marie-louise

please tell me more. would this be a good place for a group of 8-10? ← Yes, it's a little restaurant, but I've seen parties that large there. It's a warm, friendly neighborhood restaurant with great French/ American bistro-type food. Here's the website: http://www.jojorestaurant.com/story/index.htm

I notice that you are the only person that adds milk. I think I would like frittata better if the eggs tasted more custard-like, or as you put it, like "a crustless quiche." The eggs just set up around the ingredients always taste rubbery to me. Perhaps I should just mix eggs & cream together and try that? Now that I think about it, I haven't made a quiche in years either. They have heavy cream, right?

I haven't made a frittata in years. I used to make mine completely in the oven, but remember the eggs turned out a little rubbery. Is there a better way? (I used to precook the ingredients, then put ingredients in a baking dish, then pour over the eggs.) My favorite clean-out-the-refrigerator dish is quesadillas. You can saute pretty much any vegetable together w/ onion and garlic (broccoli is particularly good) and put it into an any-kind-of-cheese quesadilla.

Chez Panisse isn't open on Sundays. Somewhere is a thread on Oliveto's, and it's not all positive. I've had a few great meals at Rivoli, but I don't eat there very often. It is a beautiful restaurant-ask for a table looking over the garden (they light it at night.) I haven't eaten at Lalime's in years, but it is also very good. You could also go to Bay Wolf on Piedmont, or Garabaldi's on College. My absolute favorite is Jojo's on Piedmont, but they are closed on Sundays.

Most of the supermarkets around here have a full OXO display. Here's a picture: http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=176875 Aren't they cool? There are matching measuring spoons, and each comes in white.

Well, I use Peet's coffee in Miss Silvia. Last time I was forced to check, Peet's coffee tastes better than Folger's. Any coffee loses something once it's ground, so comparing what a machine creates using pre-ground Folger's in pods seems to be an unfair comparison to a coffee shop w/ high volume. And I agree w/ Ms. Melkor- with rare exceptions at sidewalk cafes with a view, it DOES taste better at home.

Here's a picture of that Solis Maestro Plus grinder in red: http://www.comforthouse.com/comfort/cofgrinconbu.html It has the look of a perfect Christmas present, doesn't it?

That's exactly what we have and I am very pleased with both of them. We don't use "Miss Silvia" (as the sleepless folks at coffeegeek.com like to call her) for everyday, and we can still turn out great cappuccino. It did take a little while to get the hang of it. I had a Solis grinder w/ the Starbuck's label on it that worked well for a few years. I now have that new Solis Maestro Plus (in RED!) and I like it even better-less static, bigger cup for ground coffee, and larger range of grinds. We bought our machine mail order from Whole Latte Love. Great service. http://www.wholelattelove.com/Rancilio/silvia.cfm I bought the red grinder through Amazon (it came factory direct) but I just checked, and it doesn't seem to be there now. Too bad, it looks very cool in red. Edited to add that it looks like Whole Latte Love sells it in both red & black: http://www.wholelattelove.com/Solis/maestrop.cfm# Enjoy!

I ask the deli to "open the slicer all the way up." This produces 3-4 ounce slices. I like to add a few ounces to all sorts of pasta, vegetable, and braised dishes. I know it is heresy on this board to speak poorly of bacon , but I prefer the taste of pancetta to bacon in cooked dishes. (Don't run me off, I love the taste of bacon on its own.)

I use them for mise en place, I mix salad dressing in them, I thaw frozen stock or butter in the microwave in them. I have two 1-cup, one 2-cup, and one 4-cup, and I often find that I've used several in the course of preparing a meal.

Yes! I have a friend who keeps giving us bottles of Two Buck Chuck to try. Snob that I am, I save them for stews. More than once we've opened it up, gingerly tested it to make sure it wasn't going to ruin a perfectly good piece of meat, and been pleasantly surprised enough to drink the rest. Not always, though.

