JeanneCake

And if the pieces need to be shaved or cut down, I've found a rasp or microplane works beautifully. Just work over the trash bin to collect the "sawdust" ETA: even a cheese grater will work in a pinch

I remember looking up from the recipe book and just staring ... the others in the kitchen (who have been with me for years) had never seen The Look before and this person immediately stopped talking and looked horrified. I waited a few seconds (which I'm sure seemed like an eternity) and then continued with my explanation of why and how the recipes are different and when we use each. What I wanted to do was say exactly what ScoopKW was thinking: you will do it this way because I am the chef and owner and this is how I am telling you to do it. This was only about 6 weeks ago. I know that there's no joy in dishwashing and cleaning, breaking down boxes and taking out the trash when you think you should be doing what everyone else in the kitchen is doing but there it is.

I'm paying the going rate; I agree on the peanuts/monkeys! This person actually wanted a little more than the going rate based on experience, however pastry experience was non-existent and I pointed that out. I suspect this could be the reason for the not caring attitude. The response I get sometimes is priceless - we have two different types of lemon curd that we make based on what we are going to do with it (add to buttercream or whipped cream or the tart filling); I started to go over the recipes and explain the difference and was interrupted by "why don't I make it the way my family makes it and you can see how it is". That was my first clue that this was not going to end well.....

God, I need to find a way to clone PastryGirl, ScoopKW and the rest of you! In four years I've only had three people fit that description work for me and you can bet that I am doing everything I can to keep my current assistant happy, and growing as a pastry chef. This is the second time I've hired someone with years of experience; the first one didn't work out because the commute was too long for her. Thanks for your input, I feel better!

I agree with the general consensus regarding my employee and knew by Halloween that my choices were to put up with it until New Year's and limit my exposure (having them do washing and delivering) in order to minimize the mistakes until I could take advantage of the slow time and just not bring them back; I found out quite casually over Thanksgiving that my biggest account finds this person "odd" and "weird" and not in a good way either. What I am curious to know is how do others handle it when a mistake is made? If you are the employee, do you tell the chef or wait for them to find out (depending on the situation, I understand - in a restaurant things are different than in a catering kitchen, retail grocery or bakery); if you really screwed things up do you stay past your shift to make it right or just figure the next person will do it? Some of this is dependent on the kind of person you are and whether the job is at a large organization with lots of staff; or a small business like mine where the buck stops at me - if it doesn't get done, I stay to do it because it's my name on the line. I'm thinking I'm too naive in my perspective that everyone cares about the work they do and wants to do it right. What I've found over the years is that people who worked in a large organization don't realize that burning a pan of macadamia nuts means that someone just lost $30, plus what you are being paid (you were paid to do it twice - wrong the first time and right the second). They tend to not realize what the mistake costs.

Problematic since hiring, which was two months ago. There won't be that many hours available in the new year because things are just slow at that time so the problem will go away; the other kitchen staff is aware and I hear about it. The staff member just doesn't acknowledge the error; if she does ask for clarification, s/he usually gets it wrong and will then say "Oh, I thought you meant this". Even one of my accounts commented on this person, because I have them do deliveries, which is a good thing; you can't do much damage in the kitchen if you're not there. I just can't get over the no apologies, the not willing to stay to do it over again, the no acknowledgment of what you just cost me..... at least with a novice, you expect mistakes and try to anticipate the mistakes and try to prevent them.

I have someone on staff whom, when making a mistake, never apologizes, always frames it as "the lime oil bottle fell in the cooler"; or when adding 6 ounces of salt and 6 ounces of baking soda to a cookie dough "I followed the recipe" (which did not specify ounces or teaspoons; and nor did this member of staff ask before making the dough, and I should mention this person has 15+ years of culinary experience. Seriously on what planet would this much baking soda and salt make sense with 10 pounds of flour?!). Today it was a shrug and "I don't know" when asked where the critical piece of the food processor went to because s/he was the last person to wash it and put it away (it doesn't operate without this little piece of plastic which everyone knows to be aware of and keep track of) So, if you make a mistake at work - and mistakes cost $ - do you apologize? Stay later to redo the work because of your mistake? Offer to replace what you broke? (I don't mean something gives out from aging - I mean you broke the disher that we've had for 3 years without any trouble with it previously but the first time you use it, it's broken after 15 minutes?) Sweep it under the rug and pretend you know nothing? How does the boss handle it? I am at my wits end. Long term solution is being formed but short term, I am just venting. An apology doesn't fix the error but it lets me know you realize what you did wrong and acknowledge it. I never yell - what's the point of yelling or berating someone when they've made a mistake? but my patience is severely tested with only two weeks left to go in the holiday madness.

I am so very lucky - Santa already visited this year and brought me a double stack Blodgett Zephaire convection oven. I am not about to ask for anything else!!!

Yes! My mother made this when I was a child; in the summer I think; and used orange jello, with grated carrot shreds and chopped walnuts. I could not get enough of this stuff. It didn't have any cheese or mayo or anything, I just remember the orange jello color, and the crunch of the nuts and carrots. It probably did have celery in it, I don't recall. Now I need to go out and buy some orange jello. Thank you for the memory!

