K8memphis

Cloth towels can hold bacteria like madmen even though freshly washed. So be careful. I use copius amounts of paper towels for that reason especially for food and hands depending on the project. I guess the germs in paper are not as scary? Well I guess they are fresh germs anyway. Early on someone read me the riot act about bacteria in cloth and it stuck with me.

You could do an open faced sandwich and eat it with a fork if that doesn't defeat the purpose somehow. Just a porky cornbread thought for yah. Geez those cornbread sticks that look like ears of corn would actually be awesome jutting out like so many fat sunflower petals like served on a platter with the pulled pork piled high in the center. Now I'm making myself hungry and I just had my s-a-l-a-d.

I don't think random cooking smells in the kitchen will meld with buttercream in my experience. I mean if you are smoking salmon or something yeah maybe pick another day to make your buttercream. In the frige the smells will attack for sure.

What is polished cast iron? This stuff (from Wagner's unfortunately vestigial web site). It's cast iron where the interior of the pan has been machined so that it is smooth instead of rough. I don't quite see that working while the pan is in the oven. Personally, I have attempted to train myself to never touch the handle of a pot that's in use except by using a towel. ← Well yeah there's no help/hope at all for someone who will grab a hot pan from a hot oven without a hot pad. Hello-o. I thought y'all meant after you take it out of the oven and it's sitting there like a peaceful nuclear bomb on the stove top just holding it's breath till someone touches it. We at least wait until it's out of the oven.

QVC's got the enameled cast iron for a great price and pretty too. I haven't tried it yet. By polished do you mean enameled??? Technique Enamel Cast Iron 5 qt. Oval Pot with Sculpted Lid just go to qvc.com it's umm a few products down from the top. Only fifty bucks pretty good. There are other ones in tomato or garlic or pumpkin or apple shapes too. Cute cute Umm and about getting eternally burned on the everhot handle, could we maybe make a mental note to leave the potholder sitting on the pot handle or a folded up towel?? It works sometimes... edited to fix link I hope

We are fine to disagree in a professional courteous way, Alana. If baking were a gemstone it would have so many facets sometimes even in agreement we can be on opposite sides. Umm, the crystals I am referencing are the ones that can form from slightly defrosting and refreezing as the freezer doors are opening and closing during it's stay inside. Which is why I double triple wrap to insulate. And sure there's plenty of moisture inside the cake that re-distributes with freezing and thawing. And you are correct that the very carmelized top skin can become swampy and yes that moisture comes from within the cake. And this is a desired result so that the rest of the outside crust of the cake remoistens after baking. But you always cut off that swampy mess on top. And if the cake is not seriously overbaked there's enough moisture for all of it to remain moist after all this.

You only need to avoid black finely homogenized bananas if you're not interested in making the finest banana bread. (I'm teasing) No seriously, I was making b bread one day and my bananas were only of eating quality and I was so disappointed but I needed to make it that day, so I added more than I needed. Dude, I never went back to using those old nasty slimy things again. Best b bread evah. But truly, it's all a mtter of personal choice. So if you want to chose the best... Honest honest honest, personal choice personal choice. Try it though....

Thawing in the wrap is what makes them melty. Well more precisely, it's the ice crystals trapped in the wrap and then melting into your food that makes stuff sticky. Not thawing in the wrap will resolve your issue. I double/triple wrap my frozen stuff and when thawing I remove the wrap immediately, grab a brush and brush off all the ice crystals before they can melt. I do not want any of that frozen moisture in my stuff. My product was fine without it and I'm too big a control freak to let it sink in there. What if it imparts a freezer taste???!!! Now some people swear by thawing their baked goods in the wrap, but not me.

I'm just so excited that y'all asked!! I think it's so cool. No detail too tiny, no question unanswered.

