aj12754

Polenta Advice
I never make polenta because my husband can't stand it. So I didn't bother looking at the Zuni polenta recipes at all -- BUT -- 5 cups of water to one of corn meal seemed like an awful lot to me. So I checked on Anne Burrell's polen…

Comment by aj12754 January 2011 permalink
How do you store and organise your herbs and spices?
LazyLurker -- you have it exactly right -- mid-tedium I looked at my spice cabinet in disgust and frustration -- and five minutes later small glass and plastic jars littered my countertop ... BUT -- just cooking dinner tonight it became obvious that…

Comment by aj12754 January 2011 permalink
How do you store and organise your herbs and spices?
LazyLurker --apparently your inspiration had an enduring effect because I just rearranged my kitchen storage to make my spices more accessible -- cleared out one entire pull-out shelf that held pots and pans, moved some lesser used pieces of equipme…

Comment by aj12754 January 2011 permalink
How do you rate recipes?
Good question and one I had to think about for a bit before I realized that my rating is almost purely based on the flavor of the completed dish. The text of my reviews is where I talk about things like ease or difficulty of prep, nutritional value…

Comment by aj12754 January 2011 permalink
Kindle
I love my Kindle but agree with Andrew that it's not the best format for cookbooks. On other hand -- great for downloading guidebooks when you travel...

Comment by aj12754 January 2011 permalink
Ad Hoc Question
@bhnyc -- just finished reading the reviews you posted -- sounds like you pulled together a fabulous meal. I love salads and vinaigrettes and cannot wait to try the honey vinaigrette. Not to mention the fig jam -- I usually just pick up the jar in…

Comment by aj12754 January 2011 permalink
Ad Hoc Question
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/fig-jam I didn't realize the AHAH used the fresh figs to make fig jam -- anyway, I used this recipe a while back -- uses dried figs to make jam. If it's not helpful, just round file it! Good Luck!

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Ad Hoc Question
I will be the guest of Continental Airlines (if flights are back on schedule at that point) on New Year's Eve...so no cooking for me. And I don't have my copy of AHAH with me so I can't look at the recipe ...but I have only ever used…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Christmas/Holiday cooking
I love the way the house smells while those macaroons are cooking.

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Site improvements & suggestions
I was thinking of a function where you could save both recipes that you see on the site and recipes from other sources. So maybe a "to try" folder that allows you to both bring in recipes on the website already and add recipes from other …

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Christmas/Holiday cooking
This year, as I'll be cooking for two holiday gatherings with and for my in-laws, it will be a mix of old family favorites (sherry wine cake, raw apple cake) and Ina Garten (Prime Rib, roasted veggies, key lime pie, baked Virginia ham) -- my si…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Site improvements & suggestions
I'm thinking of a place to list recipe titles, source/location, and maybe some additional info/notes -- so it could be a simple note taking area. But I guess I was thinking of something that would look more like the compact list feature for th…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Site improvements & suggestions
I don't know if it's possible, but I was thinking that it might be nice to have a tab in our bookshelves for recipes we'd like to try. I know that the index feature can be used that way for specific cookbooks or magazines -- but that …

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Newest Challenge: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
It would be kind of funny/different after the Keller/Zuni challenges to try Radically Simple by Rozanne Gold (Amazon link below) -- getting a bit of buzz lately -- and every recipe is 140 words or less. http://www.amazon.com/Radically-Simple-Brill…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Newest Challenge: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
LazyLurker -- I love reading Zuni but agree that actually cooking the book is a real commitment given the ingredients list -- and some days I'd rather flirt than commit ... that's when I turn to the Barefoot Contessa -- delicious and easy.…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
How do you store and organise your herbs and spices?
Lazy lurker -- this is kind of genius! Kind of like an inventory. I especially like the purchase date info -- I am going to see if I can follow your lead and do something similar although my cabinet storage is different enough that I'll have t…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Newest Challenge: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
And it's a merry Christmas you have in store for yourself bhnyc!

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Newest Challenge: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
Zuni inherited that Chez Panisse obsession with seasonal cooking, so ingredients are going to be a bit of a challenge I think -- no matter what time of year we might cook. Just my opinion, but I don't mind seeing how dishes turn out when ratio…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Newest Challenge: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
No need to extend on my account -- I'll tuck in and get busy in January -- but if others are also finding the holidays are keeping them very busy, an extension might make sense.

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Newest Challenge: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
Just an FYI -- I am really excited about this challenge but probably can't "get cooking" until the New Year ... 'tis the season for having too much on my plate already. But I am anticipating some really great meals in January.

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Future Challenges
Couple of new "best of" lists -- posted here in case you want to look at them for future challenge consideration: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/dining/08books.html?hpw http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/12/favorite-cookbooks-of-2010/ …

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Experimenting with ads
Sounds like a common sense solution to the realities of managing and financing a website. I find it easy to ignore ads I am not interested in, so an ad-free option is not necessarily something I'd pay for -- but the other features of the site,…

Comment by aj12754 December 2010 permalink
Future Challenges
I know I am a little biased as this one of my favorite cookbooks in the world, but I am so pleased with this choice! This is one of those books I read for inspiration and have not cooked nearly enough from it. And I think there are so many recipes…

Comment by aj12754 November 2010 permalink
Small feature add - compact reviews list
Well -- that is just so cool -- so easy now to find and pull up the review of a dish I want to make again. Or to look at the list of reviews and compose a menu for a dinner party from things I know are going to work. Nifty.

Comment by aj12754 November 2010 permalink
New Feature: Private Notes
I had the same problem as southerncooker the first time I used the private notes feature to write a new review (and I think I have only written the one since the feature was added). No problem at all when I opened existing reviews to move some te…

Comment by aj12754 November 2010 permalink
Favourite Thanksgiving Recipes?
I won't be cooking this year as we are the guests -- but in general, my entire Thanksgiving menu comes from the November 1994 and November 1995 issues of Bon Appetit. I may recycle other issues, but those two have a place on my shelves forever.

Comment by aj12754 November 2010 permalink
New Feature: Private Notes
I really like the private notes feature. My reviews often include info about serving or using the leftovers or menu ideas that I know are primarily of interest to me -- but this site is so easy to use (much more searchable and amenable to editing t…

Comment by aj12754 November 2010 permalink
Free Copy of Current Challenge Book: High Flavor, Low Labor
I too think this is a really nice idea on your part. I'd love to cook from the book but probably can't do it in the time frame of the challenge since it's a busy season for me. But I have the sample recipes printed off and am lookin…

Comment by aj12754 October 2010 permalink
How do you store and organise your herbs and spices?
I have had good luck with Penzey's as well. For anyone living in or near or visiting NYC, there is a Penzey's in the Food Market at Grand Central Station.

Comment by aj12754 October 2010 permalink
How do you organize your cookbooks?
I am generally a book person so there are books all over my house and in no rational order. Over the years, I seem to have developed a facility for remembering the approximate location (right room, right bookcase) of my books, and that extends to t…

Comment by aj12754 October 2010 permalink

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Username: aj12754
Joined: August 2010
Visits: 1
Last Active: February 2019
Roles: Member