bloviatrix

I'm sure if you include them in your book they'll put up a sign about you too.

One of my friends is expecting his first child at any minute. I believe he's considering placing order to celebrate the impending arrival. He's already trying to figure out how early he can begin introducing the child to "the nectar of the gods." (his words)

I'm still recuperating from last night. But I have every intention of copying it down at some point in the next 8 hours.

I'm wondering what method do you all use of placing the filling on the dough. I used to use two spoons, but that was messy. And then, about 4 years ago I decided to fill a pastry bag with lekvar and pipe it, which was a lot neater and gave me a lot of control. But I'm always willing to give another a shot.

Blovie and I have had numerous arguments over the years about this exact topic. He doesn't think it's wise to experiment when guest are coming over, and I think it's fine. So, we've come to a compromise. I experiment only when our closest friends come over. Fortunately, I've never had a the type of disaster where the food was inedible. But Blovie doesn't like suprises when we entertain.

I saw a sign at the bakery this morning for low-carb challah. I'm sorry, but that's just wrong. Yuck.

Reading this thread reminded me of book I have in my library called Seven Centuries of English Cooking, A Collection of Recipes. The original copyright is for a Maxine McKendry in '73 but the '92 edition says it's by Maxime de la Falaise. It's been years since I read the text, but the recipes are pretty interesting specifically because she provides the original text and then translates into what should workable recipes. As for favorite foods, for me it's clotted cream and strawberry preserves.

They used to hold these every year at Cornell. It's been 14 years, so I don't know if they still do it. They were pretty hysterical. A couple of my professors participated and it was always funny to listen to these guys who were ususually so serious argue about which foodstuff was superior.

This week for shabbat I inadvertantly picked up a raisin challah instead of a plain one (we reserve raisin for Rosh Hashannah and Sukkot). Anyway, we finished it over the sabbath -- it was really good. Normally, we have leftovers for sunday morning french toast, but not this week.

Personally, I find poppyseed hamentaschen vile. But then, I hate poppyseeds. I think it stems from childhood when I was faked out by a muhn hamentasch parading as chocolate filling. But that's just my personal opinion. Pan, that means for poppyseed for you.

Me too? Well, since you asked so nicely....I'd be glad to.

If you can wait until Monday, I'll pm you the gingerbread cookie recipe. As far as your recipe, it's here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36601

Have you been trying to figure out where to eat this weekend? Well, this morning, I found an e-mail in my in-box alerting me to the fact that Bar Masa at Time Warner is having its soft opening this weekend. Enjoy!

We used to throw an Oscar party every year for about 40. But our offering were fairly simple. I would serve crudites with assorted salsas and dips, fruit platters, chips and pretzels. We would also do one or two pasta dishes. And there would be wine, beer, soda, etc for drinks (we weren't a hard alcohol group). Our guests would bring desserts. One year for decorations we had serveral dozen balloons in black and gold. Otherwise, we didn't do anything special.

Do you have Nick Malgieris's How to Bake? I use his recipe for gingerbread cookies. Then I fill with apricot lekvar. I'll pm the recipe if you don't have the book.

Isn't holding out a plate licked clean with begging eyes the universal language for more?

Cheating for Purim is not an option. Especially this year. I didn't bake last year because I was too busy chairing the Synagogue Journal Dinner the the night before. At least this year the dinner is this sunday. I will have a riot on my hands if I don't provide gingerbread-apricot hamentaschen to my friends.

I really wasn't going to blow my own horn, but I added a recipe for "Sephardic Charoset" to the eGRA last year. The Perlows were kind enough to upload a picture for me of the version they made to accompany the recipe HERE My problem is that I always make too much. But then I end up giving away containers to all the friends that are celebrating so it works out. Katie, that looks good. I'll have to keep it in mind for when I do my prep. How would the standard concord grape work?

So, I served mine in ice cream bowls. And I served it in martini glasses.

You've effectively shot the year to hell. (I do the same thing to.) I don't hate Pesach, but then, I go to my in-laws. Now it's true that I do most of the cooking, but I don't have to clean. (YEAH!!) But it looks like we're going away next year. You know what they say..."L'shanna habah b'Miami Beach"

I'm enjoying my vicarious vacation in Barcelona. Thanks for packing us in your bag and taking us with you.

I don't know if people are looking for lekvar this year, but the brand I'm most familiar with is Simon Fischer. They make prune and apricot. Any kosher market will carry it. Or, go to the kosher aisle of your local supermarket.

I have eaten more tuna fish than is normal for a human. I even eat tuna straight out of the can. As a kid we ate white chicken of the sea pack in water. I liked mine fairly dry with a little Hellman's and some diced carrot on Italian bread. Then, I discovered the joys of onion and tuna on an onion roll (tuna w/mayo and diced onion). Nowadays, I've moved away from Albacore to the Gennova Yellow Fin. The ideal sandwich still starts with an onion roll. It's then schmeared with basil mayonnaise with topped with chunks of drained tuna. Maybe some slices of in-season tomatoes. When grabbing a tuna sandwich at a deli, I like them on white toast with tomato and lettuce -- toasting prevents the bread from getting too soggy. Fresh rye bread is pretty good too.

I made pickled salmon a couple of years back. It was a disaster - the fish didn't cure all the way through (my recipe didn't call for poaching the fish before putting it in the pickling liquid). But, maybe I can be encouraged to re-visit the dish. This year I want to try fried fish balls. Before anyone makes any jokes, these are pretty common in England. The first time I tried them was in London 3 years ago, and then one of my friends (a transplanted Londoner) made them for me. They're really good. They would go well with a flavored homemade mayonnaise.

I've just got to get through the weekend. The synagogue dinner is on sunday and then I'm free to stress out over Purim. But, in the meantime, my parents just dissed me on coming over for the Purim se'udah (festive meal). It seems they have theater tickets. Since they're not available, I'm not going to bother to do a big thing. Maybe we'll go out to dinner instead. Anyway, I'll make my gingerbread-apricot hamentaschen and I'm going to take yet another stab at chocolate-raspberry ones. Regarding the mishloach manot, in past years I've made four or five other kinds of cookies (oatmeal raisin, coconut, butterscoth, assorted biscotti, etc) plus I would put in lots of candy, but I'm well aware that no one really wants all that crap in their house, especially when Pesach is so close. My plan is to go shopping next monday and see what inspires me. Sorry to hear you're still feeling lousy.