I'm probably using egg rings myself, but the ones I have are from a local restaurant supply place. and are a little heavier duty than the ones you can normally get from the big box kitchen supply stores.

Mine are around an inch tall and maybe 4 inches in diameter, with handles and are stainless, I may post pics if I remember or there is sufficient interest.

What do you mean blind? (I'm not much of a baker, so I'm not too "up" on the terms)

I had some frogs legs at the weekend

Lets say that they do not taste of chicken

They taste quite bland, to be honest!

No holes on the top.. I'm not much of a baker either, I only use the word because it's in the recipe that I use. :)


and forego the rings, just try pikelets, same batter, just no ring, pour some on a griddle/pan the same way you would an american style pancake, as long as the pan is hot enough the batter won't spread too far.

Ah, cool.

Thanks for the tips. It's too late now, but tomorrow I'll try them.

Better late than never... Asian Pot Roast. :^) It tastes like pepper steak with a five-spice, ginger and garlic zing. We started it on the stove then finished cooking it in the crock pot for 5 hours. The sauce is so good you almost don't want the meat!

I just made home-made mayo for the first time. YUMMM
So easy, everyone should try it.



Thanks to Apex for inspiring Pock to make it, who in turn inspired me.

Here's what I threw together for dinner last night. I wanted something different so I decided to just wing it and see what happened. I guess I'll call it 'French Onion Chicken'.

I started off by finely cutting up like 5 medium size onions and sautéing them with olive oil and butter on medium heat until they were soft and translucent. I seasoned them with salt, pepper and a ton of garlic powder. When they are half way done, I added about 1/2 cup of chicken stalk and let them simmer on low heat. I then added about two cups sliced portabella caps another 1/2 cup of chicken stalk and covered it. Everything started to get all soft and yummy, and it seemed like more liquid appeared in the pan.

I put about 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. cornstarch in a cup in the microwave for like 30-40 seconds. I stirred it together once the butter melted until there were no lumps of powder. I added this mixture to the mushrooms and onions and it created a type of gravy with the sauce. Let cook until sauce thickens and veggies are to your desired consistence, set aside off of heat.

Then I got 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts and pounded them thin. I coated them first with an egg and ranch mixture (2 eggs and 2 tbsp. ranch dressing), then in seasoned bread crumbs and threw them in a skillet to fry for about 3 minutes on each side. Since they are pounded thin they cook relatively fast so be sure not to over cook. Once they were finished I added a piece of good Swiss cheese on top of each breast and covered it with the onion mushroom mixture. The pics really don't do it justice, this stuff was the bomb.

Here’s a piece of the chicken with the swiss cheese before I added the onion mixture…



And everything thrown all together…



Definitely worth trying out.

Cookies. :D

Chocolate Roll Outs and Shortbread Hearts, decorated and boxed up for Valentine's Day.

Maven, those look great.

I did have a question for you too. My dad was recently diagnosed with diabetes. His weakness has always been sweets. Even though the doctor says the reason for him developing diabetes was his fruit consumption over the last year. He thought he would try to lose weight, and since he loves fruit, he started eating large amounts of fruit instead of some other foods. He didn't realize it was actually doing so much damage to his body.

Sorry, I began to ramble. I will get to the point. I wanted to know if you personally know of any good sugar free cookie recipes. I find many on Google, but I believe your cookie making prowess would be the most helpful. I have never tried making any sugar free cookies or deserts so I don't know where to begin.

I'd like to know too...


I tried to find some.. failed, then gave up..


as a result it's been a long time since I baked any cookies.

I'll be honest...I have an adverse reaction to all of the sweeteners. Migraine within minutes of consuming. As a result, I've not ever been motivated to even try. I've used honey and agave, both of which have lower glycemic index values than standard sugar.

If you're willing to be guinea pigs for me, I'll happily give it a try. Any kind of cookies in particular?

Valentines Day did din. Keepin it simple, king crab legs, and baked potatoes with corn.


And for dessert...

Maven, to be honest, I hate fake sweeteners too. I never have attempted to make anything with them because there was no reason. I am not a cookie baker, but I believe I could get by. My baking is usually in the form a cheesecake. I am not necessarily saying I would be the one to make them, maybe something my mom would make.

I thought that I would ask you because my dad tried a few of the cookies that you sent me in the mail a while ago. He told me that I needed to marry the girl that sent me the cookies. I believe he tried some California fruit cookies and maybe some pecan butter cookies.

I know my dad loves chocolate and peanut butter and just about all nuts. Those are a few of his favorites, but he likes just about anything sweet hence the diabetes.

I'll work on it. In truth, the CA cookies and peanut butter cookies would probably be fairly easy, since the bulk of the cookie is peanut butter already.

I'll let you know when to expect something in the mail. :)

And I'm sorry to disappoint...With being married already and all. ;)

Hey Maven, what do you think of stevia?

I had sweet potato fries for the first time this weekend. They were so good!


Not my picture obviously.

Also had some Boudain balls, which were also very tasty, and chicken fried steak. The steak was good but I could feel my arteries clogging up with every bite.

I think it's nasty, personally. I'd never cook with it, too much licorice taste, and it made me light headed (one friend described it as feeling drunk, to which I agree) and unpleasant.

And we felt sick afterwards....

I think it was mainly because of all the fat and grease. You felt better after the Gelato though, right?