pastrygirl

A few states do not allow tips to count as wages, and servers get the full minimum wage as a base, plus tips. Washington minimum wage is $9.19 an hour, Oregon is $8.95, California $8 (with San Francisco $10.55), Alaska $7.75, and Nevada $7.25 if the employer provides health insurance or $8.25 if no insurance. Many other states have a higher minimum cash wage than the Federal minimum of $2.13. Only Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming adhere to the federal minimum, with Arkansas, Delaware, DC, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin paying barely more than that but still under $3 an hour. I can't tell you what effect this has had on business operating costs, but I can tell you that the tipping culture and expectations have not changed at all. The servers I work with in Seattle still expect 18+ percent, and it is still normal to add an automatic gratuity of 18-20% to large parties. Which I think is part of what makes this discussion so difficult. It is simply not true that all servers make $2.13 an hour. It varies widely. But the expectation that diners will tip 15-20% remains the same. Serving jobs vary so incredibly widely, how can we apply the same formula to all restaurants? A server working at a diner in Texas with a check average of say $12 is going to have to turn a lot more tables than a server working in Oregon at a gastropub with a check average of $30, or fine dining in California with a check average of $60. It is reasonable to worry about the bottom rung, but Annabelle is right, most servers don't want a set wage. Those who can work the system love the system.

I know, it is one of those things I keep thinking I should just make myself but have never bothered trying. One of these days...

I've just discovered goat yogurt. Expensive, but lower in fat and easier on my stomach than cow. I know, the cultures are supposed to make cow yogurt more digestible but I still have issues. I like the mild goatiness. I have been getting Redwood Hill Farms, which is over $8 a quart at my nearest store, will have to see if Trader Joes has another option for less. I've been eating it with cereal for breakfast or with sliced zucchini and a dash of vinegar for a salad. Love it!

Ha! I was going to say as long as its not vegan, you'll be okay. Just use lots of duck fat and whatever assorted meats are handy.

Yes, I was stirring the ganache as it cooled. I cooled it to around 78-80 F. Notter calls for 88 F., Greweling for 77. When I filled the cavities, the ganache poured out in a completely liquid form.Try letting it cool completely to room temperature, then stirring.

What is boring you? Need more flavor? More variety? Lots of ways to add flavor without much carbs or fat - Kimchi, lime pickle, dijon mustard, hot sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, herbs, spices...

That is a high proportion of liquid for white chocolate, you could try less cream, or, once the ganache has cooled to room temperature, agitate it to induce crystallization, or until it starts to thicken. Somebody recommends the cooling then stirring for some of his recipes, I don't recall if it is Greweling or Wybauw or someone else, but it has helped me a few times when a ganache seems like it will definitely be too soft and I don't want to mess around with adding more chocolate. I would also question whether the cocoa butter needs to be melted. Maybe adding unmelted cocoa butter would help add seed crystals and firm things up?

Yelp.

I don't know what to tell you. Cheesecake made by the traditional method shouldn't leak any significant fat or water. Some people use a tiny bit of cornstarch to prevent weeping, but a cup each of flour and maltodextrin sounds like a lot, even for that much cheese. Are you using commercial mascarpone or making your own? What temp do you circulate at? Still not sure what result you are currently getting that you are dis-satisfied with and what you are after. Is this based on another recipe that has worked in the past or are you trying to come up with something completely new?

What temp are you baking it at initially? I bake cheesecakes and other custards at around 250-275F or 121-135C, and they generally take about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, but definitely not 2-3 hours. I wonder if the issue is not your mascarpone breaking so much as your eggs getting overcooked? What is the end result you are trying to achieve? Something hot and creamy or liquid in the center? Something more like a souffle? What is happening when you re-heat it? I'm also curious if you could describe what the tapioca maltodextrin does for the texture. I have used it a few times to make peanut butter powder and the like, but never in baking or with anything with so much liquid.

