Lisa Shock

The mexican stuff isn't brown sugar, which I do make by using molasses and sugar. The mexican stuff is more like turbinado, sort of.

Here in Phoenix, the Mexican tan stuff can be gotten fairly cheaply (2 pounds for 79 cents) and it is marked as cane sugar, I am assuming that it's slightly less refined. It does have a slightly 'brown sugar' taste, and I like using it for making simple syrup for cocktails because I feel that it's closer to the sugar that bartenders had available to them in the early 1800's.

You can paint the tart shells with chocolate days in advance. The pudding can be made the day before, but then, so could pastry cream. One easy fruit to use is canned mandarin oranges. The tarts themselves need to remain refrigerated and should be served the same day. Royal icing is the traditional glue for sweets. Instead of mortarboards, you could get rice paper and licorice laces and make tiny rolled diplomas.

They didn't press it at all?

Watch out for 'deals' on equipment. When it breaks, and, eventually it all breaks, there might not be any local service available to repair it. Check on repair service before buying and installing anything. You don't want to be caught with a walk-in full of hot, rotting food for a week while trying to find a repair person. As for a sandwich place, those can be as tough or tougher than a bakery. You're suddenly in competition with everyone from Panera to Taco Bell. All of whom make huge quantities of food in centralized commissaries to distribute to individual locations. They buy their food in such large volume that their retail price is often what your wholesale price, as a small business, will be. And, your customers, especially right now, will be comparing your value for money against those same chains. I know that it isn't fair to compare artisan product to machine-churned out food, but, for a lot of customers paying a couple dollars more than Panera charges for a sandwich won't happen very often.

Yes, and sorry I spelled it wrong! Pâtè fermentèe is a very old, traditional way to add preferment flavor to dough. It's advantage is its simplicity, you just save a chunk of dough from an existing batch, no separate mixing or handling needed. Refrigeration extends its life. There are bakeries that have been doing this continuously for decades.

Looks good! You can always use older dough as patè fermentè in a fresh batch.

The amount of equipment will be determined by the type of bakery and volume you'll be producing. Other things are determined by your local health code, and your county office can help you with a lot of it. (In my county, plans have to be submitted for approval in advance of any renovation or installations. I'd think about that later, after you take some classes and see if you really enjoy the work. (plus, the health code changes every year) Workman's comp laws vary by state, most have laws regulating what types of coverage you are required to purchase. An insurance agent can help you with that. A good school will offer a purchasing class that will help answer some of your questions -and give you skills like calculating cost cards. A being a baker can be one of the most physically demanding food industry jobs. Most commodities come in 50-pound containers, a few come in 100-pound containers. The hours are different from the rest of the world, you roll in at 10 or 11 PM and leave at 10 AM the next morning. -Then grab sleep whenever you can. Most of the work is repetitious and, considered by some to be dull because items for sale need to be uniform in weight and appearance. Filling 10,000 cream puffs one morning isn't everyone's cup of tea. There are a lot of variables that can't be answered until you know exactly what type of bakery you'll be running. Things can be different if you're making a little bread but mostly selling sandwiches and a full meal menu vs. just doing wedding cakes. I'd work in a place for a while and take classes, and save your money and plan along the way. Some areas are really tough for bakeries, high rent & local residents who love the crap at the cheap supermarket bakeries, and it may take a lot of knowledge and marketing to make a go of it. You need to know more about the industry & your area before risking thousands of dollars. For example: I know of a shopping center in my area that would be great for a classic bakery with individual goodies and maybe a soda fountain with ice creams and ices. But, I did the math and discovered that I'd have to sell 2,000+ pastries a day just to meet food costs and pay rent & utilities. And, there's no way that this location would ever draw that many people. Since rents are so high here, most bakeries are wedding driven and located in industrial parks. A cute place to pick up a few cream puffs can't pay the rent. Hope this helps!

Oh yes, they sent it right away. I am a bit disappointed because it isn't the board shown in the pictures and it appears to be very resinated because it's very hard, smooth, and feels cold and kind of artificial. There are several squares where there is clearly filler material around knots. It appears to be THIS board. It's also 2 inches longer in one dimension than my old board, but weighs less. So, I don't really want to spend $12 to return it, and it didn't cost much, so, I am going to keep it to use in photgraphs and as a backup, and look at getting on of David's boards in a few weeks when I am on my feet with my new job that starts next week. I know you are wondering why I bought the checkerboard instead of the plain board you liked, and, in retrospect that's probably what I should have gotten. The reason is that a patterned board, for me, is easier to practice knife cuts on. (I don't need flashy decor in the kitchen.)

Perhaps edible perfumes are what you are looking for?

