maxmillan

This is actually a question my sister had when baking her pound cake. She did coat her raisins with flour. She filled her pan with 3/4 of the batter, sprinkled the flour-coated raisins (not too many) and topped with the rest of the batter. Yet those darn raisins sank to the bottom. I assume her pound cake batter would be thick. So how thick should a batter be when one wants to keep berries or raisins from sinking?

I'm sure there is something written here about this subject. I tried coating the raisins/berries in flour and mixing it last into the batter and it still sinks to the bottom. How does one fix this problem so that the raisins/berries are dispersed evenly throughout the cake? Thanks.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Will check out Granville Island and I will attempt to make them myself during the holiday.

Went to Winners on Lougheed and Madison and found a lot of kitchen related goodies. Bought 5 cake stands, 3 made of colored glass ($7 and $9) and two made of terra material ($20 each.) These would look great for a restaurant or bakery's counter. Bought a mini fluted tart pan for $20. I resisted buying all the different bundt mold pan ($20) and heavy duty cookie sheets (which includes Paderno.) Boyfriend bought a great quality sauce pot, baking sheet and kitchen toys. There were lots of quality knives, plates, whisks, enameled cast iron (La Cruset), salt/pepper grinder (one of which was 3 feet tall!), pots and pans, and so much more! I know the downtown Winners do not have close to the stuff as Burnaby's Winners. Happy treasure hunting.

you're a pastry chef, no? why don't you just make it? pre-made is gonna have preservatives or nastiness (this is my experience). ← No longer in the baking career. I just wanted to save time and find some good quality candied peels. Guess I'll search around google for a fast recipe.

I left a professional job to enter the world of baking. I had a few stints in the kitchen as well during my pastry study. I left because the cashiers and waiters were earning more than what I was making. Anyone who is familiar with what goes on in the kitchen knows the sweat that we put into our job. I like hard work but I felt it was bordering on being taken advantage of by the managers/owners and other "slack" employees. And this was working for several places in a year's time. Overall, I think kitchen help is easily taken for granted or forgotten because we work behind the scene. I now enjoy using my skills on my own time because it is appreciated and I'm not even paid for it. To say that if you have true passion for the job and can take the heat in the kitchen is one thing. To not be appreciated is another.

I want to make hot-cross buns and muffins and would like to find some candied mixed peels. I see some in Safeway and IGA. However, they look unappetizing. I try to stay away from food coloring. Is there some better quality candied peels out there that are not overly processed? Thanks.

My friends went to Feenie's for dinner on the weekend and were highly disappointed. I was anticipating to go soon but now it's lower on my priority eat list. Aside from the service and the wine, does anyone have anything good to say about the food and what I should order when I go? Is their day menu different from the evening menu?

Actually, bori chah is the tea made with only barley, and oksoosoo cha is that made with only corn. (Bori: barley, oksoosoo: corn) I'm guessing the compound would be bori oksoosoo cha. Funny that as many times as I've had the combined tea, I've heard it referred to as one or the other, but not both. ← I've started drinking barley tea because I'm to avoid caffeine. I don't know much about it but it was delicious when I had it in the restaurant. Does anyone know what the process is for making this tea (sun-dried, chemical treated, etc) and what nutrients are in barley tea? I hope there is no caffeine. I buy it in the tea bag form. Also, can anyone recommend a good brand that I may find in Vancouver, BC Canada? We have small pockets of Korean shops here and I can try looking there upon your suggestions. Thanks!

Why don't we have an annual Golden Plates on eGullet with the same categories and see what we come up with?

I've never tried the bread here, but I'm interested in why you think it's so bad. ← I usually try the basic bread or apple dessert when testing out new bakeries. I tried the regular baguette and mutligrain baguette when one first opened in Kerrisdale. The plain baguette had less taste than the worst supermarket baguette; there was no salt, no sweet, no tangy, no substance, just bland. The multigrain was the same with just a change in texture. There was no apple dessert at the time so I bought a cinnamon roll. It was the same bread base with a sugar and water icing. It tasted worse than the Chinese bakeries that try to mock western baked goods.

I can't say enough about hating Cobs bread. When I see people walking around carrying a Cobs cloth bag, I just want to rant in their face about their poor taste.

Found some cream cheese at Save On Meat on Hastings. The brand is "Alexis de Portneuf". It's a soft unripened cow and goat milk cream cheese. For $1 you get a 125g round (55% moisture, 24% m.f.) They also have a 250g size for $2. I like the creamy texture and it doesn't crumble when spread on melba toast. Also, the round package is easier to scoop out from than the tubes. I also see that they have fresh lamb shoulder roast for $2.69 a pound.

