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Ok...my hubby and I took our 3 kids (5yrs, 23 mths & 1 mth) to the Cheesecake Factory yesterday and it was packed. There were people lined up to put in a bid for a possible table and get their in-house pagers, others milled around the bakery peering in on the cheesecakes, some were sitting at the entrance while, still others were winding their way to the bar. After waiting in line for around 3 to 4 minutes we finally put in our bid for a table for 4. The wait? 20 to 40 minutes. Can you imagine waiting that long with 3 kids?? We got our pager and parked our respective butts in front of the cheesecake display window and hoped our kids wouldn't embarrass us. My flirt of a son soon found a 20 something year old lady to play peek-a-boo with and my hubby soon found a trio of ladies who actually lived a few blocks away from our house. I spent most of my time prying my daughter's nails out of my jeans and looking at the desserts. Is it me or do their cheesecakes look a little too involved? Our pager finally went off 30 minutes after we got it. Thank God! Our server was very nice and, noting that we had kids, asked if we would like some bread and butter along with our drinks. I wish more servers were like that and Im sure other parents of little "monsters" like ours would understand why. Unfortunately, they do not offer a children's menu. We ordered a cheese pizza for the kids to share and our apps: Mini Crabcakes for me and Chicken Nachos for my hubby. Being the annoying customers that we are, after realizing that the kids were getting crankier quicker than usual, we called her back and threw in my entree order: Herb Crusted Filet of Salmon with a Fresh Lemon Sauce, Asparagus & Mashed Potatoes. The crabcakes (2 of them) were pretty big and came with Tartar and Remoulade Sauce. We thought they were damn good and tasted like those at Cafe Matisse for half the price. My kids were stuffing their faces full of pizza when the Chicken Nachos arrived. They came on a HUGE PLATTER and I mean HUGE. If you are going to order those, let me warn you, that is an appetizer that could serve 4 people or stuff 2. It's that big. The highlight of my dinner was the entree. The salmon was absolutely delicious on its own. It doesn't taste all that well with just the Lemon Sauce but when you add some potatoes to the salmon and then dip this combo into the sauce.....ummmm ummmmm ummmmm my tastebuds just about exploded. I did have a few problems with the Cheesecake Factory and their portions. My salmon could have fit in both my hands and still spill over. The portions were way too big and I noticed a few other patrons also having trouble eating that much food. You can get stuffed eating their appetizers alone. I also got some feedback from a few ladies at another table about the cheesecakes. They said the best cheesecake overall was the plain cheesecake with the fruit topping. One cheesecake to stay away from is the Key Lime Cheesecake. Oh....and my hubby says to warn you about the German Chocolate Cheesecake. It doesn't taste like cheesecake, has a huge chocolate blob on top and tastes more like a layer cake. I ordered a Giant Brownie Icecream Sandwich, the other half of it is now taking up residence in my freezer. As I said before....the portions are HUGE. All in all, I thought it was an okay place to eat....WITHOUT the 23 mth old. Service: Excellent Food: Great Kid Friendly: So So (No Kids Menu) Edit: Hubby says to get there before 4pm to avoid a long wait. How did you find the food?

For my 21st birthday i just got a bottle of 1981 Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. I know nothing about wine but i do know that this is quite valuable but if anyone would approximately what a bottle of this would be worth i may be able to treat it with proper care. I could also use advice as to what to drink such a wine with. Im sorry im such a novice...i like good food plenty but this is my first experience with fine wine. Thanks!

Maybe this topic was covered in the past and I missed it, but what are some good places to visit specifically for desserts when the old sweet tooth hits? Not necessarily sit down places, but those are nice as well. For ice cream, I like a store called Gelotti(?) on Union Ave on the border of Paterson and Totowa. They make some interesting flavors and the service is always friendly (as well as tolerant of my stupid jokes). It would be much better if they had some benches outside (inside is standing room only), but being located next to a cemetery discourages loitering anyway. Café Archetypus in Edgewater seems to be pretty good, based on the one visit I just had there this weekend. Not a huge selection of desserts, but those which my friends and I sampled were surprisingly good. I could easily see the decor however turning away as many customers as it brings in. Too often I find myself in a mood for dessert around 11pm on a weekend and wind up in some diner where they ALWAYS serve desserts, but unfortunately that doesn't mean they're good.

