Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Oh my goodness - I just had to read the whole post & was laughing during it - I work at a small gourmet shop - so customer service is a big thing - I just love that aspect - I love chatting with the customers & getting to know them - but seriously - this post is just so hilarious......

Thanks for the ideas - I know I would love to have a kitchen scale in my kitchen!

Oh - I just had to comment on the imitation & real vanilla string of comments..... I did a little digging into vanilla & came across this information that seems to be quite comprehensive - it goes through & explains about all the different types of vanilla & it even goes through how imitation vanilla came about - it's seems to be a by-product of the paper industry or a coal-tar derivative. I always try to use fresh, whole ingredients in cooking or baking so using the real stuff is just what I'm used too...here's the info on vanilla:

http://www.vanilla.com/html/facts-extracts.html

I think this is a great idea - I'm not in NYC, but I'm going to check out my local food pantry to see if they accept pies..... have fun making all those pies :) - people will really appreciate it!!

My husband is from india & his parents came to visit & they made chai every morning for us before we had to go to work - it was such a relaxing start to the day - so unlike how I would usually start the days.....but anyways - the way my mother in law would make it is the same way as described in the previous post...always had a creamy consistency & so flavorful - I had forgotten about those lovely chai mornings - will have to make a pot coming up....

I finally watched the finale this afternoon - I knew they'd be showing it sometime - so I caught it today. I liked Hung from the moment I tuned into TopChef- yeah - he was the best chef technically - but I think he had heart as well - even if it didn't appear as clear throughout the episodes- if someone cooks like he cooks he obviously has a lot of heart & the way he spoke about his family cooking their traditional foods in a previous episode - you know where he got his inspiration from. Anyways -I'm happy Hung won - I think he deserves it.