I just use Martini & Rossi (the dry white stuff) or Noilly Prat (sp.?) Yes, use it 1:1 substitution. Vermouth has more "flavor" than a lot of dry white wine, so I guess a caveat would be to taste it before you add to to make sure you want that taste in your finished sauce. I think it's great in a reduced pan sauce for chicken-it adds a little something that wine doesn't- but I can see where it could add an unexpected to taste to a simple sauce. Personally, I also like it in my Beurre Blanc, but then I like a lot of it in my gin martinis...

I keep it for months in the fridge-each piece individually sealed in a bag w/ a Food Saver. I've never had it spoil this way. I buy it thickly sliced so that I can cut it into cubes; that probably makes it last longer.

Yes, "need" is relative, isn't it? Speaking of which, I don't know how anyone can function with less than two 1-cup Pyrex measures.

Too many changed to not enough. I ordered a set of odd-sized metal ones to match my SS set. (they were on sale.) I have also decided that my sets of plastic ones are looking funky and need to be replaced by the Oxo ones. Just because. eGullet is good for the economy.

... My popcorn/stucco ceilings also have sparkles! Can't wait to get rid of them. If i wanted sparkles, I'd get a mirror ball. ← Are you sure it isn't asbestos?

The SF Gate has a section on 50 bargain bites, sorted by area: http://www.sfgate.com/food/bargains/ PS Carlsbad-I remember Edsel Ford Wong at Sam Wo!!! I took my mother there once when she came to visit-she loved his insults.

Way too many. We used to have two homes, and they had duplicate kitchens. When we sold our beach house, I gave away lots of the good things to friends who cook (a set of Le Creuset, lots of All Clad, and misc. tools) but brought home some of the others. Including several sets of measuring cups and spoons. I have a lifetime supply, and then some, but I find myself lusting after the black Oxo set w/ the colored dots. I think it even has 3/8 & 7/8 cups. Mine never run away from home, but if they do, then there will be room for these!

The word "exclusive" makes me nervous. I'd call up a Williams-Sonoma & make sure that you will be able to get extra bowls & beater for it from Kitchen Aid in the future, and also that all the attachments fit. One of those comments made it sound like the bowls were a different shape. You may not think so now, but someday you will want an extra bowl, or your dough hook will accidently get thrown out-and this thing could be useless. I have a 10-year old Kitchen Aid (the small one that tilts up.) It has much less power, but I've always felt that it was more than powerful enough. I can knead bread dough, and even this one sprays flour or cocoa all over the kitchen if you aren't careful about starting off slow... On your budget, I'd get a new one that's the cheapest model in the red that matches your tiles. I think Amazon sells them for about $150.

Wow-it looks GREAT!!! And you have my favorite kind of dog, too.

I share your thinking completely. I mean, it's stew-twenty bucks of wine in there seems excessive. I keep some cheaper wines (7-10 bucks at a discount place) for things like this. I also like Julia Child's suggestion of using vermouth instead of white wine-it adds a nice taste to pan sauces.

Did he taste Strauss Creamery butter (from west Marin & Sonoma counties in CA)? It is terrific.

I am such an occasional baker that I, too need idiot-proof recipes. I once made an assortment of yellow cakes (on the same day) & had a taste test so that I'd have a favorite when I needed it. My favorite came from The Cake Bible. (It's an odd cake, the butter, sugar and FLOUR are mixed together.) I also like the 1-2-3-4 Cake. My version has 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (and 1/2 tsp. baking soda) and a little almond extract. I bake it in a Bundt pan & serve it w/ fresh fruit and whipped cream. As someone mentioned, buttermilk makes a nice tender crumb-this is perfect unfrosted w/ the crisp edges from using a Bundt pan.

This is what I ended up buying. I was reading The Cake Bible yesterday & these are the exact pans she recommends. The cheapest price i found was at http://www.kitchenconservatory.com/cakepans.htm I bought 3 sizes: 8x3, 9x3 and 10x3. $54 for all three, including shipping-I'm such an occasional baker that I should be set for life for cheesecake pans. As soon as they come, I'll make the apple cake again & report back on how they worked. Thanks for all your advice-I think this is the first time I ever posted on the Baking Forum.

27 hardbound, plus a few "bonus" books. Somewhere in this very long thread is a link or two about the series-titles, authors, etc. (It was about a year ago.)