pastrygirl

Hey Jim, I hadn't been using it much but decided to airbrush some things a few days ago. I think I'll be doing a lot more for the holidays - I hope I'm not jinxing myself by showing samples of airbrushed Santas and bonbons to potential customers! It's still slow going for large cavities, but the ability to do detail work on Santa might come in handy (if my control/skills are up to it). I'll be back in the kitchen on Tuesday, will check the details of the Grex then and get back to you.

I don't think it is fair to blame (or try to sue) the factory if Pyrex changed the formula and the factory was delivering product made to Pyrex's specifications. If someone at the factory independently substituted a different/cheaper ingredient or process without consulting the parent company, that's a different story than if Pyrex simply decided to change the formula and the new formula sucks.

Those thin, dry tortillas are perfect for frying and making tortilla chips - if you have leftover tortillas or ever want fresh tortilla chips. I think they are designed that way and made differently.

Can you be more specific - are you after ingredients, tools, cookware, or tableware? Pastry, savory, molecular? Are you familiar with JB Prince, Chef Rubber, L'epicerie (temporarily down) ...

They are perfect taco size - taco truck or street taco style.

Amy, that may not have been a proportion but shorthand - powdered sugar, icing sugar, confectioner's sugar, 10x sugar are all the same thing. Bijay, so milk products are OK, just not eggs? I thought "pure veg" was no milk either. Anyway, are you freezing and thawing cakes, or do they weep just sitting in the chiller? I have no experience with cooked flour frostings, but I've heard of them so hopefully someone has a better recipe they can share. Can you get American-style cream cheese or decent white chocolate? Cream cheese takes color very well. I make a cream cheese icing that is approximately equal parts by weight cream cheese, unsalted butter, and melted white chocolate, plus a little lemon or lime juice. This is less sweet than the usual cream cheese plus a ton of powdered sugar version.

@Duvel thanks for sharing a slice of life, this is making me want to travel. I swear, scents come to me while looking through the market photos, it's like being there. Not necessarily good scents, but Asian market scents Are there a lot of expats there?

Reporting back for future reference. I did use the La Lechera dulce de leche, added a little salt, vanilla extract, pecans and unsweetened coconut shred. The dulce de leche is super thick, would hold a swirl straight out of the can. I could have thinned it more, would also consider using half dulce de leche and half regular sweetened condensed milk next time for a runnier texture. So it might not be traditional, but it was easy and tastes good. Of course, then I put a glaze on top that is way less shelf stable, didn't really think that one through One of the finished cakes, wrapped in acetate, candied coconut shreds on top.

I get feuilletine through Peterson. They have warehouses here & NJ.

I can sell you some feiulletine if you need it - I just opened a new box. It's light and not a problem if it gets crushed going cross country

That does seem strange. @Porthos I don't think we can deduce a whole lot from a couple of unhappy customers from 18 months ago. Jim, what are you looking for? Maybe somebody has a source or extra. It's a total drag when those hard to find ingredients and supplies get even harder to find

You probably don't really NEED to do the nutritional info right now, it is only required when you're pretty big. If you sell less than $50k or 10k units per year, don't even worry about it. It'll be nice to have eventually, and some stores may want it, but it's not actually required until you're high volume. I'd say put that on the back burner for now, more important to have clear ingredients labels listing allergens. https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm053857.htm Would acetate strips wrapped around the outside of your cakes help with shipping? I like the idea of including the sugar separately for a fresher look.

@Tri2Cook I know, the traditional is probably just fine with the cooking and ton of sugar, Im sure I've left pecan pie out and not worried. Just being cautious because it's a warm weekend & not something I normally make Thanks!

Ok I think I'll skip the eggs and just use this it does say refrigerate after opening but it should be fine overnight, right?

I have a wedding order next weekend with multiple cakes and one of the flavors they want is German chocolate. I don't believe I've ever actually made one before! A lot of recipes use egg yolks. Is the goo still safe at room temp with the cooking and all that sugar? They are picking up the night before and heading to the woods with limited refrigeration. Would it be better to leave out the yolks and make a thicker caramel or substitute gelatin? I love coconut so ill so I'll be happy to experiment, but any pro tips on shelf stable GCC fillings would be appreciated. My plan is to do naked cakes with acetate wrapped around so they'll travel well. Thanks!

Yep, exactly what Kenneth said. Your caramel was just sugar, and would turn to goo over time even left out in a humid kitchen. A toffee made with butter should last a little longer with the fat there to interfere with water absorption.

Absolutely! I'll occasionally watch Pioneer Woman while at the gym and while she doesn't make anything that spectacular, it's easy to see how this idyllic rustic Americana thing would appeal. She's not a chef, not claiming to be a chef (afaik), she's making money appealing to the masses. Good for her.

I don't have any strong feelings about Ree Drummond, but if you enjoy snark, this guy has plenty ... https://www.thelostogle.com/2017/07/20/5-of-the-pioneer-womans-worst-laziest-and-most-questionable-recipes/

Looks like as long as the declared value is less than USD$800 and it's for personal use (not re-sale) you shouldn't have to pay duty ... https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases I've never bought anything from Japan, only Canada and definitely under $800 and have never had issues with customs or duty. But I suppose that could be due to NAFTA or something ...

for all the mayo lovers out there - http://www.theonion.com/article/hellmanns-introduces-new-meat-bottom-mayo-cups-56396

Are these the good ones - all jumbled up and touching?? Perfectly cut then thrown in a pile? The horror! I can't look ... yet can't look away ... Kerry you're killing me, how much butter do you have to put in a thing before caramels can touch and not make misery? Anna, can't you patiently line them up in rows or something? How can you live like this?

I'm trying to remember the dressing for the grilled romaine salad at a restaurant I used to enjoy - I think it was browned butter and citrus, maybe a little balsamic? Browned butter in salad dressing might sound weird, but it was semi-warm so the butter stayed melted. So good!

How awful if people need a device to tell whether their food is actually food.

I haven't made one either, but my first approach would be to use olive oil plus water to replace the cream. Heavy cream is 40% fat, so I would see how 40g oil plus 60g water acts instead of 100g cream in a known recipe and go from there.

Interesting, but I don't consider sugar to be the only mark of deliciousness. What would it do with Granny Smith apples, say they are all bad? Can it detect whether a peach will be mealy and gross, or only the sugar? Can it tell how juicy a lemon will be? Maybe I could use it to find less sweet corn because all the super-sweet is too sweet for me - sometimes I want produce that is "poor" on the sugar scale! Almost everything packaged already has nutrition info. Ok, cheese sold by weight might not, but anyone counting calories already knows that cheese tends to be high fat. I guess it could be useful at buffets or something but in general if you don't want crap produce, don't buy out of season or flown in from the other hemisphere. I wonder if it is accurate enough for people with actual medical needs, like whether a diabetic could trust the sugar info. On a consumer level, how many of us have bought more than $200 of disappointing produce in a year? I doubt this device would pay for itself in terms of food waste avoided. Even mealy, un-sweet peaches can be made edible by cooking with a bit of sugar. Cool toy, but not necessary in my world.