Maison Rustique

I hadn't heard of Chess Cake. I Googled and found that it is very similar to Gooey Butter Cake, which I believe originated in St. Louis, so maybe it is the midwestern version of Chess Cake.

Thank you both for all this thoughtful, helpful advice!

I have also learned from a friend that she uses her Vitamix to mill flour. I've got an Aldi knock-off and am going to give it a try to see how it turns out. If I can use something I've already got, all the better.

I'm going to revive this thread because I am suddenly interested in getting an electric flour mill. If there is a more recent thread that discusses, please direct me to it, as I didn't see it. I assume in the several years since this one was active, there may be new products and people will have had different experiences with what they have. First off, I'm not a professional and do not need anything extra fancy or enormous. If fact, the smaller, the better since I have limited kitchen space. Electric is a must because of my hand issues. Inexpensive but efficient is what I'm looking for at this time. Something that will handle all the various types of grain and mill well-enough for my mediocre bread-baking attempts. Any thoughts? And, since I have no experience with it, should I anticipate any difficulty in purchasing whole grains in reasonable quantities and varieties? Thanks for any thoughts!

There was a restaurant in Orange County called The Gypsy Den. (They have since changed their name to The Den, as gypsy is not an acceptable term any more. Apologies to all for my use of it here. I typed this up years ago and saved as a photo, so can't edit.) At any rate, they had a delightful salad on their menu and when I lived and worked near there, I'd often get it for lunch. When it was no longer available, I decided to concoct my own version of it. I am always asked for the recipe when I take it to gatherings. I hope you enjoy.

I don't want to take the thread off-topic, but would you be willing to share your recipe for orgeat? Thanks!

Those eggplants almost look like balloon animals. LOL!

What a treasure! I wish I was younger and had the money to invest. But, I'm downsizing my cookbook collection because we need to get into a smaller place.

That sounds fascinating but can't read it because of paywall.

Thanks, all!!

I tried both of them at least a year ago--maybe longer--and had problems. Mostly with shipping and temperature. Meats would arrive defrosted and lukewarm. Produce would be battered by stuff sitting on them or knocking around in the box. I cancelled but now see such great stuff that'd I'd consider giving it another try if they have improved.

That sounds delicious!

@AnniehWhich subscription do you use--Misfits or Imperfect? I'm still trying to decide what to do.

No hood, just a small "exhaust" fan that only circulates the grease and smoke.

Our kitchen in California was enormous and wonderful. The kitchen in this house is tiny and horrible. A lot of my kitchen stuff never made it into this kitchen. Now, we need to downsize and get into a smaller place so I've been working my way through all the stuff I haven seen in 15 years. Hard to decide what to keep and what to pitch.

@Shelby, remind me if it is Misfits or Imperfect that you still get? I keep wondering if I should give Imperfect another try. They send me deals to come back all the time.

Since I have not paid for any of these newsletters or blogs, I don't know if they carry advertising or not. I doubt I would pay to read them (I can't even keep up with the 3 print decorating magazines I still subscribe to--I'm always about 3 issues behind.), but if I did pay for them and they carry advertising, I'd be unhappy about being charged. As a former advertising person, I come from the old school where advertising paid for the publishing and subscription costs were ridiculously low and just a way to show the advertisers that people actually liked and read that medium. Yeah, I'm a dinosaur.

Nancy, I probably should have said not to cut the apricots too small. Or too large. Probably does take some experimenting. Thanks for trying and sharing!

I never would have thought of baking it that way. I will give it a try.

Not white whole wheat, but yes, "some" whole wheat mixed in with white is my best guess. It did not seem much like whole wheat to me, but their description said whole wheat. Keep us posted!!

Their version was so good toasted. I loved it with the Trader Joe's Cultured Butter. But since it isn't sweet, it is also delish for grilled cheese, ham sandwiches, etc. And, yes, cream cheese. I got hung up in stuff this week (had to replace kitchen faucet and go stove shopping) and haven't tried it yet, but hope to very soon.

We have a local dairy that delivers. Yes, I have a milkman! Anyway, they have a lot besides milk. For quite a while a year or so ago, they had an artisan bread they made that was a light whole wheat bread with dried apricots and pumpkins seeds. Not at all sweet. We got completely addicted to it. And that means they don't make it anymore. So, I've searched around a come up with a couple of recipes I think I can modify to come up with something similar. I always use my bread machine because my hands and arms won't knead now. I would love to make some this week but have a dilemma. My oven is not working properly. (We're going to be shopping for a new one, but won't be here this week obviously.) I can bake it in the bread machine, but would like for it to not come out looking like a boring rectangle. So, here's my question. Has anyone tried slashing the top of the loaf in the bread machine before baking to give it a bit more artisan look/feel?

Here in the mid-west we seem to get only the T-Atkins and Ataulfos. Unless there is a hidden resource somewhere. I only buy Ataulfo.

One of our neighbors' daughters has started a home-based bakery business while she attends college. She is doing a great job and what we've had has been delicious. Rai's Bake Shoppe

I love everything about this! I got a chuckle out of the Sammy making bread article written by Biddy Bye. 😊 I have so many types of books in my cookbook collection and my favorites are the ones with clippings and hand-written recipes tucked into them, adjustments made to the recipes in the book, comments, etc. I can spend days looking through them. What a wonderful gift your friend has given you!