Has anyone taken one of these tours/vacations? I read an article in the NYT last year about a chef in Fez, Morocco that provides cooking classes for tourists. I’d really like to go, this year if possible for some cooking, eating and photo taking.

I’ve been brushing up on my French!

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I’ve avoided these little cakesters for a while, but after spotting them on sale, decided it was time to try.

The vanilla filling is a replica of the filling in a classic Oreo. The exterior chocolate cake is moist and dense - with a similar taste and texture to Archway dutch cocoa cookies. The cake makes them even sweeter than the original Oreos, but with 250 calories per 2-pack, you don’t really need more than one cookie to satisfy an afternoon sweet tooth.

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Homefries with crispy bits of linguica and buckwheat pancakes.

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I’m considering one or both of the following seminars at the BU Culinary School:

- A Taste of Sicily: A Symposium: February 23 -24
- CookWise with Shirley Corriher: March 29 - 30

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I had anticipated a spa weekend of sorts while we were in Miami last week, but instead I gravitated towards fried.

Wolfie’s is located down the street from our hotel, so we visited often for the potato pancakes and pickles:

(Read the article)

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I love the taste of coconut, especially drenched in chocolate, but ever since I read Steve Almond’s Candy Freak I’ve had second thoughts. The author describes coconut in Almond Joy/Mounds as though, “I feels as if I’m chewing on a sweetened cuticle.”

Yeah, that’s pretty spot-on.

But when I saw the Choxie dark chocolate coconut truffle bar I knew I needed to taste. The bar is covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate while the inside is a mix of white chocolate, coconut and toasted almonds.

Full disclosure - i don’t like white chocolate, but the taste of the coconut and the crunch of the nuts was perfectly pleasing. On the downside the Choxie chocolate is mediocre quality at best and the filling makes this a super sweet candy bar. One square is all I could eat - normally I can eat whole chocolate bars in one sitting.

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As Carol noted, the UN declared 2008 the year of the potato. The Providence Journal has more here, as well as some recipes. I know I’m a week late but I was on vacation.

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Peanut butter cookie made with crunchy peanut butter

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from my kitchen. Simply prepare a boxed chocolate cake mix, allow cupcakes to cool, and use a pastry bag and tip to fill cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.

Topped with chocolate ganache: add 1/2c scalded milk to bowl containing 8 oz. finely chopped dark chocolate and whisk.
Note: the hot milk didn’t melt all my chocolate, so I set the bowl over a pan of boiling water for just a minute to two to finish melting the chocolate.

I brought them in for the co-workers and they indicated they liked them-hope they weren’t just trying to be nice. Anyway, I got one, “tastes like a Yodel,” and one “tastes like a Ding Dong.”

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Back when I lived in Boston the gang and I usually made a stop at the Delux Cafe at least once a week. If we ate, I always had the chips and fruit salsa — this is my homage to those nights of little bites and cheap drinks in a smoky bar.

1/2 red onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely minced
1 jalapeño pepper finely chopped (remove seeds for less heat)
1 small apple finely chopped
1 plum or nectarine finely choped
1 cup red grapes halved
2 or 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
juice of about 1/2 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and store in the fridge for a few hours before eating to allow all the flavors to marry. I like to serve with freshly fried flour tortilla wedges.

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