K8memphis

We're gonna find something to eat today but Saturday we drove to Virginia to see Chef-boy and were privileged to have our Daughter with us. So we celebrated Sunday at The Inn At Little Washington for our 29th Wedding Anniversary and for Christmas but most especially for being together. Now you might be able to find a post of mine that says we celebrated our 29th last year. And we did for while until our daughter nuked the celebration of our 29th last year by reminding us it was our 28th. So even if we can't count too well, we celebrated well. All of our selections had to be cleared with Chef-boy, who of course works there. We had so much fun ordering and getting all his insights to the dishes as well as to who was in the kitchen preparing things and of course him knowing our individual tastes. Well actually before we started Patrick O'Connell graciously sent us over a champagne toast. And we got the poppy seed rolls and the magical salt crusted currant rye bread with the whooppie butter that is from France I think and very special for reasons I cannot remember. I of course, promptly started eating my husband's...You can dress 'em up... We started with a beautiful array of amuse on the cool spoons. I got the chips & dip and the beet thingy. So I got extra points from CB for indavertently picking the best things on the dish. Cool. We shamelessly shared food like three year olds. I gave Dennis a bite of chip & dip. But at Chef-boy's insistence, put the whole rest of it in my mouth. Wonderful. So by the time I got to the beet thingy, I just downed it. Fabulous. Then they brought us the coolest thing. One of the most coolest things I've ever had in a restaurant. We got two bowls of popcorn. And a white gloved waiter shredded black truffle over it. It is made with white truffle oil so it was beyond wonderfully flavorful. So homey and out of place in the context of The Inn yet so exquisite and high end. Stunning juxtaposition. I mean nobody could eat just one. Really really good and fun and down to earth and upper crust. Then we played menu roulette with Chef-boy and had the best time discussing everything. Dude, they filled glasses in harmony and added bread whenever our supplies of anything dipped down. The service was sparkling and magical. Grace chose the wines with Tyler our sommelier's assistance. I'm not a wine person. Can't remember. A white and a red. A white semisweet flume blanc from central France 2003 and a 2000 red spanish rojo. They were both great though. The best part of this year's 29th was all of us being together. It was beyond so very very good. To be continued...

It is more than possible to substitute the ingredient old Crisco, the one with the trans fat, for the hypothesis that a little sugar or a little trans fats, a little Crisco is not bad for you. However old Crisco is bad for you according to those who have decided it should be eliminated from active duty in some areas. Sugar, white sugar is as bad. Ask a diabetic if white sugar is bad. Ask me how my health has improved by eliminating white sugar et al and how it nose dives when I add it back in. Sorry, I don't understand all the terminology on the scientific pages. I'm not a scientist. I understand that this research is critical to some of us to be able to understand the simple truth I am sharing but I don't understand all the jargon. It appears that there's studies that support these conclusions but I can't really figure out what they're talking about. It is easy to see the difference if one chooses to eliminate processed sugar from their diet. The improvement in one's health is staggering. It's good. It is important. Our bodies can make allowance for all types of things we ingest that are counterproductive to our health. Sugar happens to be one of them but it does catch up with yah. Obviously as a baker/cake decorator I've had more than my fair of sugary substances. Well no more. And I've known about the hazards since my early 20's. I have simply watched my body come to fully reject this in my diet and be able to maintain my weight. It's a teeter totter. No sugar my weight is fine, Introduce sugar my weight gain is dramatic. I am not alone in this. I like to bring this to people's attention because of the good it does to get off sugar. No one has to believe me. No one need be agitated. Especially if I can neither produce nor understand the scientific research. I still believe it. It still works.

One can't have it both ways on the coke issue. If the sugar laden drink was good for them they would not be sick and obese. They should be able to consume two and half 2-liter bottles daily by caloric consumption and be ok if that's all they are drinking and eating. Merely skimming some of the titles in the motherload list I provided will show that scientific proof exists and white sugar certainly has been thoroughly researched and documented. Fact is we like white sugar and it is very bad for us. It is at least as bad as trans fats no matter how agitated one may become. Viola.

This is a little bit bread wetty but with a slightly different spin. Chef-boy told me to brush my bread with milk to keep it from staling like when I had the tea room or to revive it a bit. Y'know for the little tea sandwiches. And yes I understand some folks are lactose intolerant. No worries I wasn't open long enough to kill anyone.

