scornell’s Profile
Recent Comments
A Guide to Wine and Dessert Pairings
Could you tell me what the dessert is under "custard and vanilla"? It looks like lemon curd in a brioche bowl, but all my googling is coming up empty, not to mention hungry! Thanks in advance.
Uses for Vodka in the Freezer
Ah, yes, you can store it in the freezer, but it's not required. It also sits at room temperature for a long time while it ages. Even if it did go back in there, making limoncello would at least buy her some time. :)
Time Limit in Restaurants?
I would have a similar response - "gee, do I really want to eat there if this is the deal?" That said, I wonder if it would be just as offensive if the restaurant said "If you would like us to reserve the table for you for more than 90 minutes, please let us know and we'll make sure you have a great meal..." or something like that. I'm probably just being overly optimistic, though. :)
See more comments by scornell »
Recent Posts
scornell hasn't written a post yet.
Recent Favorites
scornell hasn't favorited a post yet.
Recent Polls
scornell hasn't answered any polls yet.
Recent Quizzes
scornell got 62% correct on Winter Vegetables Quiz
Quiz posted by Katie Quinn, January 19, 2010 at 11:30 AM
See more polls and quizzes by scornell »
Recent Comments
Cook the Book: 'Sarabeth's Bakery'
my mom, and a whole bunch of books!
A Guide to Wine and Dessert Pairings
Could you tell me what the dessert is under "custard and vanilla"? It looks like lemon curd in a brioche bowl, but all my googling is coming up empty, not to mention hungry! Thanks in advance.
Uses for Vodka in the Freezer
Ah, yes, you can store it in the freezer, but it's not required. It also sits at room temperature for a long time while it ages. Even if it did go back in there, making limoncello would at least buy her some time. :)
Time Limit in Restaurants?
I would have a similar response - "gee, do I really want to eat there if this is the deal?" That said, I wonder if it would be just as offensive if the restaurant said "If you would like us to reserve the table for you for more than 90 minutes, please let us know and we'll make sure you have a great meal..." or something like that. I'm probably just being overly optimistic, though. :)
Uses for Vodka in the Freezer
Get some lemons and make limoncello. That's what I'd do with gifted vodka!
Photo of the Day: Self Service Cranberry Bog
Seriously, though, does anyone know if they stay fresher stored in water like this? I say this as someone who bought the bagged cranberries too early and had to throw out a lot more squishy ones than I wanted to. (I would have been sorely tempted to swish a hand through that trough myself. :)
Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 95: Weighing In The Day After Thankgiving
I'm a big fan of "further pie profligacy" in all its forms, so at first I was sad to hear about the kibosh. But truly enjoying Thanksgiving and still succeeding at your goals is FABULOUS. :)
Onion Substitute?
Like everyone else, I have a friend who doesn't like onions. Once she just happened to be at our house around dinner time when dinner was risotto. Since I hadn't made it with her in mind, there were onions in it. (of course). She pulled out EACH and EVERY tiny piece of onion - and this was a white-on-white risotto, where the rice looked exactly like the onion. She was and is my hero for that - if she's willing to do the work and pull out all that onion, she doesn't have to eat it!
Kitchenaid smells...
I have a lot of luck with a 4-minutes-on, 4-minutes off cycle. The resting helps the dough absorb the moisture, and has the added bonus of not burning out your motor. Even if the recipe calls for just 5 or 6 minutes of kneading, I still do the resting step, even if I get impatient waiting there with a kitchen timer! I also do this regardless of the size of the batch. Try it and see if you get the same burning smell.
Do You Like Eating Pie Crust By Itself?
You have all encouraged me to follow my dreams and do this: roll out my favorite pie crust, bake it flat, and eat it for breakfast. :)
Holy Apples!
I'm about to attempt an apple mostarda - it's along the lines of zucchini's idea, but specifically an italian savory sauce.
Harvesting and Drying Herbs
I have a suggestion for the woody herbs - this won't work for the basils. I just put bunches of each herb in brown paper bags and hang them indoors, on a clothesline-like setup. As long as the leaves are completely free of surface water when I put them in there, they dry out before they would mold. The brown paper bag keeps the leaves from turning brown from exposure to light, and provides a nifty way to reuse those wine bags!
Recipes for Limpa Bread & St. Lucia Buns
I just made Santa Lucia buns using the recpie posted on the Fresh Loaf discussion boards:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4189/santa-lucia-bread#comment-26429
The ingredients listed are all originally swedish, but I was able to make appropriate substitutions as they discuss in the thread. I should note that I used a homemade sugar syrup instead of the "vit baksirap", but if you're in the states, you can use karo syrup instead of making stuff up like I do. :)
Good luck! the buns we made were a big hit!
