Marmish

Corn syrup helps keep the sugar mixture from recrystalizing. I think you could use all sugar, but I'm sure the real experts will be here in no time. Or you could search the pastry forum. I'm sure it's been discussed there somewhere.

We've had things printed on canvas from this site and been pretty pleased with them. A 16x20 on matte canvas, stretched and mounted is about $40.

Dave - You need a french press cozy (cosy? sp?). Same idea as an old fashioned tea cozy. Keeps the coffe hot while it brews & then does a pretty good job after you've taken the plunge. Unfortunately, I don't know where you can buy one. Ours was made by a talented friend & given to us as a stocking stuffer. I'm sure, however, that the eGullet band of intrepid gadgeteers can meet the challenge & come up with a source. Othewise its back to the sewing machine. yank ← Is it just a cylinder? Can you give us a picture?

Or put them on the Free Cookbook thread.

You've motivated me to finally make these. Share your recipe? ← Thanks! Sure-- It's Epicurious' recipe for Fleur de Sel Caramels. I used twice the amount of salt called for in the recipe (as recommended in the reviews) and organic corn syrup from Whole Foods. I don't know how to do the hyperlink for you---duh! ← Apronstrings, I made the fleur de sel caramels this past weekend, coated in dark chocolate. My husband promptly labeled them crack and made me take the rest of them to work where my secretary promptly swooned and the boss and I finished off the rest.

this one? After clicking the '""reply' or 'add reply' button, you'll be in the reply window. Click on the 'http://' button, paste the url in, click on 'OK' and then type in what you'd like the link to say (in this case, 'this one?'). Click 'ok' again. Then 'Add Reply" - hope that makes sense! ← Yes!! Let me know how they come out. And thanks for the tip! ← Thanks, Apronstrings, and Pam, too, for the link.

You've motivated me to finally make these. Share your recipe?

Welcome to eGullet, Michael! You'll soon be as addicted as the rest of us.

They've decided to try to get a neighborhood bakery to sponsor the event by donating desserts, so I won't be baking for the Oktoberfest after all. I appreicate all your suggestions.

Thanks for the ideas so far. I'm going to a meeting tonight, so we'll see what they had in mind.

Thanks for the links. Strudel is a great suggestion.

My neighborhood is having an Oktoberfest to raise funds for renovating the park. I have been tentatively asked to bake desserts to sell. The planning committee initially intended to purchase desserts, but I'm not sure what they were going to buy. I'm trying to work up some suggestions before the next planning meeting. I would be preparing them at home, and am an experienced home baker with a fully equiped home kitchen. I'd like things that wouldn't be too expensive to make, but would be appealing to adults and kids, could be easily individually served, or individually prepackaged somehow. I'm thinking simple decorated cupcakes for the kids, a german chocolate cake, some bar cookies maybe. Are there any traditional Oktoberfest desserts, or any fundraiser hits you've had? Any and all suggestions for recipes, cost saving tips, and packaging are welcome.

It may not be dockhl's thing, but I sure would like to know about that resale place. Details, pretty please? As far as things to do, the Architecture Foundation has great walking, bus, boat and bike tours. Chicago Architecture Foundation ETA link

Get yer Texas Sheet Cake info here

My husband was recently called for jury duty. During the downtime, the baliff told them that the cups in the McDonalds case were known to be defective and were used anyways and that's why the case went the way it did. I assume he knows what he's talking about. I'm all for NOT suing for stupid reasons, but that's why there's a judge to throw it out of court.

Please do post pictures!

Just wanted to follow up. We ate at Tchoup Chop at the kitchen bar. It was interesting to watch the kitchen, but the wall water feature dripped on us occasionally, which was kind of annoying. The crab cake was very good. The Shrimp appetizers were enjoyed by those who had them, as were the fish mains. Two people also had steak and were pleased with it. We also ate at Antonio's Sand Lake Rd location. The food was excellent as was the service. However, there was hardly anyone there and they closed early. We had antipasti, bruschetta, mushroom risotto, papardelle Bolognese, the pork, fettucine alfredo, and some type of pasta Rustici dish. The fettucine alfredo was very eggy. We also ordered several desserts which were all delicious. Our other meals were unremarkable: Macaroni Grill, Andiamo (in the Hilton), Captain Jack's (?) in Downtown Disney. The hotel did have an excellent french toast in the casual dining room for breakfast, and a nice Greek salad served poolside.

Thanks for the additional suggestion.

I am going next week to the Disney Hilton for a conference with 6 other people. One is into food, but pretty traditional Italian and steak kind of guy. Two are kind of unknowns; I don't think they have many strong likes or dislikes, and are pretty middle of the road as far as I can tell. One will try anything once. One I don't really know at all. The other is kind of picky, but likes spicy and has no problem ordering something and requesting changes to suit her. And is NOT a snot about it. So... after the "food guy" pulled the top 10 fine dining restaurants off of citysearch and said pick one, and knowing that no one is taking a jacket by any stretch of the imaginiation, I went through the FL forum and picked out the restaurants below. In addition, I'd like to go to the Lebanese place mentioned on Sand Run. Any updates, comments or rankings appreciated. Portobello is at the bottom of my list, but it is very close by. Chatham's Place - 5 miles from Hilton - Continental http://www.chathamsplace.com/about.html Antonio's Italian - 8 miles http://www.antoniosonline.com/SDinner.asp Tchoup Chop - Emeril's Asian and Polynesian - 9 miles (shuttle likely available) http://www.emerils.com/restaurants/orlando.../directions.php Coq au Vin - 12 miles - French http://www.10best.com/Orlando/Restaurants/...businessID=3614 Portobello Yacht Club - 1/2 mile - Downtown Disney, Italian http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/dinin...tClubDiningPage

Klary, those look delicious!

I luckily didn't have any trouble making the crepes. I didn't use a nonstick skillet. I brushed butter on occasionally, but was surprised at how little I needed. Maybe it was because the batter itself has butter in it. The first one, of course, was a disaster, but after that it went ok. Here are the ingredients, how do they compare with the sweet crepes that are giving you all fits? (This are the full amounts; I halved it) 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus meltedfor pan 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature 6 large eggs, room temperature 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

I made the Mille Crepes using the Martha Stewart crepe recipe and the Pastry Cream from the Hesser article. Since there are just two of us, and my usual leftover eaters are gone for the summers (they're teachers), I halved the recipes. 1/2 the chocolate crepe recipe made about 30 5 1/2 inch crepes. I used about 25 for the cake The finished stack: I made vanilla pastry cream, which I forgot to halve, then forgot to add the butter to it. It was verrrry thick. Is that the way it's supposed to be? It's the first time I've made it. The layered crepes: Martha uses a chocolate glaze, basically a ganache. It ended up about 4 inches tall. I don't think we'll have any trouble polishing it off.

I don't see why not. Throw in some chocolate chips and sprinkle with a little powdered sugar.

I'll have to pay attention to those things. I don't think many of the US ones are as detailed as those in the top 10. I do, though, have several fruit crate labels, purchased from The Labelman.

Whenever I lose the cooking spark, am unmotivated to shop, or just plain ran out of room to shove things, I go through and clean and rearrange everything. While I do this, I make a list, or shout to my husband in the other room, who writes the list, of everything in the house. It feels good to cross things off the list, and I can come up with combinations sitting at the table with cookbooks at hand instead of rumaging around and going back and forth. I went almost 3 weeks one time without shopping other than a few things here and there and milk+bread type items.