Cala Massey

Thanks for your reply. I did read McGee, Cookwise and others and I am aware of what happens to the flour, leavening, air pockets etc. when the stuff goes into the oven. None of these books mention what happens to chilled batter as it relates to the leavening ability of baking soda in particular...and moreso over an extended period of refrigeration. Well, I haven't found it. Will someone please post the pages of the book where this is discussed. Having said that, thanks kitchenimage for providing some sort of explanation but is there more to this I wonder? would this refrigeration work for all kinds of cake batter? Had I not sealed the container holding the batter, would all the CO2 have 'escaped'? what if I had brought back the dough to room temperature before baking? Hoepfully, as you say, someone wil come along to shed more light. thanks CM

On Friday night I made up some batter for carrot cupcakes. AP flour and whole wheat pastry flour, oil and applesauce(no butter), brown sugar, grated carrots, walnuts raisins etc. the amount of flour totalled 1 1/4 cups and the leavener was 1 tsp baking soda only. I got really fatigued(I am a new baker and the process was exhausting) and decided to refrigerate the batter until the next day. This was about 8 pm. I stored it in an airtight container. On Saturday, I was reading a couple cookbooks and most of them said that batters with baking soda should be baked immediately upon combining the soda with the liquid and the acid, since as time passes the efficacy of the leavening agent is reduced. I panicked because I was nowhere near home. Anyway, when I got home at around 9 pm( some 13 hrs after refrigerating the batter), I decided to go ahead and bake rather than discard the batter. As I opened the container, there was a sigh as though gases were being released(kind of like when you punch down bread dough?). There were bubbles on the surface of the batter. I used a number 20 scoop to fill the muffin cupsand proceeded to bake at 350 degrees(Note that one muffin cup was filled wih water). BTW, I baked right out of the refrigerator, just added some nuts and gave it a stir. Get this....the cupcakes rose even more than they had previously, when I had baked cupcakes immediately after blending the batter(made this recipe once before). Why did this happen? All the research suggests that the cupacakes should have baked flat. I hope someone can explain Thanks, CM

Hi guys: i need help with my cupcake recipe. The taste of the cupcake was great; it was relatively soft but it was a tad drier than I would have liked. I would also have liked it to be richer, perhaps? Hope that makes sense. Here is the recipe, please help me make adjustments and please explain why(ALSO, please recommend the size disher or ice-cream scoop that I would need ): 1 1/4 cups cake flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 1 stick butter 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup sour cream 1/4 tsp salt 2 whole eggs PLUS 1 egg yolk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp almond extract I used the creaming method. 12-cup regular light colored muffin tin. filled it 2/3 of the way up. perfectly acceptable dome shape after baking. 350 degree oven, middle rack. Thanks for your help. CM.

Thanks. I will try with and without four. Did you see my following post about the syrup, lemon essence and how the addition the syrup post baking affects the granola?

Also about the Lemon Granola: 1. Are the 3 TBS of sugar for the syrup separate from the half cup for the crumble? 2. Is the syrup of ginger, etc. and lemon essence for the post baking phase as well as pre-baking phase...or...? I was a tad confused. 3. Part of my question above, I think. How hould adding the syrup after baking affect the "crunch"..would it be sticky or....I guess this is candymaking 101 but I am still figuring things out...

I have been lear to make this and have a few questions: 1. I am confused about the crumbly consistency as opposed to the granola consistency. This is a little silly, but can you pls explain clearer how you get either and what it should look like? If this has something to do with the flour added please say. 3. Wheat germ. Should I add the toasted wheat germ after the the mixture is baked and cood OR would I add it before? Would the toasted wheat germ burn....or what? Maybe use untoasted wheat germ? 3 Another method someone suggested: Toast each component separately and then mix together toasted components with the butter and sweetener. That wouldn't be crunchy, would it? I hope you can help me here...I bought all my ingredients yesterday after I say the Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten - make it. Thanks.

My simple-stupid question is about aromatics. Sometimes I want to prepare something that I have done before and I remember the main ingredients(eg. spinach, lentil, tomatoes,chicken, whatever) BUT, I dont remember how much onions, carrots, celery, garlic, or whatever, was used for flavoring. I guess mosttimes one can adjust seasonings like salt and pepper at the end but you cant go back and saute additional onions, garlic or otherwise that would add depth of flavor.Could someone provide some guideline for me on how to determine a reasonable amount of aromatics to be used given a certain quantity of main ingredient to be used? I can't seem to gauge this from different recipes, it seems so random, you know? CM

The cost of labour(cooking and shopping) would increase the cost beyond 180.50, assuming you had to pay yourselves. . Just a random thought!

Congrats bil-, jen-rus. Woke up, said my prayers, rolled out of bed and came to this thread. Look forward to additonal comments this morning. WOW!

He sure does look like a Jorge. Thx. for corr.

Yeah I meant Florence and edited. Thx.

