Sweet Kate

I am a professional and I am looking for software that allows ingredients to be measured in different formats. The recipes that I have been compiling of late I have scaled in cups and also in grams. Is there any software that allows for both in an organized fashion? Is there any software that helps make the conversions from volume measures like cups to weight? I appreciate any suggestions. I am a mac and iphone type. Thank you.

Alinea, Blackbird and/or Avec, Mirai Sushi, Twin Anchors, Weiner Circle. Note: I had a terrible experience at TRU.

Thoughts: *When chefs say the lines are being blurred between sweet and savory, they might be referring to technique rather than just flavor. Sure ingredients are getting tossed around these days, but how often do savory tuiles, gelees, pannacottas show their faces lately? *Pastry Chefs are important in the restaurant, usually the second “face,” though they rarely have ownership. Nobody blinks when a skilled, knowledgeable sous chef departs to open something new, why wouldn’t a pastry chef want to do the same? *Sam Mason had the only dessert degustation I have seen. Even so, it was a pretty much a progression of his a la carte menu in smaller portions. *Sugar, a dessert bar, in Chicago, closed two weeks after Bon Appetit (? I think, where’s my fact checker?) named Christine Mccabe (of Sugar) pastry chef of the year. *Pastiche in Providence, RI is a wonderful patisserie open until 11 at night and often packed until then. They serve “sliced” desserts…is this a dessert “centric” restaurant? Does it matter they don’t serve liquor? *Mindy Segal of HotChocolate in Chicago approaches savory food with a pastry sensibility. She also offers an extensive dessert and cheese list that parallels (if not eclipses, on paper) that of three star, fine dining restaurants in Chicago. Anyone been?

anyone? anyone? i can't find the pa & d anywhere.

" And I do believe plenty of people, male and female, just don't bother to make enough noise for themselves." i am with nicole and sugarella on this one...if you want people to take notice of you, male or female, sometimes, you have to bang on the pots and pans. a journalist's job is to write and sell stories...the public is interested in trends and what is new and different. if you handed me a magazine with details on both sam mason's smoked chocolate ice cream and (james beard award winner!) karen demasco's nectarine crisp, i would flip to the former first. that said, i think karen demasco's flavors are the end all be all and i wish i knew more about her. as a female pastry chef in chicago, i am in good company. the pastry kitchens at tru, trotter's, nomi, blackbird, mk, spring, and custom house are all headed by women (avec, naha, and spiaggia on the savory side, to name a few). in both chicago and national press about chicago, you hear about alinea, moto, avenues, and now schwa; male run, but they are all new and their food is very different. thank you to whomever addressed the actual statistics...there are not more male pastry chefs. let's all (boy and girl) pat ourselves on the back for leveling the culinary playing field. if you want attention as a women chef, find a story, a hook, a dish...just don't make it being a woman in a man's world. that's old news.

I have been making pate de fruit lately using cap fruit recipes and purees. I find them a bit too sweet but am afraid to adjust the sugar content and risk having it over or under gel. Has anyone coated their pate de fruit with sour sugar? I assume I can just add citric acid to sugar. Formulas?

has anyone tried making an italian meringue cream cheese buttercream? i have a fabulous carrot cake recipe but cream cheese frosting (cream cheese, butter, 10x) just isn't to my taste. i have tried adding philadephia brand to my italian meringue buttercream after adding the butter, but the mixture separates. i am going to try a brand with less water content. Any other suggestions?