JeanneCake

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!

Does buying yourself a present count? I just got my copy of Herme's new Macaron book last week because I couldn't wait to get it for Christmas!

I'm curious.... do the delivery people get an hourly wage? Or are they solely dependent on tips?

cue music.... Please come to Boston, for the springtime....there's lots of gold.....

Abra has a blog about her experiences in France; check out frenchletters.wordpress.com - her writing is often touching, insightful, thought-provoking and heart-warming.

I have no idea if it is traditional or not, but your mention of the hazelnut flour being expensive prompts me to suggest the Linzertorte recipe in Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible. It calls for blanched (or you can blanch them yourself easily) hazelnuts that you grind with the sugar/flour and make an easy, press-in-the-pan tart pastry that is very delicious. It's less than a pound of nuts for the one tart (I usually increase the recipe for us at home because with our crowd an 11" tart is the right size and it's still less than a pound). If you try this recipe, don't make the pastry too thick (it puffs a bit) and you can take whatever dough remains and add egg white to it until you have a pipeable consistency and then pipe a lattice on top using a pastry bag with the end cut off (you don't need a piping tip for this, just make it a small opening because with all the added egg white, this will spread a bit during baking).

I have the same problem with the door (to the shop) width. I have two large picture windows that will have to be removed when I finally buy a case. I've already got a quote for the window removal/replacement so I think the real challenge is going to be coordinating the delivery and window company arrivals. So if you have the option to remove a window, or take the door off the frame to get a case in, look into it.

I was intrigued by this thread so it took me a little while to figure out when it was that I joined; turns out it was Oct 2004. I had no idea it had been that long ago, I thought it was more recent than that. Like all of you, I've met some incredible people here, people who have become true friends (not just virtual ones), and learned so much from everyone here. I wonder where some have gone (RedSugar, GiftedGourmet, Nightscotsman), will forever miss others (FatGuy, Karen, CanadianBakin) and treasure all of you who still post and share your wealth of knowledge and humour!

EdwardJ is the man for refrigeration questions. Or a lot of food service/restaurant/retail shop questions. Incredible wealth of knowledge. Plus he has a chocolate shop so has relevant experience with regard to your questions.....

I know this is not helpful in the least, but better it is buzzing around than falling dead into something or she/he finds the lifeless fly on the cooler floor, for example. One of my best employees had an electrified "tennis racket" that was a bug zapper. When we shared a kitchen with another company, even though they had blue bug lights everywhere, they would leave the garage door open and that's when the bugs came in. She was a magician with that thing in her hands, nothing lived if she was on the prowl with it!

What is the glaze (or glazes) like when you make the full amount? Does it still seem too thick? Does it cool too much and become harder to pour? I've been using the chocolate lacquer glaze from the Rose's Heavenly Cakes book and it keeps well, you just have to add a little bit of water when reheating it; so I always make a full amount (or usually we do a 4x batch size) and keep what is left for the next time.

Sigh. now i'm annoyed with myself for missing the promotion; your test about the minimal marking made me think of my dipped holiday cookies. I'm not a chocolatier or confectioner so I don't want to temper a little bit of chocolate just to dip a pop or what-have-you so I'm using pate a glace, but it marks and looks bad and I just live with it. This shows I don't have to; when we are doing hundreds of cookies this will more than pay for itself.