Where to find realistic faux food? at Ask Metafilter

A guide to dim sum via Anh-Minh

Cashew Curry at 101 Cookbooks

How do I make white rice for one person? at Ask Metafilter

Salted Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Cookies at Joy the Baker

DIY vanilla extract at Chocolate&Zucchini

Splatgirl tried to recreate the McGriddle, complete with homemade maple syrup chips for the pancake buns.

mushroom bourguignon and smashed chickpea salad at Smitten Kitchen

Melt-in-the-Mouth Cookies, a brief history at Justinsomnia

Homo Sapien Tool at Better Living Through Design

Eight-Week Online Introduction to Food Writing Course with David Leite, it’s expensive but probably well worth it

How to Read A Wine Label at Chow

I just discovered lapsang souchong , which might be the greatest drink I’ve ever encountered. What other smoky things can you recommend? at Ask Metafilter

Chicken Tikka Masala approved by Alicia at Posie Gets Cozy

My Favorite Tomato Sauce recipe at Eating Well Anywhere

Why does my Ikea SENIOR casserole, which has a “matte enamel interior”, come with instructions for seasoning? at Ask Metafilter

Napa Cabbage Salad at Pro Bono Baker

New flavor from Dry Soda! Juniper Berry, at Imbibe

Molly’s book cover!! at Orangette

Foodzie, via Pink of Perfection

homemade Light Wheat Bread at Smitten Kitchen

Save Those Tiny Bubbles, best way to preserve champagne, at Seattle Weekly

How did I miss this? Clare Crespo, author of the site Yummyfun and the books Secret Life of Food and Hey There, Cupcake! has some DVDs out: The Yummyfun Kooking Series: Episode 1 Spring Has Sprung, Episode 2 Monkeying Around in the Kitchen and Episode 3 Spookyfun. Via Swiss Miss, who offeres us video.

cabbage, apple and walnut salad at Smitten Kitchen

Fee Brothers Bitters at Uncrate

Kellogg’s Saves Mother’s Cookies at Serious Eats

Cocktail grapefruit, not to be confused with the Oroblanco. I’ve sought both and the cocktail grapefruit tastes like mild Mandarin orange while the Oroblanco tastes like pomelo. I still prefer regular grapefruit to either.

Licorice Search in NYC? at Ask Metafilter, with explanations to the various kinds of hard core licorice.

gonzo garbanzos at Shutterbean

How to Freeze Spinach, Kale, Swiss Chard. Collards and Other Greens. I did a whole huge batch of kale this way and it’s so very nice to be able to get prepped kale out of the freezer and dump it into a pan to heat up with a little garlic.

We’ve been invited to party where everyone brings a dish based on food from a children’s book. Does anyone have any good suggestions and, better yet, recipes? at Ask Metafilter

When the breakfast menu says, “Two Eggs (Any Style)”, realistically, what are the different styles available? at Ask Metafilter

snow ice cream at Seattle Tall Poppy

popcorn:

Parmigiano–Black Pepper Popcorn and Black Sesame and Mustard Popcorn at Chow

Black & White Sesame Popcorn at Cook & Eat

Spiced sesame popcorn recipe at Kidzee Corner

Sesame Cheese Popcorn Recipe at Group Recipes

This is my favorite cookie this year. They are easy enough to make to qualify as something to make for cookie swaps, especially if you’ve, um, waited too long to make them to allow a roll of dough chill long enough to do slice and bake varieties. I modified this recipe ever so slightly from the Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookies at MarthaStewart.com.

I used sanding sugar to coat the balls of dough because it adds a nice bit of crunch. I didn’t have white sanding sugar in the house so I used demerara sugar, which is a light brown sugar. I suspect a white sanding sugar would be prettier, but I do like the extra molasses boost the demerara gives.

Here are some balls of dough before being plunked down on a baking sheet:

Sparkling Chewy Molasses Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled, or 10 ounces)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup molasses, blackstrap works well here
• about 1/2 cup chunky sanding sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
3. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until combined. Beat in the egg, and then the molasses until just combined. Put mixer on low and slowly add the flour mixture just until dough forms.
4. Spoon 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into a ball between your palms, then roll in sanding sugar to cover all sides.
5. Place on cookie sheets spaced three inches apart (cookies will spread while baking).
6. Bake one sheet at a time until edges of cookies are just firming up, 10 to 15 minutes. I found 11 minutes to be perfect in my oven which runs slightly too hot no matter what you do.
7. update: If you freeze the balls you can bake them by taking them out of the freezer and putting them right in the oven. It’ll take about 15 minutes at 350. The cookies will spread a little less, and crack a bit.
8. Allow to cool on baking sheet for a moment then transfer cookies to racks to cool down.
9. Will keep for four days in an airtight container.

Makes three dozen cookies, more or less.