But, when your hand is in a cast or brace with the thumb pointing away from the palm in a fixed position, holding a knife isn't really possible with any degree of safety. And, if you train yourself to hold the knife in the non-dominate hand, you're still stuck not being able to hold down the item you are cutting, which can lead to chasing hunks of food all over the kitchen.

Commercial nacho cheese contains about 1/3 cream cheese, adding a little to homemade nacho cheese can thicken it a bit and add a smooth texture.

My mother-in-law has arthritis. I got her this jar opener and, it seems to work well for her.

I haven't done many alcohol-containing sorbets, but, for regular ones, I find the key is having the brix between 25% and 30%. You can buy a refractometer on eBay, make certain to get on that is designed for brix and that reads from 0% up to at least 40%. I managed to get one with a dual read out that goes from 0-90 so, I can use it for jam as well. I would also expect that a tonic made with real sugar instead of HFCS would freeze up a bit firmer.

I found this test of beer can chicken vs a can of water.

I got some like that a while back. I was able to run it in my blender for a while and make some powder from it, but, it took time. I recall trying it in the mortar and pestle and it was very difficult to handle.

Thanks guys, I wound up getting a maple/cherry checkerboard end grain cutting board from a local place that is about to stop making wood cutting boards entirely. I will see how it works out, if it doesn't, I'll order one of yours, David.

Agreed. And, I'd like to point out that recipes are often just techniques with fancy names. -At least if you follow the classics as laid out by Careme, Escoffier, etc. Filet de Boeuf Montlhèry is one way to cook a filet of beef and Filet de Boeuf Tallyrand is another. Most of what you have listed as your project are the introductory chapters to any good comprehensive cookbook. If Wiki Cookbooks is missing something you are qualified to write, then I don't see why you don't just go ahead and write it.

My first instinct is to say, if it hurts, don't do it. That said. if you're going to try cooking anyway, try wearing one of those braces that hold your hand in a neutral position. I have, on separate occasions, broken both of my thumbs and one wrist, so, I have an idea of what you're going through. (and, my ASCII Grip one-hand controller for Playstation helped me from going stir-crazy) Do you have a mandoline? That or a food processor could be very helpful in cutting up vegetables. One of those silly slap-chop things might be useful, although, this chopper looks a bit more useful, if you have healp with cleanup. Don't forget that rice is very easy to make and can be the base for a meal, even if that meal is some frozen mixed vegetables and a simple cream sauce. Extra rice can always be used in fried rice, frittatas, casseroles and more. If the hubby will scrub them, baked potatoes are easy and a good base to serve things over, like chili or stew. I actually like cold leftover potatoes in a green salad. This is one instance where maybe you aren't nuts to buy salad dressing and those pre-washed greens.... A frittata might be fairly easy to make, if you use leftovers or get the DH to chop some veggies. Bean soups are easy. Good luck! I hope you get better soon!

Since you want to work at a really specific type of place, I'd either start knocking on doors and applying in person everywhere as either an apprentice or as a dishwasher. Once you ave the foot in the door, even as a dishwasher, you'll be able to see how things are done and, eventually, you'll probably be able to step in and cook some time when someone calls in sick. As for practice, check out the eG courses linked in the prior posts. For pizza, there are several good pizza communities online, I'd search around. And, there are some good videos specifically on pizza tossing, which can, BTW, be practiced with a wet towel.And, Jeff Varasano's Website is always a good read.

The baking chocolate isn't meant for use as couverture.

Well, I guess I should say that I'd probably like the ice cream -if it's really good real chocolate ice cream, you don't need 14 scoops and a ton of toppings and sparklers stuck in it. But, that's exactly what one US ice cream store chain used to sell as its special, and lots of people got used to that sort of thing being normal on a menu. I think that in some people's minds, 'wow factor' is still related to portion size to a certain degree. I mean, Little Caesar's just released a 6-meat pizza to 'top' the competition's 'meat lovers' pizza that 'only' has 5 meats on it. That being said, it's pretty clear that the Little Chef needs to up the quality of its offerings.