I did this little demo for another project once. If you do the slideshow you miss a bunch of instruction so it's better to do picture by picture and read all the captions. But it's here. So just double click on the first frame to get to all the captions. Steven and Chris, My preference is parchment paper bags that you make yourself. But any of the stuff you can buy is good. Wilton bags are prolific and fine. The clear plastic ones are creepy to me because if they get moist at all they are slick but some people love them. The key is only fill it half full. Period. And umm, the pictures where I show you how to twist the bag and hold it between thumb and side of hand is the other key. 'Cause then the slightest pressure will make the piping come out. This picture. (Sorry it's kind of dark) And gfron, if you stop squeezing and gently mush the tip down at the same time, it will easier break off so the writing or whatever stays where you want it to be. 'Mush the tip down' is like a wiping stroke--you like wipe the tip off on the surface-ish and move it away in the same stroke. If your line of piping breaks on you when you don't want it to yes it's a dang nabbit air hole. Occupational hazard. But I mean if it's mission critical you can force the air bubbles out by smushing the product out on a counter top and literally smushing all the air pockets out, then scrape it up and put it in your bag. Or squosh/run it through a brand new nylon stocking first to remove air bubbles. If you were doing real picky string work you would do this. The big deal with piping is holding the tip at the correct angle, moving the tip at the correct angle and having the right consistency product. I'm sure Alana will fill in any gaps with her demo.

You were mahhvelous, Dahrling!!! That was awesome. You came off like a pro, I mean a pro tv person. They were all real cute with it especially the one dude who was eating the stuff instead of decorating. Very cool! Piping bag raised high to you!!!

No no no don't rice your bananas in fact just smush well with your hands is the best method I think like Steve advised also. Bake in the middle of the oven from side to side and top to bottom--not the bottom third of the oven the exact middle of the oven. Sounds more like overbake now. And I don't care for banana bread made from over ripe bananas. Eating quality bananas makes the best bread I think.

For a traditional classic pecan pie SusanGiff is right. Other syrups will make a great pie but for the classic you need plain old corn syrup I think. Or any plain old syrup. I don't think I've ever tried Steen's Cane Syrup. So long as it's not maple syrup or molasses or honey or anything with a flavor to it. Just whatever tooth achingly sweet syrup you got without any additional flavor to it. Sweet goo. Well and yeah you gotta add the brown sugar & stuff...

I don't think you're neurotic at all about this, shoes on or off or food and crumbs wandering around. I do have a sure cure for it though. Raise a hyperactive child. <**eyes roll back in head, chin shoots upwards and uproarious hysterical laughter ensues> Kid #1 from forever could eat a dilly bar (round chocolate covered ice cream bar) with no spills or drips ever, from the time she could hold it for herself. And then there were two **

I guess I don't have a specific recommendation but we vacationed at the Hyatt there before it got turned into time shares, the one next to the Doral with the river pool. Puerto Rico gave us the best everything we ever ate kid you not. Umm, it was a slow night in one of the hotel restaurants and I got the Mother of All Lobster Tails. It literally melted in my mouth like buttah. Of course I understand that is how lobster is supposed to be but good luck finding it. But I think you will find the commonest food to be stellar. We did anyway. Hope your trip is fabulous!

Hmm, if it will mix in water, it will mix in alcohol. The alcohol evaporates quickly. Water based paint will soak more into your piece and has the potential to create terminal havoc. Some people use lemon extract which has one of the highest alcohol contents or almond extract or vanilla. I use everclear usually. I'm a little confused. Are you mixing the dust into the fondant? Or do you mean you're mixing the gel colors into the fondant and then dusting them? Then of course, you know there's petal dust that gives a matte finish and luster dust that gives a bright pearly finish. Is your purple dust petal dust or luster dust?

As far as painting goes, hmm, doesn't mix up huh. Well I've only used the non-toxic but specifically for cake dusts. You could do it where you use it as a powdery dust then steam your piece a tid tad to set it. Just hold it over steam for a coupla seconds. The color may or may not be as intense but it'd still be butterflyable. I think the shorteneing as a glaze part is when you store gum paste you want to coat it with shortening to create a barrier to protect it from drying out. Also at different times you will use shortening to roll a piece out on & different techniques. But used in particular as a glaze, hmm, well to get a shiny effect you would use shortening. Like for patent leather I would use oil or shortening to create that effect. But y'know, what?? Another thing about mixing the dust with alcohol. I use a very small dish like the size of a tea bag holder only deeper. I put my dust in the dish then add a few drops of alcohol. Of course I can't see how you are doing this, but the idea is that you are more making a paste rather than making a liquid paint. So maybe try it that way and smush the powder into the liquid until it is all moistened. And adjust if it is too thick or too thin. If too thin just wait and the stuff will evaporate off. Use a timer if necessary, like 10 minute increments or else it will all dry up. But of course it is storable and re-useable in that dried up state, don't throw it away. I just cover mine & it keeps forever, then just re-moisten. Maybe too much information but if it is sitting on top of the alcohol, it seems you might be using too much liquid. Just smush it all together. It should moisten, Now one more thing. Umm, you can use shaved pastels (chalk) to make this dust stuff. Just scrape it with a razor easy peasy. I bought some for back up once. I got the oil pastels because it was a better deal and prettier colors but oil pastels don't work. hahaha Yeah that was real funny. So you can factor that into your thing that not's mixing up. Maybe it's got oil in it? Anyhow, I hope we get pictures at least let us all know how it's going and all. I think Tippy's royal icing way is the easiest. 'Cause then just color the royal and dust it with pearl. No brainer. You can do it You can do it!!

