Lisa Shock

THIS cutter looks good for home use. Looks like you could cut an entire small batch, if shaped properly, with one cut. The closest I have ever seen in commercial products was a giant rolling-pin/cutter we used for the bread-dough based doughnuts at the doughnut place I worked at one summer in college. Handle to handle, it was close to three feet wide. It wouldn't work for biscuits because it cut holes out at the same time. Next time you're in a supermarket, look at the glazed doughnuts, you may be able to spot the remnants of the hexagon shape. (they get proofed and fried after cutting, so they become more round) this smaller bismark/biscuit maker

Cream biscuits are very good and quick to make. (obviously, cream tastes far better than shortening) When I made the menu for a breakfast place, they were what I chose for the house biscuit because they were easy for the staff to make consistently well. We lightly placed the dough in flan rings for consistency in portioning and to avoid inevitable re-shaping of scraps that happens when round cutters are used. They were used as the base for the eggs benedict.

Sorry, I was using technical jargon. They are tougher (pastry chef slang for have more structure) than cake. Not that a person eating one would think of it as being actually tough. They need to have structure. If they were as soft as cake interior they would be difficult to split, butter, and eat out of hand.

The author's recipe wasn't very good. Yes, proper flour is important, but the other ingredients have functionality also. IMO, butter will always make tastier baked goods than shortening. Shortening does add some softness, but I tend to choose flavor over texture. And, shortening is a modern ingredient -I would never consider this factory-made industrial product from 1911 to be 'traditional'. Lard was originally the prevalent fat in the US South. Butter tends to be found in more northerly climes, or as a Winter holiday treat due to a lack of refrigeration. This is why there is such a huge tradition of holiday cookie making: in many places, it was too warm in the summers to reliably make and keep butter. Yes, good biscuits take some time to learn to make. A light hand is essential. But, I've had good ones all over. I agree this is a sockpuppet advertisement for the flour. Then, there's the author's technique to consider. There are essentially two types of biscuit now, old-fashioned biscuits and drop biscuits -popularized following the introduction of commercial baking powder in the mid-1800s. Drop biscuits like his are speedy to make, but never have the lightly-laminated character of true old-fashioned biscuits. They're always kind of like tough little cakes. In culinary school, we learned to make them with butter, roughly cutting it into the dry ingredients (cake flour, baking powder, salt) then adding buttermilk, and gently forming the shaggy mass which is then gently, gingerly, folded a few times to make layers. I had previously made James Beard's family cook, Let's, cream biscuit recipe but, found the laminated sort to be superior. One other note, it truly kills me to say this, but, in a past episode of Beat Bobby Flay, he went up against a Southern restaurant owner in a biscuit competition. He made the lightly-laminated culinary school sort, she made the drop type. He won.

Yeah, to fit on 8.5" x 11" the takeout box is going to be really small. You might want to look into some sort of Japanese papercaft, or the work that goes into pop-up books to make what might appear to be, say, some noodles inside but when pulled out opens into a menu.

Why don't you print small menus, fold them into a thin rectangle and then place them inside a fortune cookie?

Thanks, @andiesenji I will keep an eye out for the glass insert. I should say that the plump shaped vacuum coffee pot I have is supposedly very good at making coffee, some experts rate it very highly. Unfortunately, I don't like coffee.

I tried the cinnamon Kellog's corn flakes and wasn't impressed. Normally, I love cinnamon, I don't know where this went wrong. Honey Bunches of Oats with real strawberries was very good. I don't eat a lot of commercially made cereal, I tend to eat old-fashioned oatmeal in the winter and home-made granola in the summer.

I've gotten some great stuff because people thought it was rusty or scratched when in fact there was just some brown-colored polymerized fat on it. A little Bon Ami and some elbow grease and many things are almost like new.

I worked at a place where the owner used plain brown sacks as carryout bags. The logo was applied with a rubber stamp, the servers stamped bags in their free time. As lemniscate points out, a custom stamp is a bit of an investment, but it will produce thousands of impressions. Maybe you could get several and use them in combinations along with hand-written sections to achieve the custom images you want.

Thanks, @andiesenji I did not know about the glass top. Mine doesn't have it, but I now think maybe it's missing from mine because the tray has no markings. It's exactly like the tray in your photo. (and still worth the $4 I paid!) Even without markings, I recognized it when I saw it because I have been collecting the Sunbeam vacuum pot and related accessories (plump shape) for years. I've got a bunch of the sugars and creamers, I should sell some. I have wanted to get the beautiful deco set in your picture but have never seen it in person. (trying to find it out in the wild rather than pay a marked up price from a dealer)

Keep your hot hands off the parts of the mold which directly hold the bonbon. Hold them by the edges of the frame and for as short a time as possible.

Cardboard, even lightweight stuff can be really damaging to a printer if the machine isn't made to handle it. The leading edge can just randomly cut into things on its journey through the machine. Then there's the issue of the liner, carryout boxes have a plastic film or wax coating applied after they are printed to prevent getting soggy.

No pics, sorry, but for a grand total of $13, I got a copy of Ikea's 'Swedish Cooking' cookbook, a circular 1930s chrome art deco Sunbeam tray that originally came with two of their coffeepot serving sets, and a brand-new-still-in-box (I checked, carefully) FoodSaver that is exactly the same as the one I already own. -I got the vacuum sealer in 2007 and have been wondering if it will break anytime soon. Since I already own accessories for it, and the price was right ($7) this made sense for me. When I crack it open after my current one dies, hopefully, it will work for a few years.