My girlfriend works in a hospital in the Bronx. She's had patients who are obese. huge, huge people, and often with horrible related problems like diabetes and heart disease. More than once, when asked about their diet, they've said "I don't eat anything." Since this sounded suspicious, she'd press them on it, and discover that they really did eat next to nothing. But they drank coke by the 2-liter bottle. It didn't cross their minds that they're getting a bajillion calories from this diet (and nothing else). They were completely mystified by their health problems. ← So are you saying the consumption of the sweet Coke was bad for thier health? This supports my view. If sugar does not creat health problems why would they be obese and ill. I thought you said it was calories alone. two liters = 67.6280451 US fluid ounces There's about 100 calories in 8 ounces so like under 900 calories for one bottle If I was 21 and my same stats then I would need about 2196 calories during a typical day to maintain my current weight. I could handle two and half 2-liter bottles and maintain if caloric intake alone would do it. Of course I could not, those kids could not and... You are proving my point. But on the peer review thing. I think I hit the jackpot without having to look up a bunch of stuff. click go there & scroll down past the 147 ways sugar can suck. Dude, that's a lotta citings. Looks fairly significant in the documentation department. Y'all know that stuff is out there anyway. Natter, if it's a moot point why are people disagreeing with that premise? Sugar has addicting properties that's why it's in so much stuff. I'll go find my sources for that but that's why. Lots of stuff tastes better with sugar in it. edited to say --oops my link for the citings doesn't fully get you there--you gotta click around. Ok suffice it to say Nancy Appleton has a ton of reasons why sugar can ruin your health she lists a ton of resources. Click around there if you want to learn more. www.nancyappleton.com She cites these among many others: 1. Sanchez, A., et al. "Role of Sugars in Human Neutrophilic Phagocytosis," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Nov 1973;261:1180-1184. 3. Goldman, J., et al. "Behavioral Effects of Sucrose on Preschool Children." Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.1986;14(4):565-577. 4. Scanto, S. and Yudkin, J. "The Effect of Dietary Sucrose on Blood Lipids, Serum Insulin, Platelet Adhesiveness and Body Weight in Human Volunteers," Postgraduate Medicine Journal. 1969;45:602-607. 5. Ringsdorf, W., Cheraskin, E. and Ramsay R. "Sucrose,Neutrophilic Phagocytosis and Resistance to Disease," Dental Survey. 1976;52(12):46-48. *None of this is new stuff either. It's been known for decades. Edited to stick to egullet copyright boundaries.

Crisco changed it's formula and removed the trans fats and it's a softer product now.

God forbid the pie is made with Crisco or we'll all die a horrible death.

The point is where are the peer-reviewed documents to support the claim that white sugar is of benefit to the pancreas or cardiovascular system. Because it is indeed a detriment. It's as bad as trans fats. It's probably worse than trans fats because it is so widespread in it's use. If we can agree on 'everything in moderation' then at a minumum we should be able to agree that sweeteners esp white sugar are used far beyond moderation.

This would be the epitome ultimate beyond peer reviewed in every medical journal in every country in every century standard throughout the Milky Way. (pun intended) If a child tells their Grandma that they want cookies for supper Grandma would say, "No, child, because they are not good for you." Cookies are a treat. Main ingredient obviously is sugar. Sugar is a treat food, not a mainstay food. Sugar is added into So Much of our foodstuffs. It just ain't good for us. Huff and puff and blow the house down. Sugar is not a good or wholesome food product. Even our fruits are being cultivated sweeter. Yeah, I read that somewhere. Shoot me because I don't know where. Listen, if you ate an orange as a kid and ate one now or a grape you know they are sweeter now. *Remember my point is that sugar is at least as bad as trans fats.

There's peer reviewed stuff out there. I've gone & looked it up before. It's out there in egullet-land somewhere. My point is that white sugar is at least as bad for us as trans fats. It is not propaganda and agitation to me because it is true of me, but anecdotal information is not allowed by whatever standard has been imposed. Truth is the water is rapidy boiling. It would be worse than prohibition to try to curb sugar use like they are doing to stupid trans fats. Since we are imposing random standards of excellence, prove to me that white sugar is not harmful for your pancreas and skin and cardiovascular system. PS. start with the sugar lobby

From the same article:

Refined sugar is without compelling scientific evidence to suggest it is harmful? This statement goes to the core of the matter that I am attempting to bring to attention. If you google the word sugar and look at the wikipedia article alone, bastion of all knowledge, there's a little section under health that looks like this, On the same google page, this article, "Sugar's effect on your health" http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm. I boldened and underlined some key points. And let me hasten to say I'm a baker, a cake decorator. I use a lot of white sugar in my profession. But I can no longer consume any without weight gain. So even if I do not count as my own anecdote, there are whole medical facilities with the word diabetes in thier name in case you think sugar is a nice white pure harmless product. My ultimate point is that if you are going to poopoo trans fats for health reasons then one must certainly consider abolishing white sugar at a minimum. Wake up and smell the cookies. From a health standpoint to avoid 'fake sugar' and partake of the 'real thing' is absurd, no? Y'know the old story about the unsuspecting frogs being boiled alive by just turning up the heat slowly? See any bubbles yet?

Never done that but great idea. I steam cookies to restore them to proper chewiness levels. No extra heat, just put cookies on a rack over steaming water like in the cold oven or microwave.

