Abra

Thanks for the tips, Wendy. I actually haven't been doing those things, except for using my own cooler, which is too narrow for a sheet but would hold hotel pans, and will start to stock up on that stuff asap. Yep, quick, elegant, 8-50, and easy to plate sums it up perfectly. Herbacidal, I think you're confusing me with a private chef, who would get a weekly fee and work in the same home all the time. I have many different clients, and often the party day is the first time I've ever been in that kitchen or worked for that client. That's why day-ahead prep is out, and yep, you can be sure they're paying me by the hour, and I make just about what a caterer would make.

Tejon is quite right, I'm not allowed to do any prep or make-ahead stuff except in the client's kitchen. On occasion I've gone to the client's house the day before to do some prep, but they hardly ever have enough fridge space to make that feasible, not to mention that it adds considerably to their cost if I have to go twice. Chefpeon - the rationale behind the prohibition on home prep is that if there's cat hair in the food, at least it's from the client's cat, not mine! Making desserts for regular clients, crisps, cobblers, simple cakes and pies, I do that all the time and it's no problem. Homey tarts, and anything Grandma might have made, my regular clients love that stuff. It's when I do parties for any group over 8 (and I normally don't touch a group over 50) that I always have trouble with the dessert. For 8 or under, I can make a cake or pie and cut it nicely. When it's a big group, I just don't have enough pans or space in general to pull that off. Clients want something splashy and delicious, and it really does all have to be made and plated then and there, and they want it to look professional, as opposed to rustic. It's quite scary, because if anything goes wrong, there's no backup, which is one reason I avoid anything with precision cutting, or finicky last minute details, because there's no leeway for me to botch it. I'm normally there all day before the party, unless I am forced to show up just a few hours before the party, in which case I have to have a couple of helpers and we just crank it out as fast as possible. When I make party desserts at home I do take advantage of make ahead stuff, whenever I can figure out how to do that. And I like to make things that take time and care and look beautiful. Onsite, while getting the appetizers out, finishing the dinner, plating, making sure it's getting cleared, and all that stuff, it's hard to make the world stop spinning long enough to pay dessert its proper due. That said, you all have given me some really good ideas. Crepes have a lot of potential, although I need to get faster at making them. I love to do mousse-type desserts, but there's often not enough fridge space to get them portioned and chilled. Is there such a thing as a mousse that doesn't need to be chilled? I did a shortcake bar for a buffet once that was a huge hit, with chocolate shortcakes, berries, creme chantilly, and warm chocolate sauce, and for a party like the upcoming one I might be able to do something like that, only plated. I do bring all the ingredients, and whatever equipment I need, so I'm limited only by their oven and fridge space - oh yeah, counter space can be a big problem too, especially when setting out 40 parfait cups to assemble, like I did the other night, with guacamole and salsa prep going on on either side of me. Simdelish, could I please just come over for dessert at your house myself and forget all about this client? Wendy - please don't laugh at me! The baking books (probably none could be called a pastry book) that I have are: Gand's Butter Sugar Flour Eggs, Luccheti's Passion for Desserts, Ortiz' Village Baker's Wife, the King Arthur Flour Baking Book, Malgieri's How to Bake, and Kimball's Dessert Bible. Should I be getting other books for the kind of baking I need to do? I'm sure that by now I've convinced you all that anyone has to be crazy to do personal cheffing, but it's really quite a fun gig. I totally appreciate all of your help and advice, and welcome any additional thoughts you might have.

Nero - would you give more details on making your cheese custard thingies on crostini? They sound delicious, although I never in a zillion years would have thought to put the custard in a crust, and then on a crostini.

As a personal chef without a commercial kitchen, I do all of my prep and cooking in clients' homes. Desserts are always a challenge, especially when I do a party for 30-50 people, since I normally only have 1 oven available, sometimes two, and those have to share with the other cooking for the meal. I only have the client's home fridge available, and you know how little space those have. No big Hobart, and only a limited amount of space on the counter for decorating and plating. You get the picture - it's like you were giving a party of that size in your home and couldn't make anything before the day of the event, and had to fit the whole dinner and dessert into one day's space and schedule. That said, I still want to give my clients something special in the way of dessert. So far the only thing I've resorted to buying is tiny tartlet shells from my local bakery, which come frozen, and really are just fine, even though I cringe at using something I didn't make from scratch. Well, if I used puff pastry or phyllo I'd buy that too, but both are relatively hard to work with under the circumstances I've described. I'm hoping, and even begging, for advice from the pros about tricks, tips, and even recipes that I might be able to use in these conditions to create beautiful, delicious desserts with a lot of wow factor. I can't wait to hear what you all might have to say.