If it's convenient to shop more often and if you don't find shopping to be a tedious chore, I say definitely shop more often. I keep a few bags of frozen peas, corn, and edamame around for nights when I feel lazy because I think those don't suffer from freezing. Otherwise I buy enough fresh meat and veg for 3-4 days at a time. A lot of seafood seems to be previously frozen, so for quality you generally don't want to be re-freezing already frozen and thawed fish or shrimp, and I only buy 1 or 2 servings of seafood at a time. I might buy more chicken or a pork tenderloin if I'm planning to have it for lunches all week, then cook it all and take a portion with me to work. I'm pretty sure water molecules expand in sous vide meat the same way they do in everything else, so unless you have a blast chiller I think freezing is freezing. OTOH, cooked sous vide meats are supposed to have a much longer shelf life. If you sous vide your steak and just keep it in the fridge it may very well be fine two weeks later, when it wouldn't have been if you left it raw. I'm not sure how to calculate that extended shelf life, just my understanding.

..and then strain it through a fine mesh chinoise, and you really can't get much smoother.

Could be good in sorbet or pate de fruits.

Jad, welcome to EG. I started working out with a personal trainer and watching what I eat about 2 months ago and it has really been working. I have lost weight and feel so much better. What I like about my trainer's approach to diet is that nothing is forbidden, it is more about tracking food and exercise (I use My Fitness Pal iphone app), eating regularly to stay satisfied, plenty of protein and fruit & veg, and portion control. If you don't already have one, get a digital kitchen scale so if you want those crisps or other junk food you can weigh out exactly 1 ounce or 100 calories or whatever. I'm finding that when I go to work out and see how much effort on the elliptical or treadmill it takes to burn off 200 calories, dessert (my weakness) is a lot less alluring. Good luck!

In my experience, most cleaning is done by regular staff. We do bring in an outside crew who specializes in cleaning the vent hoods over the stoves, and they do that a two or three times a year. We have big windows so we also have a guy who washes the windows inside and out every few months. Other than that, cleaning is generally done by the dishwashers or a prep cook in their down time.

You're right, plenty of legitimate reasons to have shorter term jobs, whether seasonal, school breaks, visas. I think the key is somehow making those clear on your resume. If you are sending a resume to people not familiar with the places or situations you have worked, you want to make sure they don't read it as 6 months here 6 months there, super flaky, but rather worked hard the entire season that the establishment was open, went back to school, worked part time during school or while traveling, etc. And if you move around a lot, it may help to give a little description of the type of cuisine, average # of covers, etc. so potential employers get the bigger picture.

Normal, unfortunately frequent. Desirable, no. Speaking from the BOH, I avoid resumes with multiple less than a year stints. Sure, everyone has had one job that didn't work out after a short term, and no, the three weeks I worked at a big hotel in town is not on my resume. You have to balance showing a solid work history and proving your employability with not looking too flaky. Unfortunately, it sounds like you may actually be kind of flaky Nobody wants high turnover, it is expensive and bad for morale.

No, but doesn't the lack of fat just make it like biscuit aka ladyfingers?

Once I started using silpat for macaron I haven't looked back. I find that parchment absorbs moisture and wrinkles/buckles, resulting in less round macarons. Glad you figured it out, too bad about that massive supply of the wrong parchment.

I agree, related, but not the same. Crispy is thin and brittle and shatters easily - potato chips, tuile cookies. Crunchy is thicker, denser, and takes more work to eat - peanut brittle, carrot sticks.

Out of curiosity, other than this particular dessert, what are other applications for such a chocolate? Why do they make this formulation? Is it for stability in warm climates? High fat, low fluidity is the opposite of normal when it comes to chocolate. Assuming the fat is still cocoa butter, how do they do that? Is it like this Cadbury non-melting chocolate I read about recently? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/non-melting-chocolate_n_2192236.html And would it be good to eat at room temperature? Clearly this is boggling my mind.

That's funny, I was there for a weekend just before Halloween and thought the PDFs were all very good but slightly too acidic, and a bit weepy. Different batches or different tastes, or both. Also stumbled on a Japanese sweets store, all imported I believe, but interesting if you're into that sort of thing, at Market between 2nd & 3rd: http://www.kitchoan.com/ Craftsman & Wolves in the Mission a few block SE of Tartine was pretty good too - less mainstream flavors, more architectural - if you are back in that neighborhood. Tartine is the best though, LOVE those spicy pickled carrots!

I knew I'd seen that somewhere, of course it was Migoya. Thanks for the reminder.

I sure can't pipe that straight! It could be marshmallow sheets. Albert Uster has decorated marshmallow sheets in patterns similar to chocolate transfer sheets.

I can only speak for myself, but I certainly feel like it is expected and an obligation in the US, not a matter of leaving a little something out of generosity. I'll work on getting over that