Lisa Shock

It starts in just a couple weeks: Thursday, December 1.

Are you looking for home use, or commercial use? For home use, you can make a wide variety of syrups or liqueurs. They just won't have the shelf life of commercial products -but they'll taste great. Caramel in particular is super easy to make into a syrup, just caramelize some sugar then crush and add to water and cook a little while, in simple syrup proportions.

Yes, you can freeze most cookie dough without issue. (the types you cannot freeze are the meringues family) If you have a lot of freezer space, you can shape or scoop your dough then freeze. I worked at a bakery where one shift of employees would make up sheet pans of raw cookies on parchment and place the pan in the freezer for later. So, you could have shortbread shapes waiting to bake. You can go straight from the freezer to the oven with the pans. Just cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying and bad flavors. If you don't have that much room or that many pans, you can freeze cookies you scoop, like chocolate chip or oatmeal, scooped and on a pan overnight then transfer the frozen scoops to a plastic bag. (this is also good for general home consumption, family members can just bake one cookie in the toaster over whenever they like) You might want to try making these Apricot Confections. They are no-bake. You make them in a food processor, roll in powdered sugar and store in lots of sugar. they keep for about a month.

You could make stock, then freeze the stock. Dice it then roast and freeze for later use. We're about a week away from Thanksgiving. It should last fresh until then. Thanksgiving ideas: stuffing, mirepoix for gravy, braised celery side dish, salad, stock for soup, and save some for make casseroles with leftovers.

You could also roast it. If you bake bread, pizza, or other things at high oven temps, you could roast with the residual oven heat left after your other dish(es) are finished and the oven is 'off' but still really hot. I like both ways, the crockpot style is a moist cooking style and retains some volume while the roasted type retains the flavor of the individual pieces better, IMO. As for pitfalls, be prepared to stir the mix every once in a while, and you might want to cook for a while with the lid off, once it's heated through, to let water evaporate off -if you don't, you'll mostly have boiled mirepoix.

Fat makes gluten less able to hold air bubbles. Low-fat, no-fat recipes will rise more. Fattier recipes will be flatter and denser. This suggestion is a partial solution, if you cannot help but bake too hot and get the center rising after the edges and top have set, having more fat in the mix will lower the size of the mountain that rises up. It also evens out the look in breads with add-ins like dried fruit. The fat lubricates gluten strands and they slip around rather than firming up and making big bubbles. A good example is brioche vs baguette recipes. The baguette gets lots of lift and is fat free -the finished product is very lightweight due to all the air bubbles. Brioche is denser, does not rise as much, and relies on egg(s) to help with structure. (the eggs tenderize and emulsify, too) overall, brioche will never be as airy as a baguette and a finished loaf of the same dimensions as a baguette will weigh more.

You can get a better, more even dome by using a weaker flour, like cake flour instead of AP or a mixture of the two. AP flour varies in gluten content, there is no 'standard' for it. The AP sold in the Northern parts of the US tends to be higher gluten than the AP sold in the SE, which is closer to cake flour. Make sure to rest your quick bread batter after it's poured, for about 5 minutes, just to ensure an even lift from the first step of dual-acting baking powder. Try a slightly lower temperature. Like 25-50° lower. You get the jagged eruption mountain in the center when the edges of the batter have set and cooked before the center has fully lifted from the dual-action baking powder's second performance. You can try increasing the amount of fat, as fat affects the gluten's ability to hold air bubbles. This is why newer, low fat -no fat recipes result in odd-looking loaves that your grandmother wouldn't recognize. Ditch your baking powder: if it's more than 6 months old, buy some fresher baking powder. As a last resort, try increasing the leavening. This is the most risky maneuver since too much leavening can give your quick bread a metallic, bitter taste.

Check local supermarkets, even the big chains for canning jars. Summer is over, and many of them have been running sales on the jars to make shelf space for winter themed goods. Also, Ace Hardware sells jars and has a rewards card program. Not only do they give you a gift certificate after spending a certain amount, I have gotten good coupons (half price once, once it was $7 off a case of quarts) in the mail from them specifically for canning jars -of course that was after I purchased a case of them.

Another item you could sell would be herbed salts. Get a good salt in a large container, I just saw a 5 pound jar of pink at Tuesday Morning, and then think up herb mixes. For example, I make a mix for a friend who doesn't cook much, it's designed for roast chicken: salt, ground black lemon, rosemary, chile flakes. (I buy the black lemon already in chopped up form and then grind it smaller)

With PayPal, a buyer does not need to have an account, just a credit card. If you already have an account, it may be the easiest way to go.

