CanadianBakin'

Thank you all for your suggestions and well wishes! We had an amazing meal at Parkside out on the patio. It's probably a good thing we don't live closer or we'd be quite poor. Excellent service from Zahara and at least 2 other people whose names I don't know. We definitely will be back. I liked it way better than West. I'll review it on the "truth be told" thread. We ended up catching breakfast on the fly but managed to get to The Kolachy Shop for a late lunch since it's right near where our daughters were being cared for. Great soup!

I forgot to ask if there are any good breakfast places nearby as well? Just a good regular breakfast or a nice coffee shop/bakery.

Nothing really stood out to me this year except the always amazing fresh made lemonade. It really is worth the price and we get it every year. I had perogies at Hunky Bill's but they were deep fried this year. Not as good as I remember. I'm pregnant so maybe my tastebuds are off a bit but nothing else really appealed. My husband had the required burger with as many greasy fried onions as they would put on. He always enjoys that. My sister-in-law had the garlic fries but probably wouldn't get them again. The Japanese stalls did smell good but I didn't get a chance to try their food.

Thanks for your input! Reservations have been made at Parkside and Deborah has given me the scoop so I'm looking forward to a great evening!

I don't bother with muffin liners. Just do a thorough spray in the cups and on top of the pan. If you individually wrap them in saran or a ziploc you'll be good to go.

My husband and I are going to be staying at the Waterfront Fairmont this sunday night and I was wondering what restaurants you would recommend that aren't too far away. I'd like a nice meal but not over-the-top fancy. We've been to the Irish Heather and really enjoyed it but I'd like something a bit more upscale this time. I was considering The Fish House but I've never been and I couldn't find too many reviews. I was also considering Parkside but I don't know what the dress code is. This is the last weekend away before I begin treatment for breast cancer so I'd like it to be a good experience. Wine offerings aren't a big issue as I'm also pregnant. Any suggestions?

I usually figure out the cost of ingredients and times by 4. Subtract the cost from this number and divide by the number of hours you think it will take. Are you willing to work for this amount of money? If not, you'll have to adjust your price. Obviously the local pricing factors in here as well. As K8 said you don't want to be lower. For example, Rebecca mentioned she thought it cost about 80 cents a cupcake. 0.80 x say 36 cupcakes = $28.80 x 4(mark up)= $115.20 minus $28.80(cost) =$86.40 $86.40 divided by say 4 hours (you're not a pro and it'll take longer than you think) = $21.60/hour. I'd be happy to work for that hourly wage but to me that looks like too much so I'd actually reduce the price accordingly. In all honesty I don't think the cost is 80 cents per cupcake but you get the idea. This is very simplistic but as someone who only does baking on the side this seems to work for me. I aim for $15/hour of actual working time. You have to remember though that there's usually research involved, possibly practice runs, the occasional flopped batch, shopping for ingredients, gas, electricity, washing up, pan spray, muffin liners, etc, etc. It all adds up. In this situation you'll want to be careful about your price but for future jobs, quote what you need to. My husband has always told me to quote what is profitable. If I don't get the job, it's not that big of a deal. Unless I've chosen to donate time I don't want to work for free. Using this philosophy I've actually never lost a job even though I know they can get it cheaper elsewhere. I'm not a pro but I use real ingredients and what I make tastes good. There aren't a whole lot of options for good baking where I live. Hope this helps.

Oh Annie, I'm so happy that it's benign!!! Now make sure you keep feeling those boobs! Once a year doctor's visits or mamograms just don't catch everything.

I'd say caramelize slices of raw bananas with a torch, so they still retain their original texture. ← That's what I was thinking too.

Very good idea! I'll do that if there's a next time. Thanks so much to all of you for your input and experience!

I've always frozen macarons filled with ganache.

My daughters recently unplugged the freezer and it wasn't noticed for 24 hours. I didn't actually see the chicken but my husband said it still had ice crystals on it so I imagine it was at least still cold. It is now refrozen but I want to know if it is safe to use or should I throw it out. It's boneless, skinless breasts that I had frozen on a sheet pan and hadn't bagged yet. I know I've heard something about refreezing meat but I can't remember if it's just a texture issue or if it's actually not safe. I'm really not interested in poisoning my family. Thanks.

Shaloop, many ovens have adjustable feet that screw out to level it if uneven. Does yours?

