alanamoana

if you go to "contact us" on their web site, they have their phone number and a small map with driving directions

"It sows many seeds of good will..." it took me a minute to figure this one out! pun intended?

quick trigger finger!!

to go back to the initial question, the translucent cream is perfectly okay. i don't know why this happens but any time you add sweetener (glucose, sugar, corn syrup, etc) to cream and heat it up, it changes consistency and appearance. maybe a food scientist can answer why.

in situations like this, isn't it more common to have a smaller display cake and a large sheet cake from which to serve guests? particularly in the case of such a large number of people...you'd want to get started on the cutting and serving instead of waiting for the bride and groom to do the ceremonial first slice.

That was a great demo Alan. Thanks for taking the time to document everything. I really feel that you've made chocolate making accessible to the home enthusiast. Of course, it entails buying more tools and gadgets!!! Thanks again!

i don't think city bakery is a wholesale bakery so much as a restaurant with great baked goods...the upper end restaurants who don't bake in house would probably get their bread from any of the following: amy's sullivan street blue ribbon tomcat i'm sure there are more. it is disappointing most of the time (bread service, that is). i do think that most restaurants don't care enough about the bread as it is a giveaway item and has to be figured into food cost.

i've made a mandarin "cosmo" sorbet for a restaurant i worked for. it was great, but due to my liberal hand with the alcohol, it never froze perfectly well...never bothered to adjust the recipe as when it got too slushy, we'd just drink it after service! great way to finish of a long shift...

maybe you should consider applying for an unpaid internship. the combined lack of experience, your previous salary history (which you shouldn't really have on your resume anyway), and possibly your education or lack thereof makes you a little unattractive to potential employers. if you can't afford a completely unpaid internship, you should consider a part time one so that you can work at a paying job on the side...that is, if you're willing to "do the time". may i also ask if you had been forewarned about any of this before you began your culinary courses? did you have a clear idea of what was in store for you after you graduated? i think it is likely that if you do an unpaid internship and prove your worth as a hardworking employee, the employer would consider you for a paid position at the restaurant or bakery or wherever you are working. working in a food service establishment is not easy. it is even more difficult when you have a lot of work to get done and you're doing double duty as a teacher to someone who isn't up to speed on everything. most chefs aren't willing to spend actual money on these people as their time is worth more than the wage they would pay you. please take some time to give us a little more background so that others can respond with some helpful information. p.s. welcome to eGullet and good luck!

i know your wife!!! or at least, i met her when she and bridget were in new york with david gingrass on a business vacation! we had a drink up at stone rose. how funny...small world, made smaller via eGullet wish her well...my name is alana and i was working at cafe gray at the time. we're reversing coasts as i'm moving to the san jose area on wednesday! good luck with your business!

so it looks like not enough water. also, you're just using all purpose which might not have enough gluten...?

there are a lot of factors which could be affecting your dough: first of all, in bread baking, the recipe is merely a guide. the humidity or lack thereof can affect how much moisture the flour can absorb. your dough could be too wet for the. the type of flour you're using could also be a cause. if you're using all purpose as opposed to high gluten flour...not enough protein in the flour to develop good gluten strands. the temperature of the liquid you added. how you're kneading the dough i'm sure this list could go on and on. you might need to add a little more information in order that someone with more experience in bread can respond to your problem.

he was also the corporate pastry chef for the vongerichten empire...most recently at "v" steakhouse which closed recently.

add the photos! add the photos!

ling, i don't think they have macy's in canada, but can you purchase from their web-site? i know the exchange isn't terribly favorable, but when things go on sale at macy's you can get really good deals. i got both of my ka's from macy's and both times i got the free bowl as a special offer. this was years apart, so they do this reasonably often (i think you have to wait for a convergence of the stars for ka to offer a rebate and the item to go on sale at macy's...but it does happen). just a thought. if you can't buy from macy's then i'm sorry. can't you make a trip to the states?! hehehe just to buy the ka of course.

the only farmers' market i've been to lately is the "greenmarket" in union square in manhattan. quite a few vendors sell baked goods packaged in many different ways. there are ones who package everything individually. usually these are gargantuan cookies equal to about six regular sized cookies. they also package mini pies individually. the packaging is usually just plastic wrap...nothing fancy. *edited here to say: i don't think i would buy these cookies, because i really don't like the way they are packaged. but you should check the rules/regulations/laws regarding selling baked goods because there might be something you can't control telling you how to package these items. i think in the case of the new york greenmarket, it has something to do with competing with the real farmers, but i could be full of sh%t. but health department-wise, you should know what's going on. there are a couple of bread bakeries who sell rustic "artisan" breads and they have a case behind which they have piles of bread. when you point to what you want they then grab them and put them into a bag for you. i think it would be cool if you had clear bins which were away from the customers' hands (and relatively airtight without being difficult to get in and out of). they could tell you what they wanted and you could either bag them or box them depending upon what they wanted. the advantage to doing this is you aren't wasting packaging at the end of the day when you don't sell all of your wares and you have to either give them away or discount them or whatever you do with what you don't sell. i think the decorated cookies look better when individually packaged in cello bags. if decorated cookies are your true love, then i think you should always have some there to show off, appropriate to the season or holiday, and when people ask you about them, you have a supply of business cards to give them for special orders. have a price list or something handy so you're prepared and professional sounding when people ask questions. take the time to cost everything out (especially your labor). definitely always have some sort of promotional material/flyer to give away with your cookies when you sell them. you are trying to make a name for yourself and you need to be recognized. i would buy some sort of identifying sticker to put on the individually wrapped cookies and on your bags, etc. that way you won't have to invest in custom printed packaging right off the bat. the stickers can be put on everything (i guess you'd have to do a cost comparison, though). i personally love glassine bags. i think that if someone wants to buy an individual cookie (not a decorated one) you should use glassine bags with your custom sticker. they are so cute and reminiscent of "back in the day" bakeries. i know it is pretty martha-esque, but she does know what sells! i don't see why you couldn't sell your savory cookies as well. it isn't as if you're selling chocolate chip cookies next to ground beef. it's all in the same family, right? finally, i think people will buy cookies from the market. an attractive display, a smiling friendly face, and a delicious looking and tasting product will always sell! good luck.

