Thank you, Annie, for that tip ... my kid loves almond-cookie, so I will get the almond extract. Thank you, Cloud_Swift, for the info. on Spice House to save money. Thank you, pkramer, for that tip on Rosemary indoor. It died on me last winter. I grew up near Grand Rapids MI. Now I'm in Chicago's suburb, zone 5a, much colder than zone 5b in MI. What I grew in the summer was probably Russian Tarragon ... no smell whatsoever. The right thyme also makes a big difference ... so I make sure that pinch off a leaf to sniff before buying the herb. I'm lucky to have a sage brush that survived zone 5a winters for the past decade. I sun-dried the sage leaves in the fall ... great flavor, no sage-spice can beat. One year I used Organic Spice's Hunter Herbes de Province, that gave good flavor to all my soups. Then I bought some cheap brand recently, and it stank up my entire pot. I bought "Imitation Vanilla" last year, and it had a weird & odd chemical smell, so I threw the whole bottle away. The real vanilla is what matters. A friend gave me Organic Extra virgin Coconut oil Nutiva brand. I used 2 tablespoon of that in making granola. The fresh coconut smell perfumed the entire house, and the granola was absolutely delicious. In contrast, the coconut milk I bought from Trader's Joe, or Oriental Market has this "soapy" flavor from stale coconut, or else it's so loaded with sulfites or potassium sorbate(chemical preservatives) ... that I break out in rash. I quit using coconut milk a long time ago ... so glad to find Nutiva's extra-virgin coconut oil with the most intense, delightful fresh coconut essence. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, Jan 10, 14 at 23:33

I use the granulated garlic for soups and stews and dried beans. It is super easy and had a good fresh garlic taste that holds up to long cooking in the crockpot. I use fresh for stir frys and pasta and quick cooking stews. I also like the granulated garlic for salad dressing--it is basically dried garlic granules so they rehydrate in the dressing if you store it for a while. But you can also grind it for a powder. I also keep it on hand for times when I am out of fresh. I like that it comes in a small container so I use it up before it looses all its punch. I also keep dried onions around for the same reason, not better than fresh but they add their own layer of flavor when you're out of fresh or are cooking something for a long time. Another thing I get from Penzeys is vanilla sugar, which I love in Chai but I'll bet would be good in coffee if you like that kind of thing. It makes a good gift for a chai lover or sweet coffee drink lover. You can make your own, but I rarely have time to just fix dinner let alone do much homeade gift making anymore. I buy vanilla beans in bulk from Penzeys when I need them, but that is rarely anymore these days. I used to make my own homeade chai but not anymore. The only other thing I would use the whole beans for is vanilla bean marmelade, which I don't think I will have time to make this year, but is great if you're into gourmet marmelades. I also like the sandwich sprinkle, although I hardly ever sprinkle it on a sandwich. It is just a good all around seasoned salt, I use it in soups and salads when they need to be punched up a bit. I got a seasoning gift pack from my good friends, boy was that nice. The two that I use all the time are the Mural of Flavor and the Tuscan Sunset. I have to say I really don't like the Sunny Spain, it tastes oddly acrid to me. Also I don't use the Bavarian very much but that's because I am a vegetarian and I do mostly Mediterannean cooking. I may give it to my mom next time I'm home because she does pork chops a lot cause my dad loves them. It might be good in some kinds of bean soups, but again, when I do a bean dish it is mostly a Mediterannean style one, so I haven't used up the Bavarian seasoning very fast, even though it is good. Another unusual item they sell thru Penzeys is dried Cilantro. It is no way as good as fresh, or even frozen, which is how I do cilantro these days, but if you're out and are in a pinch, (which is me most of the time) it is at least something to add for some amount of flavor. I bought a bunch of pumpkin pie spice and apple pie spice for a chai mix experiment and I still have a lot, but when I finally use it up I'm going to try Penzeys. Same with the cinnamon. I also second their chili powders, they have an amazing array. They have a lot of curry powders too, but I am not that much of a curry fan so can't speak to them. When I do make curry I usually do my own spice blends.

I'm home and I survived another holiday! We went to friends' in rural north San Diego county - we are both child-free couples so this has become a tradition. One more couple joined us, as they did last year. I was ordered to bring a delectable dessert - ME! Dessert! Hence the thread, blah-blah. What did I end up making? First I was going to do Nancy's pumpkin creme brulee. But the hostess said she was making smoky pumpkin soup. And it wasn't something I could easily make in advance, according to me. So I changed my mind and made Sharon's pears in port with stilton whipped cream, and a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry ganache. I also made mini pumpkin and walnut scones with a maple icing for the long weekend. And I brought a roquefort tort with cranberries and roasted hazelnuts, from Costco. When I got there, I found that there was a change - no smoky pumpkin soup. It was going to be pear soup! LOL. We had too much stuff, so I refrigerated the pears to eat another time during the weekend. They were delicious by the way - thank you Sharon! I bought a huge bottle of tawny port so I will be making these again for ourselves this winter. The flourless chocolate cake was served with a generous dollop of whipped cream and garnished with fresh raspberries. It was delicious too. It was too easy to make in advance and will be added to my limited dessert repertoire. The friends had a new 75-pound Pyrenees puppy (I had seen her earlier in the year when she was a lot smaller), and four egg-laying hens. Along with the existing Pyrenees, Retriever and four cats, it was a full house and I don't think I'll get the dog hair out of my clothes for a few washings, LOL!

My DH spent 10 days in Pari , in Tuscany, this past May. There is an institute there and the village is about 100 people. He had fabulous meals all cooked in a modest setting. It took 3 hrs each noon to eat and then he went for a long walk. He never gained a #. Giacomo is sure right about one thing...I have a great racing bike that can go very fast....but it is the motor...my body, that causes that to happen. You can sure have a fancy kitchen with all the bells and whistles but as he said it is the cook ...my DS1's kitchen at his restaurant is so so low on the scale of tech and efficient...but boy the meals that guy puts out...rivals anything you will get anywhere in the world. c