mktye

I concur with mdt on the times, but I do freeze mine a plastic container. I also usually make a big batch, freeze it and then hack off hunks as needed.

Buttercream! (It freezes well and you can mix in various flavorings later.)

Yes. And (to expand on Heather's comment), if I don't have any White Lily, I use all-purpose bleached flour, then non-King Arthur all-purpose flour (which I pretty much never have on hand), then King Arthur all-purpose flour (which is higher in protein than most AP flours). But, like mdt wrote, a light touch can have a huge affect if using a higher-protein flour and the differences in texture when using the various flours can be quite subtle. Not sure if you could notice if not doing a side-by-side comparison (yes, that was a very good morning in our household ).

You won't get the flakiness of "real" biscuits, but if you are in a hurry and don't want to deal with the butter... Cream Biscuits Makes eight 2½” biscuits Easy and quick to throw together. To tweak, toss in various flavorings with the dry ingredients. Such as: 2 tablespoons minced herbs, ½ cup grated cheese or 3 tablespoons minced candied ginger. For the lightest, fluffiest biscuits, be careful not to over-mix, keep the dough as wet and soft as you can stand it and bake them immediately after mixing and cutting. 2 cups bleached, all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons sugar (optional) 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1½ cups heavy cream Adjust an oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt (along with any other flavoring you’ll be using) in a medium bowl. Add the 1¼ cups cream and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms ball, ~30 seconds. Transfer the dough from the bowl to a countertop, leaving all the dry, floury bits behind in bowl. In 1 tablespoon increments, add up to ¼ cup cream to dry bits in the bowl, mixing with a wooden spoon after each addition, until they are all moistened. Add these moistened bits to rest of dough and knead gently by hand just until smooth, ~30 seconds. Gently pat the dough into a circle ~½“-thick. Cut the biscuits into rounds or wedges. Place the rounds or wedges on the prepared half-sheet pan and bake until the biscuits are golden brown, ~15 to 20 minutes (if you add cheese, they’ll take a little longer to bake), rotating pan halfway through baking. Allow the biscuits to sit for 5 minutes before serving. Adapted from a "Cooks Illustrated" recipe.

A pastry blender. Click to see a fancy one. (And it can also be used when making pie crust.)

You almost got it right:Step 1: Cheesetique -- something smelly, something runny, something blue, something hard Step 2: Taqueria Poblano -- 1 fish taco, 1 duck taco (alternate bites between the two) Step 3: The Dairy Godmother -- 1 medium frozen custard (the small size melts too fast)

First of all, a huge "Thank You" to gnatharobed and the wonderful people at A&J for hosting us this evening. The staff was so very welcoming and the food... Wow! Great food at a great price. Everything I ate was delicious. Favorites at our table included the Wonton Soup, Kao Fu (Vegetarian Delight w/Gluten, Dry Bean Curd & Mushrooms), Ma La Er Si (Sliced Pork Ears w/Hot & Spiced Seasoning) and all the assorted dumplings. And the Dou Sha Su Bing (Red Bean Paste Pastry) was the perfect finish to the evening. Lastly, it was great to see everyone and put faces to screen names. But I will refrain from naming names (real or screen) as to who had too much to drink at the last picnic to remember who they met and who is simply too much of a Texan to walk a few blocks.

10) Pasturzied (not Ultra-Pasturized) Heavy Cream with no added stabilizers11) Tortillas without preservatives 12) Big chunks of Ghirardelli chocolate 13) Great prices on non-stale nuts of all varieties 14) Candied Ginger 15) Dried Fruits (eps. mango and pineapple) 16) Strawberry & Apricot Jam 17) A parking lot that is downright sane compared to the rat-maze at the Alexandria WF. 18) Proximity to DSW. (Okay, the last two probably only apply to those living in Alexandria who have a weakness for shoes. )

When rwtye was deployed to Palau, he also discovered that a common, local addition to sushi was Spam. And since the ladies making the sushi did not wash their hands after touching the Spam, pretty much all the sushi tasted of Spam to some extent (which was made even more tragic by the fact that the fish they used had usually been pulled from the ocean within the hour). He was also served Spam-enhanced tapioca.

The arrival of last week's Epicurious Recipe Flash featuring a recipe for Raspberry Crumble Tart just happened to coincide with finding some gorgeous berries at reasonable prices, so I had to try out that recipe. Instead of using all raspberries as called for, I used ~12 oz. of blueberries, 6 oz. of raspberries and 6 oz. of blackberries. I also used blanched almonds instead of whole almonds. Super easy and quick to throw together (I threw caution to the wind and did not chill the dough for an hour before rolling it out -- not a recommended plan of action for the faint of heart). The tart came out very tasty and the only thing I woud do differently would be to cook it at a bit higher temperature (at least initially). The crust was a little underdone for my tastes, even after an hour. (I would have left it in the oven longer, but I needed the oven for some nearly-over-proofed bread that just could not wait any longer. ) It is definitely a recipe I'll use again.