Is your butter too soft before mixing? Might be an emulsion problem.

I love this story! Umm but yeah, it's a real b-i-t-c-h to have whatever reputation for whatever dish or specialty and then fumble like a newby over something as simple as the right spatula etc. Chef-boy-wonder always seems to be able to rise above this when he is cooking for us though. Gifted is as gifted does I guess. Gifted as synonomous with works your ass off that is. He also once said that our kitchen is well stocked with equipment though. I don't see it that way but he was trying to make some of my cakes for his friends once and he shelved the project because of equipment issues. We are fairly well stocked for cake. We're open to getting a piece of new equipment if necessary for our dining pleasure when he's gonna do his magic but our kitchen is not really well stocked. We and he are just familiar with all the stuff in there. Like the special popcorn pot theory. But I mean his sister sent him an amazon gift certificate for his birthday and he got an omlette whisk with it. Gifted maybe synonomous with nutjob?!!! Dude, Dude, I just got this fabulous little brush. It's umm, got a like a make up brush feel to it, fat & fluffy. Then it's got a pump barrel where you can fill it with pearl dusting powder and prime it 2 or 3 times and it is perfectly filled with just the right amount of dust to apply, no waste. It is the bomb sha bomb for applying pearl dust to a cake. Don't leave home without it. Interesting how we bond with some of our tools, pots, pans huh?

Any real tart apple like a Granny Smith. I guess the tartness has more umm pectin or something. In other words, if I used a different type of apple I would add the cornstarch probably.

Way too cool! Now how did you cut those cookies like that if it's not revealing a trade secret? It seems like I oughta know how to do that but I can't think of it. Just slice them all ribbley??? Or something...

Umm, the corn syrup helps the pie set up & be that liquidish forkable substance that the pecans hover over ethereally. The recipe should have both sugars in there, the corn syrup and the brown sugar. The only recipe I have that omits the corn syrup is one for pecan sassies/tassies, the little mini ones. The eggs in that one sets it up.

Points a plenty are granted to JeanneCake Divala, when will I do a demo?? Just any minute... And actually the best way to make a golf dimple is get it to smile.

Alrighty then, right from the horse's mouth, Deb, one of the owners says that that cake is covered in chocolate and indented with either the other end of an art paint brush, or drum roll please, a clicker on the top of a pen like a Sharpie click type pen, the cake was poked with that clicker. I didn't quiz her further because sheesh she called me back on a Saturday morning--she was probably crazy busy but I'm guessing she meant chocolate fondant, like choco-pan because poured chocolate or ganache would not stay flexible long enough to get poked like that. (Or would it?) Ta da!!! It's a whole let your fingers do the walking type of thing...Agatha, Hercule, Sherlock would be proud (probably bored really but) So I get points for having the correct poker shape--a wooden dowel is the same shape as a pen clicker top and it was by hand. ('Cause you can't really tell the dimension of a cake in a picture.) And mostly because I am the one handing out the points.

"They" say that 3 cups a day will result in a bit of weight loss over a period of time. But maybe not with ice cream chasers. But it really is a great appetite suppressant if one's head is into it. I should get a pot going huh? If I get a pot all lemoned & splenda-ed I can just microzap a cup whenever I want it all day. Tea connoisseurs may be shuddering but it works for me. Hey I keep the pot in the tea cozy at least.