JeanneCake

I don't have any direct experience with them, but when I've needed to buy refrigeration, I've always bit the bullet and bought new. You might want to call your local repair place and ask them what brand they would recommend staying away from (they'll know, because they're working on them all the time . Check out a used equipment place and see what their recommendation would be (aside from them trying to sell you from their inventory, buyer beware).

I'd go with a lemon curd and add toasted/untoasted coconut to it, bake it for 5 minutes to set it and let it firm up overnight. You might also need another egg or two if you want to keep using your original recipe. I've been struggling for years with recipes written from long ago - when eggs were larger - and find that if I add another egg or two, or one or more yolks if it calls for yolks; I have better results. At least, the results are more in line with what I used to get when I first baked whatever the recipe is.

As it happens, I have a coupon that expires today for 20% off at Barnes and Noble. I've just read a little bit of the book at bn.com and I'm hooked! Thank you AnnaN for the recommendation, I cannot wait for this to arrive!!!

happy happy birthday Darienne! Enjoy your lovely gift!

I succumbed. Smores oreos. What were they thinking? They're.... they're.... not worth the hype. Stop with the reinventing the wheel already. Stick with mint, PB, and plain.

Donuts are the new, hot trend at weddings and social events... move over macaron!

After reading the story, the restaurant owner knew what he was doing (swapping out the almond flour for ground nuts) and deserves the sentence. I have to wonder though, had the man eaten there before? agreed, very sad. how heartbreaking for the man's family.

Like the kid at the end of The Incredibles says: This is totally wicked!!! Great job, it looks fantastic. I'm with Shelby, it's perfect!!!

usually about a teaspoon is enough, I'd knead in a teaspoon into a pound of fondant and see how it goes. You can always add more if you need to (that's easier than having to add more fondant because the stuff is firming up faster than you can work it - which admittedly only happens to me when I'm using gum paste and I carelessly leave it uncovered)

Micheal's doesn't always carry useful stuff for pros IMHO, I'll go there when I'm desperate, and usually I am disappointed because they don't have what I need. YMMV, but I don't think they'll have tylose (but look for gum tragacanth, it'll do the same thing). Make the powdered gum paste a day before you want to use it, if you go with that product. For this, personally I think you can get away with fondant. But if you happen to find modeling chocolate, that will work too. Or you could make modeling chocolate..... Other random thoughts: you may find the marshmallow fondant to be stretchy, and it might fight you when you are trying to roll it out and then form the ruffles. It's just going to take a little getting used to, it's not good or bad. The various cake forums (at least on FB) have wonderful things to say about Liz Marek's marshmallow fondant recipe (you can google it); and the recipe works best with specific types of (cheaper brands) marshmallows. People rave about the workability of it, so if I were going to make some, I'd start with that recipe. For the ruffles themselves, I would make a long strip, maybe about 3 inches wide at least, then start folding it like the shirt ruffles. Alternatively, you can cut circles out of the fondant, and then fold them and just layer them so it looks like the shirt. ETA: I forgot to mention that rolling it thinly will help make the edges of the ruffle thin and airy; you just have to work quickly so the fondant doesn't dry out. It's when it's dry that it looks cracked and awful. Don't use too much cornstarch when rolling (confectioners sugar is very drying when you're rolling out fondant.), that will contribute to a terrible look if you roll it a lot. If that happens, spray some pan release on your hands and knead it

For smaller cakes, I use the lid or cap of something (the cap to our pan spray is pretty handy, you just want to be careful when you're using it to say, unmold individual key lime "pies" that have been made in 3" rings with a torch...). Even an overturned small plastic souffle cup would work...

Years ago, when I needed to replace my ancient Cuisinart (someone lost the pin that made it work, and it was a good excuse to buy another, bigger one) I went to Williams Sonoma and got a double bonus. There was a sale, and I have a chef discount. So I couldn't beat the price and it - the 16 cup model - lasted four years with very heavy use. The plastic feed tube cracked, rendering it unusable, (I think because people just let it sit in the sanitizer for way too long) and I just haven't gotten a replacement yet. We got a temporary cheap model for the short term a week ago (we can't live without a FP) and I hate the small size. So if you can, check out the chef discount at WS and see if it helps.

Like everyone else, I am thoroughly enjoying your blog. As a fellow baker, I am also exhausted at the end of the day (in fact, I am debating whether I should even sleep because I have to be back at the bakery in 5 hours....) and I am definitely thinking to follow you in that jello nightcap! Anything that will help my knees to stop throbbing after a long day! Thank you for sharing this week with us!

