tejon

Budapest is absolutely beautiful! Tokay and Egri were two of the first wines I ever sampled as an adult, and I still make comparisons to them in my mind when tasting something new.

I've tried the hot cocoa trick, and it actually does work a lot better than stirring in a circle. I find nothing at the bottom of the cup at all.

Not sure of how it happened, but does the crunchy, sugary coating add any interest to the finished truffles? I'd be tempted to call it a "feature" .

It really does work! The next time I make potato salad for a crowd, it'll go a lot more quickly. I tried the dumpling trick recently and was amazed at how well it worked. The dumplings were perfectly cooked, nicely browned on the bottom, and all came apart easily. I'll be making them this way from now on.

I'll check prices at Trader Joe's, Ralphs, and our local asian market this Sunday when I go shopping. The price differences should be interesting.

They didn't have the cocoa or matcha that day, but I thought the caramel sounded interesting and worth a try. The flavor was very subtle, but more full bodied than the vanilla pastry cream.

Sounds like it's time to get a copy of The Cake Bible, eh?

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the icing tip, then ;-) Interesting to see how many buttercream variants there are out there. Now to make a bunch of cakes to test them all .

Both involved cooking the sugar and water together, then using the syrup to cook the eggs. I'm not overly concerned about the safety of the eggs I buy, but I'm also satisfied that this method cooks them well enough that it's not an issue. SweetSide,I love the idea of Creme de Cassis as a flavoring. Have to try that. Kerry, where do you get the chocolate flavour? Is that something I could order online? Sugarella, how do you differ the ganache for filling versus frosting?

Because I am E-vil (say this a la Mike Myers, please)... The caramel cream puff was definitely the best .

I thought about posting on the Baking 101 thread, but I'm in the middle when it comes to baking. Not a novice, but certainly no professional either. Recently I made my first buttercream. I used a recipe from Flo Braker's The Simple Art of Perfect Baking, a book I have really enjoyed both for the variety of recipes and the great length of explanation and detailed instructions. Making the buttercream was no problem at all, and the end result looked wonderful. However, the taste....well, it mostly tasted like softened butter. It was almost not sweet at all, and didn't really seem like a frosting. I couldn't imagine putting this on a cake as is. Thankfully, I needed double that amount of frosting, so I figured I'd find another recipe and blend the two, making something that hopefully would work. I rummaged through my other cookbooks and pulled out my trusty Fannie Farmer. I made their buttercream ("Butter Frosting II"), and while it was sweeter than I would have liked, it was much better. I wasn't 100% happy with either recipe, though the first just seems off in terms of proportions. Here are the two ingredients lists: The Simple Art of Perfect Baking 1 lb. unsalted butter 8 egg yolks 1/3 cup water 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar Fannie Farmer 1 lb. unsalted butter 4 egg yolks 1 cup water 2 cups sugar So what is your favorite classic buttercream recipe? additionally, how much chocolate (and what kinds) do you like to add for a chocolate buttercream?

Cream puffs from Beard Papa's. Got a vanilla one and a caramel and both were so crisp, airy, and full of delicious pastry cream. The caramel was my favorite by far - just a hint of flavor and sweetness that hit the spot. They were filled while I waited, and devoured almost as quickly .

I love shopping in ethnic markets of all kinds as well. Never had any problems of any kind, though I tend to get stares from time to time. Mexican markets are full of so many wonderful smells and foods. The chile display alone is well worth a trip!

Oooh! Now this is a holiday I can get into. I respect anyone else's food choices, but have little positive to say about PETA and their tactics. Mmmm...I'm thinking steak tonight.

Power tools are a girl's best friend .

Chocolate, eh? My youngest is due a special treat for trying the most new foods last week and he loves all things chocolate....think I know where he'll be getting a treat .

Glad I stumbled onto this post, as it appears that there is a brand new Beard Papa way out in my neck of the woods that I'll have to check out. For once, I'm actually happy to live near the Puente Hills Mall .

I love a good, dark beer. Pretty sure I'm a girl .

Drat - missed it before dinner as well. I would have rolled the Tandoori chicken in tortillas versus lavash. But I *could* make up for it later by having 3.14 ounces of Port later on tonight (also in round glasses - thanks, Dave!).

According to Dan: any large hunk of meat, preferably cooked with FIRE hot dogs pizza barbecue beer Hoagies

Steel cut oats have a lot of staying power, but not a huge amount of protein. I'd add in some nuts or grab some yogurt on the side in addition. Stitches *can* be related to a lack of enough calcium, so the yogurt could help there as well, but I'd play with what you eat beforehand and see what works best for you.

Are the buns themselves rich (egg enriched) with a hint of sweetness and a slow cooked bacon and onion filling? I have a recipe from Bernard Clayton's "The Complete Book of Breads" that is delicious, just not sure if it's what you're looking for.

That's a great idea! I got around that by slinging my boys when they were tiny (carried behind me worked especially well as they got older and wanted to grab things), but simple to prepare meals would have been a blessing regardless. Rochelle, I hope your arm heals very quickly!

My mouth is watering, just looking at those pictures. Could I make this in a regular heavy metal lidded pot as well?

My best garage sale find, bar none, was a HUGE enamel roasting pan with lid that I bought for a whopping $1. I use it to roast turkeys, large roasts, make Chex Mix and seasoned nuts, for roasting large amounts of vegetables - it sees constant use. The yard sale find that makes me smile the most is a wooden rolling pin that I bought out with my Grandpa. The handles were too far from the center for me, so he went out to his workshop and set the handles at just the right place. Twenty years later it still works just fine .