the pickles are good at tommy's! other than that, it is a little scary at that place...but fun people watching. i'm so jealous you're living in sf. i miss that town. you have a lot of exploring to do. for "young and hip" i don't know how polk street is doing these days, but there were a few nice places to check out. i used to live on polk at sacramento. bob's donuts was across the street from my apartment and when i'd come home late at night they'd be frying them up and the scent was irresistible. i'd get a huge apple fritter and devour the entire greasy, sweet, sticky fried dough in about 2 minutes!

i have a wagner and love it! to get that velvety look, spray items which have been frozen. otherwise it just turns into an unattractive glaze. there is a thread on this subject, but i'm too lazy to link to it! also, i've never heard of your model, but you should definitely create a little "closet" or some sort of area that's easy to clean. in the restaurant (don't tell the customers) i would line the floor with parchment and put my item on a sheetpan on the parchment and spray it that way. so even if i missed the parchment, it was only on the floor and i didn't have to clean that up! you know what a pain chocolate is to clean. especially when it has had a chance to set up.

i was lucky...both kitchen aids i bought were having a promotion at the time i purchased them and they each came with a free extra bowl. that alone was worth the price. i use the two bowls all the time!!!!

definitely helps! i'm glad you're coming from a justifiable high ground. i just find it funny when "immigrants" complain louder than other people. i am one such immigrant and i'm certainly jealous of/curious about native manhattan-ites. but then again, i don't have a home as i've never lived anywhere longer than five years at a stretch and that was only once in my life! my husband does complain about the homogenization of new york (his grandparents and parents were from new york...the boroughs...ending up on long island). he's been living here for the last ten years and when i posed the same questions to him, this was his reply: "yes, i definitely miss the eighties...i would definitely trade the gentrification of today for lower rents and more interesting people, places and times" but he also said that (having never been to a trader joe's) he doesn't think that it is replacing anything that doesn't need replacing and that we could probably do with fewer crap bodegas. so take it with that particular grain of salt. it isn't all about the trail mix!

actually, i'm sad to say, it will be an even longer hike including the use of jetBlue as i'm moving back to california i consider myself lucky to have had a chance to live in one of the world's greatest cities (probably the best city in the united states). luckily though, the neigborhood i'm moving to is chock-a-block full of awesome chinese groceries and i think even a farmers' market or two. not too terrrible. oh yeah, and to keep it on topic...there is a trader joe's close to my new apartment! i look forward to introducing my husband to the great snack foods they have!

336g butter 300g sugar, brown (whatever darkness you prefer for flavor) 500g flour, all purpose 12g baking soda 4g salt 225g oatmeal this can be used as a crust when packed into tart molds and also as a topping mix dry ingredients together and add cold butter in small cubes. mix until the butter becomes pea sized bits (like making a biscuit or pie dough). do not overmix! if you do so, it will be like concrete.

i think one of the dilemmas i have had as a food professional (aside from the female chip on my shoulder ) has been embracing the "avant garde". i really appreciate the things that you are doing but i have been frustrated by it...maybe my own stubborness or laziness. as you said this (creating desserts that taste good and are presented in new ways) is the reason you go to work everyday...do you actually have the time to experiment as much as you would like? what kind of sacrifices to you make in your life outside of work to keep up with your professional self (and other professionals)? do you not consider them sacrifices because this is your passion? and so sorry for forgetting my manners earlier: Thank you for taking the time to post here. I think it really means a lot to all of us when professionals at your level take time out of their busy schedule to let us get into their heads!

i know this is off topic, but daniel, are you a native manhattan-ite? were you born and raised here? i'm just wondering. i think sometimes, things that we don't have get glamorized and seem greater than they really are. i do love trader joe's as i lived in california for some time. when i think about it, i miss it, but when i'm shopping in chinatown for my fresh shrimp, i certainly don't miss it. possibly, when i'm hiking back up to the upper east side from chinatown with a ten pound bag of rice on my back and a thousand red plastic shopping bags cutting off the circulation of every finger on both hands...i might miss it a little more. i have a lot of friends who lament the fact that people don't shop more at the farmers' market, mom and pop stores, and etc. ad nauseum...they hate the idea of fresh direct and chain stores in manhattan...but funnily enough, they moved here from somewhere else! it's the way of the world, for better or worse...i don't think that many people would pine for the days of high crime on the streets just so they could pay lower rent

i think some other streusel recipes call for baking soda or powder which gives it a more friable texture. edited: i'll try to find the recipe i'm talking about so i can clarify