Snack ideas for people who travel
I've had a lot of luck with raw almonds for something crunchy and savory, dried fruit for something sweet, those little packets of flavoring for water bottles (it made train water palatable, thank goodness, even though normally they're kind of scary), and FIG NEWTONS. Fig newtons are a meal replacer, as far as I'm concerned. Please don't burst my bubble. I only eat them when we travel. :)
the last time we took a long train ride I made a batch of rolls with Martha Stewart's olive oil bread recipe. I used them to make small cheese sandwiches that lasted for days and days and days. there's nothing quite like olive oil to keep sandwich bread soft! These were fabulous and I'd recommend this tactic to anyone who had to make snacks for a few days at a time. One of the sandwiches was pork rillettes, and that gets my vote for something that tastes good and keeps acceptably at room temperature. Obviously this one got eaten early on. :)
Grocery stores -- the positive side
At big grocery stores with loyalty cards, I like to be able to offer to swipe my card for people who don't have one. Once I was behind a man who didn't speak much English and was only buying a gallon of milk but was counting it out down to the penny. The cashier tried to get him to ask me if he could borrow my card, but he didn't quite get the idea. It was so easy to save someone a dollar or two! It would have been nice to do more, but everything starts small.
Cheese!
Halloumi, a salty, lovely cheese from Cyprus. sometimes fried, sometimes just cold. LOVELY in a pita. It's "squicky" on your teeth, like I imagine a good Wisconsin cheese curd is supposed to be... I'll wake up from my reverie eventually and put together a full sentence...
Help keep my bread fresh!
I'm going to echo the others who've suggested using paper bags instead of plastic bags. This means that you will (most likely) not get mold, and that as it naturally dries out it will be an even better candidate for cutting into cubes and making croutons! I've honestly had a lot of luck adjusting what I expect from my bread, rather than expecting the same sandwich on day #5.
Also, since you've specifically asked for secret natural ingredients, try rosemary or garlic. There are more herbs that have an effect similar to the rosemary, but I've forgotten them at the moment. This is a rich area for research, if you're so inclined!
Cook the Book: Wine Bar Food
a nice not-too-sweet fruity dessert. But I think I've had champagne most often with wedding cake, and not very memorable wedding cake, at that.
Where to eat in Indianapolis/Bloomington?
Bloomington has a fantastic food culture, in my opinion. People and their restaurants are adventurous, both in doing the old standards well and in finding new standards. :)
The Bloomington farmer's market and Winter market bring the local marketing season to ten months of the year (all but December and January). The vendors are really excellent, and you can even get tamales at one stall using the pork shoulder you could have bought from another vendor, cooking demonstrations by local chefs, with a really liberal sprinkling of local musicians throughout the market.
There are also two cooking stores downtown, which I think is rather remarkable for a city this size (maybe I'm just from too small a town for this to seem normal? :), Goods for Cooks and The Inner Chef. There is also Bloomington Cooking School, run by a local chef.
Bloomingfoods, the local co-op, and Sahara Mart are two sources for more out-of-the-way ingredients, and they both sell some prepared foods. There are also a handful of asian groceries and other international markets.
There's vegetarian+local at Roots (on the square), Irish pub food at The Irish Lion (just off the square), American pub food at Upland Brewery (ate there last night, in fact...) acceptable sushi all over town (we like Asuka,on the east side), excellent Indian at Shanti (on the main street, Kirkwood), AMAZING Thai home cooking at Esan Thai right behind Shanti (try the yellow curry!), a neat little Creperie which I like even though some of my friends give it mixed reviews (the Cafe et Crepe, downtown), and the Uptown Cafe (just off the square). There are many, many more!
Some of these restaurants have websites, and I hope I've given you enough to find them. My apologies if I've gotten any names slightly wrong, I've had to do a lot of this on memory in a short break from work. :)
So in short, food folks are doing just fine in Bloomington. It has its drawbacks (Seafood, why are you so faaar awaaaayyy!?), but all in all, you'll find a lot of new and old things to make your taste buds happy!
--Sarah
See more comments by scornell »Loading...No more comments by scornell
Recent Posts
scornell hasn't written a post yet.
Recent Favorites
scornell hasn't favorited a post yet.
Polls
scornell hasn't answered any polls yet.
Quizzes
scornell got 62% correct on Winter Vegetables Quiz
Quiz posted by Katie Quinn, January 19, 2010 at 11:30 AM

my mom, and a whole bunch of books!