lizelleg's reply history at Help.com

Honestly, I found that eating five small healthy meals a day plus exercising once or twice a week kept me in shape, conditioned, and feeling energized. Small meals may consist of things like a cup of pasta with chicken, peanut butter sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich, 1/2 cup of fruit like strawberries, eggs & toast, etc…

I usually have slightly heavier meals around lunch and dinner. My vices like cheese and chocolate are usually consumed during the most active part of my day.

This doesn’t have to be a militant diet - you can still have a good time and enjoy lots of great meals AND wine. These are just guidelines. Hope this helps.

Favorite wine stops:
Domaine Weinbach in Kaysersberg
Rolly-Gassman in Rorschwihr
Albert Mann in Wettolsheim

Unlike Napa or Sonoma, wine tasting is free and they owners are more than happy to pour as much as you like. They are truly gracious.

Eats:
Any wine stub - try tarte flambee. Alsace is famous for this pizza-like dish. It will become an addiction.
Lots of good places. We especially liked ZUM PFIFFERHUS in Ribeauville. Very good places in Kaysersberg and Strasbourg - this is where are addiction to tarte flambee started. The foie gras (if you like this sort of dish) is phenomenal, almost anywhere in Alsace.

Other notes:
If you like vintage touring and race cars, this is worth a visit: Musee National de L’Automobile in Colmar

Visit Ribeauville - it’s quite charmig, also has the best little bakery, Patisserie Confiserie, F. Keller. Yes, this is the brother of Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys restaurant in the city.

Alsace’s landscape is quite lovely and the people are very friendly and humble. If you love the countryside and all its offerings, you’ll love Alsace.

Hope this helps.

Enjoy your journey!

You can get all her goodies here http://www.jinpatisserie.com/store/ho…

We have a large cherry wood salad bowl that is about 6 years old and hasn’t dried out. It still looks new. After each use, I wash it with a mild soap and dry it immediately afterwards. I then apply a thin layer of “food safe” mineral oil with a cloth or piece of paper towel before putting it back on the shelf. I don’t recall where I read this but you’re suppose to apply mineral oil to wooden bowls, plates, etc.. after each use.

I’ve tried a few flourless chocolate cake recipes and, quite honestly, they didn’t taste “flourless” - you know, that super-fabulously moist consistency that melts on your tongue and kind of sticks to your teeth, sometimes leaving a hill-billy smile. Anyway, I’m cheating here by offering a recipe that has a little flour but so much moisture goodness, you’d swear it was flourless. The original recipe actually calls for 1 1/2 cups of cake flour and 1 1/2 cups of cake flour, but I’ve changed the portions to meet my taste. I hope you like it.

Grandmothers’ Chocolate Cake
original recipe from Emily Luchetti

Makes one 8-inch 3-layer cake, serves 10-12 (or just one!)
1 1/2 C. plus 1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 C. boiling water
1 1/2 C. cake (or pastry) flour (experiment with less if you like)
1 1/4 tsps. baking powder
1 1/4 tsps. baking soda
10 Tbsps. (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 3/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 C. buttermilk
1 1/4 tsps. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven at 350F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans.

In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa and boiling water together, making a smooth paste. Set aside to cool. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda onto a sheet of waxed paper.

Put the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Decrease the speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. MIx in the vanilla and cocoa paste.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake the layers of cake for about 30-35 minute (I’d keep a watch starting at 25 minutes), or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out with some bits, you don’t want it bone dry. Transfer the cakes to wire racks and let cool completely. Unmold them by running a knife along the inside edge of each pan and inverting them.

The cake is wonderfully sinful on its own. However, if you’re feeling extra naughty, I’d add a wee-bit of buttercream frosting. And here’s my favorite recipe:

Buttercream Frosting
from Carolyn Miller

Makes about 2 cups, enough to frost an 8-inch 2-layer cake
1 large organic egg yolk (optional - I usually leave this out)
1 1/3 C. sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 tsps. vanilla extract
3/4 C. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

In a warmed large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Beat at medium speed until smooth, about 5 minutes. Refrigerate until thick enough to use. (Note: Don’t leave it in the fridge too long as it will harden.)

I love the simplicity. This sounds delicious and especially like the bacon addition, which always adds wonderful savory flavors to any dish. Thanks for the recipe!

Sounds fantastic! I think we’ll have to throw a dinner party for this one. Thanks!

On the current front door “Alternative Heating…”, Bohemian Storm name overlaps the first few words of the post. I’ve adjusted my screen size, but the username is on top of the words.

Wow. These recipes spare no indulgences. We’ll have to try these soon. Thanks!

How do I find a specific user?

My recent reply posted to Food and Wine and Cooking does not appear in the Recent Posts section. How long does it take to publish? My post was in response to Chuyskywlk’s stew question.

Hands down, my favorite method for stew is slow cooking. You begin your day and end your day with stew. You wake up, get your latte, gather a bunch of ingredients for your stew, throw everything into a pot, and let it simmer on low - very low, meet some friends for lunch, catch an indie film, get another latte, head home, read a magazine or two, open a bottle of wine, and * viola * you have a tasty stew for dinner.

Here’s a recipe base I like - I say base because you can add whatever ingredients you like, but the key is a low simmer for several hours. The recipe has been adapted from a couple of sources and changed many times - use your favorite meat, vegetables, etc.. and make it your own.

Slow Cooked Beef Stew
2 lbs. very lean beef stew meat, preferably shank, cut into large pieces
10 whole garlic cloves
Lots of freshly crushed black pepper - start with 1 Tbsp. and add more if you like
1 1/4 lbs. drained canned whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 C. robust red wine, like Chianti (I’ve used 1-3 C. for my stews)
salt to taste (at the end)

Put all ingredients in a high-quality heavy pot (I really like Le Creuset), cover the pot, and set it over very low heat or in an oven preheated to 200. Cook for 10 hours or so.. very very gently so the liquid in the pot just barely simmers. If the liquid begins to boil away, add a little boiling water and turn the heat down even lower. At the end of the cooking time, the meat should have almost dissolved into a rich creamy sauce. Taste and add salt if you wish.

bon apetite!