pastrygirl

So apparently she's working on it and will build a case out of tempered glass. I still don't understand how the health department allowed her to open like this. Huh. 🤔

.... I definitely appreciate your desire to keep food waste out of the landfill. Despite my skepticism, it seems like a great idea to be able to process your own scraps. If you can afford it and it makes you feel good, than why not? But on the other hand, if your garden consists of a handful of potted plants on the patio, will you end up with far more of this compost/soil amendment than you can use? Say you have a gallon of food scraps per week, and it shreds/dries them down to a quart. After 3 months those pots are going to be heaping. What are you going to do with the other 40 quarts generated the rest of the year? Will you still be stuck with extra food scraps (though "composted") that need disposal?

@Lisa Shock the weird photos are screenshots of Instagram, cropped by me to protect the innocent. They may well be worried about cross-contamination and allergy sufferers, they just don't seem to be worried about insects or the unwashed public.

Does your local health authority require a barrier between customers and food? A local baker keeps posting pics of her cake shop with the cakes all out, uncovered, on the counter. No barrier, no glass domes ... I can't see how the health department allows this. I think it's only a matter of time until flying insects, jumping dogs, or curious children destroy a cake. Is this weird to anyone else? From her Instagram - nice work, but do you really want flowers dropping pollen on your cakes?

The freaking ginormous wedding cake I delivered yesterday - bride wanted "big & impressive" ... mission accomplished? 😂 I won't go into all the things I could/should have done differently, though I'll admit I almost forgot one layer of supports. I did enjoy gold leaf-ing, which I had never done before. The transfer sheets were easy to use, and when I wheeled it through a sunny spot on the way to the venue, the gold was beautifully, blindingly brilliant.

Aren't they urine specimen containers? Oh, Kerry! 😆

I was wondering about that too. The pieces look fairly large, up to an inch or more - too big to stir into potting soil, and if I used them as bark chips on my flower beds, how would they look & smell after a few months of rain?

There are different blades? All I've ever known are the metal ones.

That's entirely possible. Ideally the motor is strong enough to handle 3 qts of whatever you want to make. They're usually fine fully loaded with bread crumbs, mayonnaise, or anything not super stiff and heavy. A large batch of something sticky and dense like marzipan is a challenge for most machines. I'm sure you'll find the limits of yours - and hopefully there's a re-set button on the bottom for when you do.

Does this sound like assisted suicide to anyone else? Which I support, but I'm having a hard time reconciling my reactions to this vs Tony Bourdain. J-P was older (late 70s?), obviously sick and in pain, Tony was younger and less obvious, but don't we all have the right to relieve our pain, whatever it may be? Either way, rest in peace and thanks for all the knowledge.

Try Valrhona Orelys for a brown sugar flavor, or Dulcey for a dulce de leche type caramel flavor in your ganache.

Bring on the challenges and questions! Rules & regulations are going to vary by state - apparently in WA you can't be both the maker and the retailer, but in OR it's opposite, I have no idea about ME. I don't buy a lot of edibles, but there's definitely a huge range. There's a company here who actually uses good dark chocolate, I think a lot of producers use whatever is cheapest thinking consumers only care how high they'll get. But the serving size is so small it's hard to imagine that food cost is a problem. I still don't want to eat bad candy, even if it's just a bite - I recently got some CBD candies to help with cramps from hell; they had a burnt aftertaste, were kind of sticky and the hard candy had flowed and changed shape. Not a product I'd be proud to put out, OK for medicine but crap as candy. As with any other food product, I think packaging and labeling are going to be the biggest challenges just because there will be extra layers of regulation, testing, and info required. Aside from finding kitchen space, that is - here there are limited areas where cannabis can be produced or sold (X hundred feet away from parks and schools), so cannabis kitchens are even more limited in availability. So consult your lawyer regarding state of Maine requirements, otherwise we have lots of confectionery expertise here.

I've heard of people using cotton swabs aka Q-tips to get into tight corners. Just make sure you have the softer paper sticks, the plastic ones might scratch.

They look surprisingly ... rustic 😂 But I'd still eat one!

And here's the winner: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-44519335