That definition would eliminate white sugar, no? ← Sugar is manmade? Someone should share that secret with the beets and the sugar cane. ← Well then with this logic one cannot see the problem with partially hydrogenated soybean oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, or coconut oil. Hydrogen is certainly not manmade. What's not natural about cotton, palms, soy and coconuts. Everything has chemicals as Patrick has so carefully illuminated in the dissection of cabbage. Sugar is at least as bad as any trans fat and ten thousand times more prevelant. White sugar is a socially acceptable evil. Trans fats are the new culprits. There's an old saying, the only law is the law of public opinion. Interesting huh.

That definition would eliminate white sugar, no?

Wow that's wonderful news!

This topic is a spin off of the one about using shortening or oleomargarine in baking. The subject of trans fats came up, the newly crowned bastard child of pastry. So yes trans fats are not so good for us ultimatley but they make a dang good product when called for. Not as a 100% replacement for butter but as a viable ingredient in it's own right. But has it ever crossed your mind how many insect fragments and rodent hairs are in our wheat that we grind into flour? Mammalia excreta in the sesame seeds, etc? Drosophila eggs in the golden raisins? 35 per 8oz seems like a lot to me! Or how many rats & mice ate on my popcorn before I eat it. How much insect filth is in peanut butter? The nutmeg's gotta go. There's poo in the mace & ginger. The cornmeal's crummy. Chocolate's got icky issues. Cinnamon's screwed. Apple butter, apricots and berries aren't too savory either. And that's just what they are reporting as the non-hazardous levels. Seems like eating a few chemicals isn't so bad after all? click here Then the following is from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html#CHPTA So sure I see the point that these trans fats have surpassed some folk's standard of excellence. I mean if a little rat poop won't kill yah neither will a coupla trans fats. Everything in moderation, no? Hmm, then if the organic world uses uses less chemicals wonder how close they are to pushing against these 'safe' levels. They use more insects right? Food for thought.

A piping bag idea for you if you ever want to master the piping bag is to only fill it half full for one thing. So if you want to not have to refill it constantly, start with a 14 or 16 inch one. Then you'll have plenty to twist up and hold in your hand (between thumb and side of the palm of your hand) so it does not get messy. In between fillings if necessary, you scrape down the top of the inside of the bag with a long spatula. Either set the opened bag on the counter or against your aproned leg if you're standing and hold the edge of an icing spatula against the inside of the bag and roll the bag around to clean the upper part. Then fill and viola. It's a wonderful tool you just need to learn how to use it. But truly some folks do better with the guns and if you only use it momentarily, then the gun will be good. A gun like that will kill your arm though eventually if used a lot. Large production kitchens use pastry bags or they are mechanized.

I think it stands for Country Kitchens but they make a bunch of cake deco products. Here it is. It's the last product on the left on the bottom of the page. You can purchase this at a lot of different cake deco places. But my buddy Brian owns this one. If you decide to trade there tell him I said hey. http://www.shopbakersnook.com/201.html

I love everyone's gingerbread masterpieces, lovely lovely. My eyes' tummy is full and happy, <insert a contented little burp here>. Umm, Tim, what about CK's gumpaste? It's a powder that you just add water to. Sets up quick, not a lot of play time, but it does set up. And lots of people like Nic Lodge's gum paste recipe. You can google it. I like it too, I'm just lazy. But either way you probably have to add your own lead--you're so funny! Marzipan is a medium that you will want to consider incorporating for modeling too. Takes color like crazy, and makes wonderful sharp or soft edges, models great. What about a pasta machine? Even a hand crank one. Oooh can't wait for next year. FWIW I was gonna do a gingerbread house of my church but the bookstore I just launched a month ago ate my brain and my time...next year though! Pephemie, love everything and the trees! Those doors are the bomb. I think the fish should be swimming in towards the doors though. You've got them both swimming the same way. They're probably swimming into or out of the building no? Julia, I can just follow your head around your masterpiece, crazy good, wonderful work. Rob & Patrick A, Wowzereenos, Guys, far beyond fantastically amazing several times over, then squared. I need to go smell the gingerbread dough in the frige...

But the burning question is, do you have my address??!! Oh my but those look and sound droolicious. Stunning beautiful. Wow.

Bullshit. Sugar is at least as bad for us as trans fats and is not only much more widely accepted it is also in thousands more products. Shortening is an ingredient. Most ingredients contain lots of things including chemicals. Salt is a friggin chemical.

I would call it wonderful bread.

Well, in the any idea category, Wilton has a product that tastes good, at least the one I used tasted good and it was the right consistency and was easy to use. Click here and the product I liked was the $2.49 icing writer dealie. But there's a bunch of great ideas here. Maybe the parent's would bring some along. The sprays are cool too. And how about the markers!!! Awesome for cookies. Now those I used a brown marker for the basketball lines and I brushed the orange color on.

Yeah, what she said ^^^. Exactly.