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pourgirl

Cook the Book: 'Flour, Too'

a buttery croissant

Bake the Book: Le Pain Quotidien Cookbook

wine with dinner

Bake the Book: La Boulange Bakery: Cafe Cooking At Home

pain au chocolat

Halloween Costume Crafts for Kids

Kale and Cabbage Gratin

I appreciate that you're trying, but kale and cabbage? Baked? Together? Blech.

A Short Introduction to Afternoon Tea in London

Seconding the Huntington Garden tea - and it's all you can eat!!!
Re London, does Fortnum and Mason still do tea? I have happy memories of that one.

Why do grocery store cashiers 'throw' my food?

I know what you mean, and I used to read that careless toss as contempt for me and what I was buying. Now I don't take it personally, just see underpaid people in a rush. But I do look for cashiers who are reliably pleasant and professional, and try to avoid the sullen ones who could care less.

Bake the Book: Bouchon Bakery

Gammy Brown's Deviled Ham from 'The Great Meat Cookbook'

Oooh I love deviled ham! Throw a pickled jalapeno or two in the processor with the ham for a little more zip.

Cakespy: Homemade Starbucks-Style Cranberry Bliss Bars

Wow, just made a batch for festivities at the old folks home, and these came out beautifully. I was a little worried that the batter wouldn't cover the 9" X 13" pan, but I worked it in and the bars came out beautifully. Thanks, nice to have a new treat in the CHristmas repertoire!

food ya just do NOT like??

Beets make me shudder.

that old chestnut

Thanks @bleu. So much of Thanksgiving is family memories and traditions.
You're right, my Mother isn't here to celebrate with us any more, and she'd probably have changed the Thanksgiving lineup over time too.
I'm going to work with the chestnuts this year (more butter and salt in the saute?), and maybe next year we'll try something new.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Recipe Red Flags

Muffin recipes that yield 14 or 16 muffins. Who wants to wash another muffin pan for the sake of just a few more muffins? You know that you're going to cram that extra batter into 12 muffin cups.

some spicy meatballs

Thanks all! I think roasting is out and frying is back in, but I appreciate knowing why it works that way.

One kitchen item you hate to wash?

Garlic press. And when I skip using the press and grate the garlic on the microplane, that's another smelly mess to clean. Also ornate baking pans, muffin and mini-muffin tins, mini-loaf pans.

In Food Policy This Week: 5 News Bites

@pigster - agreed. It's all about the money.
Suing Chobani - seriously, in a world of fast food and fatty/chemical crap all through the food chain, is that a priority?

Sandwiched: Egg Salad, Salmon, and Radish Sandwich Loaf

@sadiepix - agree with all of your notes, haven't seen one of these in years!
My mother used to make the cream cheese frosted version for 4th of July parties - chicken salad, egg salad, and something-or-other for a third layer. Delicious!

Coffee To Go: The KeepCup

Very cute, and I love the colors. But does the little band also work as a sleeve so you don't burn your fingers? Or do you have to slip a sleeve on it too?

Bake the Book: Crêpes: 50 Savory and Sweet Recipes

Best crepes were in Normandy, served with cider in a cozy restaurant on a cold, rainy evening.

Cook the Book: 'Rice & Curry'

Can always learn more about Italian food

What's your secret snacking obsession?

Super-quick Chex Mix - basically hot buttered cereal with Worcestershire, hot sauce and nuts. I know, lamentable. It reminds me of sneaking Chex Mix from my parents' parties.

From Behind the Bar: On Drinking Alone

Thanks, I'd like to come to your bar. Last week I had an odd piece of time free in the late afternoon between obligations, went to a bar/restaurant and had a great Peppar Bloody Mary. But the wait staff acted all weird about it - great drink, but not the relaxing treat I'd wanted.

Knead the Book: King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

breads - yeast and quick bread.

Bake the Book: 'Joy the Baker Cookbook'

kingarthurflour.com - never fails

Overused food descriptions.

