Lisa Shock

A lot of the uproar is about her describing in loving detail her plans for a slavery themed wedding in 2004.

I really think that her age cannot be used as an excuse. I am over 50, and recall being a small child and hearing my dad talk about his childhood. He told me about going to the grocery store with his mother in the early 1930s and seeing the word in question used on a sign as a descriptor (paired with the name of a body part) for a type of south american nut. His mother, who was born in 1900, complained to the store manager and made certain that he knew, in no uncertain terms, that this was a word that a civilized person would simply never use.

She'll be rehired within 2 years. Look at how FN handled the Robert Irvine scandal.

You could make yogurt parfaits in clear plastic disposable cups. Take plain yogurt and add some honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and layer with berries. Top with granola, keep cold.

One more safety warning, in case you missed this in the news, in 2012, a woman had to have her stomach removed because of damage done by a liquid nitrogen cocktail.

Scones can be savory: cheddar, bacon, Parmesan & oregano, etc. You could make crepes and fill them with a cold filling like raw fresh fruit. If you could bring in chafing dishes with fuel canisters, your options would be greater: breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, hot fillings for lunch sandwiches like pulled pork or sloppy joes.

I've done it, the main issue is that they can easily get too cold. The LN2 Primer is a good place to start. I have always used my stand mixer, but then I have only done this for groups, where I wanted fairly large amounts. You really do have to taste test everything, the cold affects flavor a little. Also, anything carbonated will lose the carbonation. Overall, I found it to be mostly too much trouble unless the group was large enough to consume a couple quarts of drink at once. Don't forget safety issues!

I don't recall seeing a thread on baked goods, but, since most pastry isn't normally kept in a cold case (refrigeration makes crisp pastries soggy) you could probably get by with a cooler and gel packs for it. I personally would not hold purchased items. You'll be held hostage when the time comes to leave if they don't return promptly. Also, I used to work as a district manager for a famous specialty food company that has seasonal stores in malls. We had to implement a policy of 'no holds' because we had consumers in several states claim that the gift wrapped, purchased food being held had been tampered with (seals broken, foods injected with poisons) while they were away. As far as we could tell, the claims were bogus, but we needed to reduce our potential for liability. So food never left the sight of the consumer and the gift wrapping program ended. I'd be wary of people returning and claiming that what you're handing over isn't what they bought, or worse, that you somehow tried to injure them.

You might just want to read up more on wine pairing in general, and go on a few tasting expeditions to some local wine shops. Just knowing that a meal will be vegan doesn't really help at all with pairing. You've got to look at the actual foods themselves and then decide. There are vegan wines, BTW. There isn't an enormous selection, but, I have had some very tasty bottles -especially from Oregon. Ask about them at your local wine shop.

I'd go straight to the oven. If you thaw, condensation will appear and wet them, causing some gluten development that you don't want. Also, the sugar in them will draw moisture and possibly become liquid, which would also be undesirable.

I usually refrigerate my pans of cookies after shaping. The end product tends to look neater.

The basic sherry cobbler recipe from Jerry Thomas is: 4 oz sherry 2-3 slices orange 2 bar-spoons sugar It's shaken with ice, hard. Then, it gets garnished with lots of berries. You could try this without sugar and see how it goes, maybe add bitters. Berries are in season right now, which is why I thought of this drink. Here are more cobbler ideas.

I'd use it for cocktails, a cobbler in particular. I'd just reduce the sugar content of a recipe a bit then adjust to taste.

Most woks make decent popcorn; they are my favorite vessel for stovetop popcorn. The pan may be worth holding on to if you eat it regularly. Have a big bowl ready. Just heat, brush oil all over (something you wouldn't have to do with an ordinary seasoned wok), then add a small amount of oil, about a quarter cup, and toss in 2-3 kernels and cover. when the test kernels pop toss in more corn, you want enough so that it's only about half submerged in oil. Cover and shake occasionally, turn the heat off as the popping slows. Shake one last time to see if that gets a lot more pops, or not, and pour into the bowl. And, yeah, I would try contacting the company, even with a handwritten letter.

That's pretty much the way I make my onion soup, although I got my recipe long, long ago... My advice is to use white onions, not yellow ones -the yellow ones never seem to break down properly. And, red/purple are too sweet IMO, although some people swear by adding a small % red onion. If it comes out too pale in color, add a tiny amount of Worcestershire or dark soy sauce.

