chefpeon

Gee, I've never heard that. If true, why would that be? E. coli is a bacteria that lives in intestines of cattle, sheep, goats, and deer. It finds a way out of the intestines in the form of fecal matter. Plants can be affected when this fecal matter finds a way into the soil (think fertilizer or compost) or irrigation is contaminated with the bacteria. So then, I gather this possible E. coli would come from the tea leaves? I've never heard of a tea E. coli outbreak......or would that be Tea. coli? I suppose there would be a possibility that some tea leaves had been grown in soil contaminated with E. coli, or irrigated with E. coli infected water, but would the E. coli survive the drying process anyway? I don't know. What I do know is that I've been a tea drinker all my life, and haven't come down with any E. coli problems yet...... Edited to add: I'm still researching this.......and I came across this little flamewar on Teachat that is absolutely hilarious! E. coli in tea? Here's an interesting page that talks about tea extracts being an anti-microbial agent AGAINST E. coli Do you know there's something called Compost Tea? Do you think that could be a misunderstanding leading to misinformation about E. coli in the tea you are referring to?

Is "Euro" the actual brand name? I've never heard of it. I use Pettinice almost exclusively and Satinice if I have to. They are both fine, but the Satinice is softer.

Well, my first marriage to my high school sweetheart lasted 7 years, and we got a wedding cake from Albertsons. (Hey, I was 22, and couldn't boil water then). I'm now married to my 2nd husband (and my last) and we've been married four years, and I made the cake. However, the cake was only 3 inches tall. Enough for one bite each. Since I'm so jaded about the wedding business (having been in it for 17 years), I decided we would have the worlds tiniest wedding. And that it was. I don't think making your own cake is so much bad luck as it is extra stress. Of course, if you're a pro, or are experienced in cake making, make your own cake. But if you don't know what you're doing in that regard, for the love of God, be smart and let a pro do it. I've had to fix many an amateur attempt in my day.

uh, no it's not. As long as you remember these two words, "cool" and "cold" it's a snap! My goal for 2008 is to eat less of what I make.

Isn't that sort of like shampoo and conditioner all-in-one?

What part of the pie is not structurally dependable? I assume you are talking about the meringue. Does it weep? Generally meringue will weep over time.....that's just what it does. What I would do is bake the pie the day before and not put the meringue on it. Put the meringue on it at the very last minute and pop it in the oven to brown. OR you can heat your egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar over a double boiler til they are very hot, then whip the meringue, spread it on the pie, and brown it with a propane torch. That's how I do it.

Please tell me how you make a decent sugar free cake. The keyword here: decent. All cake recipes I have found are low sugar at best, where only half the sugar is replaced by a substitute. From what my baking knowledge tells me, it's pretty darn hard to bake a nice moist cake without SOME sugar. What do you know that I don't know?

It's funny what people will spend their money on. For what they spent on that cake would've been an extra week in Belize on my honeymoon for me.

This is my favorite part: What makes that link so great is that the googly eyes are used to make Flying Spaghetti Monster treats! How awesome is THAT?

Cookie bouquets.....especially the ones that are delivered.....are real big in my neck 'o the woods. Other than that, I can't really offer anything up that's new or exciting......basically anything I can bake into the shape of a heart is what I'm doing.........

Guess it's all a matter of thinking of the right search word I guess.....I tried corset and bustier....never thought of "bodice", and since it seemed they had their cutters categorized by size and not subject, I didn't think to use "lingerie"..........

If you go to this page at Copper Gifts, you will find that they do custom cookie cutters: Custom Cookie Cutters Kitchengifts.com also does custom cutters. I found this swimsuit one that is really close to the corset shape......you just need to cut off the straps...... swimsuit It looks like that place called Soyelle in France doesn't do an online business....you'd have to email them with your request.......and then probably pay a lot to have them ship it...... Barndt's also does custom cutters....reasonably priced.... Barndt's Here's a way to make a new shape cookie cutter from an old one (I'm gonna try this myself): Make your own! You can even buy a cookie cutter crafting kit from these guys.... Foose Cookie Cutters That should get you started........

Well, I'm a pro, and I don't know the friggin' difference. It could be just a matter of how thick it is.......thicker for pastry cream, thinner for pudding? All right then, now there's two people to pounce on!

I make over a gallon of pastry cream at a time and it would take me forever with a bain marie. Luckily, I have a really nice heavy bottomed pot, which is a must. If I didn't have it, I probably would have to use a bain marie.....thank god I don't. Oh, sure, when I have had to use thin bottomed pots and the bottom of the pastry cream scorched, that's when I'd strain it. I'd still have little traces of brown specks in it, but I conveniently called those specks "vanilla beans"....heh heh heh

Wow, and I thought I was the only one who thought that........

Depends on how you store them. In the freezer is always best. If you're not sure if a nut is still good, just taste one. Then you'll know.

I'll second that! A pastry chef credo: Creating desserts....good Creating dishes......bad

Which explains why I can put the ultra-pasteurized cream on my mixer and walk away for a while and I STILL can't overwhip it. It's like they've made the cream idiot-proof for me. Yes. Guess how many times I've accidentally made butter, due to my short attention span and regular cream. There was a case in Southern Washington a few months ago where some kids got pretty sick from drinking raw milk that a dairy was not licensed to distribute. Taste or not, let's keep it safe. If adults want to take risks that's their choice, but keep the kids on the pasteurized.

I keep mine in the fridge. Since it's hard to go through compounds quickly (a little goes a long way), I just occasionally do the smell/taste test. I've never had any go bad on me, but I did have my strawberry compound crystallize once.

I really like your log Darcie! Knife marks in a ganache are just as realistic looking, if not more so, than my buttercream method. Hey, did your RLB cake roll up ok? I've been having a hard time getting my chocolate rolls to roll. I have no problem with my white ones.

I was wondering if someone would notice that. That's my lovely crappy sheeter. My boss never buys equipment new (smart), but he waits to pounce on the ones that are super cheap for a reason (they suck). This sheeter has uneven rollers, which means half my dough is thicker than the other half, and the belt on one side keeps wanting to slip off the rollers no matter how much I tighten the knobs. Oh yeah, and a roller pin keeps falling out and I keep having to hammer it back in which is a major hassle. But it DOES have a smiley face. And we all know that smiley faces on your sheeter make for a brighter day. Yay. Ok, back to the topic......or not, since tomorrow is Xmas after all...... Wow, gfron, you followed my demo! Quite well too! I'm glad somebody got something out of it! I'm also glad you discovered that leaving your buttercream a little unmixed gives it that streaky "barky" look. T'is true! Merry merry everybody.

I did NOT make the following items: Caramelized Onion Tart Red Wine and Black Pepper Crackers Baked Brie in Puff Pastry Fudge Bacon Wrapped Pineapple appetizers Oyster Stew Nope. None of those things. The family will have to starve this year.

One would think that if a copper bowl was in any way dangerous to use with foods other than egg whites, there'd be a warning label on it, given that as a society, we're a bunch of warning label freaks. The only cookware that I've used that has delivered an off-taste to my food was aluminum.

<raises hand> count me in! After a long day of baking at work, I'm not about to do any holiday baking at home, I can tell you that much. I am VERY bah humbug this year. I tried to do all my shopping this last weekend in a crowded mall with worthless stores. I purchased things mostly out of desperation, because none of my loved ones were very forthcoming about what they wanted this year. I actually bought a "quesadilla maker" for my sister-in-law. Now THAT'S desperate!

I have Friberg's book too......I'll look in there.......otherwise I found quite a few recipes on the 'net.