Great thread, lots of foodie-babble.
Two things that bug me - "tapas" for appetizers. We now have a local "Japanese tapas" place - huh?
An "eponymous" restaurant. I know, it's a fun word to write, but reviewers love the pretentiousness of Joe Blow's "eponymous restaurant Chez Joe Blow." Serving Japanese tapas no doubt.

that old chestnut

One of my Thanksgiving classics is chestnut stuffing, the way my mother made it. But the fact is that nobody really likes the chestnuts in the chestnut stuffing. I've already bought my duty packet of vacuum-sealed chestnuts from Trader Joe's. Is there anything I can do to make them tastier in stuffing?

searching for college tours

I'm trying to search for all of the college tours stories you've run, but the search result comes up blank for "Entries tagged with 'college%20tours/'"

Since I still can't read anything beyond the first page of posts (the "more posts" button hasn't worked for months) I'd like to see what college tours I've missed. Tech help please.

some spicy meatballs

I have a good recipe for meatballs, originally Cooks Illustrated I think, and they're cooked in oil in a frying pan. I like the crusty surfaces, but it's a bit messy especially if other things are going on the stovetop.
So last week I tried roasting the balls at 410F, and they were nasty - icky liquid dripped out, and the balls were rubbery, with a mushy surface.
Is it possible to roast/broil meatballs so that they're crusty outside and still tender within?Thanks for any tips, I'm in the mood for a meatball sandwich!.

quinoa prep?

I'm finally ready to try quinoa in a summer salad, but I've read that it can be "soapy-tasting." Should I rinse it first? Toast it? Any tips welcome.

pea shoots - what to do with them?

Bought a beautiful bag of bright green pea shots at the farmers market today, but I'm not sure what to do with them. The vendor said they were good in salads, but do I use the whole stalk or just the smaller leaves and wavy bits at the end? I've read of saute-ing them - again, do I just chuck the whole thing in the pan, or trim them down? I suppose they'd cook in a flash. Would you eat them on their own, or with pasta?
Many thanks, all ideas welcome

good ground beef

I bought a one-pound packet of ground beef the other day, and took a closer look at the fine print while I was browning the beef for spaghettti sauce. It claimed that the beef was from "Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA." Huh?
Not to go all Michael Pollan, but I don't like the idea of vague meat from everywhere and nowhere. Once I knew that about my beef I thought that dinner tasted a little funky.
Is it normal for ground beef to be such a mishmash, or did I buy the cheap stuff by mistake? What would be a good kind of ground beef for tacos, meatloaf, etc? (not burgers.) Yes, local's best but in a supermarket how to you find that? At least now I know not to pick the globe-trotting cow, but what's better?

Pasta machine?

I think I finally need a pasta machine. The ravioli recipes in the latest "Food and Wine" are just too good, and the process doesn't sound (that) hard with the right equipment.

Does anyone have a pasta machine brand to recommend? I'm looking for a basic beginner-friendly hand-cranked model to make those ravioli, and maybe some fettucini or other simple forms. Oh, and no quirky counter clamps. My counters are mangled enough already.

Any ideas?

Pricey cloves

I loved the pumpkin cupcake recipe mentioned earlier this week on SE, but wanted to freshen up my ancient jar of cloves. So today in CA I found a mini spice container (half the normal spice jar) of ground cloves for $9+.
Yow! Are cloves this crazy-expensive everywhere else? Can I skip them, or just use "pumpkin pie spice" and call it a day?

Homemade Kahlua

The recent post about limoncello got me thinking about trying homemade Kahlua too. It seems to me that brown sugar rather than white would work with the coffee, and I'd like to use real coffee beans or ground coffee rather than instant. What do you think? There are a zillion recipes out there, but some sound crazy-sweet, or just crazy. I'd prefer a "serious eats" screened version. Thanks for any ideas.

$29.95 for America's Test Kitchen website?

Has anyone else been subscribing to the America's Test Kitchen website? I enjoyed being able to search for recipes that I vaguely remembered, and at $19.95 the site seemed pricey but good. But my latest subscription notice showed an annual price of $29.95!! No break for Cook's Illustrated subscribers, of course, so $29.95 on top of the magazine subscription ($49.95 for two years) seems nuts to me. What do you think?

Cafe Tacuba chicken enchiladas?

I just saw a DVR'd version of "Moveable Feast" from our PBS station's fund-raising cache, and Rick Bayless prepared the most beautifully green chicken enchiladas from a recipe he said originated with Cafe Tacuba in Mexico City. Does anyone have that recipe, or know a cookbook where I could find it? It included chiles and spinach (!) in the sauce, and looked easy and wonderful.

Good eats from Costco?

So I just joined Costco. The greeter asked if I'd just moved to the area, then acted as though I was some mad eccentric who'd finally decided to have the electricity connected after 8 years. OK, I've finally joined Costco. What's yummy there?

Couscous Salad

It's hot, and I need some ideas for couscous salad. Do you make a savory one, with cucs etc? Or sweeter, with dried fruit? What's your take on couscous salad?

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