HungryC

The only places I've ever seen such aggressive, buy-something-or-leave enforcement has been in the 'hood, where small shopkeepers can be plagued with crackhead shoplifters and are usually suspicious of everyone who's not moving quickly. In the worst neighborhoods, the corner stores keep everything behind bulletproof plexiglass, and you have to ask for what you want and pay for it through a rotating, plastic chute. (not the best setting for a chocolate shop, but kudos to you for trying if you are indeed operating a patisserie in a massively crime-ridden inner city area.) In more, ahem, "genteel" surroundings, you'd probably run off all of your customers if you discouraged browsing. And chasing people away in this fashion often leads to charges of profiling or discrimination, whether it is intentional or not.

Again, I stress that you should all sign up for ServSafe training. You don't list your geographic location, but Google your state's restaurant association, call them, and sign up for the training. In most states, you will need this sanitation training to work in a kitchen, bar, food truck, or even to sell food at a farmer's market. RE: food incubators, many such enterprises exist around the country. Generally, there will be a commercial kitchen you can rent by the hour, plus some training in the business end of things. Here's a link to Kitchen Inc in Houston as an example. If you have trouble finding one in your area, contact your local farmer's market organizers--they may be able to point you in the right direction. Or contact your county's Cooperative Extension Service agent (aka "agricultural agent")....most Extension programs are plugged into farm-to-market value-added activities, so they'll know if such a food-business incubator is operating in your area. The food truck idea is a good one, if you reside in an area that's food-truck friendly. Fully equipped, used trucks can be purchased for less than $20K in my area...again, this would allow you to build a market/name recognition before you invest in a bricks-n-mortar restaurant. It's also a great option for areas with wild seasonal fluctuations in demand (resorts, college towns).

Consider the end result: is it candy? The type of sugar used in most candies matters a great deal. Substitute at your own risk Is it a yeast-raised baked good? Then you can probably swap sweeteners without much trouble--simply increase or decrease the liquid ingredients ever so slightly to accommodate the switch between solid or liquid sweeteners. For cookies & cakes, the change from granulated sugar to a syrup will affect texture and baking time. RE: Steen's popcorn balls...aw, yeah. Absolutely the taste of Halloween to me. Recipe here atSteen's site, and photo below.

Steen's is a staple at my house. I use it in place of maple syrup on the breakfast table, in place of honey in yeast breads, and as a sweetener in gingersnap style cookies and in the traditional gateau de sirop (recipe here). It isn't equivalent to corn syrup, though: so beware a direct substitution in candymaking or other recipes where the chemical properties of corn syrup are paramount (like cookies intended to remain soft & chewy after baking). It's also a nice sweet component added to a vinagrette, along with some whole-grain mustard.

Might I suggest a softer entry into the food business world? Look around your area for an "incubator kitchen" or commercial kitchen you can rent by the hour, and use it to prepare foods for sale at a local farmer's market. You can test the market's interest in your fare, gain experience in commercial-scale production, and find out the various organizational skills & strengths of your group. Does any of you possess the requisite food safety training? ServSafe and similar courses are usually offered by the local restaurant association; this basic sanitation training is essential.

Thought y'all might like to know that I'm picking the first tomatoes of the year....the Red Beefsteaks were especially early. Had a caprese salad on Sunday! Zucchini are producing, too.

If you're into caramelized onions, try using a slow cooker...it does a great job. Sliced onions + butter + time = enough onions for many, many recipes.

Mmm, I love pickled quail eggs...a great nibble w/drinks. And the little quail eggs absorb the pickle faster than chicken eggs. If you're lazy, you can use the brine from your favorite brand of commercial cucumber pickles.

Why not refill the water bottle from the tap at home or another trusted source? What's the difference if the container is ultimately placed in the recycle bin? The difference is the number of times you use it before placing it there, which reduces the number of bottles that have to be recycled. Nathan sports bottles are great--easy to clean, with a removable straw & mouthpiece. No weird stuff growing in a hard to clean reusable bottle. http://nathansports.com/our-products/hydrationnutrition/stainless-steel-and-tritan-bottles

Feral pigs tear up levees all over south Louisiana--especially the flood protection levees at the edge of the Bayou Sauvage national wildlife refuge, which is wholly inside Orleans Parish/the city of New Orleans. The problem is controlled at the NWR through hunting....it's incredible that a state would outright ban a species that has potential economic value to farmers. We in LA have our share of destructive, invasive species (ever heard of the nutria that's chewing up our coastal marshes?). In this state, it's legal to shoot feral hogs year-round in daylight. Heck, if you want to control the population, pay hunters a bounty for 'em. (Nutria have a $4 bounty--the hunter gets paid for every tail turned in. More than 325,000 nutria were removed from coastal LA last year through this program.) Here's info on the nutria removal program: http://www.nutria.com/site9.php

Count me as an avid scratch baker (yeast and otherwise) who likes self-rising flour. Someone mentioned upthread about self-rising being lower-protein than AP, and I concur: it's perfect for biscuits, featherlight cupcakes, and quickbreads. The microdistribution of the baking powder is great--I don't have to sift, sift, sift. But I can't figure out why ANYONE would buy precooked, frozen, microwave RICE. It takes just 20 minutes to cook rice from scratch...and we're not talking about a flavored or seasoned product. It's just plain, white rice, frozen & microwaveable.

