my vote for QOD is this from Jim Harrison, one of the contributors to this book:

Your meals in life are numbered and the number is diminishing. Get at it.”

PaulCorsa, I’d love to know what brand of induction cooktop you chose and why.

Adam-Do you have any experience with French door ovens?

A good 30” dual-fuel range? So glad you asked! Actually this is a little self-serving. I am salivating for this range but would love to have a pro like you
test it and render an opinion-That’s what you do, after all.
It’s the American Range Saute Step-up Hybrid (http://www.americanrange.com/residential/30hybrid.html).
Can’t wait to follow your remodel on Culinate.

I am fascinated that kids especially engage with this book. I hope a copy will make its way into my daughter’s classroom.

Yesterday I ate...
I always start the day with a bowl of kefir, oat bran and local seasonal fresh fruit. At the moment in Northern California, that is canteloupe.

Lunch was a slice of amazing beer rye bread with Neal’s Yard cheddar (I strive for local, but Americans for the most part still don’t get how to do cheddar.)

Supplemented by a slice of celery with almond butter, dried fruit and nuts, white tea.

For dinner I harvested the seemingly endless supply of Amish paste tomatoes from our garden and made a pesto of tomatoes, almonds, basil, garlic, olive oil. I cooked a pot of polenta, topped it with mozzarella and the pesto. Accompanied by a salad of mache and a glass of albarino.

Last night’s special treat was a bear claw from the new bakery in town.

Buckwheat is such an assertive flavor. I wonder if these taste like buckwheat pancakes, only crunchier.

To Shandon:
Kirsch is a liquor made from cherries. However it is not sweet-that would be a liqueur. Kirsch is more like whiskey. I don’t taste any cherry flavor in it but that won’t deter me from using it in this recipe!

Aha, the mystery sweet I wonder about at Whole Foods this time every year. Very intense flavor, very dense texture. At once, sweet and savory. Now I know why.

this looks really tasty. Is there really no buter or oil in this cookie? That’s too good to be true, especially this time of year!

Hint for pscheel: I think a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips is 2 cups. Since the recipe uses chips and baking chocolate interchangeably, you can assume the recipe is aiming for 12 oz of chocolate.
The addition of chocolate and sea salt really poshes this confection up a notch- like peanut brittle goes to Sundance. I think the peak of elegance and flavor would be to use local oregon hazelnuts instead of mixed nuts.

Truffles fall in the perfect food category. So classy, so easy to make, so amenable to adding a spectrum of flavor notes, so yummy no matter what your cooking skills are.