pastrygirl

Hey! I'm not a bad cook, I just get too ambitious about buying vegetables and then end up going out to eat all week. Finally threw away what were lovely organic green beans I got 2-1/2 weeks ago in the CSA I realized wasn't working for me, and picked through the yellowing kale. I'm a good cook when I'm not too lazy to do it!

I hate those! They are not so bad if you are weighing and weigh very carefully and don't have to put any back in the carton, but forget about dip and sweep measuring by cups. If you pour it into a measuring cup, how are you supposed to level it off? I prefer to either keep my sugar in the 5# bag inside of a gallon sized ziploc, or transfer it to another container with an airtight lid, like a cambro. The bag is only a pain when it is first opened and full. I should admit that my house is plagued by tiny ants, who will occasionally appear in one room or another and I've thrown too much food away already to not keep my dry goods airtight and ant-proof.

It's been 2 years, but looking through the guidebook a few things stand out. Agreed on Blue Pumpkin in Siem Reap, and check out Sala Bai, which is a cooking/hospitality school for young Khmers. Try happy pizza if you're into that, but know that it will not be great pizza. In Phnom Penh I stayed at the Bougainvillier Hotel, which was a lovely splurge ($60ish a night) after a month of much more budget accommodations elsewhere. The attached restaurant was very good French, nice cheese and sometimes you do need a break from local food. I do recommend eating in the markets, and being adventurous to just point to things and smile when lacking language skills. Although I was unwittingly served durian for breakfast that way, as one of the toppings on sticky rice, the woman who sold it thought the look on my face was hysterical, so we shared a laugh. If you have a local guide for the day, definitely express your interest in going where the locals go. I had a tasty lunch that i honestly could not figure out what it was, and my guide also convinced me to try one of the charcoal grilled curry-stuffed frogs on a stick that were at many roadside stands outside of Phnom Penh: It was pretty tasty.

I snack all the time. It's kind of a problem. Cheese, peas, bits of chocolate, slices of prosciutto, more cheese, fruit, pastry, bread, dried fruit, spoon full of peanut butter, mini cupcakes....

Glad to hear I'm not alone in thinking these things are ridiculous.

Lately I've seen silicone chocolate molds on a few sites and I just can't figure out why anyone would think this was a good idea. Maybe people who have never worked with chocolate and think silicone makes everything easier? Even the manufacturer's demo video shows chocolate escaping as the mold is lifted by hand and messy edges on filled pralines. Anyone have anything positive to say about these?

They should shout "Froid!"?

coffee beans treated like cacao to make coffee bars: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/a-new-kind-of-coffee-bar/

At the extreme they would be, but that's OK because you don't need both fat and gelatin to stabilize. Gelatin binds with the water in a liquid and not the fat. You can set whipping cream with gelatin to make panna cotta, but you probably don't want to go much higher fat than that. As a pastry chef I almost always have something in my isi canisters, right now I have a thick milk chocolate malted creme anglaise that comes out as a very light mousse. I've done sabayon that has only a modest amount of heavy cream, so the egg yolks are probably equally responsible for foam-ability in that one. Also vegan chocolate mousse, essentially chocolate and water stabilized by the cocoa butter content. I once did a rose gelatin mousse that was a little tricky to keep at the right temperature, no fat in that just gelatin. Too cold and it didn't want to come out (solidified), too warm and the gelatin melted and the foam was too soft/unstable. I have not tried agar for isi foams, but that may have potential. You can make agar fluid gels by setting a liquid with agar then pureeing it, the result is a nice nape' consistency (or as thick as you like) that does not re-solidify (unless you re-melt it), might be able to stand up to the charger.

With the isi, you need thickener of some sort - enough fat to approximate whipping cream, or a fair amount of gelatin. These will make foams on the mousse-ier end of the spectrum, more towards shaving cream. (I've only used the isi with cold foams, they do make a version of the charger that is safe to be held warm). For looser, soap-bubble type foams, I believe those are made with lecithin and agitated with a mini milk frother (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=milk+frother&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15285042771434471703&sa=X&ei=otsLTonSMKnmiALq2cm2Cg&ved=0CKMBEPMCMAM) or perhaps an immersion blender.

For non-perishables, have you considered amazon.com? They will probably have much less expensive shipping than an individual at the post office. Less personal, but it would be one way to get maple sugar, etc.

Bummer. But I have to say the fact that you were in the weeds yet took even a short time out to post on egullet that you were in the weeds didn't bode well from my POV. I appreciate the urge to get it off your chest and the distraction of technology, but you may have been better off focusing on getting out of the weeds. Better luck next time.

Tartaric acid is very strong, and usually mixed with at least equal weight water to form a solution. I think the next closest substitute would be citric acid, which you should be able to find at a health food store or somewhere with a good bulk foods selection. Lemon or lime juice will work too but are not as strong. I'd estimate at least a teaspoon of lemon juice would be needed to substitute per gram of tartaric acid. There does seem to be some leeway in PDF recipes between the balance of pectin, acid, sugar, and finished temperature. Greweling does have a troubleshooting page for fruit jellies, which helps a little to explain the role of each ingredient. I don't know how thick or sweet the apple compote called for is, as I've never used it. I use either canned pears or apricots in light syrup, pureed with the syrup as a base, then add more concentrated fruit flavors (especially with the pear). Most of the fruit purees the charts are written for (boiron, la frutiere, that other one) have 10% sugar, so if you are using something else or making your own adjust accordingly.