Ah, now that Albert Uster stuff is more like it! I'm not sure that I'd use enough to make your nice offer worthwhile, Anne, but we should chat. And yeah, I'll get a new thread going.

Thanks for the feedback, bakerkel. More goo does sound like what to do. And I confess, I often do make things for the first time for clients, even for big parties. Buit that habit doesn't translate well to baking, and thanks for the wrist-slap, chefpeon. The only think holding me back is not knowing what to do with the trial balloon except to eat it, which I really, really don't want to do.

I did look at the photos, but sometimes things look different on-screen than in real life. Or wait, is THIS real life? I guess I've mainly seen those little carrots on carrot cake, and thought they were an ok level of cuteness, not quite approaching Hello Kitty deadly-cute status. So, just for perspective, now I see that a real PC wouldn't use them, just as I would never use a mix in my personal cheffing life. Or my real life. But as a non-PC, I'm always wishing my desserts would be more beautiful, and look more professional. Right now I use a lot of edible flowers, because it's hard to screw them up and I have a nice source. I was just wondering if any of those little sugar dealies might actually enhance my desserts - the last thing I want is to make my baking look commercially produced! People put up with a certain rusticity in my desserts just because they're homemade from scratch, which has a surprising value of its own. I hope bringing the level of discussion down to what a non-PC can do to improve her work is appropriate here, if not, mea culpa.

Following Wendy's link to Pfeil and Holing led me to their edible deco section, which utterly fascinated me. So that's where those things come from! Will somebody help me out here - I assume that they're flat on one side and meant to lie down on a dessert, as opposed to being really 3-D and standing up? Do they look nice, in real life, or are the colors really artificial-looking? And finally, do people actually eat them?

Annie - thanks for the converter link, and bkeith, I'd love to have your formulas. I'm always fiddling with pan sizes and never feel very secure about the process (which usually involves having my husband do the math, math-impaired person that I am).

Oh dear, I'm starting to worry. Does everyone else think this recipe is a dud? It looks so yummy in the picture, but if nobody's tried it....

Another fan of Lion and Globe here. It really tastes like peanuts.

I need a dessert for a 40th birthday party for 40-50 people, something easy to plate, doesn't require a walk-in, and seems special and delicious. I'm looking at the recipe in Butter Sugar Flour Eggs for German Chocolate Cake with Toasted Almond Coconut Goo. It looks not too hard to pull off, as a non-pastry chef, and as if two people in the kitchen could plate it up with one person to ferry it to the buffet table. Any experience with this recipe, or other suggestions, will be much appreciated.

I made a wonderful core dinner last night that was even delicious for breakfast. I did some very coarse polenta in chicken broth with some smoked chili powder and a splash of evaporated skim milk at the end to smooth it out a little. Oh, and I cut the kernels off an ear of corn and tossed them in to barely cook at the last minute in the hot polenta. Over that I served a stew I'd made in the pressure cooker - sauteed onions and skinned, bone-in chicken thighs, deglazed the pan with a good splash of red vermouth, added some yellow squash, a head of broccoli, and a can of tomato sauce. Cooked at high pressure for 15 minutes, the veggies melted into a yummy sauce and the chicken was tender and flavorful. I didn't have any mushrooms, but they would have been really good in there too. All-core, and very nice. And while I struggle with the political issue, I find that Curves is a great help in maintaining regular exercise.

Maybe I should follow your examples and keep it in the freezer. It's more tempting than brownies, to me.

For truly non-artisanal, wonderful whole grain sandwiches I'd go for Orowheat's Winter Wheat every time. I love the stuff - can't have it in the house, actually, or I'll just eat it all up.

A salad with arugula, radicchio, candied walnuts, and tart green apples, a soup of pureed sauteed apples and caramelized onions with Calvados and sage, the non-pork part of Himmel und Erde - a mash of equal parts of potatoes and green apples that's surprisingly delicious, apple-stuffed sweet potatoes, roast chicken with a dried apple, rice, and wild rice stuffing, and a gingerbread-apple upside-down cake with a reduced cider and Calvados sauce?