Hungarian Paprika Chicken at Joy The Baker

Moist Yellow Cake at Bakerella (oh my god those pictures are gorgeous).

beef and cheese noodle bake at Shelterrific, yay for comfort food

Caramelized Shallots at Pink of Perfection

Turkey Pad See Ew at Chow

Royal Dilemma: Why is the Princess Cake Green? at Cakespy

Upon discovering there is a Trader Joe’s that isn’t too difficult for us to get to we’ve started shopping there again. So, Trader Joe’s Fans and Tracking Trader Joe’s might come in handy.

mushroom and barley pie at Smitten Kitchen, that is so darn pretty

searching for the elusive one-hold single-cup drip-filter, and finding a solution, at Super Eggplant

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cakes, oh my goddness, at Erica Mulherin

Cookstr, a new online food thing, via Cool Hunting

I have a few couple holiday parties coming up and I’d like a great dish to bring. I’d like it to be not to difficult, not too expensive, possible to make/assemble ahead, and travel well. at Ask Metafilter

When asked for dessert recommendations, my friend’s 8-year-old son suggested “chocolate chip cookies with chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough in them.” How on earth can I pull off this fantastic treat? at Ask Metafilter. Brilliant kid.

pie crust 103: rolling and crimping at Smitten Kitchen

pumpkin cupcakes with links for how to make icing roses, at Smitten Kitchen

Fall’s Modern Cocktail at Modern Cottage

Wine or cider mulling spice bags, using a wine cork to float it, smart. At Eating Well Anywhere.

OMG, homemade Bacon Magic Shell, at Cooking With Tits. Via Brownie Points.

delicious, delicious pies, all for your viewing pleasure with links to the recipes, at The Bedlam of Beefy

pie crust 102: all butter, really flaky pie dough at Smitten Kitchen

The Dry Brine for your turkey, at The Food Section

the best jarred chestnuts, via The Food Section

Thanksgiving Recipe: Deep-Fried Stuffing On a Stick at The Stranger

Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish Recipe at NPR

Pumpkin Curry at Chow

Make Your Own Digestifs at Chow, you’ll probably need these

If you want to feel extra-cozy-good about your baked goods this holiday season and you happen to live in the Pacific Northwest you should keep an eye out for Stone-Buhr Northwest-Grown All-Purpose Flour. All of the wheat is grown by Northwest family farmers, milled in Spokane, Washington and certified sustainable by the Food Alliance. And, as somebody told me, “they can damn near trace every 5lb bag back to the farmer.” A five pound bag is $3.99, the low price is because less fuel is needed to get the product to you. Neat huh? You have my permission to let your smug Prius-driving cousin know this.

You can find the flour at QFC, HagGen Foods and even some WalMarts, and online at Chef Tools.

Little bit of trivia, the company was originally local to Seattle: “Charles E. Young opened the Young-Stone Buhr Milling Co in 1914, then located in the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle, WA.”

A few local chefs have created recipes to help promote the flour which I’ve been given permission (thank you!) to include here. Below the fold you’ll find a Holiday Tart from Leslie Mackey of the Macrina Bakery and a bunch of lovely cookies from Thierry Rautureau of Rovers. Also, Orangette recommended seeking the flour, she talked about it in her entry on the big, famous, NY Times chocolate chip cookies.

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cabbage and mushroom galeete at Smitten Kitchen

on aperitifs, at Seattle Weekly

Thai Green Curry Chicken at Posie Gets Cozy

quinoa, a good set of cooking instructions, at the NY Times. I like regular quinoa but simply cannot stand red quinoa.

Vanilla Poached Quince at Chocolate & Zucchini

How To Improve No-Knead Bread, includes the Cook’s Illustrated updated recipe

french herbed at popcorn at Everybody Likes Sandwiches

how to cook beans, thank goodness for detailed and clear instructions, every time I look this up I get “just simmer them, it’s easy” instructions which I just call not helpful seeing as I can mess up the cooking of anything. via Eating Well Anywhere.

Great Pumpkin Pasta at Posie Gets Cozy

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls, link from Ellen, thanks!

Trying out molecular gastronomy on my picky son, at Slate

Boiled Kale with a Fried Egg and Toast, at Orangette. I have recently discovered how much I like kale, I’m completely surprised by this.

Swiss Chard and Red Pepper Gratin at the NY Times seen over at CrazyAuntPurl

cranberry-walnut chicken salad at Smitten Kitchen

The Bolognese Sauce, thank you Cinnamon!, over at Gapers Block

Oh! My! God! Doughnuts! at Joy The Baker

Yellow Cake to end all Yellow Cakes at Bake and Shake

What’s a Good Fall Drink? at Seattlest

What are some tricks from moving from teflon/non-stick to stainless steel on a gas range? at Ask Metafilter

Pork Princess Tiara OH MY GOSH have you seen this yet? Amazing. She made it using Activa TG-RM which bonds proteins an you need to be very careful so you don’t glue the insides of your lungs together.

beef, leek and barley soup at Smitten Kitchen

Is there an easy solution to getting jasmine flavor into baked goods? at Ask Metafilter

Foodzie “an online marketplace where you can discover and buy food from small artisan producers and growers.” Not quite open yet. Via 37 Signals.