For some reason, the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant (yes, the place on the same property as the original George W.'s house) has become popular as a special-occasion venue in one of our social circles. And it was only a matter of time before it happened"¦ an invitation to a private party there. I'd eaten at the Mount Vernon Inn only once before, nearly 10 years ago, when it was the only choice at hand (they now have a food court in addition to the more formal restaurant). All I can remember about that meal was that I ordered a pulled-pork sandwich (the memories of it are not fond) and the service was abysmal. But a lot has changed at Mount Vernon since that time, so I was hoping the restaurant had also been upgraded. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case. Overall, the food certainly could have been worse, but it was generally flavorless and uninspired. There was also an issue with the salt "“ the prosciutto/asparagus/puff pastry appetizer was too salty even for me (a known salt-fiend) and other things (such as the baked, stuffed tomatoes) were totally devoid of salt. We started the evening with appetizers: The previously-mentioned Prosciutto/Asparagus/Puff pastry Combo; Crab Dip (which had a disturbing viscosity) and House-made Crackers (too thick for my tastes and a bit soggy); Quiche (I think that is was it was supposed to be, but it was surprisingly cold and tasteless); Spanakopita (a crime against phyllo); Beef satay (which I did not try because the meat was cut in too large of pieces to gracefully eat while standing with a drink in one hand and carrying on witty conversation); Bacon-wrapped scallops (which were the best of the lot "“ all that could be tasted was the bacon, not a bad thing in this instance, and the scallops were not over-cooked). From there we went into one of the dining rooms and sat down for their American Traditional Menu I: Warm Goat Cheese & Field Green Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette (subbed last night with a syrupy raspberry vinaigrette); Petite Filet Mignon with Crab Cake (no discernable spicing, with the predominant flavor being that of old crab) or Sliced Duck Breast (the duck was subbed with lamb) with Shrimp Sambal (Sambal? Where? all the shrimp tasted of was raw garlic); Tomato Stuffed with Sautéed Garlic & Spinach (a perfectly baked tomato, but no salt and the spinach mixture was... yes, you guessed it, flavorless); Duchess Potato (possibly piped out and baked when the mansion was new); Homemade Breads and Colonial Cracker (served with stale butter); Fresh Strawberries in a Chocolate Cup with Chambord Cream (so that is what that taste was "“ all I could tell last night was that it was not a flavor found in nature). All washed down with Foxhorn Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay (or, in our case, water). What the meal really suffered from was lack of quality ingredients. With the exception of the tomatoes and the strawberries, nearly everything tasted old and stale (if it tasted of anything at all). The somewhat tragic part was that the food was technically cooked well "“ the meats to the appropriate degree of doneness, the scallops and shrimp were tender, the crab cake had very little filler and so on "“ so there is some talent at work there. Unfortunately, no one seems to be tasting any of the food before it leaves the kitchen (rwtye thinks it is intentional and they striving for innocuous and bland). Luckily, the focus of the evening was the celebration of a milestone in the life of a dear friend. So, regardless of what we were served, it was a very enjoyable evening. Sometimes it is not all about the food.

What kind of watermelon?

One word: trifle.

I have no problems with a little extra fiber in my diet, but I could not shake the visual of a DR.com member taking a bite of a bun and then start hacking like a cat with a hairball.While growing up, I must have consumed at least one spatula worth of rubber from my mother's blendering. I have done this. But only once.

3 June 2006, 10:30 p.m. Finish hour-long simmering of bacon/onion mixture needed to make Lithuanian Bacon Buns for Spring DR.com Picnic. Dough complete through 1st rise and awaiting portioning and stuffing with bacon/onion mixture. Scrape bacon/onion mixture into food processor to "finely chop" as directed by recipe. Whir-whir-whir. Scrape finely-chopped bacon/onion mixture into mixing bowl. Taste for salt. Add more salt, pick up wooden spoon to stir in salt and notice 1/3" x 1/2" chunk from tip of wooden spoon is missing. Pray to higher power that 1/3" x 1/2" chunk from tip of wooden spoon came off while scraping finely-chopped bacon/onion mixture out of food processor bowl. Look in processor bowl. Empty. Wash hands. Feel around in finely-ground bacon/onion mixture for 1/3" x 1/2" chunk from tip of wooden spoon. Feel nothing but finely-chopped mixture. Closely examine finely-chopped mixture. Look at ready and waiting, perfectly-risen dough. Oh-so-briefly consider nutritional and health aspects of consuming finely-chopped 1/3" x 1/2" chunk from tip of wooden spoon. Sigh deeply. Toss finely-chopped bacon/onion/wooden spoon mixture into garbage. Put dough into refrigerator. Sigh deeply. Go to bed.