Way Beyond the scope of the question, but here's my take on FN. That Sandra Lee Lady that does Foul Stuff under the guise of Semi-Home-made. Ewww! Rachel EVOO Ray is barely tolerable; Her 30 minute Meals should really be called Semi-Home-made; if I hear her say, "I don't bake" one more time before she assembles a Sandra-Lee like dessert concoction, I am gonna puke! Paula Country-Cookin-Makes-You-Goodlookin' Deen; that horrid laugh..ugh! The greasy food...Abominable! Emeril Pork-Fat-Rules LaGasse. His day show appeals somewhat, BUT the Vegas-Style night show should be "BAM-ed" from the network. Alton Genius-Self-Deprecating Brown. Need I say more. Love the hands Alton. Sara Oh-Dear Moulton; just hit the snooze button pronto - if you are not lulled into some semi-conscious state byt that eerie little high-pitched voice, she's A-OK! Tyler Always-Looks-Loaded Hamilton. No, not Hamilton, Florence. But really, why does that guy always look like he's under the influence. Really. When I can hear what he is sayin, love him. BTW, please get rid of that horrible girl from HTBW, I could do a way better job! Giada, Giada, Giada, You should be on a Crest commercial and not in the kichen. Oh and BTW, did you know that she enhances her boobs with chicken cutlets..LOL..and here I was being jealous. Anyway, of all the chefs on the Network, I try your recipes the most...mmmm, melts in your mouth(in case you don't know she always says this and closes her eyes and as if in a semi-orgasmic state...lol)! The Barefoot Contessa. Ina, you rock! I like you and your l'il husband when he appears. Your recipes are right neck-and-neck with Giada's in my kitchen. You make me feel like I can actually learn to cook. But that laugh has gotta go! Guys, have ever heard her laugh? You wil die laughing, trust me! Mario Molto Mucho Batali. Mucho EVERYTHING! Head, Belly, Hands, and....his knowledge of Italian food and its origins. A true history lesson everytime! OMG...Michael Carmelization Chiarella. Love, Love, Love Him, if only to watch his hands...YUM(SHould have said this about Alton too, minus the YUM...lol)! BTW, he uses that word carmelization just way too often, so now when I watch, its more about counting how many times he says the word and not about the food. Ahh...almost forgot Most-Obnoxious-"Awardee" - Bobby Flay! Just not feelin' the guy, especially when is on ICA. Speaking of.... Iron Chef Japan - one word, Gangsta. Love it. Iron Chef America has a ways to go, don't ya think? Especially Alton and Kevin's floor commentary. Anyway, I learn a lot from both shows Those healthy people - Jorge Cruz, George Stella - I just they would be more charismatic; I have to actually suffer through Georgey Beady Eyes' delivery just to learn that cream is good on low carb. I say, "Hey dude, what about my arteries!". In the very next segment, this very morning, Jorge low-fat, no-fat Cruz says "no cream!"...so, who's right? The Surreal Gourmet guy just creeps me out but I like his creativity with using tropical ingredients to liven up his dishes. The pastry people I don't watch too much..and even less of the 30 minute commercials like Unwrapped and FoodFinds. The show "Recipe for Success" that explores buisness development should be expanded to an hour.

This is what I know about these blenders: 4500: Hi and Lo speeds only 5000: Hi and Lo speeds; a knob that allows you to go lower than the low speeds for making chunly uff like salsas, chopped herbs, chunky type pestos. If you ask me, you can use your mini FP for this. Super 5000: Tyhe only difference from the 5000 is that it comes with another bowl-like container for doing dry stuff like grains etc. You decide if it's worth it. That dealer suggested another blender to me that he says is much better than all the Vitamix blenders but is in the price range of the 4500. In fact, i believe that the recommendation is the one that Jamba Juice uses. He convinced me. it has variable speeds and times pre-programmed.

Way to go Bill. I am living vicariously through you. Good Luck and I am looking forward to all th prep and final pics.

I finally got to read the article in its entirety. Unlike Lily, my mother can cook(and enjoys it though she is a busy professional - in all fairness though, she has a helper during the week); my siblings can cook; I don't know how I developed this particular cooking impairment. That's not true - I know, my father cannot cook to save his ass. Despite what I know - that I am(was, still somewhat) intimidated and afraid - my siblings use to think that this was because I thought it was "cute" not to be able to cook. While they are wrong, I get the distinct sense that Lily thinks its "cute", "de rigeur" or whatever not to cook. Note that her husband justifies his wife's inability to cook by suggesting that she is "enslaving" herself if she spends hours in the kitchen. Another point, is that when I started to learn, I would not taste the food. I think this was partly due to the fact that I felt it would sabotage my fitness(you know what I mean). I had to force myself to do it or it would be a waste of time and money. Now I taste like a wine taster (I spit) and then enjoy my final meal, if one can call it that. Because of my experience, I feel that Lily may be victim of her own creation - if she doesn't cook, she'll stay slim. But this mindset is quite erroneous, don't you think? Most fitness people, prepare their own food because they know what they are eating. They also learn how to prepare different things so as not to make their diet montonous and thus limit the desire to stray from that diet. I could go on and on but I will end by saying this article does not explicitly explore why people don't cook anymore (or maybe I am missing something). Sure it hints at it but the nagging feeling that you get is not that she is so busy or too afraid or that there are alternative sources for meals BUT that she thinks its "cool". Look at her comment at the end of the article about the turkey. It was not a contemplative statement, it was almost...umm...boastful. If my mother had not cooked for me and made holidays what they were, I would not have some of the memories that I do - she created these meals lovingly with her own hands. What if my mother didn't write to us at boarding school and ask what we wanted our first meal to be when we got home? And trust me, she would leave work early just to satisfy our requests and she was and still is a very busy woman. Just my opinion. "Man cannot live by salad alone"