lovemcm's Profile

I am excited about trying this recipe, but have 2 questions. Since goat cheese simply means cheese from goats' milk, and comes in a wide variety of flavors and textures, from hard to spreadable and creamy, which type should be used? And did you use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (and if so did you blot them) or the kind that comes dry in bags? I would think adding the wrong type of either of these ingredients could have profound effects on the results.

Thanks for this, as we are entering the no-man's-world of mattress research/buying. We did follow the year of mattress tests/reviews, but not sure our criteria are the same. Would love it if readers would share their own reviews of Shifman mattresses, if they have them.

If you live in the US, I'd be really surprised if molasses was not available at a local market. I live in the boonies and all the supermarkets here have it, especially now that baking season is upon us. But, if you can't find it or don't like it, just Google "substitute for molasses," and there are a lot of options.

For Benito and others who may not be able to find pickling (a/k/a canning) salt, here is some handy information. In case the link below doesn't work at some future point, Kosher salt, which is usually easy to find, can be subbed for the pickling salt, but more must be used. The ratio, at least for Morton Kosher and Morton Pickling Salts, is 18 tbsp Kosher to 16 tbsp Pickling Salt, so multiply the amount of Pickling salt called for by 1 1/8 (1.125) and use that much Kosher Salt.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/salt.htm

Looked at circa50 for replacement butterfly chair covers. Had a question and tried their 877 number. Despite the "open 24 hours" claim, no one answered after several tries at different times of the day. After reading Amazake's comment above, I was surprised to find the Showroom still listed on the site, with no indication it is no longer open. I googled reviews for this company, and found a number of very negative comments regarding customer service, one on quality of the outdoor chair covers (which is what I need), and surprise charges, as well as an inability to reach them via phone. It's too bad, since they seem to offer the most comprehensive variety of butterfly seat covers. Now I'm afraid to do business with them...

Tony Duquette is doing cartwheels in his grave. He would approve, as would Auntie Mame. Not much to add to what many have already said. So many beautiful items, so much originality, so much gusto! Now I must rush over to Ms. Skouras' website to see if there is anything there I can plunder.

Always liked it, but now that you've explained it, I wonder why I never even thought about its origin.

Meanwhile, the copy editor in me has to ask, did you mean "one of my central tenets" as opposed to tenants?

Made this for dinner tonight. But I did make some changes. I added garlic to the marinade for the chicken and to the sauce. I also added chopped fresh mint to the sauce. And I skewered the chicken chunks after removing them from the marinade and grilled them, as a way to avoid even more steps and avoid adding the fat from the oil. I also added sliced red onion with the cukes and tomatoes, as pictured but not mentioned in the recipe. I would definitely use the marinade again, but I prefer regular tzatziki sauce, for which I have better recipes, or store-bought brands, either of which we like better than this sauce, which wasn't bad, just not as good, at least to us.

Here is my problem with a croquembouche: unless you fill the puffs very close to serving time, the pastry sogs out, no matter how crisp those little suckers were when they come out of the oven. So between the last-minute filling and caramel-making and assembly, it is a pain to make for company. If anyone has a cure for that, would love to know it.

My basil was similarly demolished by Irene, and I had huge amounts of tomatoes and plenty of mint, so made this for dinner tonight. It was wonderful! I did saute the bread chunks (which came from a frozen loaf) in garlic oil first, so they'd have some crunch left after sitting in the salad for an hour. Also subbed anchovy paste for the fillet. Thanks for another fabulous and timely recipe!