So I picked up a bunch of blood oranges last weekend and after making many blood orange old fashioneds I still have about 6 blood oranges leftover. Any ideas on how to use them? So far I'm thinking in a fennel or beet salad or perhaps a blood orange cake or tart, but I've got no recipes yet. Any favorites out there?

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful recommendations! My plan is to reserve most of these from my library and explore which style appeals the most to me as a new baker. That way I'll figure out which ones deserve a coveted spot on my limited cookbook shelf space.

I don't mind precise if I get the results. Unfortunately my local store doesnt carry these so Iv'e relied on amazon.com book previews to get the gist. I'm not a huge fan of fancy plating, but I wouldn't mind perfecting this type of recipe for dinner parties and such. I guess I may need to look into 1 of each style. Thanks for the input!

Thanks, I'll look at that!

wow, thats alotta flour. I got the 5 qt Artisanal, plenty for my household of 2. I can't wait to make marshmallows too!

America's Test Kitchen vegetarian chili, I've made it for years with rave reviews. http://gastronomyblog.com/2010/11/05/vegetarian-chili/

I also like this one for something a bit different (although I halve the amt of orange): http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/qui...

Ahhh, winter salads.... a girl after my own heart! This is my newest obsession, here are a couple of my recent go to salads:

Radicchio Salad with Gorgonzola, Dates and Hazelnuts http://www.joanneweir.com/recipes/salads/raddichio-gorgonzola-dates-hazelnuts.html

Green Lentils With Roasted Beets and Preserved Lemon (I serve this with kale, swiss chard would be good too) http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/7701/Green-Lentils-With-Roasted-Beets-and-Preserved-Lemon.html
Lacinato Kale Salad with Roasted Squash http://www.marthastewart.com/870064/lacinato-kale-salad-roasted-squash
Massaged kale with mango http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aa...

Kale Caesar salad: when I'm feeling particularly lazy I use up my kale with Caesar dressing, croutons, cracked pepper and shaved Parmesan

Lucky me, I received a Kitchenaid stand mixer for a Christmas present. I'd like to get some go to dessert recipes and company worthy baked goods under my belt. Now I just need to narrow it down to a good cookbook or two to get me going.

Here's what I have in my Amazon shopping cart:

Baking From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang
Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller
The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl Day
Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum

also is there a concensus on
Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson VS The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Thanks all, I can't wait to get baking!

Thanks all! Here's my revised itinerary:

Fonda el Refugio
Azul Condesa
Corazon de Maguey after visiting the Frida Kahlo Museum
El Cardenal for breakfast
Churrería El Moro (for churros and hot chocolate)
El Bajío in Azcapotzalco
La Casa de Toño, Zona Rosa
plus as many busy street vendors as we can fit in!

Any other Condesa spots not to miss for dinner?

Visiting D.F. for the first time this weekend. We're arriving from Puebla on Saturday afternoon, staying til Tuesday afternoon. Our hotel is in Condesa and we wouldn't mind staying in that neighborhood for dinners, while venturing out for breakfasts/lunch. I also made a reservation at Pujol for Monday night, but I'm not married to that.

Due to time constraints, I need to cut a couple of these. Which go?

Fonda el Refugio
Azul Condesa
Biko
Xel-Ha
Corazon de Maguey or Restaurante San Angel Inn after visiting the Frida Kahlo Museum
El Cardenal for breakfast
Pujol
El Califa and El Kaliman for tacos al pastor
Churrería El Moro (for churros and hot chocolate)

We don't mind expensive restaurants but would like to avoid anything formal. Any feedback would be much appreciated as this is a last minute trip! Thanks in advance.

I eat kale salad at least 2-3 times a week. The key thing to do is to de stem the kale, then chop into ribbons and like the previous poster mentioned: massage, massage, massage that kale! I like to let the leaves marinate for a little while after massaging with EVOO and lemon.

I'm tackling the same issue right now. I like to go with classics on NYE: thinking shrimp cocktail, cheese & crackers, olives, something veggie, etc. I think 3-4 apps sounds good.