You two make it sound do-able, now I just have to decide if I actually want to do it. The target just seems a little stark and boring to me, and like it's my brother in the cross hairs. I could work in a little camouflage ribbon around the bottom and some bullets here and there for color and interest. I'll have to see how my catering schedule ends up that weekend. Thanks.

This seems like the right thread for this so here goes: I sort of agreed to make a groom's cake for my brother, who is getting married in a couple of weeks. He loves guns and shooting them so his fiancee asked if I could make a cake with a target on it, like this: http://images5.cpcache.com/product_zoom/150321935v16_480x480_Front_padToSquare-true.jpg I'm concerned about how precise the design is, and smudging between black and white, and how little fondant experience I have. I don't want to make something that looks amateur, but I also don't want to spend hours and hours on it. I would have to do this the night before the wedding, after a long day at work, and am trying to think of something easier to execute well (less precise/high contrast) still along the gun theme. Has anyone done camouflage fondant? I'm thinking piece the splotches together and roll to fuse them? Can I just trace over an outline then cut out gun shapes? Can I make bullets to go around the edge a few days ahead - wrap or let dry? Any ideas for a great looking manly guns & ammo cake that won't be a huge pain - more than 2 hours after crumb coat - to decorate? I've been baking for 15 years but don't do a lot of cakes, mainly plated desserts. Or should I just beg off? I'm already making them 120 hand dipped chocolates and previously told them I would do a cake OR chocolates, but NOT both.

Agree with reducing, but stir frequently and watch for scorching. Adding more pectin could be difficult because the jam would have to be boiling, and it can be tricky to bring something thick and sugary to a boil without scorching it. Gelatin? Only need to warm the jam, then dissolve a little softened gelatin. Along the lines of Lisa's white chocolate idea, I bet a somewhat runny jam or fruit spread could be mixed with melted white chocolate to make a thick ganache, but it would be very sweet unless it was a particularly tart jam. Or just melted cocoa butter, which is solid at room temp should help to thicken, I've used it for vegan lemon curd at the end instead of butter. If I'm not using ganache I use italian meringue buttercream in my macarons. It can take generous additions of less-liquid flavors, like lemon curd or caramel sauce or jam/thick cooked down fruit or more modest additions of more liquid flavors like liquors or espresso.

The floor. Standard for commercial kitchens, prevents contamination in case of floods/sewage backup, allows floors underneath shelving to be cleaned, harder for vermin to reach. If you have high humidity, try to keep the flour airtight, like in a large cambro with a tight fitting lid: http://cool.cambro.com/CamSquares_Poly_CamSquare_Storage_Containers_and_Lids_Storage.ashx Otherwise, room temp is likely going to be the easiest, and if you use your flour quickly enough, shouldn't be a problem.

I'd call it a lace cookie. At my first restaurant job we would make something like that, form it over cups into bowl shapes, then fill with sorbet or fruit and cream or whatever, like lace baskets with lemon mousse and strawberries. They need a minute to cool before they are solid enough to shape, but then you have to work quickly. You can put them back in the oven to soften if they get too brittle.

The flaws with money and alcohol have been noted. It may not seem like much, but asking to go to the kitchen or stopping by the line if the kitchen is open for some heartfelt gushing can go a long way. Often the cooks never see the guests and get limited feedback, so it can be really nice to see an actual patron who is really happy and satisfied, instead of just hearing that people liked it from the servers. Positive reviews on yelp are good too.

Absolutely! In fact I am currently somewhat relieved that my boyfriend is out of town so I can go out wherever I want and not have to worry if he is going to get freaked out by the money spent or how to drag him someplace he might think is too fancy but would enjoy if he could just get over it I'll often sit at the bar, and have had many experiences where there was one last seat at the bar in an otherwise full restaurant and was happy I was solo so I could snag it. I have also done fine dining on my own, and at higher end places it becomes clear that you really want to be there for the food, which is a good impression to make. I always figure that if the choice is between doing something alone or not doing it, then I'll go ahead and do it alone instead of putting my life on hold waiting for someone who wants to do the same thing at the same time. I'm not going to say that I never get lonely or bored or feel self conscious. I used to usually bring a magazine or book, now I just play with my iphone between courses.

I have to disagree with this. I would not expect a cook to come to a non-working interview in uniform. I think it is weird when I see people in chefs clothes when they are not in the kitchen, for example I had an intern who arrived fully dressed for work, took the bus, walked through downtown, etc. Why not wait until you're ready to work to put on your chef coat? In part it seems unclean to me to be out and about in your cooking clothes, and in part maybe I just hate wearing chef coats and avoid them when unnecessary. Also, checks seem very institutional to me, like only schools and old school corporate places require them. Most cooks I know wear black or pinstriped Chefwear. One chef de cuisine had an issue with me wearing my black jacket to work because he took it to mean I thought I was special (no, just prefer black to white), but I don't think anyone I've worked for has cared about pants color/pattern.

About 15-3/8 inches. A couple more would be nice sometimes.

Try allowing for the liquid the cereal is going to soak up by adding extra milk to the base. Or soak the cereal in the milk and measure your milk after straining instead of adding cereal to the finished custard then straining.

So the butter doesn't melt.

NYE with BF and his friends, time to cook up some steaks and salmon filet. Friend decides he's going to 'slow cook' the steaks, I'm not sure why but decide not to get involved. Little bit later check in the kitchen and see steaks in a saute pan half full of beer at a bare simmer. WTF? OK... I only tried 1 bite, but it was the weirdest crunchy texture I've ever encountered in meat. So, I wouldn't recommend cooking it that way.