apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The question is, what SHOULD I be baking? My cheap crappy hand mixer died a couple weeks ago, and I was convinced by my wonderful partner I should get a good one this time. So I took the plunge, and found a deal on Amazon for a KitchenAid 600 Professional Series stand mixer. It comes via FedEx on the 19th.

What shall I christen it by baking?????

i have a random question - does anyone have experience growing mushrooms on a mushroom log?

something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Creek-Mushroom-Farm-10LGNOTRAY/dp/B000BWSL6W

i was thinking about giving one to a friend for the holidays, but i'd hate to pass along something that's troublesome.

thanks!

This will be a busy week, cooking-wise, leading up to next week's grand finale of course. But all of it will be back loaded into the end of the week and it will all be baking. We have a bake sale at work to raise money for a food drive on Friday so I will be making cookies or brownies for that and it is my daughters baptism this upcomign weekend and while we'll just have a deli platter and a chinese chicken salad for the lunch afterwards (i.e., no cooking involved), I am making some carrot cake cupcakes for desert.

Unfortunately our stove isn't working right now so I won't be cooking much. Hopefully it will be fixed by next week because I was planning to spend all day baking on Wednesday.

As for this week- I've had to get very creative with recipes since I've mainly been relying on the George Foreman grill, crockpot & microwave.

I canned a ton of sweet and sour sauce in the fall and suddenly I'm at a loss for how to use it up besides on chicken and in a stir fry. Any suggestions?

just made some chicken chow mein....been craving it for so long.

Next dish...tripe stew! Any great recipes? thanks!

Spossberg: sweet and sour eggplant? Dipping sauce for dumplings? Ooh, I bet it would be good on roasted carrots too.

I used my new slow cooker for the first time last night! Made ribs with garlic/szechuan peppercorn/hoisin/orange, but they came out QUITE garlicy and not very sweet or spicy. I'm thinking I may brush a glaze on before I reheat tonight? What should be in it? (Sriracha/hoisin/honey?)

on saturday we moved into a new house. as of sunday we still hadn't moved the contents of our fridge and had only moved some of the freezer items. dinner sunday night was an interesting challenge: what to make using the pantry items, limited freezer items, and the contents of our csa bin. i made chicken breasts poached in broth and beer, polenta (made with olive oil, since i didn't have butter), and roasted carrots and romanesco cauliflower. the cupboard challenge along with trying to find the appropriate pans and utensils made for an interesting evening and delicious meal.

http://threadtrace.wordpress.com

uptowngirl: I vote buttercream! I have been doing it for a long time with a hand mixer and would LOVE to make it in a stand mixer! Even if you dont need it now, it freezes really well. So just make it for the heck of it. :)

rebecca f: I think all you need to do is keep them moist, and in a warm area and they will turn out fine. Maybe the most work would be keeping the humidity up if its in a dry room, but you could do that with a bag or something...?

Is it possible to store zest (orange, lemon, etc.)?

This is a New York City Question. I would like to prepare a tofu-turkey dinner for turkey day. Where in NYC (specifically Brooklyn, if possible) can I find good quality tofu or tofurkey?