Try allowing the chicken to rest, uncovered, in the fridge overnight. I'm told that drying the skin will yield a crispier result when cooking at lower temps. Also try a rub with some sugar in it to encourage "crust".

My personal favorite is the White Bread Variation 1 recipe from Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice". I prefer buns made with dry milk solids to a buttermilk white bread (same book, variation 2).

I buy SAF or Red Star instant yeast in 1-pound vacuum packages and store it in the freezer. I go thru 1 lb in 3-4 months, and I haven't ever proofed it. I might consider proofing if 1)I bought it by the strip and it was past the "best by" date 2)I stored it at room temp or in a warm spot or 3)it was undated and I didn't know the age.

This isn't really an answer, but the folks at The Fresh Loaf www.thefreshloaf.com can probably answer that question. I vaguely recall reading something about the micro organisms feeding on rice in idli batter, but I can't remember where I saw it.

I did, however, learn that Knox gelatin is a bit more powerful than some brands, and 1 teaspoon per cup of whipping cream is really quite excessive. If anyone has a better suggestion for stabilizing whipped cream, I'd be open to hear it. Instead of gelatin, try Instant ClearJel, which is a modified food starch. Good set, but not firm like gelatin. Use 1-2 tsps per cup of heavy cream, depending on how long you need it to hold. Clear Jel is great for fruit pie fillings too. It is great in any uncooked application--it will gel without heat, so you can slice up fresh fruit, sprinkle on a little sugar to draw out the fruit's juices, then stir in a little ClearJel & sugar to "set" the mixture. Great for preserving the nice fresh texture of strawberries, pineapple, etc. in tarts & pies.

What he said. Sheet steel has given me superior results...count me as a convert. I have a 3/8" plate in my oven right now.

Beth's Hensperger's The Bread Bible has an entire section devoted to food processor yeasted dough recipes. Worth a look: http://books.google.com/books?id=dvwGDlfoB9oC&lpg=PP1&dq=beth%20hensperger&pg=PA394#v=onepage&q=beth%20hensperger&f=false

The Randazzo's family of king cake & sweets bakeries come to mind: http://blog.nola.com/tpmoney/2008/12/divorce_sours_randazzo_family_1.html In addition to the branches mentioned in the linked news story, at least two other family members operate bakeries under the family surname.

A google search will turn up beaucoup date candy recipes with nearly identical ingredients and even similar "roll in a towel" instructions. This is a super common recipe in community cookbooks from the 40s onward.

Yep, that's an old school date roll...still pretty common during the holidays in the deep South. Some variations call for evaporated milk. You can pour it onto a Silpat-lined sheet pan, then shape it into a log as it cools a bit. Or pour it into a lined quarter sheet pan and cut into squares like fudge. It's really sticky sweet and could benefit from a little contrast--try using salted nuts, or sprinkling some date-friendly spices on top.

I am constantly amazed by the crazy prices in the W-S catalog (and in stores). It's like the entire product selection is being shifted toward wedding/gift registry items, packaged mixes, and wildly overpriced spices...very little left in the WS stores or catalogs for a "real" cook. Sur La Table seems to have a much better selection of "real" cooking items, and frequently at better prices. Still, a place like Fantes or any halfway decent restaurant supply house blows 'em both out of the water.

I can't recall the precise source...I have 12+ baking books, from Ortiz's Village Baker to Reinhart's BBA to Suas's Advanced Bread & Pastry. What I do recall is that enriched breads are done by 190-200, and non-enriched (flour, water, salt, yeast/starter only) need to bake to 205-210. From personal experience, I know that wetter loaves require a higher internal temp or the crust will soften once the loaf cools.

I bake the Tartine style loaf regularly, and I've taken to freezing fully baked loaves. Sometimes I freeze the whole (or half) thing, other times I slice thickly, double-wrap in plastic, then bag for the freezer. This way I can have a whole or half loaf when I want it, or just a couple of slices to accompany a meal. I defrost the loaf overnight at room temp, or in a 350 oven for 20 minutes or so. (Slices, obvi, take less time.) As for par-baking, you need to bake it to an internal temperature of at least 205. It's a wet dough, so lower temps won't yield a sufficiently "dry" crumb. (An enriched sandwich loaf can be fully done at 190 degrees). One thing to consider with a parbaked Tartine loaf: will the crust end up overly hard and/or the crumb dry out excessively if you put it back into the oven to brown after being frozen? I've done parbaked rolls and small breads, but never a loaf as large as the Tartine boule.

I thought bread pudding was supposed to be a mushy pile...but if you're concerned about a heavy texture, mix half stale bread and half coffeecake to lighten it a bit.