[Sun]

Originally Posted by Ursy

Bullying fiascos are never good - I hope all parties have recovered. Your sundae sounds incredible!
And yes, that method makes the best caramel ever.

Speaking of which, I thought you might like this "experiments in dulce de leche". While it doesn't provide any surprises, I think it's still interesting...

http://theheartoffood.com/experiment...stion-of-time/

Nice link Ursy thank you. Interesting how the results were sampled after the dulce de leche solidified. I think that I would want to sample the warm product.

Originally Posted by Ursy

Noooooo! That is the best bit! I hope to try and make bagels some day... the recipe tells me that you boil them first before baking. I think that's interesting!

Bagels are fun to make. The boiling water is the key. There are many theories in NY as to how to make a great bagel. What I have found when consulting with the bagel experts is that you can never skip the boiling step and expect to get a real bagel out of the deal. Some people try to do this and the interior is fluffy not dense and chewy. It may look like a bagel but it is a bagel fraud. Also, the oven that the bagel is baked in makes it. My favorite places use older stone ovens. A brick oven would work as well. A wood fire would be ideal but even a gas heated stone oven where the bagels are cooked on the stone, make the crust hard and crispy and that quick shock of heat seals in the now formed (by boiling) strong gluten strands. This is really an art as much as it is a science.

When I was going to school in NYC back in the day (seems like forever ago now) I would stop by H&H bagels and look to see what was coming out of the big stone ovens (looks similar to huge pizza oven) and get one of those bagels while they were hot. I recall stepping outside into the brutally cold winter mornings with a hot bagel and eating it as I walked down the street to school, thinking that this was the best thing ever. All for about .50 cents.

The bagel police aka Mi Amore, believes that she is helping me by deconstructing the bagel. I really don't to have to sneak around for a bagel. Imagine? It feels so wrong, so dishonest. Some guys sneak away to a strip club with their buddies, I am gonna wind up sneaking off for a bagel or slice of pizza with mine

We both love to eat so, since I am the one who has the challenges with gaining weight, she has become carb police. You would never know that she can eat as much as she does because she clearly burns it off. So people are always asking her how she stays so thin and this is one of her tips. Scoop the bagel.

Originally Posted by Ursy

I LOVE oysters. I had a vegetarian friend who used to say she wouldn't eat anything with eyes. I said to her, "so that means you wouldn't eat a potato, but you'd eat an oyster?" She totally didn't get it.

LOL that is truly funny.

I love oysters too. I have been trying to figure out how to prepare them for Christmas. I think that I will do one platter of raw oysters and one platter of baked oysters, 3 different ways. M.A.'s oldest daughter is coming in from college in CA for 2 weeks and she loves food too, so she will enjoy the oysters as well. Now to decided on the 3 preparations. I am thinking Rockefeller for one. Perhaps a twist on it, and get rid of the Pernod. Not my favorite part. Any suggestions?