agreed. West First is head and shoulders above anything else in Hendersonville.

I don't think you're ever going to find a huge amount of choices. Frankly, I like that about her.

Oh, and I'm drooling on my desk over the mention of strawberry brownie. That was probably the first think I ever bought from this lady at the Farmers mkt a few years ago and it was SO memorable for me. I loved not only the flavor combo, but the way the strawberry made the brownie a little underbaked at that spot. yeow...i'm such a dessert freak.

May I suggest those meriinge cookies? don't buy them all, please...but those are spectacular, and just about the only thing that you can count on always being offered.

hmmm...I just didn't care for the tartare. the only other thing i've had that did nothing for me was some sort of tuna dish. By no means a "bad experience", but those are the 2 dishes I can think of that if I had ordered on my first visit to Admiral, i might not have been in a huge hurry to go back. I've also had the impression reading reviews over the years and listening to a few of my friends, one common thread among the VERY few people who don't love the Admiral was that they got some sort of steak.

i would also say give Seven Sows a shot . I did not liek Stoney Knob at all on my one visit, but YMMV. Am looking forward to trying Biscuit Head. Not sure why you're not sure about Admiral, but you should go if you can get in. (don't get the beef tartare or steak there ) Maybe check out the food trucks?

Rats...I wish we'd eaten at REndezvous instead...i saw it was opened on the way through Cashiers. The reason you guys can't find them is that the name is spelled in some "clever" way. Phonetically, you know, it took me a while to figure out what they were doing.

yeah, that would have been my presumption too! Consider you get 10 oz (or so they say) at 12 Bones for $2. Welcome to Greenville...

Coincidental timing...I FINALLY tried Roost a couple of days ago. AFter leaving that first time, I left again a few months ago because they were completely FULL at lunchtime w/ a 30 min wait! shocking...it's a huge space!

Anyway, i'm apparently destined to never know how the place is ,because this week I was dining w/ my brand new CEO + I wasn't feeling well, so I only ordered a very plain salad. The lettuce was of good quality, the bacon appeared to be decent quality, and they successfully left off the blue cheese as requested. Other than that, I still can't comment.

They're serving normal low alcohol-content beer in 12 ozers? tsk tsk, for how much?

I surfed up this old-ish thread to provide a warning: The Wine Garden at Old Edwards Inn is absolutely beautiful. It's a great setting for brunch/lunch on a perfect Memorial Day. They have a nice selection of wine and cocktails and I had a very nice salad.

STOP THERE - The food was otherwise horrendous and our service was awful, too, although it appeared that tables nearby with a different server were doing better. After the sandwich I wanted which was described as a "flatbread" turned out to be a wrap, I switched my order to the day's "special", touted to be a pizza with "beautiful pieces of tenderloin", lots of veggies, on a "cauliflower-goat cheese spread". I asked the waitress if goat was the only cheese, she said yes. The thing that arrived was a mess w/ poor quality mozerella melted over a few dregs of unrecognizable veggies and topped w/ raw cauliflower bits and cubes of appalling brown things...i'll take their word it was beef. It's been many years since I sent a dish back just because it was repulsive, but I would have if the waitress had asked me how it was. No, the food was brought out by a guy who didn't speak enough English for me to explain that they brought the wrong salad dressing, nor that we didn't expect both courses to be plopped on the table at once.

Arrgh. And the bad thing is, it was such a nice setting, I'd probably go back someday, but I would order only salad and wine. I guess that's how they stay so successful (it was packed).

Exactly. I don't go back to a place that's bad on the first try.

do you remember if you modified that recipe? I can't remember, I'm always tinkering with stuff. Many of the reviewers say they changed the ratio of butter to other stuff.

http://www.mountainx.com/article/4863...

I just came across this article. Has anyone been there ? I recognize this face from the absolute best, most perfect pastry from the Sat. City Market.

Thanks for all the ideas. I made the epi double chocolate recipe. It calls for 2 10 " pans, that also works out to 2 6" + 2 8".

For the 6"er for my Dad, I pureed and strained some strawberries and replaced the 5 Tbs of water in my 7 min frosting recipe w/ 4 Tbs puree and 1 water. At the point in the recipe where it calls for vanilla, I added a drop of almond and another teaspoon or so of strawberry. I had no trouble getting the frosting to thicken, in fact, it "made" faster than normal. I think I could safely have added at least 50% more strawberry purree, but even so, you could taste the strawberry flavor. It made a nice pale pink as well, but I augmented w/ 2 toothpics-worth of red coloring.

Between the layers, after I frosted, i added a small pool of the strawberry pulp left from straining. I could have gotten away w/ more of that as well, but not TOO much more, the cake wanted to slip just a tad while I was doing the chocolate glaze...which was 3 oz of guittard + 2 tbs butter drizzled over the top.

I think I'm going to do the remaining layers in the Chow salted caramel....although I'll prob change my mind 6 times. Thanks again!

hmmm...I think that's what I made my Dad last year, come to think of it. i love the cake crumb on the side idea. It's genius!

GASP! Didn't even notice...but I swear...I cut and pasted! ;-)

Gosh, don't apologize, i'm ALWAYS looking for new cake ideas!! Pleasure to hear from you.

