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Has anyone had any luck, ever, with baked doughnuts? Frying them is, honestly, kind of a mess, even with a deep fryer, but I've never had them come out particularly good when baked. They're always way too dense.

Still my cheap Calphalon stainless steel chef's knife. Takes well to sharpening, and holds an edge.

I have a Calphalon chef's knife (8"?) - a single large chunk of steel. It may not be fancy, but it sharpens up nicely. Wouldn't mind having a second one... or a cleaver.

@James -

Some carts do make their own sauce with different flavors, though I think the "standard" doesn't have garlic in it.

Thanks for the advice - I'll try @KarmaFreeCooking's suggestion. Like JulietRomeo, I love the taste of the fresh raspberries, so hopefully the jam will thicken it up enough.

If it's still too thin, maybe I'll try letting it gently cook down.

My wife decided pretty quickly that coffee was right out. It's for the best since she can't have caffeine (much), but even the smell makes her nauseous. Peanut butter cups have been grossing her out for the past few months too (though peanut butter and chocolate are fine on their own).

So far, her only real craving has been watermelon and pineapple, which I whole-heartedly support. Oh - and she LOVES the smell of beer now.

I've made several of Reinhart's recipes at home without a problem. Was your yeast fresh? Is your water overly chlorinated? Did you measure by weight?

I'm likewise curious: are these really nitrate free? Or just cured with nitrate-rich celery juice.

So, I have to ask - generally, burning anything in a garage is pretty questionable - even with the door open. Any info on how he manages safety/ventilation?

@KimmieD - We're on the northern edge of zone 7. Given how cold our winters get, I'm sure zone 6 would be fine. I don't know about 5, though.

To the other suggestions: I hadn't thought about corn, though I've done sage cornbread before. Sage pesto sound great as well. Otherwise, yes, it's very versatile - I think we'll just have to start putting it in everything.

I used Ruhlman's oven-simmer chicken stock method/recipe, just swapping pork bones/feet for the chicken. The carrot certainly didn't make it sweet.

The feet were fresh from a whole pig roast the day before, so I didn't do anything to them, but I did roast the other bones/bits prior to tossing into the stock.

I think it's also worth considering the fact that an Air France ticket is often significantly more than other major carriers.

Oh - and my flight to/from Tokyo last September had perfectly acceptable food. Airline? Continental.

@toad3000 -

I made that same mistake too.

Definitely look at how much of a yield you'll get from a plant, and when you'll get yields so you're getting something all the time instead of getting bombarded once a year.

If you're starting from seed - remember, a certain percentage of seeds won't sprout. And a certain percentage of the sprouts won't do well. And a certain percentage won't survive the transition outdoors, no matter how careful you are - so plant extra, and thin as needed.