It sounds wonderful, but could I use strong coffee for espresso? I'm thinking Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Thank you for reminding me!

Thanks, Tishtosh! I think I will stick with my method of roasting and then rubbing with the paper towel. A few flecks of skin did remain, but I removed the bulk of it, and it was fairly quick with the paper towel and not that messy. If I blanched them, I would still have to toast them, and so I do not think this would save time, and it would use an additional pan. If I were making candy with them, I would consider blanching, but for the pie, what I did was acceptable. The Bavarian cream is mostly cream, and it had a light and delicate flavor but was quite filling. It was almost like a mousse, but a little denser than that. I'm not sure that the people eating it appreciated it the way I do, although a couple of them did. The flavors are a bit subtle, even though I doubled the amount of Frangelico to two tablespoons. I think I prefer lemon curd, which is easier to make, but I have to wait another two weeks or so until my Meyer lemons get ripe. I do not get as many lemons as I did in Venice because I am growing my lemon tree in a wine barrel planter, as I have the wrong soil. Here's the last piece of pie; it was a bit messy because the crust stuck to the Pyrex pan. I normally make it in a non-stick metal pan, and I had forgotten why! I like the glass pan because it is deeper, but I will go back to the metal.

Tishtosh, I may try the Saveur pistachio recipe, although to me it seems to have a bit too much sugar, and so I might cut back by 1/8 cup to start. I will NOT be discarding the pistachios after I strain them out - they make a very nice snack by themselves, and they are expensive anyway. They still have more flavor than blanched hazelnuts. I have no problem with hard hazelnuts - after they are toasted they are a bit softer than when raw anyway. I like the crunch, and I chop them fairly small in a nut grinder (which I've had for a while) before adding them to my ice cream. I have considered omitting them in my ice cream, but I like it a lot better with them. When I make strawberry ice cream, I use no eggs, but otherwise I do prefer eggs in ice cream. However, I will try the pistachio gelato with no cream and no eggs, but I probably will not try the recipe that requires pistachio paste, unless I decide to make the paste myself. I do not want all the extra ingredients in the paste, and it is not easy to find anyway. If I happen to see it, I will buy it anyway, but I have not seen any on line that I would want to order. Butter is one ingredient that I will never use in ice cream, and butter pecan is one flavor that I simply cannot swallow. I could sauté nuts in walnut oil instead, and that may help. I love pecans but generally do not put them in ice cream, although I do occasionally use almonds, and I toast those as well, although I do buy them already blanched. I use pecan in a lot of other desserts, but not ice cream. My sister loves butter pecan, but she has very different taste from me. I will also make the ginger ice cream, although I have never tasted any. I also have never tasted rhubarb, and so I do not know what that is like! I think ginger ice cream would be very refreshing - I might try to find some to try before I make it.

Friday I decided to mix some creme de cacao with some Cointreau - two parts creme de cacao to one part Cointreau - to see how it would taste (over crushed ice), and while I liked it, it is not something I would want to have often enough to buy. Also, I think I like having the chocolate and orange liqueurs separate, and I can mix them together if I want. The mixture really intensified the orange flavor of the Cointreau, which was something I did not expect. It was sort of like eating a very intense orange chocolate bonbon.