Yep, phaelon, if you'd come over I could have given you some vinegar mother to take home. Well, there's bound to be a next time.

Yes, the meat will just crisp up and get filtered out, not to worry about it. And you can freeze the fat with no problems. It seems to be that it's kind of not worth doing unless I have at least 3 lbs of fat, preferably more. It takes a long time to make, and I like to have more to show for it when I'm done.

I did a whole wheat couscous salad last night too, with a good olive oil, sherry vinegar, lemon, diced tomatoes, and lots of chopped fresh basil. First time on core that I've really overeaten too - I'm not sure that couscous will be able to stay on my core list. I also had a whole salmon to grill last night, so lunch today was cold salmon crumbled into a pile of tiny blanched green beans, grape tomatoes, piquillo pepper strips, and dressed with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. That corn salad sounds yum. Isn't it a luxury to be able to eat corn freely again?

I do it often, and recently described how I do it in my eGullet Food Blog Abra's Food Blog

The new generation of slow cookers have supposedly solved the temperature safety zone issue by cooking quite a bit hotter than the earlier versions. And, indeed, older recipes don't work well in the new cookers, since you end up cooking the life out of everything if you follow their cooking time guidelines. That said, I usually start the cooker on high until it comes to a boil, then either turn it to low if I have hours to spare, or just leave it on high for the whole cooking period. There's a lot of evaporation with the new cookers, so you know they're hot. They also shut themselves off when the time runs out and have a "keep warm" temp that is also supposed to be above the danger zone.

Like JudyG, I use both, and I use them differently, although the results they achieve can be much the same with certain foods. I tend to use the slow cooker nostalgically, when I want the house to smell of cooking all day, as well as when I want to be out for 4-5 hours and have dinner underway. The pressure cooker is a marvelous tool, and I'd never be without it. I have an 8 qt. Magefesa, and also use Lorna Sass as the know-all source. I'm a personal chef, and with the pressure cooker I can turn out three dishes in the time one would take me if cooked conventionally. They also make great stocks, extracting an amazing amount of flavor from the bones.

Congratulations, Jensen! That looks delicious, Cusina. I'm liking this thread a lot too. Yesterday, my fourth core day, was different because I ended up eating two meals out. At lunch I was able to find a vegan vegetable sandwich and only eat one slice of the bread, but I still gave myself 5 points for the bread and the spread that was on that one slice. At dinner I had ceviche and pinto beans - all core except for a point's-worth of queso fresco sprinkled on top. Interestingly enough, while I racked up 6 non-core points (being very conservative, as it may really have been only 4-5), I came in under points for the day, going by my Flex allowance. I think that was mostly because I wasn't home much at all, otherwise I would have filled in with some extra protein. But I felt ok, and managed to eat out without a big excursion into my points allowance, so I feel quite good about that. Those beans were so good. I think I'm going to go stick some in the crock pot and by dinner they should be ready. And I have some pork tenderloin, and lots of fresh corn, and tomatoes - I sense a core chili coming on. Cooking with wine is one thing I've never really resolved for myself. I often deglaze a pan with wine and don't count it at all, because it's a small amount, and it's pretty much sizzled into oblivion before it goes in my mouth. But something like a meat braised in cups of wine, I don't know. I guess I tend to give myself half of the "raw" points for the wine I use. WW says to count it all, but what do they know? Soba is core, but you can only eat it once a day.

I used to eat a lot of Wasa too, but no, it's not core. My understanding is that 1 is free, just like 1/2 cup of Fiber 1 is free, but they're not Core, so after that little freebie you do have to count the points. All foods are pointed the same on Core as on Flex, so just use the same number you always did. I have read on the boards that APs are to be used the same day, but on the Core Points Pad when you add APs it just throws them into the pot with your 35 flex points, so in practice you can use them anytime.

That is fantastically helpful, Wendy, and when I make it I'll follow your instructions to the letter. All those freezing steps wouldn't have occurred to me, but now I see how helpful they would be, not only as far as timing, but to getting a clean-finished product. The chocolate spraying does daunt me, although it made a gorgeous cake when FWED did it. What's fellutine?