I have a lot of experience with PayPal. They take about 3% of sales. That said, many people, myself included, rarely carry cash. Paypal does offer a reader, but, in many cases you can just have people log into their paypal accounts and pay you with something called paypalme. Be prepared to have a samples tray for any food items. If you bring jams, also being some saltines to serve them on. In terms of the booth, be prepared for wind. It might not happen, but best to be prepared if it does. Don't forget to bring a couple of chairs, and a cooler for your lunch and some drinks. One idea you might try is to make up some tins of cookies. People can then buy them and give as gifts, maybe even tell people they made them themselves. Good luck!

I forgot to mention that it's useful to put a couple handfuls of shredded cheese on the top before cooking. (you can mix in herbs and diced onions if you like) The top can look weird, so smothering it in cheese really helps the appearance.

Deep fried ravioli has been around for a long time in Italy, and since the 1940s in the US. Wikipedia....

You should look into changing your packaging, perhaps use one of those systems where gas replaces the air before being sealed.

Watermelon slicer tongs, a fairly recent fad here in the US.

I always submerge wild mushrooms in water. It's the only way check that there aren't worms inside. (well without mincing the mushroom) The worms always come out seeking air after a bit, if there are any. I have seen far too many infested wild mushrooms that looked ok on the outside to trust just brushing them off.

It's not a technique that Le Cordon Bleu teaches... That said, water works great and they don't absorb it. If you're really nervous, wash them in leftover wine.

Both biscotti and fekkas use a sizeable number of eggs and the end product keeps for up to a month if stored in a low humidity environment. I should also point out that I belong to a FaceBook group that meets a couple times a month and people trade excess produce from their gardens, as well as milk, honey, eggs, and homemade baked goods, soaps, etc. you might be able to trade for some other good food.

Maybe not as small as you'd like, but, you can get entry-level electronic scales for about $20. I have gotten them for a bit less at discount places like Ross, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, etc.

The classic ice cream recipe uses a lot of eggs...

Greetings! What's for dinner?

Those brushes are well known hazards, I won't use one. However, I will say that I have seen restaurants get in trouble for situations caused by a manufacturer or packer. Keeping extensive records of all equipment purchased can be useful, if in fact they do not have such a grill brush at the restaurant.

You eat your own portion. Very few cultures have one pick up food with their hands and stuff it into another person's mouth. If you live alone, it's fairly safe to not wash the handles of your utensils. (as long as you get the rotting food off) The contaminated handles will mostly just carry strains of bacteria and viruses your body is already used to. One of the examples from the early 2000s' ServSafe manual, where the student is asked to guess how a patient became infected with a food borne illness was about an elderly woman with a compromised immune system being cared for by her middle-aged daughter. The older woman was bed ridden and very weak and could not feed herself. The daughter made a hamburger for her mother, very rare just like the mother wanted. She only used part of a package of meat and stored the rest in the fridge. The woman became ill a few hours later and died within 48 hours. (bet you're about to blame that burger, right? -you're wrong!) The strain of e. coli found in the deceased woman's system did not match any organisms in the hamburger meat or its packaging. There was no cross-contamination with other foods. The e. coli did match a strain the middle-aged daughter's system. She didn't always wash her hands after using the restroom. And, to feed her mother, she was breaking the food up into small pieces and placing them in the elderly woman's mouth. She had used the restroom just prior to serving the burger. You have to ask yourself, how well do I know my housemates? How well do I know people who might visit and handle utensils -like my kids' friends, the sitter, my friends, service employees, repair people, etc. In the US, 50% of men, and 25% of women don't wash their hands after using the restroom. (also, one more reason to hate open concept kitchens, but, that's another rant)

Yeah, bamboo is so durable it will scratch nonstick coatings, even the tougher modern ones.

What many of you are missing is cleaning the handle. Our hands are a primary source of bad bacteria. Food handlers wear gloves to protect food from contact with skin. A few years ago some researchers looked at handwashing, in particular trying to determine if drying the hands with air dryers was better than paper towels. It turns out that the test subjects using the air dryers had more bacteria on their hands than the paper towel group. The reason was that while drying the hands, the air drying subjects rubbed their hands a lot which pushed oils and bacteria up from their pores. The paper towel group was touching the skin much more lightly and not bringing up as many germs. Also, air dryers had a LOT more bacteria around them, as the dryer itself sent a lot of infected water particles up into the air. Anyway, we all have bad bacteria in our pores and on our skin. Handwashing reduces the amounts but cannot eliminate it. As a result, cell phones are filthy, so are computer keyboards. Make up a small container of sanitizing solution, 1 teaspoon bleach to a quart of water, wet a bar mop type towel, wring it out and wipe down the handle. You can also wipe down your counters and kitchen surfaces like the fridge handle and front, the dishwasher, etc.