a fairly new 48" model.thermador clickety the interior is gorgeous--curvy lines and a little silver-y trim...it's really pretty (for a fridge).

we snuck a bottle of pinot noir into Sideways. made it much more enjoyable. even though i eased the cork out, a couple nearby heads did turn, trying to locate the source.

full fat real cheese. no low fat, no soy.....or no cheese, please.

eeeeeehhhh---poured! sorry!

right, they were recently acquired, but so far (at least as of late jan), the tours still continue, and the chocolate is the same. i worry that the artisinal aspect will fade away, so i encourage anyone to poke their head in while the bars are still being poued 5 at a time by a real human.

hi carolyn--do you mean one run by scharffenberger? if so, it was built, opened briefly and "closed for remodeling"...i was there in late january, hoping to see the bistro, as it hadn't been finished on my previous visit. but we were told it had closed, and would re-open "soon"...but it didn't sound convincing. if you aren't talking about that one, i'd love to know about the one of which you speak! thanks.

yes, it's free and worth every penny. (sorry--couldn't resist) i have taken people on that tour 4 or 5 times, which means i've been on it even more times...it's still enjoyable to see the handcraftedness of the product--simple, one person at a time production--and, of course, the aroma. go while you can--each time i'm in the area, i'm afraid that their insurance regs will change and they will cease the tour.

fresh? why is fresh good? bacon fat should age like fine wine. in fact, you don't only want the bacon "cured", you want the fat cured too. one of my darling friends was bemoaning the fact that someBODY had recently poured off non-bacon-grease into his beloved bacon grease can, and it was, in his words "rurnt"...25 years of grease, he reckoned, and now he's starting over. this is the same friend who claimed that if his house ever caught on fire, he'd grab the can of bacon grease....i once opined that if his house ever caught on fire, the grease can might be the reason....

oh. wow. you made your own chocolate bars. from scratch. verrrrrry cool. very, verrrry cool. i hope that i will never be seriously tempted to do this....working with chocolate is not my strong suite.... but the demo was fascinating. all the steps i've seen at scharffenberger, but in miniature (but without the aroma). thanks for chronicling your successful journey.

my 2 cents: you don't need separate ventilation for a wall oven--they have a built-in system. if you have room, wall ovens and cooktop is the way to go, as you don't have to bend down so far to get stuff in and out of the oven(s). Also, wall ovens usually provide 2 ovens, while many ranges only have one. (With those kids, and all the sports team baking, etc., you will be happy to be able to do a ton of cookies at once, and maybe cook dinner at the same time!) btw, thermador makes a 36inch cooktop with 5 burners, including a large center one, that is not the "pro line"--the advantage being that you don't need as big/expensive/noisy a ventilation rig. thermador 36 inch cooktop hope those thoughts are helpful--good luck with your remodel.

suzanne's in ojai. should be a gorgeous day for a drive to ojai! they have a nice farmer's market on sat, i think...

well.....where'd ya eat?

La Dijonnaise Restaurant 6703 Washington Blvd – Culver City -casual but tasty quick french stuff (around the corner from surfas--see below) Versailles 10319 Venice Blvd. Culver City 310/558-3168). Great Cuban food--fried pork chunks, baby Surfas Cafe 8777 W. Washington Blvd. Culver City--amazing kitchenware place, with a brand new lunch place that is getting great buzz---haven't gotten a chance to lunch, but the stuff surfas carries makes it worth a visit, even if the food isn't...but i hear it's great! and beacon 3280 Helms Ave., Los Angeles, CA, (310) 838-7500 (also around the corner from surfas, and across st from la dijonnaise---haven't been, but buzz is great) bon appetit!