I'll probably try corning a couple of chicken breasts, instead of a giant brisket, to test out my idea. I understand that fats don't really travel inside of meats, that's why they are useless in marinades. But, I am hoping that some part of the flavor components of the orange peel will work. I've been to two grocers this week, neither had any chicken in stock -it was all turkeys. So, I'll have info at some point, but it's going to take longer than I expected.

Don't forget that this is all going to happen in the wife's spare time... (forget about the hours of prep work prior to opening every day, long workdays as the norm, constant practicing of skills like piping, or having production speed standards -not to mention needing to know how to hire speedy, knowledgeable employees who already have thousands of hours of piping, shaping, pulling, etc. experience under their belts)

Fekkas might work, and they keep well for a long time in a sealed container.

That's true worldwide. It was helpful to ensure survival in times where sanitation barely existed and people had no idea of the world of germs. In medieval Europe, porridge was a common food and almost everything was boiled into it including lettuce. I learned in a food history class that the Chinese workers who came to the US to work on the railroads in the 1800s had a much lower mortality rate than any other people living here because they drank tea almost exclusively and thus always boiled any water they consumed.

There are some eggless mousses. Most of these use white or regular dark chocolate as the stabilizer. Most mousses will hold for 3 days under refrigeration. They can be made in all sorts of flavors (fruits, nuts, herbs, spices, and chocolate) and layered in a glass for a pretty presentation. They can also be scooped out as a component in a plated dessert. You may wish to consider making little bowls or plates out of chocolate to form a base for a plated dessert you could then scoop mousse or gelato into a chocolate cup. if wrapped carefully and kept in a temperature controlled case, dark chocolates (without dairy) can last up to ten years. You'll have to train staff to handle them with tools as fingers can leave unsettling fingerprint marks on them. It's also easy to make sugar bowls, but keeping them is difficult if the humidity is high. In some places, a sugar bowl might only last a couple of hours. But, they are simple to make, with corn syrup plus maybe some food coloring, and could be made à la minute. I would strongly suggest taking a class in sanitation. Most non-professionals have no idea about cleanliness standards, or how foodborne diseases work. (most of us don't have a three compartment sink or use quat at home) In the US, there are several standardized classes taught across the country which give an overview of what sanitation procedures are expected in a commercial setting.

@LWB would you mind posting your formula? It would help us to know what exactly you're using and in what amounts. No need to post the procedure, just the ingredients and their measure. I also use the Cuisinart ICE-100 for small batches at home and it works fine. (my only regret is that it won't hold more)

One of my favorites is fruit sorbet. It's essentially just fruit pureed in a blender mixed with cooled simple syrup (sugar and water) and maybe some lemon or lime juice, then spun in an ice cream machine and frozen. It will keep for several days and can be portioned in advance. There are a few fruits which have tough fiber in them, such as apples and pears, and must be cooked, or you can buy a commercial puree which is always consistently delicious. These have a wide appeal.

You'll be baking it? It's just some peanut butter with some instant oats and sugar stirred in. Then the mix is frozen, you pour some melted chocolate chips on top, and then salt it. As far as I can see, there's no baking involved. And, the recipe uses inaccurate measurement, they are using volume measures for dry goods. I'm also not seeing how a frozen confection would be desirable in cold weather. IMO, if you're wearing bulky sweaters and woolen socks frozen foods are probably the last thing on your mind.

This has me wondering about adding orange peels to the brine for corned beef.

Agreed. For the most part, rich people don't go out to eat because they are hungry, they go out for experiences. Whether it's an intimate conversation in a quiet sanctuary or a raucous night dancing with friends, the venue has to be comfortable, appropriately decorated, and serve delicious beverages. Also, remember, the wealthy tend to eat better, healthier food than average and will expect lots of fresh (organic) fruits (and vegetables if you serve savory things) and other ingredients of high quality. They tend to ask for more personalization of their food; they'll ask for just about any ingredient to be removed or substituted. (which you cannot do with a commercial mix) They also expect a very high level of customer service from every employee, not just the front of the house.

I think you should take some classes in baking, at least learn the basics of how the ingredients work and how what we do to them affects results. Most business owners have some knowledge of how their product works. I know nothing about repairing automobile bodies, I would never think of opening an auto body shop. I cannot imagine hiring or supervising the employees. -I'd have no way to evaluate their work. In most businesses, everything flows from the top: procedures, standards, skills, etc. I have difficulty seeing how you will establish training procedures for staff when you yourself don't understand how real baking works. In terms of attracting rich people, be warned, rich people have money which means they tend to travel a lot. This means that they have eaten foods far from home and have developed discerning palates. They know the difference between high-quality foods made from scratch and commercially produced mixes. You have to serve them the high-quality foods they are accustomed to or they will not return. Also, waffles, muffins, and doughnuts aren't considered high-class foods. I know that in Belgium and at American fairs (events attended by the mostly middle and lower class masses) waffles get dressed up and eaten by pedestrians. But, they are generally just breakfast food. Many motels here offer self-serve waffles and toppings to budget-minded travelers who want a breakfast included with the motel bill. Muffins are everywhere, at self-serve breakfasts and supermarkets. Doughnuts were a dessert item before 1950. Now, every supermarket has them. People take them by the dozen to breakfast meetings in ordinary offices. Better offices where people earn more money tend to bring in better pastries like Danish or go healthy with a selection of fruits. HERE are a couple of plated desserts, the sort of thing that wealthy people expect to see when they order dessert. -Color, contrast, texture, tastes and all of it freshly made. There are lots of trained pastry chefs out in the world, many willing to travel or work via the internet, I suggest you look for one (or become one) to develop your menu.