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We have been enjoying the Supermoist Banana Muffins from The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge. They are the perfect resting place for senescing bananas-- something we have around the house in plenty, as my daughter prefers her bananas in that fleeting stage of just barely underripe.

If you can stack the bacon slices back together as it was before it was sliced (ie not fanned out like supermarket bacon), you could count the number of slices per inch or centimeter. Pictures would be great too, as I usually have to judge by eye as the deli guy holds up a slice and says 'is this right?'.

I recommend KCRW's Good Food, hosted by Evan Kleiman. The market report and restaurant reviews are LA-specific, but enjoyable nevertheless. The interviews are entertaining-- often someone flogging a book (ie Ted Allen) but also covering wide-ranging food and wine topics. I was moved to tears by a segment on eating disorders. http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf Jen

Good thread! I had a brief flirtation with cheesemaking that ended when I got pregnant and scared of Listeria. Time to get back into it! (The 'baby' is 2.5 years old, after all). I had a passable cheddar and enjoyed the soft cheeses. I had a hard time finding goat's milk that was not ultrapasteurized here in Chicago. Wurst Case, where are you that you get raw milk? Jen

Thank you for this inspirational thread. I've enjoyed many dishes from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. Tonight I made Ca Kho Rieng, Salmon and Galangal Simmered in Caramel Sauce: Plated: (note cucumber homage to C. sapidus) The cooking method for this dish was to simmer salmon in the fish sauce and caramel sauce for an hour, which seemed like it might make for dry fish, but it had a wonderful texture. Pork belly is added for its lovely fat, which probably helps keep the fish moist. I didn't have any raw pork belly, so I used this: Although Hungarian bacon is not a traditional Vietnamese ingredient, the unctuous smokiness of bacon was superb with the slightly bitter sweetness of the caramel sauce, the flavor of the galangal and the savoriness of the fish sauce. Thank you again for this inspirational thread! Jen

I made the Chewy and it was quite tasty. I did find it a tad greasy. Do any of you Plugra-users adjust the amount of butter to compensate for the higher butterfat content?

There is a nerve cord on the leg (ie ventral) side. It will not contain grit, so you only need remove it if it bothers you aesthetically. Jen

It's Gretchen's Pulled Pork, from the Fine Cooking forum "Cook's Talk". (Wouldn't want to take undue credit!) Jen

Hello Tammy! I really enjoyed this thread-- thank you for keeping it going for so long. You're amazing! I have a couple of suggestions; I hope they help. 1. BBQ pork sandwiches: pork shoulder butt is often very cheap-- if you rub the butt with spice rub, put it in a 275 degree oven, and let it cook slowly for 8 hours, it becomes very soft and delicious. You could do this in the AM, then have your prep cooks shred (ie pull) the meat. The meat can be mixed with BBQ sauce and served with buns, beans, and cole slaw. Maybe the vegetarians could have bbq seitan. 2. When you were discussing chicken thighs, I was reminded of another Fine Cooking recipe: Chicken Thighs Baked with Lemon, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. It looks like it would serve your purposes well. It's from FC #46, Aug/Sept 2001. http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes...emon_herbs.aspx 3. Black beans and rice were mentioned upthread. I usually stew the beans separately from the rice and combine them, as you mentioned you like to do. This is very adaptible for vegetarians, and small children seem to enjoy it too. It's amenable to great garnishing-- avocado, sour cream, salsa, etc. Good luck and please continue posting your adventures! Cheers, Jen

Some friends had a great time with their 2-year-old in Green Town last weekend. They said Greek Isles was great with a little kid-- plenty of bustle and noise. Most of the other Greektown restaurants are similar and would be a good bet. Happy dining! Cheers, Jen

At 2 months, your baby will be so portable! We've had great luck with our (now) 2-year-old at just about anyplace in the Chinatown Mall (Lao Szechuan, Spring World). You can go in the Mayflower Grocery and look at the fish in the tanks, then buy Pocky. The mall stores face an inner walkway so if you have to step outside, you're not right on the street and there are lots of cool storefronts to look at. There is a red line stop for Chinatown-- that would probably be easier than a cab. Hot Doug's is great for kids too-- Doug himself describes it as "Kid-friendly, adult hostile." Go around 11 to avoid the long line. We had good luck at Goose Island (the one on Clybourn) too, especially when ours was very young. The booths make for discrete nursing if needed. I don't know about much off of North Michigan, but I encourage you to hop on the El (subway). Good luck and please report back! Cheers, Jen

Different stones have different chemical structures. Limestone is calcium carbonate and more reactive, especially to anything acid. If you ever go to an old cemetery, compare the marble monuments to the granite ones after many years of exposure to acid rain. Also, different stones will react differently to being repeatedly heated and cooled. I would stick with quarry tiles or a bona fide baking stone, which are likely silica- or clay-based (I think) and therefore non-reactive.

Here is one interesting way to mitigate the effects of pigs on the environment: http://www.uoguelph.ca/enviropig/

As has the Chicago Chef's Catalog outlet. What other places can you recommend? I've gotten good equipment and larger items on Restaurant row (ie Gold Brothers at 1140 W Madison). I'm looking for bus tubs and bulk coconut oil for soap making. Any suggestions?

It means "you could possibly tell the difference if you had a staff of trained molecular biologists expert in the fields of cloning and molecular ageing."

Abby Dodge's book The Weekend Baker has a recipe for Emergency Blender Cupcakes with Fudgy Frosting. I prefer vanilla frosting on chocolate cake, so I haven't tried the frosting recipe. It might be worth checking out from the library-- I've had all hits (including the above cupcakes) and no misses from this book.

Can any of you Hyde Park folks comment on La Petite Folie? I'm having a lawyer buddy guest lecture in my course at U of C and I want to treat him to a nice lunch. The metromix reviews are tepid. Any other suggestions? Jen

The Medici had a small take-out bakery just inside the entrance with excellent cinnamon rolls (for you) and chocolate croissants (for her?). My info is a few years out of date, but I suspect it's still there. I've also enjoyed the breakfast at Valois Cafeteria (motto: "See your food") on 53rd. Maybe some current Hyde Parkers could tell me if it's still around.

The frozen tilapia from Trader Joe's is tasty and quite inexpensive-- the filets come in packs of three but are individually vac-sealed. This Cooking Light recipe (Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry sauce) is tasty: http://food.cookinglight.com/cooking/recip...ckage_id=348394

Lovely blog. I thoroughly enjoyed the Iron Chef competition, but where is your Chairman? Did noone have the wardrobe? IC#1= 8 IC #2= 7

Do they taste good? If they taste fruity and interesting (albeit sour) then they're probably worth trying in a batch of jelly. The crabapples from my tree look similar. Start with at least 5lb of apples-- I made a micro-scale batch of jelly from 2lbs and ended up with only 2c of jelly!

Instead of freezing pizza dough in a ball, I squish it out into a flat rectangle in freezer bag-- it thaws faster and more evenly that way.

Pie for me , please. Sour cherry pie. Blueberry pie. Apple pie. Pie. But only if the pie is baked by me or my mother. There is a lot of bad bad bad pie out there.

Fine Cooking December 2005 had a really wonderful and easy honey caramel recipe with tangerine and nut variations. I made these as Xmas gifts last year and they were very well received-- next year I'm going for the chocolate dip!!

The first sour cherry pie of the season with my best pie crust ever. I got a new cherry pitter and tested my theory that the cherries would spray less if I positioned them such that the pit is pushed out at the stem scar. Wrong!!