[aaronatthedoublef]

Not bad. Here in West Hartford they run between $5-$6. In New York at Grand Central they were about $6.50. More competition in NYC...

Wise Sons is in the Mission District.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I'm with you. Mike has done us a great service creating and maintaining this site in addition to all his cooking, baking, and restaurant wisdom.

Thanks Mike.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I heard back from Ziggy Gruber of Deli Man. The challah we saw braided at the end was not from his deli but from Wise Sons. Mr. Gruber suggests going to - you guessed it - Secrets of a Jewish Baker and that will show how to braid it the way a Jewish deli should.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I LOVE Bob's Red Mill Cake Flour. It's just becoming hard to find. Last time I had to order it online and one of the bags spilt open in the shipping box.

But they are a very nice.

[aaronatthedoublef]

BA, what is the difference between the Irish whole meal and whole wheat? Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

I remember going to a McDonald's that had a library in it. It was in Stockholm and was the only place our co-workers could think to take us for food after 10:30 at night.

The one on Clark was the one I was thinking of. Driven by many times but never stopped inside.

[aaronatthedoublef]

When I lived in NH there was a Shakey's. They had a piano AND a banjo. AND best of all for young men they had an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet.

We started to pick up take out when a pizza place opened up a couple blocks from our house and my mom did the math and figured out it was a cheap or cheaper than frozen pizza and much better.

Once we all left home pizza was our go to meal for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Not being a turkey lover I always liked this because I had leftover pizza for Thanksgiving. We had two stuffed pizza places in our neighborhood - Giordano's first and then Eduardo's. We were more of a Giordano's family. They are still a favorite and I am happy Derek Rose helped rescue them from bankruptcy.

I've never been to an experimental McDonald's. There used to be one in Water Tower place that had table service. I do not know if it is still there and if it is if it does. There is another, giant McDonald's a few blocks away that is experimental but I've never been there.

[aaronatthedoublef]

There are places that make pizza in production lines. Ever been in the back in a Domino's? I'm not sure what they do now but they used to have an assembly line. Doughs were passed down and received sauce followed by cheese followed by toppings and then into a rolling oven.

It was kind of cool but the results were not great.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made carnitas this week. It's been a long time since I made it. We've had two meals from it so far and I think I'll get at least one more lunch out of it but my 13 year old is an eating machine.

I mixed it with this neat rice mix from Trader Joe's on Sunday night and last night with broccoli.

The pork butt was actually pretty fatty despite having been "trimmed". I may have to find a different place to buy my meat. Costco has very nice quality but I do not have enough freezer space for the quantity.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made a six strand. The first half was good with width and height. Then I started stretching the strands to make it longer which was a mistake and made the second half too long and thin.

I also flipped it upside down after 20 minutes of baking and as well as tenting it, to keep the top from browning too much.

[aaronatthedoublef]

It has 18 golden delicious apples!

[aaronatthedoublef]

This is not new. When I lived in Seattle a number of restaurants open with tavern licenses instead of bar licenses. The differences were that taverns could only server wine and beer and no one under drinking age was allowed inside. They could keep out kids but blame it on the state. That was almost 20 years ago.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Looking at the pictures there are definitely subtle differences in shaping. There are also differences in the glazing. One from a bakery called Bien Cuit is very different in appearance. According to their website "bien cuit" means well done and their crusts are dark and caramelized.

But there is also a sameness to them too. I've sent an email to Ziggy. I'll let everyone know if and when he replies.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks everyone. I thought I had a line on it from a site called thekitchn.com but it's not there. Still they have some interesting recipes and techniques.

I was in New York yesterday with 10 minutes before my train and did a quick run through Grand Central station. The three bakeries I saw all appeared to have the six strand braid but there is something they do that give them more variety in height than I can get.

I'll try and contact the deli in Houston. I may also see if I can spend a week with a bakery in New York or Boston learning how they do it.

I have some challah defrosting and I'll try a six strand braid sometime this weekend (even though it should be for tonight).

Thanks again

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks BA. I don't have that. I have several books, one even dedicated to challah. I think I'll just have to keep watching the movie on Amazon until I figure it out.

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