Think of it as an investment.

You might not think you'd ever really need a cupcake carrier, and tell yourself, "I hardly ever make cupcakes, anyway." But the next time that you do make them, you'll find that you have no way of getting them to the party you made them for, other than an old box or a cookie sheet that is awkward to carry and makes no promise to leave you with anything other than a crumby, sticky-sweet mess.

Not to mention that you'll have to cover them with plastic wrap, and the frosting will be sqooshed, and all of the cupcakes will touch at the edges and ruin the perfect swirl of frosting on top- god forbid you were foolish enough to think you could use two different colors of icing- and there could be serious sprinkle cross-contamination.

Loafer!

Interbike is coming up soon, and will probably lead to my making a very irresponsible bicycle purchasing decision. Namely, Electra's "Navy" Cruiser.How adorable is this bike? It looks like a sailor suit. It has sailor tattoo prints on it. There are tassles on the handlebars. Sigh.

The Answer Might Probably Be Yes

Last week, Metromix featured Chef Wylie Dufresne's Bagel ice cream (!) process. If you aren't familiar with Dufresne, there's a rather amusing Esquire article about him here- "Is it possible to fry mayonnaise?"
If that didn't sell you, maybe this Thanksgiving recipe in New York Magazine will win you over- Goat-Cheese Panna Cotta with Bacon Syrup and Cashews.

Meats.

Mario Batali's father owns a meat curing company, called Salumi Artisan Cured Meats.
You can order some of the items online from their store based in Seattle, Washington.

Everything they make looks super delicious. Lamb "Proscuitto"? Salumi Salumi? Sigh.

Dinner, Dessert, SCIENCE

Last night at Madrona Manor, we had Cart "à Glace"- Ice Cream Sundae, instantly hand "churned" tableside using -324º nitrogen. Served with chocolate sauce, almonds, whipped cream, cherries on top.

Ice cream. Mixed tableside. With liquid nitrogen. Yep.

Nice Things from France You Can't Have, Pt. II

While sometimes Parisian jeweler Van Cleef and Arpels can be a little over the top, most of the time their pieces are whimsical and tasteful. Especially their Alhambra collection, which features their classic clover design cut out of mother of pearl. Especially the singular pendant piece. Especially when it's done in grey mother of pearl, and set in white gold. Too bad you cannot afford it.

Pine Nutz

A few weeks ago I tried my very first Bouchon recipe, Lemon Sabayon-Pine Nut Tart with Honeyed Mascarpone Cream which came out pretty okay. The crust was made out of a kind of pine-nut shortbread, which I thought would make a good shortbread cookie.
Which led me to this recipe for Honey, cinnamon & pine nut shortbread fingers which I have modified a little:

• 2 sticks plus 2 Tbsp. soft butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• Plain flour, to dust
• 1/3 cup pine nuts

Grind pine nuts into pine nut dust using food processor. Mix dough as you would any other cookie dough. Pat dough into pan and cut into fingers before baking. Bake at 320 degrees for 40 minutes.

Nice Things from France You Can't Have, Pt. I

I've been in love with the La Cornue CornuFe Stove for years now, and using the suck oven in my new apartment last night made me want it even more. It has two convection ovens, beautiful handcrafted metal finishes, five burners, and is hands down the most beautiful stove in the world. It is available from Williams-Sonoma, but I highly recommend visiting the La Cornue website, which is chock full of hilarious Frenchness, "How can one not relate to this aphorism by George Bernard Shaw?"
Plus the company's web page pictures (above) the stove floating over France.

Zucchini Squashes

It is still summer, and there are zucchini everywhere. A few weeks ago it was "Battle Zucchini" on Iron Chef America (Zucchini Blini?)

Then, last week Everyday Food featured this Zucchini Lasagna recipe.


Not to mention the amount of times I've heard "Zucchini Fritters" lately...

Lobsters! Electricity!

Speaking of lobsters, there's been an ongoing debate about whether or not they feel pain when you boil them alive. In 2005, Norway claimed that no, they didn't. In 2007, Ireland claimed that yes, they do.

Either way I don't really care because they are delicious. But if you feel uncomfortable boiling something alive, you can always kill it beforehand. With the.... CrustaStun- the at-home electric chair for lobsters.