Lisa Shock

The curdling is due to it being baked at too high of a temperature. You're trying to marry two things with very different oven needs into one pan.

Blitz from Professional Baking.

I was surprised to get coffeecake at several places in Tokyo and it was coffee flavored -what appeared to be a cinnamon swirl in a cake style was actually an espresso swirl. Also, here in Phoenix, I was asked by some people from India for a good coffeecake recipe because they hadn't been able to get any at local bakeries. They didn't understand why it was never coffee flavored.

Every good food related job I have gotten was from a lead I got networking. Keep in touch with people from old jobs via LinkedIn. Join the ACF. If you went to culinary school join their alumni association. Work Facebook for connections. Do volunteer work cooking when you can, it allows more people to see how you work and give recommendations to others.

I'd make mayonnaise with the juice and a liqueur from the peel.

Full sized taco shell makers are metal with rubberized handles. I wouldn't use wood to deep fry with as it will get cooked along with the food. If you can fabricate something, I'd start with two perforated metal discs, bend them to the proper shape then figure out a way to attach a handle or hold with tongs while they fry nestled together with the shell inside.

Same here. I keep telling myself that I'll use them for glazing pastry or something, but I have lots of unopened jars of things like pear jelly in the cupboard.

The first picture isn't of a baked pie. The browning is from a torch, that's why you see so much glossy white underneath. It's food stylist food, not real food. (years of grading cheating students comes in handy on occasion...)

Chilling allows time for the gluten to relax. It also affects baking in that the cookie will start to develop its final texture on the outside which then helps prevent spread, making a taller overall final product which steams itself a little bit as it cooks making it a little more cakelike. Sometimes little touches like this can really affect a final outcome.

I haven't done it, but, I know that you'd have to be careful about temperatures because the peanuts in peanut butter are already toasted and would be more likely to burn if it gets too hot.

Thing is, I have seen tempering machines for around $400...

The catering company I work for occasionally refuses to provide chocolate fountains because you have to add so much oil to make a fountain run that the chocolate winds up being not very good -like 40%+ oil, not very tasty.

Sometimes I use animal crackers, don't know if you have those. When I do, I never say what I used, but, people always comment on how it reminds them of something from their childhood....

Probably on sale because places stock up on these things before the fall/winter holidays and now they need to get rid of overstock to make room for spring/summer items heading into season.

It's a pestle for a chinois.

It can take a lot longer than that to whip. It can also be useful to pack the outside of the mixer bowl with ice.

Yet another source for reasonably-priced dinnerware: IKEA. Melamine IMO is barely more pleasant than the disposables. HERE is a white stoneware 18 pc. set of six dinner plates, lunch plates and bowls at IKEA for $24.99.

My DeLonghi mixer had an attachment available, I never purchased it, that scrubbed the skins off root vegetables. As I understand it, the device was some sort of insert for the mixer bowl which had sandpaper-like sides and when filled with water and vegetables rotated to scrub them.

Melamine will take up the same amount of storage space as real china, it will have to be washed like real china, so, labor-wise they are equal. I'd much rather be eating off discontinued real china than melamine.

I have gotten high quality china sets on ebay very cheaply. They are usually discontinued patterns, so you need to get everything you think you'll ever want at that time because you may never see the stuff again.

Well, yeah, I was practically yelling at the screen when Ed went for the pre-smoked boxed oysters. That's a basic, basic part of cheffing; not serving anything unless it's good, solidly good. He should have asked the fishmonger what was fresh and great that day. Holding on to the menu he had planned was not going to serve him well. Bev wasn't my favorite in LCK, but, she has determination and thoughtfulness and cares about food. I think the others have been pretty unprofessional towards her. It's hard to say for sure because all of the footage is heavily edited, but, she seems to just have different social interaction skills than some of the others in the group.

Not a spoiler this time! It was odd that Ed felt he was knocked out of the competition by Beverly. He made it sound sort of personal when in fact the Last Chance Kitchen was just another producers' twist. If anything, he was knocked out by Lindsey. I was wondering why Lindsey kept saying that she thought the stock needed to be emulsified when, generally stock doesn't have fat. I kept cringing at the incorrect use of the term. It was nice seeing Bev return. I was afraid that LCK was just going to bring back the last eliminated chef. She has shown real brilliance, so I know that she'll be a tough competitor in the finale.

I was also impressed by the fact that Pee Wee didn't impose any restrictions on the dishes. I'm tired of whining judges.

Since Tapioca is what you have, I'd use that. Raw flour is the worst of all the starches for making fruit pie fillings. It will never lose the raw flour taste. It will also never have the glossy shine of the other thickeners.

You'll like THIS NYT article about an unusual day there.