I have a question for Steve Klc. Once a cake is covered with rolled fondant, can it then be refrigerated, or will it become sticky and absorb odors? And can you give any recommendations on how to cover, decorate and safely deliver a six tier wedding cake?

Are there any desserts that go well with Indian food that are better than others? Anything non Indian maybe? What are the favorites here? Or are Kulfis, Kheer, Gulab Jamuns etc.. the only answer?

I am ( and have been for a while ) on a low carb diet. The upside is that I have lost 50lbs. The downside is that I can't keep up with my love of baking and desserts. I wondered if anyone could suggest some flourless cake recipes ( apart from the obvious chocolate one ) that I could try? Thanks in advance S

Okay, I admit it, I just can't convince myself to like Indian desserts. At least, not based on the ones I've tried. I recently ordered a bunch of stuff from Surati Farsan Mart in California (which is temporarily closed on account of a kitchen fire, details at http://www.suratifarsan.com ) and I found most of it to be painfully cloying and one-dimensional. These are supposed to be some of the best Indian sweets around, though I suppose there must be better ones in India. So, what's the deal? Have I just not been exposed to good Indian desserts? Will somebody educate me a bit here?

Once again, I tried to recreate my mother's shortbread cookies, using her recipe, and they didn't turn out. They were so crumbly they fell apart when you picked them up. I'm very attached to this particular recipe -- she told me that she got it from the first boy who ever kissed her, whose Scottish mother was renowned for them. That's one way to get a recipe!) She made them at all holidays. Here the recipe: 1 cup of butter 1/2 cup of sugar 2 cups of flour pinch salt I've been creaming the butter and suger and adding the flour, chilling it and rolling it out and baking them at about 300 degrees. They spread more than hers did and they're just way crumbly. The taste is good, though. I wish I could as her for advice, but she's no longer with us -- can anyone help me?

I usually mix a number of varieties of cooking apples for pies and have been pleased with the result. Recently, I used all Fujis and found them to be a bit too sweet -- I shoulda added lemon juice, I think. My eclectic approach hasn't been helpful in determining the various qualities of flavor, aroma, texture and juicyness that different varieties have. Which are your favorites, and why? Also, how do you season you apple pie? I favor equal, spare amounts of nutmeg and cinnamon, but I'd love to hear other ideas.

Amanda rediscovers the joy of plain old vanilla today at the hands of Bill Yosses. Get the recipe for his killer warm vanilla cake that I alluded to earlier in the New York/Citarella thread: click. What Amanda doesn't tell you--which I think is of value to amateur and pro alike--is that the batter can be held in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Here's the quandry... I saw on one of those Discovery Channel cooking shows, some pastry chef made ice cubes of one flavor and then pushed them into the batter of another flavor. When baked, the outer batter firmed up but the inner "ice cube" became molten. I have perused every cookbook and website to no avail. I HAVE found those recipes where the batter is slightly baked and the center is left liquid. Since I want a different flavor in the middle, this won't work. What I am envisioning is a White Chocolate exterior that will ooze Dark Chocolate when pierced.. Any help most graciously appreciated!

I love cake, yet it's extremely difficult to get a good cake anywhere -- you really have to make it yourself or pay a whole lot of money at a specialty bakery that does them right. But enough griping. What's your favorite cake? Me, I'm a seven layer cake man (yellow cake, chocolate frosting). My mother makes a superior specimen, albeit in four layers. You?

Mexican Chocolate Bundt Cake We experimented with adding a little ancho chili powder to the cakes as well, so that's an option if a more spicy cake is wanted. ( RG2168 )