I agree with ludja on the lemon tarts. I line my mini-muffin tins with sweet tart dough and when baked brush with melted white chocolate to help them stay crisp. I use Pierre Herme's lemon creme which is amazing and keeps in the fridge several days. You could have this all prepared and then just fill them the morning of or even right before hand. You need to stir the lemon creme and then load it into a piping bag. It makes quick work. I usually top mine with blueberries as well but I glaze them with melted apple jelly. The only thing with the apple jelly is, if you do them too far ahead the jelly still seeps into the crust and makes the top look cracked. I'm not sure I'd try the macarons without having a back up plan. It's unlikely you'll have success on your first try, although you may be lucky. They do freeze well so you could try them ahead and freeze them or if they don't work out that would give you time to try something else. Something I make that always gets rave reviews and is simple is tiny meringue cups filled with a bit of stiff whipped cream and topped with one berry. I've always used raspberries but it would also be good with a tart blueberry. This is in Gale Gand's "Just a Bite" but you don't need a recipe. Just make some meringue. Pipe little 1"circles and then go around the edges 2 more times to make little cups. Bake as normal to dry them out but keep them white. Just prior to serving, fill with cream and add a berry. BTW, I'd be interested in your lavender shortbread recipe. I recently bought some food grade lavendar but haven't used it yet.

You posted again before I added my edit so I'll add my edit here. edited to add: I was just thinking about your project and thinking about how it could be easier. You might be doing this already but I'll throw it out there anyway. If I was doing this, I think I would spend an evening making all the yellow cakes, another evening making all the chocolate cakes and another evening making the white and cornmeal cakes. I would figure out how much buttercream I needed and make that all in one evening as well. Scaling out the approximate amount for each cake and then just flavouring it on the night I was assembling that cake. Everything can be frozen at this point. Then on a particular evening you can just make the extra fillings you need for a cake and all the other components are ready to go. If you aren't doing this already I think you will find it takes a lot less energy. I'm guessing you are doing these cakes in addition to whatever your normal job is. I know that takes a lot of energy after a long day. Too bad one of us didn't live close to you to lend a hand. An extra person makes the job seem a lot easier.

Although you're not thrilled with how they have turned out so far I'm pretty sure they'll still taste better than any cake many people have had before. They will be a huge improvement over grocery store cakes as well as many bakery cakes. Don't you just love "brown" cake that gets passed off as chocolate?! I understand your disappointment as I am a bit of a perfectionist as well but don't be too hard on yourself. Most people won't notice what you see as deficiencies. BTW, I think the white chocolate buttercream would be a great addition to the chocolate/lime cake.

It might help just to put your pan on a heavy baking sheet to protect it from the heat a bit more or bake it on a higher rack.

How did it go? Or did you decide to wait a bit?

Good for you, Annie! It takes a lot of courage to leave a fairly secure paycheque. My first thought was like others, that there's no way they could duplicate what you made with your recipes anyways so I don't think you have to worry from that angle. However, the other side is they may not understand that producing a great product isn't as simple as following a recipe. It takes skill and a lot of steps that you can't write out on paper. So there's always the possibility that they'll think you messed up the recipes even though you didn't, simply because they can't reproduce them the same. Hopefully the copies you leave are well worn and it will be obvious that they're the ones you always use. Absolutely take the macaroon recipe. No one else should be producing something that has your name on it. People will expect it to be to Annie's standards. As for a reason to leave. Just tell them you need a change and that really is the honest to goodness truth without getting into details. Best wishes for the future!

It's my turn! I'm 35 with breast cancer and 3 months pregnant to boot. I was going to post but thought I would do a search on chemo first. It was great to read all of your input. My husband doesn't really cook so it's good to hear that simple is often best. I have many friends that will help out too. My surgery is monday and then I guess chemo will begin in a month or so. It's amazing the variety of info on this site. I post on the baking forum for the most part but always enjoy the dinner thread. I will live vicariously through all your pictures until I can cook and bake again.

I used the recipe from cooksillustrated.com not long ago and it got rave reviews. The filling has unsweetened coconut milk as well as fine unsweetened coconut in it. The flavour and texture are amazing. The only change I made was to toast some large flake sweetened coconut to garnish with.

If you just have a very small business I think you would find a copy of Mastercook Deluxe adequate. It allows you to enter the cost of all your ingredients and to enter your own recipes. It will determine the pricing however you want, per recipe, per serving, etc. I have used it for about 2 years and it has been perfect. Also, my copy from a local drugstore only cost $10 CAD.

I forgot to take a picture but we just celebrated my nieces birthday with a 3 layer cheesecake. I baked my normal brownie in the bottom of a springform. Then baked a Baileys cheesecake on top of that. Chilled and added a layer of very simple chocolate mousse to the top. Very, very good!

I was wondering if you could please share the ingredients of the topping for the Cod. I can see tomato and I think basil and onion. I'm always looking for ways to dress up a mild fish.

Years ago I used to use the no name AP flour because it was cheaper but like you have, I began to notice that some things didn't turn out. I switched to a name brand and have never had it give me problems. I usually use Robin Hood but also Rogers on occasion. KA isn't available in Canada and I can imagne the freight cost would be amazing!