or how about "Ministry of Cooking" - could be real dramatic with music like 'Millionaire', smoke machines, dim lights, G. and M. in monk's robes working their arcane rites ... could be filmed in a catacomb somewhere, then they take a break and stroll around the cloister engaging in philosophical discourse ...

maybe a podcast series! a great idea IMHO, we should run it by Danny and the crew. are you good at writing proposals?

i thought proposals was something you were good at.

anyway, i'm worried by Geoff's stunned silence so far on the sexy scenarios i've laid out for him ...

so i'll just lay back and let you two sell Danny on it if you both decide you want to.

- but having said that, i'll admit that bringing Geoff's wife bursting through the door to discover you two cooking together was something i was planning as a shocking season-1-ender ...

Hi all,

I'd like to thank you for all your wonderful advice. I was amazed to come back to my computer and see such an outpouring. It provides wonderful insight into bread baking, which I've only dabbled in. Mainly from the book "The Bread Baker's Apprentice", which is a wonderful book which explores the science and techniques of bread making but I believe written mainly in Imperial measurements. Which is fine, since I'm from the states.

I would wonder what your advice would be for pasta? Some of you suggested durum (semolina) which is a typical pasta flour which is quite a hard wheat. Others suggested all purpose and cake, which seems too soft for pasta. Thing is, the flours in the states really aren't graded as 0 or 00 or the like. Yet, I have one of Jamie's cookbooks and all his pastas call for tipo 00.

Thank you again, Sara

Oooo-er - while I've been away/quiet, things are developing apace

Had quite a heavy weekend - all the family round for a first pre-christmas party (well it was St Nicks day, 6th December) daughter and Son-in-law with grandchildren down for Scotland, and rest of the family congregating at our place for meal and present exchange -the cook, of course, being me

Sunday recovering, with first of Christmas Services at Church - the Toy Service and Parade.

After lunch, fell asleep (lunch was yesterdays leftovers, after freezing the remainders - I always over-supply for Christmas "do's"

Just woken up for an early dinner - leftovers re-worked into a stir fry.

Now - how shall we organise the Maree & Geoff Cook-In / Master and Pastor (shouldn't that be "Mistress & Pastor"?)

MrPab - what are you suggesting - are you trying to get us headlined in the tabloid press   cooking in the catacombs in robes - tut-tut Reminds me of the "Cooking Canon" years ago on BBC!

But seriously both Maree & myself are into international cookery - maybe we ought to do a world-wide series, rather like the Keith Floyd series of cooking programs, where he went from place to place, cooking in local style - am sure that would appeal to both of us. We could start by cooking our way around OZ, then moving on to Asian Pacific cooking, followed by a spell in China, then on to India/Bangladesh,Pakistan, a brief foray into Iran/Iraq/Afghanistan, followed by an extended stay in Turkey, a good long time in Greece, briefly calling in the Balkans and then onto the Mediterranean - Lebanon, Egypt, North Africa etc, before moving on to Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Basque country, Normandy, back through Germany, Holland, Denmark, maybe Scandanavia, before ending up with a tour of the British Isles. Not sure what we would do with the second season - maybe work our way back, through the countries we have missed? - or should we continue on through Canada, the Americas and Japan?

We could do a whole series cooking in Forum Member's kitchens