The History of Gummi Candy and Pomegranate Jewels. All found while I was looking up something I cannot recall now.

Food for an emergency at Eating Well Anywhere.

Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins at Joy The Baker

spinach quiche, revisited at Smitten Kitchen. I am that one person out there that hasn’t made it yet, but intend to change that.

What are the best cupcakes you’ve ever ever had? How can I make them? at Ask Metafilter

I made cheese! at Cupcake Show

These tomato bites shown at Yum Sugar are cute.

What is the best recipe (and wine) for Beef Bourguignon? at Ask Metafilter

‘Iron Chef’ Secrets Revealed at ABC News

Sorting Out Coffee’s Contradictions at the NYTimes

Looking for home storage solutions for bulk items such as flour, sugar, rice. at Ask Metafilter

IceOrb at Cool Hunting, this is nice. The video on the Fusion Brands shows all the uses. They make a lot of cool things.

The Best Granola at Pro Bono Baker

I want one of these two piece magnetic truffle molds, shown at Ideas In Food.

Last weekend I acquired a kitchen scale and a #12 scoop and yesterday I made a batch of the NYTimes chocolate chip cookies.

I chose the OXO Good Grips digital kitchen scale over a Salter simply because it has the pull out display that will allow for something a little larger to be weighed without it getting in the way. This will come in handy for buying USPS package postage online. The display also has a back light so if it’s in the shadow of a box I can still read it. I used a 20% off coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond but be aware that the smaller stores only carry a few kitchen scales, I had to drive to a larger store to find the OXO scale. If I didn’t have any need to weigh packages, though, I’d definitely have gotten one of the adorable Escali Primo kitchen scales, a friend has one and it’s small enough to tuck away but well trusted among the masses (at least, the reviews at Amazon are happy). They come in a large range of colors, which I talked about previously here.

I chose the #12 scoop simply because the shop I managed to get to didn’t have the #10. It is plenty big enough, a leveled scoop of cookie dough averaged at 3.25 ounces. I got twenty levelled scoops out of the dough with nothing left over.

At Orangette’s suggestion I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips. They are nice and big and taste wonderful. I did make an effort to track down the suggested Valrhona feves. I found that DeLaurenti (in Seattle) carries tubs of the feves and they had white chocolate, milk chocolate and a conspicuous empty spot on the shelves where the dark chocolate ones would have logically been placed. I’m not too surprised to find they are sold out. (By the way, if you’ve never been to DeLaurenti before know that the baking supplies are upstairs with the wine, the first time I went there I spent a long time looking for where they kept the vanillas.) Chef Shop was reporting that they were out of them so I didn’t make the extra trip.

The recipe calls for you to chill the dough for 36 hours, this gives the dough a chance to absorb the liquid and reported creates more flavorful cookies, adding caramel notes. The chilled dough is difficult to scoop and I’ve read that some people have scooped the dough before chilling it. I wonder if that will affect the final taste or texture of the cookies, so I made one batch to pre-scoop and one to chill and scoop before baking. I’m also planning on freezing both pre and post-chill scoops to see how they compare after a while in the freezer. At least that was my plan, until I discovered that I completely forgot to add the vanilla to both batches. Oops. So, while I’ll have an overabundance of yummy cookies they won’t necessarily be good for judging by taste. Which means I’ll just have to make more.

If you have a vacuum sealer in your kitchen this might be of interest to you — Ideas In Food vacuum sealed cookie dough to create 36 hour cookies in 3 hours. Fabulous.

update: I couldn’t wait so I baked a few, here is a just-over-12 hour cookie. Isn’t it beautiful?

onion goat cheese tart and perfectly puffy popovers at Shelterrific

Hydrox are coming back, perhaps temporarily, at Chow

jim lahey’s potato pizza and 10 paths to painless pizza-making at Smitten Kitchen

I’d like to bake eggy-stink-free biscotti, but how? at Ask Metafilter

Bicicletta, a refreshing looking summer cocktail, at Hedonia

Simple, easy and elegant recipes that are always crowd pleasers: What are yours? at Ask Metafilter

Recipe: Cold Peanut Sesame Noodles at The Kitchen

Citrus Basil Cocktail at the Seattle PI

Sloe Gin Is Back, but Hold the Fizz and recipe for a Ramos Gin Fizz at the NY Times

Note to self: go try the Bitter End cocktail at Artemis

Homemade Ice Cream Drumsticks at Baking Bites

thing I want: ice princess, straw and ice mold from Fred & Friends

Safer than teflon, lighter than cast iron, it’s Ceramcor to the rescue, at Chow.

best supermarket cabernet picks, at The Kitchen