As an added complication, my in-laws are coming for a week long stay 2 days after my Dad's birthday dinner. If I make 2 cakes at once, do you think I could freeze one entire iced cake, assuming I make the flour frosting, not the 7 minute? I often freeze layers but I don't think I've ever frozen a frosted layer cake before.

Honestly, the combination of house-guest stress and the Chow ad to the right is making me think I should just put a candle in a pitcher of frozen strawberry margaritas, hand him a chocolate bar, and call it a day ;-)

But...that's the same person you referenced before. That cite is HIS letter to the AHA, not information put forth by the AHA, which is what a careless glance might imply. In fact, the AHA posted this reply (excerpted) to his letter:

"You are correct that the reference to plant protein as being regarded as incomplete is often quoted, but we did carefully state that “most” are deficient in one or more essential amino acids and emphasized that there is an optimum ratio of essential amino acids that determines protein quality. The recommendation for mixing complementary vegetable protein sources to maximize the diet is an important principal on which vegetarian diets are based. Although an indiscriminate mixture of plant proteins could meet protein amino acid requirements, it must be remembered that the amino acid content in most plant proteins is more limited in amount per serving than that from animal sources. Thus, it is difficult to maintain essential amino acids at optimum quantity and distribution. "

Again, they specifically state: "mixing complementary vegetable protein sources to maximize the diet is an important principal"

Wow. You'd think that would work.

We see deer quite a bit in our pasture, but the Doberman is apparently keeping them out of the yard.

Here we see the problems in trying to learn something about the very specific issue I'm interested in...making useable protein out of veggies. It's such a politicized and polorized topic it's hard to find basic info. The ADA that you mention has nothing I can find on their site. You mention "Well planned vegetarian diets" but planning ain't easy.

I have no interest in being vegan, I just happen to really like vegetables, fruits and grains a lot and sometimes I don't feel like eating any meat or dairy ...but as an athlete in my 40's, I don't need to lose muscle due to protein deficit, age is already doing that.

for instance...today I had granola ( grains and nuts) for breakfast and a grapefruit for lunch. I'm pretty sure that's not giving me the right amino acids.

hmmm...that makes sense ...like replacing the water w/ puree. thanks!

I agree, the two locations in Asheville seem identical. I have my fingers crossed. Being within the Greenville cloud of culinary doom was too much for High Cotton, which I understand is pretty good in Charleston. Also when Doc Chey was here, it was good, but decidedly less so than the Asheville outpost.

fingers crossed for charlotte too!

I like the custard and the curd ideas. Thanks! I also appreciate the common sense warning on putting a puree in a delicate frosting...I suspect it would cause the cake to slip around...but I have a terrible tendency to roll the dice...and plenty of cake emergencies because of it.

That's what I want on my birthday cake! I love the salted caramel frosting that was on Chow. Somehow it's better than the usual powdered sugar frosting. Unfortunately, my Mom said Daddy doesn't care for caramel. I think she's probably full of it...i suspect he doesn['t like our "family recipe" for caramel cake, a southern staple, that is cloyingly sweet, but I suppose I have to abide by her edict.

What do you think about flavoring the flour frosting w/ strawberry? I'm thinking about chocolate layers w/ pink (strawberry) frosting and a chocolate glaze...like this:

http://sweetapolita.com/2011/07/6-lay...

But I don't much care for full-on buttercream.

oh, but I disagree with that. *IF* the name of that cheese eventually became anglicized to the point that it was spelled with the R in that position, then sure...it would be right. But as long as you're pronouncing a word written Mascarpone, it's just wrong. super-wrong. Like the common, lazy mispronunciations of nuclear and realtor.

It's just such a crazy mistake. It's one thing not to know how to pronounce vowels in a foreign language....i'm certainly guilty of that! But simply spitting out consonants in the right order? If you aren't dyslexic, I just don't see why anyone would screw that up.

thanks. have you ever done 7 minute w/ a fruit addition? have a recipe? I'm a little worried I might be getting ahead of myself, now that I think about it. No time for disasters and re-dos this weekend!

I'm looking for ideas for a birthday cake for my Dad. He likes chocolate, so I suppose I'll make choc layers, but I was thinking about flavoring my standard 7 minute frosting w/ fresh strawberry purree and then topping the cake w/ choc covered berries. I've never flavored my 7 -minute before, but I've read it's possible. Seems like I read that on Chowhound, but can't find the thread now.

I don't care for buttercreams and I make ganache frosting for him a bunch.

Alternatively, Do you think strawberry cake and a sour cream fudge frosting would be good? Thanks.

I agree that you should do whatever works for you, but please don't get the idea that high quality or vine ripe produce survives refrigeration better somehow.

There's no way in the world I'd put the tomatoes I grow in the fridge. It destroys both flavor and texture. Sometimes if I by crappy grocery store tomatoes and want them to last longer, then I will refrigerate...because they suck already.

btw, peaches are similarly destroyed by refrigeration.

ditto. fortunately, "sorbet" came along and saved me the trouble ;-)

"why does anyone bother to use a word that they haven't learned to pronounce?"

why not? It's like saying why would someone speak a word they don't know how to spell. Sometimes the two just don't happen together as one learns language.

the citations you're giving us are opinion sites, not really anything I'd want to hang my hat on. I'd be interested to read more on this subject from a source that is not actively pro-vegan. (just like I don't want to read about GMOs from Monsanto, I don't want to read about protein from vegans)