Fruit purees - I buy Ponthier from Swiss Chalet and their prices are on their website (www.scff.com). You can also check out AUI Fine Foods for pricing on couverture and fruit puree: www.auiswiss.com However, yesterday (this is the only reason I remember it, otherwise I'd have to look at the invoices) I needed one more item to reach the minimum required by one of my distributors. I was able to add a Boiron passionfruit puree for $13.82, which is a lot cheaper than the Ponthier (by a few dollars). Dairy here in the Boston area is currently: for 40% heavy cream, 4.78/quart for name brand (Hood's), $3.75 for the house brand at the cash and carry store and #3.98 for the house brand at the lowest priced supermarket in this area. There is also a 36% heavy cream, but we don't use it so I don't know the pricing on it. Unsalted butter runs anywhere from $2.52/# for 36 one pound blocks in a case, or $2/# for a 55 pound cube; to $4+ for a pound of Plugra. Depends on who you buy it from (cash and carry that is open only to restaurants, or a supermarket or a food distributor)

My favorite cereal growing up was Quisp, mostly because it was an infrequent treat, and more because I loved it when it got a little soggy. Mostly though, I had instant oatmeal, because I was trusted to boil water on the stove at a young age (before microwaves which didn't appear in our house until my mother won one in a contest and it was way bigger than a bread box!) and could make my own. When we did have cold cereal, it was corn flakes with bananas or strawberries or Kix. I know we're talking about millennials but reading about the cereal in a box, the shredded wheat, grape nuts (remember grape nut custard?) is nostalgic.

Your professor is setting you up. He's going to have all the answers we've given you and he's going to show you how much he knows. At that point, I would be willing to give up my grade and tell him that if he was *that* successful, why is he not still owning said restaurant(s). (This is why I got booted from parochial school.) Anyway. Millennials' moms were likely not cooking from scratch a lot of the time. I have lots of clients who want me to make a cake that tastes like the box mix because that's what they grew up on and *that's what they remember fondly.* Well, let us know how it went (today being Thursday and presentation day for you.....)

PS, Welcome! You're going to get an A on this project if it kills us

Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not trying to be snarky or rain on your parade. What you are describing is not really a "restaurant" but a private chef working for a private client. You want something, the chef in your house makes it, you're satisfied until the next craving comes on and then that's dinner for tomorrow night. If, however, you're looking for a different angle, then you need some creativity. Have a supper club that people could buy a membership to; have the kitchen cook it's way through some excellent cookbooks (pick the masters - Pepin, Franey, Keller, etc). Publish the menu in advance, let people come the night(s) they are most interested in. ETA: this pretty much how restaurants work now, you're just using a different angle to sell it. The whole "blogger cooking their way through a favorite cookbook" has been done and over done, but this is not amateurs cooking their way through, it's a pro. You get to eat something you might not have chosen to make, but want to try.

oh wow, you guys!!!! As I read most of these, I was say "ow, ow, ow, ow" and sympathy-cursing right along with you. The only thing I can add is once, when I was making lunch for the little guy (back when Annie's Mac and Cheese had different flavors like Mexican, Alfredo, etc) and it was time to add the butter and milk; I just dished up some butter from a bowl near the stove and gave him a bowl. He scrunched up his face and said it was awful and could he have something else. Sighing, I made him a plain version and my husband said he'd eat the other one. He took one bite and agreed it was awful. I looked at the stove and realized I used passionfruit buttercream instead of butter. 15 years later, they still won't let me forget it.

I know For me the theory is easy, the fulfillment is harder. It's as if the thing you give up becomes larger than life and you will fall to the temptation. For me, its usually pizza or plain pasta with a plain tomato sauce, or we'll do breakfast for dinner with fruit, eggs, pancakes or french toast and maybe sauteed tomatoes (I tell them it's an English breakfast without the bacon!). When I am ambitious, I make a frittata with the veggies I like (red peppers, asparagus or broccoli), onions and a lot of cheese. Funny how I can say no to a rotisserie chicken or tacos on a Friday night during Ordinary Time, but during Lent, they're like a beacon for those seven Fridays.

I have various Cuisinarts in my basement that I no longer use, so I went to see what the DLC8P looked like to know whether it looked like anything downstairs. Have you tried the usual replacement parts sites? Do you just need the housing or is the motor itself damaged?

I might just buy one of these, based on your experience.

The health regulations may vary city to city; in our town, the heath dept requires you to submit a list of handwash facilities on the route you're expecting to operate on, but the town next door doesn't, so definitely do some due diligence. If you do events, be aware that you might need a catering license for the day-of so that's something to check out too.

it's crashed again

From what I remember of the chocolate fountains, the oil was required to allow the chocolate to flow (because of continual agitation); you might try to use a flavored oil (hazelnut or almond) if you wanted to add some flavor but I don't think it would be a strong flavor. I knew a caterer who had a fountain, she just used vegetable oil. And as I recall, the manufacturer tried to imply that only "their" brand of chocolate would work in order to get more $ from people!