Thanks for starting this thread. Had I not seen it, I may have waited too long to try it out. I biked back and forth looking for this little place and found it across Circolo. It's easily missed. I tried the white matcha butterfly chocolate and it was smooth and delicious. I purchased a few more assorted chocolates and my chocobeau will be the lucky taster. The owner certainly is enthusiastic and he pleasantly explained his products. He is planning to roast his own Mexican chocolate beans...mmm what a treat. He will be very busy soon as there were two media people getting info on his place for print. Pastries are to come in a week. He said he couldn't produce enough pastries for the demand so he is contracting out his baked goods. He is also going to be selling packaged ingredients such as his Mexican cinnamon sticks. He wouldn't sell it to me today so I can hardly wait when he does. This will send my baked goods to another level. Chocoatl has late hours (till 10pm weeknights and till 12 midnight on the weekend.) On a last note, a customer was explaining to the owner that an entrepreneur opened a yoga/chocolate business. After a yoga session, participants proceed to a sit down treat of chocolate. Sounds pretentious to me but I'm sure the Vanouver yoga crowd would eat it up.

I had a few chuckles after reading this thread. I pour soya milk on my cereal and when it comes to the end of the carton, I hate to leave the last few dribbles so I pour a little water in the carton, swish it around and pour it onto my cereal. After all, this is unsweetened soya milk and it's tasteless. I eat this for health purposes. Keep adding those great frugal tips. I love it.

www.quitnet.com I looked at the above site and found some very valuable info and tips. Plus, it's sponsored by the Lung Association. I don't smoke and I detest the smell and what it does to your health (not to mention the second hand smoke.) I'm helping my boyfriend to quite smoking and printed him some info from this site. I believe that if you arm yourself with as much info, it may help along with the quitting process. I have my own demons to deal with and can empathize with how difficult it is to quite smoking. I have a lot of respect for those who manage to quit and are attempting to quit. I hear that smoking is harder to quite than kicking the cocaine or heroine habit...scary. Gives me thought as to what these cigarette companies are up to. On this site, studies have shown that a very good support group and Zyban together offers the best success rate. It goes into detail as to what consitute a good support group. There is also a forum where you can share stories and get help or offer support. But different methods/combination of methods work for different people. Kudos to everyone who is open to quit smoking.

I have every issue of Fine Cooking and Cooks Illustrated. But I'm so busy that I have a lot of issues that I haven't even read that sometimes I forget and buy duplicate copies. I think I'm still buying them because I hate to break up the set. Maybe I should sell them to a collector?

Bought my pistachios at Superstore in the ethnic aisle. They're vacuum packed, about 1/2 pound and reasonably priced. Don't know how they are yet as they've been in my freezer for a couple of months.

Thanks for the heads up. In addition, if the store lists one or two items being in stock, call to confirm. Sometimes their inventory is out due to miscount, theft, etc. This will save you a lot of frustration. Also, pick up their monthly list guide. In the first page you will see symbols denoting which products are limited, on sale, new, etc. I find that in Feb and March they reduce their Christmas overstock. Also, the Dunbar store on 16th and Dunbar seem to have some great deals. Don (wine consultant) and Tom (assistant manager) at the store are continually clearing shelves for new stock so you may net a 25% savings on some good stuff.

I was told that lamb is a good deal at a couple of butchers on 52nd and Fraser. One of these shops also sells East Indian videos. This person buys a whole leg of lamb for $18 because it supposedly has the lowest fat. Anyone know of these two shops? I plan to look for it on my next free day.

Thanks to everyone for your reply. Looks like I'm NOT getting the titanium cookware. However, I have seen treated cast-iron pans on sale at my local hardware store and it looks like a better deal. The weight is of little concern to me. I basically want a non-stick cookware that will last and will not emit any harmful chemicals. BTW, here is the site for the titanium cookware that were demonstrated at the show: www.Titaniumexclusive.com To correct my earlier post, the chemical emitted from a heated Teflon cookware is perfluoroocanic acid (PFOA.) The bisphenol chemical is emitted from Nalgen plastics.

I'm considering buying cookware made with titanium. I don't know if it's lined with titanium or fully titanium. I saw a set of these at a show but hesitate to buy them due to the high price and they are not available at any stores. During the demo the guy cooked eggs, burned milk and it slid off the pan with no sticking. You can put it in an oven even with the handle. It retains heat very well and thus cooks well even on an electric range. Thus the heat is evenly distributed. The smallest pan, approximately 7-inches, costs over $150 and weighs about two pounds are more. So you can imagine how much the larger cookware with the lid costs. You can only order it by mail or at shows wherever they happen to be. The only difference is that you don't have to pay for handling fee, which is quite hefty due to the heavy weight of these cookwares. I want a good non-stick pan and wonder if titanium is worth the price tag. I understand that a treated cast iron pan is just as good and can last as long, except that it's so much cheaper. Forget the Teflon, the bisphenol is not worth the health risk. Any comments or knowledge on the titanium pans versus cast iron? Thanks.

Paderno products at 40% off at Home Hardware (of all places) 10th and Sasamat area. Not everything is on sale but they sure have a lot of Paderno stuff like steel martini glasses and shaker...great steak knives at $4.75 each or a set of 6 for under $25. These knives have a beautiful wood handle. BTW, excellent thread!

The Gourmet taste test is what piqued my interest. I normally use Callebaut for baking (due to price point) but the Santander chocolate was rated above Callebaut and less expensivve. I would still prefer to buy ingredients from a local store as I am not comfortable with purchases by mail. Has anyone seen these in the Lower Mainland?

I believe this is chocolate from Columbia and I'm interested in trying it out in my baking. Has anyone seen this in the Lower Mainland?