I never thought to grind the granules, I always just tossed the ingredients in my Oster classic beehive blender (circa 1996, real chrome on steel not the newer wimpy one) and let it run for a while, maybe 3 minutes... It makes a paste sort of like honey butter, keeping it in the fridge may stiffen it up a little. It's not attractive, but it works. Sometimes I apply it by putting on a disposable kitchen glove and scooping it up and on the pan with just my fingers. It's always worked very well for me with baked goods: breads, cakes, etc.

The oil allows the temperature of the carrots, a fat free vegetable, to rise above the temperature of boiling water as it cooks, and, therefore to allow caramelization to occur. McGee covers this in a discussion of roasting potatoes with and without rubbing them with oil.

Silicone is an insulator and negatively affects the baking of cakes and the like. Cake sticks to the pan, cooks oddly (tops browning before sides or bottoms), and the pans need support structures to prevent them from deforming and producing odd shaped items. I've tried a lot of different items, from individual cupcake 'papers' to large molds and the cake stuck every time. The only thing I use silicone for is custards and eggy/wet things like cheesecake which for some reason do pop out cleanly. But, I could live without them. Flexipans hold their shape much better and can turn out much more detailed cheesecakes, I am not fond of them for cake. Also, they need to be handled and cleaned with care. I wouldn't use them in a large operation unless I could personally train and oversee the diswashing staff.

I really enjoyed it, the book takes time to explain the functions of various ingredients.

Cast iron can also get too hot and stay there for too long, making crunchy eggs... I toss out the oil/lecithin mixture after about a year, just in case. (I often make a half-batch at a time.) With the BHT, which prevents rancidity, it's probably ok for use for a lot longer, but, I don't have a lab to check on it. I am concerned -because it's whipped in the blender, oxygen has gotten to all of it, unlike a regular bottle of oil where just the top is exposed. (and, of course, oils can be rancid and full of cancer-causing compounds before you can smell that it's gone off) I vacuum seal the lecithin granules and store those in the fridge to use later. I have kept some of those for up to five years, sealed. It does create less brown sticky stuff, mostly because I apply it only where it's needed, there's no stray drops on odd areas like with a spray. It's also nice because it doesn't wind up oiling your kitchen, and can't be inhaled by you or your pets. (IMO, a goodly % of the greasy crud that forms on kitchen cabinets and range hoods is pan spray.) BTW, don't use olive for for this, it not only tends to burn but, it's super-firm when cold and difficult to use.

I have not been able to make a spray, but, I have been making the non-stick pan coating from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book for years. It works really well with baked goods, I keep a jar in the back of the fridge. My only change to the recipe is that I add a tablespoon of BHT to a quart of oil and let it dissolve overnight before using. (prevents rancidity) 1/2 cup lecithin -I have only used the granules from the health food store 1 cup vegetable oil (use a type that will not burn at high heat, I use peanut) Pour into a blender and mix well for a minute, store in the refrigerator. Apply evenly with a pastry brush or paper towel.

Worth thinking about. Baking may satisfy me ... it's certainly healthier. Never cooked with silicon ... You can use a regular muffin pan or ramekin or tempered glass cup, just oil or spray with pan spray. I like silicon because it's easy to pop the final product out of and, because it's an insulator, you don't tend to get dark sides. I hate silicon for everything except eggs, custards and cheesecake. I would not heat the ham and cheese with the eggs. The ham will dry out in the oven and probably release water into the egg making them watery and hard to cook. The cheese also interferes with the egg cooking, it will be hot and runny making unmolding difficult, and, it can be heated simply by putting it on the muffin as soon as the muffin is done toasting.

People cooked eggs for a long time before the advent of teflon and Pam. Generally, you use more oil than you would of Pam. Cast iron is fine, but you need to work quickly as it is less responsive than steel. I grew up with steel and learned to turn out eggs (scrambled, fried, omelets) in it as part of learning to cook. My suspicion is that you are heating the pan too high for eggs, and you may not be using enough oil.

Sugar is hygroscopic.

Depending upon how you like your eggs, you may wish to consider baking them rather than frying. Silicon muffin (or other shape) pans, if sprayed with pan-spray, work very well for this purpose. In the oven, you'll get even cooking and don't have to worry about flipping. You can also make several at once.