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

My local market has a curried chicken salad among their prepared foods which I love and buy often. This is an expensive habit so I decided it was time to try to make it myself. It was unanimously voted a success in our two-person house.

curried chicken salad
- the meat from one rotisserie chicken, cut into pieces that are good for a fork
- three stalks of celery, sliced into nice half moons (maybe less, I like celery a lot and tend to overdo it)
- Vegenaise (I realize one could use mayo but I think the salad tastes really great with this stuff)
- peas, frozen are fine, warm up and cool down again
- cashews, unsalted, slightly toasted
- lemon juice, just a squirt
- curry powder, something mild and bright yellow
- garlic (I skipped this because we, gasp, didn't have any in the house)

I mixed together some Vegenaise and curry powder, the put everything else into a big bowl and mixed the curry mixture into it. Squeeze a little lemon on top and mix in. I estimated all amounts, maybe half a cup of peas and half a cup of cashews? I used about a third of a jar of the Vegenaise and probably a few teaspoons of curry powder.



Vegenaise was something that was new to me, and I was surprised to find it at a regular big box type store. I learned from reading the site that it's always in the refrigerated section, and in this case it was over near the natural foods, in the case with egg substitutes and meatless chicken nuggets.

I have a sad excuse for curry powder and I'm hoping to use it up soon so I can go and buy the Madras curry powder or this curry powder from Chefshop.

Fill in the blank: "The secret of great meatloaf is ___________." at Ask Metafilter

make your own creme fraiche at Glueten-Free Girl, oh mama

Not So Keen On Quinoa at Splatgirl Creates. I agree, I really like quinoa on it's own but have not found a way to mix other ingredients in with it that I like.

Surfas restaurant supply at Chow.

How can I simulate this tikka masala sauce? at Ask Metafilter

Cocoa Nib Pavlovas at Orangette. I have cocoa nibs, and I have the desire to make pavlovas, perfect.

I have always wanted a Clack Egg Cracker but loose track of where to buy it every few years. So, self, Mocha carries it.

mini smores grill! via Craftzine

What's the best format for an extremely lightweight drinker to buy & store wine, to enable very gradual consumption without the wine going sour? at Ask Metafilter

giant ice cream cone cupcake pan at Baking Bites

How to Make Limoncello

How to Make Limoncello with Vodka

at The Kitchen:

pickle popsicles, at The Kitchen

Dinner Quick: Anelletti Pasta with Sausage and Greens, the round O pasta from Trader Joes is cute.

Recipe: Chocolate Toffee Matzo Candy

Is a box mix really faster?

cheddar olives

pirate ship cake pan

Last night I made Adelaide Bartow’s Irish Soda Bread from Cooking The Hard Way (via Tastespotting). We were out of butter so I sent Scott out for some and we ended up with this cheerfully appropriate Irish butter.



Last week I was watching the episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown makes corned beef. I was considering making that but when I re-read the recipe I found it needs to sit in the refrigerator for ten days. Oops. But I have to say, having Irish soda bread ready to eat when you wake up in the morning more than made up for it.



I made it in my Target Chefmate cast iron pot simply because Cooking The Hard Way showed hers in a dutch oven and I love any excuse to pull it down off the shelf, but you can simply use a casserole dish of some sort. The recipe calls for a pudding pan, anyone know what that is?



I have been considering getting the new-ish Target 6.5 quart cast iron Chefmate dutch oven to go with my smaller one. I'm interested to find that it appears to be exactly the same as the Tramontina pot that Cook's Illustrated recommended a while back. Did Target decide to simply rebrand the pot for people still looking for the Chefmate name?

5 KitchenAid Hacks at David Lebovitz, OH MY GOSH there is a confectionery coating pan attachment for the KitchenAid!

bittersweet granola at The Kitchen

Super Simple Nutella Ice Cream at Chocolate and Zucchini

Unhappy Meals, I've been meaning to read all the way through this since last year.

Candy? Or fruit? the Ambrosia apple, at Voracious.

Pairing Wine & Cheese Curds at Seattlest

Please tell me about the coffee I'm often served in restaurants after dinner (especially in hotels) and at event receptions (especially in hotels). at Ask Metafilter

Cracking discovery as woman opens egg to find another one inside it, via Chow.

baked eggs in a bun, how lovely, at Everybody Likes Sandwiches

How To Brew Ginger Beer, at Wired

The Big Reveal: Introducing The FN Dish, Congrats Amateur Gourmet!

Blood Orange Jelly Smiles at The Kitchen

Note: Blue Moon white ale is owned by Coors, I found this out last year and felt a little devastated, at The Food Section

Kraft Foods, Inc. is set to unveil its newest breakfast offering, called Bagel-Fuls -- frozen bagels filled with cream cheese. at The Food Section

What is the best recipe for a castle shaped cakelette pan? at Ask Metafilter

Kim Frizzelle’s Never-Before-Revealed Apple Pie Recipe (Confidential to Mom: Obama Made Me Do It) at The Stranger

Faux Sushi, using large marshmallows as the pressed rice!, at Cumcumbersome.

Are there any decent-tasting whole-wheat pastas? at Ask Metafilter

pasta with slow-simmered leeks and prosciutto at Gluten-Free Girl

spicy chickpea stew at The Kitchen

OXO Food Scale, this looks like a sturdier version of some of the shipping scales I've seen on Amazon

Bake and Shake, Food Goals '08: Grow a pear in a bottle, I so wanna do that too

Cloudburst Frosting at Posie Gets Cozy

Tetris ice cube trays, at Neatorama

homemade devil dog, ding dong or hostess cake at Smitten Kitchen

Spicy Oven-Roasted Chickpeas at The Kitchen

What is the hands-down best salsa recipe ever? at Ask Metafilter

I love lasagna. at Posie Gets Cozy

How to Open a Durian Fruit at The Kitchen

Food Safety 101: Safe Temperatures for Poultry and Meat at The Kitchen

Tea Pantry, I love Jasmine Pearl tea, at Mighty Girl

Cinderblock Sugarcubes, shown at Craftzine

What are your favorite things to put on pasta (besides tomato sauce)? at Ask Metafilter

I love these, Real chocolate eggs. Brown egg shells, emptied and cleaned, filled with chocolate and hazelnut praline. Tasty beyond belief. at Taste Spotting. You can buy them at Dean and Deluca.

How do you drain the fat off of your ground beef? at Ask Metafilter

Crustless spinach, onion and feta quiche at Baking Bites

Can anybody recommend a decent champaign for a mimosa? at Ask Metafilter

dulce de leche cheesecake squares, by Smitten Kitchen who is going to kill me with fabulousness someday soon

I love Cauliflower! It's healthy and delicious! Help me find good ways to eat it! at Ask Metafilter

Are European-style butters better? at Baking Bites

cake lollipops! at Bakeralla

on the UtiliTea electric kettle at The Kitchen

white bean hummus at Baking Bites

Ateco 6.5 inch lady lock form, at Amazon, also 4.5 inch lady lock form

Garlicky Beef Daube at Pink of Perfection