Recipe errors can happen in proofreading, editing, etc; does the author have a website? Perhaps there's a corrections page that might provide a clue; or call the bakery and ask them. Rose Levy Beranbaum has a list of errors from all of her books on her website/blog; mistakes happen. Maybe the thought that a cookbook author would not provide a reliable working recipe is really foreign to Danish culture? What does she think she did wrong?

One of my favorite restaurants does exactly what Katie has described: there's a large, half-circle rod that goes around the top inside of the door with heavy curtains that can be pulled shut or opened slightly. Because there are windows in the front, you can still see in the restaurant; there's a waiting area to the left so the curtains don't impede people coming in or out, it just keeps the people sitting at the bar comfortable every time the door opens/closes all winter. They take the curtains/rod down in the summer. Hope that works for you!

I can ask my account where they got them; the ones they gave me don't have any logo on the lids so they have to be getting them somewhere. As a bakery, I'm not dealing with fish so I have no clue where to start looking for them!

I like to use fish tubs (aka fish buckets) to store things in; currently I am getting them from one of my accounts because they like to use them to receive our goods (easier than boxes). I'd like to get some new ones of my own; where do you get them from? Perkins doesn't seem to sell them, maybe Sysco? USFoods? Any ideas? I posted this here because fish tubs are usually available to, or found in, restaurants or commercial places, not so much home consumers....but if it needs to be moved, by all means...!

I like the recipes for chocolate sucree in both Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible and the one in Sherry Yard's first book. The RLB one doesn't shrink, has a nice texture and has granulated sugar as well as cocoa, powdered sugar, butter and a whole egg. I can roll it out or press it into the tart pan. I want to say that the Sherry Yard recipe handles equally as well, but is on the dry side compared to the RLB one. Both books as well as our recipe bible are at work. I'll bring them home tomorrow and post a comparison.....

Hmmmm.... if the retired installer is married, have his wife over for tea and show her what a marvelous job her husband did in your kitchen. Believe me, he'll never hear the end of it! And that will be small comfort, I know....

a friend of mine years ago made a sundried cherry and hazelnut brittle which I always wanted to try but never got a recipe for. My mother in law likes to send us food gifts at the holidays and one year it was a variety of nut brittles (peanut, pecan and cashew) and I liked the cashew better than the others.... however my favorite nut would be a macadamia....

Would you call anyway, because now I'm curious!! Or the next time you go there....

I like this! It's nice to have something else to offer that's crunchy; I tried Nancy Silverton's almond tart and didn't really care for it; but this looks wonderful and I'm going to try it in a week or so when there's a lull. Thank you for sharing it!

I am just starting to research a recipe/method for making a pine nut tart. I'm looking for the filling to containthe pine nuts are, not the crust. So far, I have two recipes; one is a variation on a nut pie using toasted pine nuts in a filling made with whole eggs, corn syrup, a little bit of flour - sort of like a pecan pie filling; and then the other is a frangipane type filling made with almonds and pine nuts. I remember the Silver Palate recipe that uses the pine nuts to make a cream with (like a walnut or almond cream, with butter, eggs, ground nuts, sugar) with fresh raspberries on top, but my impetus for making this is to have a third option in a vaguely Mexican inspired dessert trio (the other items are a spiced chocolate cheesecake pop, a mango cremeux and coconut panna cotta verrine and I wanted something crunchy hence the pine nut tart idea... Have you had a pine nut tart? How did you like it? What kind was it?

I was thinking it was where ever Florian Bellanger had worked (not Fauchon, before that) because it was in a Martha Stewart magazine eons ago but I couldn't remember much about it; one of the other girls just didn't think that Payard introduced NYC to macaron but I wasn't much help!

I overheard someone today commenting about a TV show where Francois Payard was a judge and she was gushing about how the contestants must have felt to have him as a judge; and she said "after all, he was the one that brought French macarons to NYC" and went on and on about how intimidating it must have been for the chef contestants. It made me wonder: Who was the first to sell macaron in NYC? Was it Fauchon or was it Payard? Or someone else?

I love the idea of the pumpkin caramel; but - in my experience the only time I sell pumpkin anything is Thanksgiving (pumpkin rolls, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pie, etc). The day after Tday, no one wants anything to do with pumpkin Eggnog to me has a longer selling time, as far as a flavor. I can put the eggnog cheesecake pops on the menu with the pumpkin ones and I'm still selling them through New Years.....

My father's Sicilian mother made a roast chicken with a ricotta stuffing; I remembered it vaguely from childhood. Ricotta, eggs, parsley, probably garlic... it was light and fluffy and my mom loved it. My mother wanted to have it again, because she never mastered it so I tried it. It was great, just the way my mom remembered it tasting but if you asked me to make it again I couldn't. So if any of you have something like this....

I'm going to the market right now and getting some mangoes. Thank you for the tutorial!

yes, cardamom will be better! I have several recipes for "nut cream" that I've made with almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts and I hadn't even considered making it with hazelnuts and adding the cherries to it; and apricots and pistachio sound almost better than the hazelnut/cherry!