I saw both of those, good thing they are re-running episodes at various times! Big Chef Takes on Little Chef was interesting. The corporate talking heads seem to want some sort of circus sideshow made out of food, and Chef Blumenthal is more concerned about heritage foods and tricky flavor combinations. I'll admit, I have never been to Britain, so, I have no idea about Little Chef except what the show conveys. That said, I am wondering why they are trying so hard with sous vide and such instead of trying to just make fresh honest eggs, pancakes, waffles, etc. They keep pointing to the flattop griddle as an issue, but, lots of people cook eggs on a griddle in diners all over the place. Maybe the kitchens are too small for their own good. I suspect that fresh-baked bread (even if the dough comes from a commissary) would help them a lot with every meal. But, I don't know that they have an oven that can handle it. Anyway, IMO, someone needs to sort through what they are getting and divide up the things that are better made from scratch on-premises, things that can be made up at a commissary and delivered uncooked, and, the things that could be made completely at the commissary. I suspect that almost everything right now comes in pre-made. I also suspect that pleasing the directors will involve stunt-type food like that ginormous breakfast sandwich from Burger King a few years back, not the odor of oranges around a single scoop of chocolate ice cream. On Chef Blumethal's part, I was surprised that he gave up on the soup. The show gave the impression that he ditched it because he couldn't precisely duplicate the flavor of a buttered baked potato. IMO, this reflects one problem that I have with modern fine dining. I don't need something to taste precisely like another thing. If I wanted that, I'd just eat the other thing and skip the hassle. If it was a delicious potato soup, that's good enough. *** Conviction Kitchen was a bit of a train wreck. I am not convinced that the front of the house will be up to shape in time. Overall, I suspect that attitude will be the deciding factor in people winning or losing.

People straight out of culinary school may not be able to keep with the line right away, but, they are, in general, far more prepared for it than the average home cook. I've had issues with jewelry, hair, and nails from both genders. If you live in Wayne county, they offer free classes to prepare for their exam: http://www.waynecounty.com/mygovt/hhs/publichealth/ph_foodmgt.aspx If not, it's a county by county thing, so check with your county health department. And, yeah, for most of us just trying to get $10 an hour is a major struggle. This isn't a highly paid industry. There are a lot of free online resources nowadays. There are people demonstrating pretty much everything on youtube. This site has some great online classes, too. I'd start practicing every day. Good students go through 50-100lbs of potatoes a week practicing knife cuts at home. As for actually getting a job, you will need the food handler card, no one can let you work, even for free without one. The health department will close them down. Other than that, just keep trying, and, take whatever you can get even if it means dishwashing. In a lot of kitchens, honestly, the dishwashers get paid and treated very well because everyone wants to keep them happy. From there, you are in a position to try cooking when someone calls in sick, etc. It's been a tough couple of years, and right now, only the really low end and extremely high end are doing very well. So, a simple taqueria may be the place to start.

I wouldn't dismiss school out of hand; there is a lot you can learn there and you will get hands-on experience using commercial equipment. (and lifting 50 pound sacks of flour or sugar, and unloading 95 pound cubes of shortening) While you may still start your first job out of school as the lowest level cook in the kitchen, at or just above minimum wage, you'll rise faster because you'll have knife skills and work at a semblance of the expected speed. Just remember that this industry is generally very low in pay and long in hours. And, when you finally get that $50,000/yr job, you'll be on salary working long days and 6-7 day weeks. If you are really set on a path of working your way up, you'll need to start by getting a food service worker's card from your local health department. (it's called different things in different states) You aren't allowed to work anyplace without one. -And the information is the bare-bones basics of sanitation, which you will be expected to know. Understand that you will be expected to show up for work without makeup, jewelry or nailpolish. Be prepared to tie your hair back and wear an ugly hat or hairnet. No arguing about this, it's basic sanitation. If you had gone to culinary school, you would have had this drilled into you with daily uniform inspections. (yes, the tongue ring and eyebrow piercing must go) You will need sturdy, non-skid, closed-toe shoes, no exceptions. (payless sells two types of women's non-skid work shoes) Every person I have seen whine about the shoes not fitting and how they were going to wear something else has wound up falling and breaking bones within a few days. You will also need to move faster than you can probably imagine at this point. Most places have production requirements establishing the minimums of what you are expected to turn out in an hour. For example: one supermarket's minimum standard is 65 cupcakes decorated per hour, 12 cakes per hour, and 30 decorated cream pies. Even in a savory kitchen, you'll be expected to churn out julienned carrots and large dice potatoes fast, really, really fast. Most home cooks simply haven't worked long enough at particular tasks to get up to commercial kitchen speeds. One reason why people will be hesitant to hire you will be because they know civilians are slow. In culinary school, you are drilled for speed over and over until you can do things in 5 minutes that originally took you an hour to accomplish. As for work in Michigan, well, that's its own set of issues, sorry I have no clue. I'd look around for a caterer and see if they will take you on. It's always tough for career switchers in this industry because everything is physically demanding -most people are ready to get out by the time they are 40 because their knees can't take it anymore. (Bourdain talks about this, get those shoes! replace those shoes regularly!) And, right now, the economy is really bad the older you are -the unemployment rate rises sharply for those over 30, way over the national average. The other thing to remember is that some employers will be great instructors, others will not. If you read back in the archives here a bit, you'll find examples of employers with all sorts of bad practices, so, be prepared to take it all with a grain of salt. Good luck!