Since it's after dinner and with cocktails, I'd go for at least one sweet item and make the rest things that are good for soaking up the booze.

Try madhur jaffrey's world vegetarian for recipes that have been around for decades or longer

Heading to NYC this weekend for the first time...I have tons of restaurants on my to eat at list and reservations at Babbo and Sushi Yasuda for Thur/Fri nights but alas nothing for Saturday. Thinking about heading out for tapas (Boqueria) and then a late night slice (Artichoke or Lombardi's), but curious if anyone has any recommendations for a place my boyfriend and I could actually get a table at on Saturday.

Looking for a loud place with great food and drink to be had. Preferably not meat centric as my BF is pescetarian. Thanks!!

-----
Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

Sushi Yasuda
204 E 43rd St, New York, NY 10017

yep, Grasch's all the way.

Yay for Xmas! I finally have a nice food proccsor. Then I tried to use it to shred boiled potatoes for hash browns and of course the potatoes got really gluey. What did I do wrong? Any other basic dos & don'ts of the food processor world?

I go back and forth between the America's Test Kitchen vegetarian bean chili (made with chipotle pepper) and this Black-Bean-Chili-with-Orange recipe (to which I add chocolate for a mole like chili)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

enjoy

thanks for all the advice. the menu worked out great! no doubt because alot of it was prepared the day beforehand! which i know realize is key to hosting. cant wait for the next dinner party

I use Deborah Madison's mushroom galette recipe. It is heavenly and foolproof. As for the onion and goat cheese recipe....well, I'll be making that up tonight.

thanks! I'm leaning towards caramelized onions and goat cheese with either rosemary and/or sage.

now off to make the shopping list!

thanks for the recommendations!! just double checked and found out that a guest doesn't like blue. thinking about doing caramelized onion and possibly goat or cheddar cheese. I would like to be able to roll out all of the galette dough ahead of time and do 2 simple fillings. Hence the onion + cheese combo....

I'm kind of scared of doing courses since I will be doing all of the cooking myself and I'm a little rusty on hosting duties.

I really like the potato, rosemary and caramelized onion idea. do you happen to know of a recipe?

it's a small party of 5

the maple glaze sounds really tasty

Any suggestions on my Christmas menu? Please keep in mind that I'm cooking for vegetarians and people who don't like mushrooms. The guests are arriving noontime and have other family and probably other meals to attend to that night.

starters:
crudites with ina garten's herb dip
Artichoke-Olive Crostini

main meal:
choice of individual mushroom galettes OR caramelized onion/blue cheese galettes
roasted squash (possibly with cranberry glaze or as a goat cheese gratin- too much cheese?)
haricot verts with herb butter
simple french salad

dessert:
vanilla brown butter pear crisps with ice cream
I'll also have a ton of homemade Christmas cookies out

Any suggestions or additions would be MUCH appreciated. This is my first time hosting Xmas dinner. Thanks!!

If those don't work, try Simma's http://www.simmasbakery.com/weddings.htm

their cakes are heavenly!!!

Joy of Cooking (classic with intro and more advanced recipes, spells out everything), America's Test Kitchen (great techniques on classic recipes), or Everyday Food magazine.

Thank You!!! My steak dinner was delish. Didn't use oil. Only peppercorns on the steak. pan seared on high for 3 minutes on each side. then transfered pan to 475 degree oven for 5 minutes. next time I may not cook it as long, as i prefer the rarer side of medium-rare. Thank you all for opening up the ability for me to cook steaks in the cooler months!! Can't wait to try that Epicurious recipe as well.

Thanks Farmgirl22. I already bought an expensive cut of meat, so I want a simple method, but I'll keep your reccomendations in mind for my next flank steak. Never thought of the beer before. Sounds like it would great for steak fajitas.

Thanks, this looks like it's exactly what I need. Simple and to the point. Should be great with an excellent cut of meat.

How long do you sear on each side to get a good crust?

What's your best method for cooking a NY Strip without a grill. I always seem to overcook it when I'm not grilling (I prefer medium rare). Any recommendations?

Thanks!!!