Marmish

If you are weeding your cookbooks consider offering them on the free cookbooks thread

Nakji, those raw eggplant pickles sound good. I ordered the book from the library yesterday. I've never made pickled anything, so am following this discussion with interest.

As the farmers market season is getting started here, I was wondering how everyone was doing this season?

I was using a chocolate from Poland, Wedel Dark. I love the taste-- in fact, we had a chocolate tasting and it won-- and the competition included all the major brands-- Callebaut, Scharfenberger, etc. I can get Wedel at my local supermarket (A&G at Belmont and Central), but it wasn't working well for dipping-- maybe I could add some cocoa butter. My daughter has been asking for chocolate-dipped caramels, so maybe I need to try again-- candymaking has fallen off my radar! Let me know if you come across a great source in Chicago-- between the poor selection and the high sales tax here, I am thinking mail order (chocosphere, King Arthur flour...) Jen I know. I was going to order via Amazon, but there's a shipping surcharge that I hadn't noticed before. I was NOT happy about that. We live in Chicago for pete's sake. There has to be good chocolate in quantity somewhere. There's a Qzina out near O'Hare, but don't know if they will sell to me (us). I may call in a couple of weeks when I have more time. We went to Blommers a couple of weekends ago. I actually thought their stuff was better than I expected and you can't beat the price. I got some Guittard at Cakewalk. It's definitely more cake focused than chocolate focused. I've been mostly using the pound plus bars from Trader Joe's. I'm not far from you, so maybe I'll check out your Wedel Dark.

Jen, What chocolate are you using? Have you found a good source for chocolate in Chicago?

Thanks, Mary. Milo is hanging in there. I'll try to get something together soon for the transfers before it gets too warm and see what the vendor recommends. It's still cool here in the Windy City.

I'd love to have some transfer sheets, but I certainly don't need 10-15 of the same one. I thought if several people were interested, we could pick a vendor and everyone could pick a transfer. I'd place the order and have them shipped to me, split the packs so each of us got an assortment, and send them on to each person. I could resend them in a flat rate type envelope, right? Advice, interested swappers and dire warnings welcome.

I'd be a little nervous posting full text to eGullet, since I don't know how copyright sensitive we are - but surely no harm can be done with an official Google Books Link Watch out for the Canadians. Soon you'll be a socialist! B-}= Always the geek! For the formula, we had to make a batch 4x the size in order to get a volume sufficient to our purpose. And personally, I would tone down the salt a bit. It was a bit over the top for my taste. Sigh. Sounds like I would have LOVED it. FYI, basic rule of thumb is ingredient lists can't be copyrighted. Text - ie explanation of method, can.

Steve - thanks to you and Betsy for thinking of us. It must have helped because the trip to the vet, at exactly the time you posted, was positive. You mentioned marshmallows and thought you might be interested in these beautiful marshmallows that came through my blog reader today. They look so pretty piped like that.

HEY! Just the one on the right. Ahem. I learned that I've come farther than I thought and that I need to just jump in with both feet. That there isn't a nicer and more supportive group of people around - which I already knew, but was reinforced in many ways in the short time that I was there. On another note, Milo is hanging in there for the moment and has made some improvement.

HOLY CRAP! I'm glad you're ok! Wow.

Looks like chocoera is renting a car and picking up beacheschef and myself, so we are set! May still need to take you up on that offer on Sunday though as chocoera is leaving earlier and from a different airport. Steve, that means we'll be fine for to and from the restaurant and conference locations, too.

Beacheschef, 8:50 Friday morning on Southwest I don't mind waiting for you.

I've used a cake pan. The best I've ever made was in a cast iron skillet outside on the grill.

I will NOT have a car. I am rooming with Chocoera and don't think she will either, so count both of us in the "need a ride" column

I randomly ran across this article about bringing your own containers to the grocery for bulk items which they also extend to deli and meats. From the article: "Mesh bags for produce: They’re cheap and can go in the laundry. . . Cloth bags for dry bulk items. . . Glass jars and bottles for wet items: These are for foods like meat, fish, cheese, honey, and peanut butter, and for liquids like vinegar and oil. “Get a supply of glass canning jars in different sizes from the hardware store,” recommends Myscha Theriault, coauthor of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget." Now, I have cloth bags, and somewhere around here there's some organza to sew up for produce bags, but bringing your own jars and other containers for bulk items? Do you do this? Would you?

Mary! I'm glad you are coming. I think I fly in earier than you, but let me check. That might work.

Ice cream maker? Visit us over here

I used instant. Maybe that was the difference?

I also made the Vietnamese coffee ice cream. Same thing as the tin roof, really scoop-able after freezing. The Other Half, who doesn't like coffee flavored things, but does like coffee, liked it well enough. I think I'll end up eating it all by myself though.

Did not remember this ice cream and just looked it up. Did you include the chocolate covered peanuts too? I think we need permanently installed cameras in our kitchens to take those photos which everyone else wants to see. I bought chocolate covered peanuts and used those.

I had to use up some cream and decided to make ice cream. DH picked Tin Roof. I think it's one of the best ice creams I've ever made. The texture is great, even a couple of days later right out of the freezer. If anything, the fudge ripple is a little too thin. Could be sloppy measuring or that it needs more cooking time.

Wow, wow, wow! You have done a PHENOMENAL job! What a beautiful space, and I'm so glad you are busy and in such a great, welcoming community.

On 101 Cookbooks, a recipe was posted from Good to the Grain for figgy buckwheat scones. The fig butter, which makes the scones figgy, calls for dried figs, port, red wine, cloves, star anise and cinnamon. What red wine would be best to use in this type of recipe? I really hate when there is no further explanation other than red or white in recipes.

I am currently on the right side of the law, so no objections. And I would attend Kerry's beginners class.