Brioche57

Timh where have you been?

George Balanchine - Kate Hepburn Julia Child - Audrey Hepburn Vera Wang - Nick Verreos (currently on Project Runway - Season 2)

Sorry about your bad day.........commiseration is cool though..........my faves........ Mac and cheese (Stouffers, don't kick me out here) Mashed potatoes, tater tots, salt and vinegar potato chips, burger and fries, anything dipped in ranch dressing, chocolate (the good stuff) beer, wine (red) vodka......

I chill my cookie dough very well too for baking on Silpat. I don't know if it's me or what, but often I detect a note of "greasieness" when I bake cookies on Silpat that I don't get when I use parchment. Am I losing it?

a geek, I would fax that to the restaurant as well. Lord only knows who is reading those emails, that is if they don't end up in a spam folder first.

It is distressing, to say the least, that his presence should matter.

I was given this knife for Christmas and LOVE it! Don't hate me. New Knive

Hmmmm..good point Mighty. But I've made that recipe a gazillion times and no problems with leavening at all.

Neil that must've been a truly "wtf" moment.

I second the Galette. Everytime I make one the response is "it looks so french!" Makes me smile...and the margin of error is huge.......well, there's barely a margin. So forgiving. In the November Saveur there's an interesting recipe for Apple pie that intrigued me. Baked in a 9 x 13 pryex pan for 3 hours at a low temperature. I had to do it. One word? AMAZING.

I agree with many of your points Michael and egullet certainly is a wonderful place for many, many cuisine related issues. The support and sharing of knowledge shown in the Pastry/baking threads is fantastic. But grain of salt too. Television Without Pity is an interesting place. One can say the most heinous of things about television personalities,etc, but piss off "fellow poster" and you're doomed there. Oy! B

Great tip. Masse's bakery in Berkeley, CA does this quite well. When I externed their one of the front girls would come in to the back and learn something new every day. I really liked that approach. I like Paul Masse a lot - he's a great teacher and his stuff is DEE-licious.

Why I wonder? I wonder if one of the PC's at a very well known restaurant in Berkeley, CA felt the same way. I have never been treated so badly.

Thanks Jen and no toes stepped on. And I agree do the wishes if that's what needs to be done! When I was at Tante Marie years ago (in San Fran) one of my classmates was working at Hawthorne Lane - then one of THEE trendiest restaurants in the City (and very good) well the up and coming star in the pastry department was one of the dishwashers! And as Anthony Bourdain will attest to (and many others here) those dishwashers moving in to the kitchen is not an usual move any more. Lots of great advice here. I wish I had egullet when I was in the pastry chef mode.

Find a good bakery/restaurant in your area and BEG to help in the kitchen. This is advice I was given before going to chef school and I should've heeded it. And there is so much great information to read here, wonderful talented bakers and pastry chefs to consult for advice, and many wonderful books on baking to study. Good luck. Pastry is a wonderful thing. B

How I wished I had known/done this when I was still interested in working professionally. Great advice Chef Ong!

This ginger cake is very, very good and my friends/family request it all the time. I serve it with lemon curd. It does specify mild molasses. David Lebovitz's Ginger Cake

Jen, I am so envious. You are working at one of my favorite bakeries. I loved hearing about it all as I've always wondered what it was like. I am very happy to hear you work with such nice people. Best, B

Chef Zadi - have you ever done a Google search on yourself? Quite impressive.

Have any of you read this at Chowhound? Nutty people, I couldn't disagree with them more on a few things! Laiskonis/Batal

Here's my favorite recipe by Fran Gage from her first book Bread and Chocolate: My Food Life in San Francisco ... a book I highly recommend. Fran Gage's Chocolate Pound Cake

Lalime is fantastic and I would say most definitely that Rivoli is in the same class as all that you mentioned and better in many ways. From the moment you walk in until the moment you leave every single second is enjoyable. The food, the service, the atmosphere - all wonderful. Happy Eating! Brioche