What about adding some chocolate-flavored liqueur to the simple syrup? (Warning: I have no personal experience with chocolate liqueurs and have no idea if they are at all palatable or not.)Another possibility would be to brush the cakes with plain simple syrup, then spread with a thin layer of chocolate ganache and *then* the pistachio buttercream.

TJ's Unsweetened, Unsulfured, Dried Pineapple Rings. Guilt-free goodness.

Thank you for taking one for the team! In the process of moving to the new house, I found a can of that pistachio paste in my pantry (amongst other forgotten goodies) and I've been looking to find a use for it. Is your ratio based on weight or volume? What about mixing cocoa powder into some simple syrup? Sounds like more experimentation may be in order...

We had a friend who would bring her own tupperware from home for leftovers. No restaurant was too fancy for her to pull a container out of her large purse and unabashedly scrape the remaining contents of her plate into it.

I am a whore for ziploc baggies. The bigger the better (I can hardly wait to get my hands on some of those new Big Bags). And, when it comes to the one-gallon and the elusive-but-oh-so-versatile two-gallon sizes, those tiny grocery store boxes containing only 10-20 bags are just not enough to satisfy me -- I buy the big commercial 250-count boxes. However, I do reuse those that are used for storing bread and other baked goods. And you don't even want to hear about my pre-cut half-sheet-sized parchment paper habit.

My vote is that there were not enough eggs and using egg-beaters probably compounded that problem. I don't think the flour to oats ratio is the problem. I only use 1 cup of flour per 3 cups of oats in the banana/oat bar cookies I've been making lately, plus I throw in a cup each of coconut, chocolate chips and walnuts and they still come out a bit too cakey. In the KAF Cookie Companion, there is a recipe for "Flourless Oatmeal Drops" (page 81) -- I've made them and, while tender, they hold together (and are delicious). If you want to try that particular Oatmeal Raisin cookie recipe again, I'd try using another egg and omitting the water. As far as sifting, I don't think it matters much for a recipe such as this. For most recipes, I put the dry ingredients together in a bowl and stir well with a whisk to distribute the salt/baking powder/soda/spices in the flour. I usually only bother with sifting when a recipe calls for cake flour.

Keith Ryder (bkeith here on DR.com) sells great-tasting ready-made fondant. Website.

I made another batch of Chunky Monkey Bars tonight with some changes to the recipe I used last time (decreased the flour by 1/2 cup, added another cup of oatmeal and an extra banana). The cookies came out much less cakey and with the chewy texture rwtye has been requesting. Instead of posting the whole recipe again, I edited the recipe in my previous post here: Updated Recipe

A confession: I don't really like chocolate. But I do like the ganache on top idea. I've yet to find a chocolate cake that makes me happy, but the next recipe I want to try is the one porcupine posted upthread. The last time I made chocolate cake, I used the recipe in Sherry Yard's "The Secrets of Baking", but was not thrilled with the texture (a little rubbery and coarse). My stand-by is the chocolate sponge in Friberg's "The Professional Pastry Chef", but it is a very European-style cake (it really needs brushing with some sort of simple syrup mixture to be moist enough) and not to everyone's tastes. I concur. While that cake recipe contains both baking powder (which is mainly activated by heat) in addition to the baking soda, I still think the texture would suffer. Would it be possible to combine the liquid and dry components (that had been pre-measured at home) at the last minute? I see that the recipe you want to use calls for whipped egg whites, but there are other recipes that do not and that could simplify things. But whatever you end up doing, please let us know how it turned out.

I've not tried the pistachio paste, but I've used the hazelnut praline paste (same brand -- American Almond) in other recipes. It is very, very finely ground (I just ate some off of a spoon to make sure ) and, while it is a little gritty on its own, I suspect it would be masked in buttercream.Pistachio buttercream sounds like a fantastic idea worth at least some experimentation. I'd try mixing up a small amount to see how the texture turned out. Keep in mind there is a difference between eating buttercream straight and eating it as part of an assembled cake -- the chestnut buttercream is also a tiny bit chalky when eaten by itself (like that stopped me last night from eating an obscene amount with a spoon ), but it is not noticable at all when consumed with a bite of cake. Using pistachio flour in the cake layer would also be an option for more pistachio flavor. Probably the most sure-fire way would be to look for a cake recipe that calls for almond flour and sub the pistachio flour. I know there is one such recipe in Bo Friberg's "The Professional Pastry Chef", let me know if you'd like me to copy it for you.