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Teri Everitt

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Posts posted by Teri Everitt

  1. Would this ganache set up firm enough to be a filling in a wedding cake? I have to make a wedding cake for lactose intolerant people in a few weeks. The cake part is ok since they aren't vegan, at least I can use eggs.

  2. We use different fillings depending on the macaron flavour.

    Ganache for the chocolate and cocoa nib flavoured ones.

    Buttercream for some.

    Mousseline for some (not as stable as buttercream, but less sweet)

    I've also made fillings of almond paste, butter and raspberry compound for the raspberry ones but I prefer mousseline.

  3. I don't know if there's a similar thread in the Pastry forum, so moderators feel free to move this post! 

    When I make cheesecakes, I always press a large sheet of heavy duty foil around the springform pan before placing them in their water baths.  But no matter how I wrap the pan, water inevitably leaks through the foil and soaks through the pan, resulting in a somewhat soggy crust.  Last time, I used TWO sheets of foil, but no such luck.  Are my wrapping skills sorely lacking?  What am I doing wrong?

    Beebs, at my work we sometimes nest the cheesecake pans into a slightly larger disposible foil round pan before putting it in the bain marie. This NEVER leaks.

  4. So what little treats or snacks do you make at work that aren't available to the customers?

    At my work it's iced coffee (not that we wouldn't make it for customers if it was practical, but it isn't), occasional pizza staff lunches and for myself the occasional "Wendy" sandwich, named for the co-worker who invented it....cream cheese and fried egg. It's not as gross as it sounds, really!

    The chefs that work in the back are always snacking on PB and J as well.

    So what treats are off-limits to the customers at your work?

  5. Use this stuff sparingly....despite the fact that it is a natural product, it is really strong and if you use too much your food will taste like orange-scent Mr. Clean floorcleaner. It also can eat through styrofoam and thin plastics.

  6. Over the years we've had a few food related incidents involving the kids. Reading the pets and cooking thread got me thinking about a few of them.

    Emma,(now 16 and still banned from making popcorn on the stovetop because of some desecrations committed against my helpless pots and pans) started her cooking career at age 2 when she woke up one morning and decided to make breakfast for Mom and Dad. What I awoke to was about 5 eggs cracked onto my couch and a healthy pour of pancake syrup on top for good measure.

    She also told Grandma that it was okay to use a corning ware oven dish right on the stovetop. Why Grandma was taking cooking advice from a 3 year old I'll never quite understand. Results were bottom suddenly falling out of dish while full of chili and en route to the table. Much cleaning of white stove, white cupboards and light gray flooring followed.

    Another time I put some tomato sauce on the stove and put some garlic butter out to warm up to room temperature. I left the room to check my email and when I came back the garlic butter was gone. I searched all over before noticing the oil slick on top of the sauce. This time my son was the culprit.

    Then last week, I had bought Gordie a muffin mix and promised him we would make muffins. I got super busy at work and couldn't do it. Big sister then promised she would help him, and she bailed too.

    I guess he decided to take matters into his own hands. On my weekend away, my ex came downstairs to find he had dumped all the muffin mix in a bowl, all the eggs he could find (4) and a box each of chocolate instant pudding and banana instant pudding. He was enthusiastically buzzing all of this with the hand blender. I guess the thinking was muffins are good, pudding is good so muffins + pudding= really good. Strangely enough my ex decided to bake them anyway and they turned out better than when my ex bakes them following the directions.

    Maybe I should send the muffin mix people his recipe :biggrin:

    So what surprises have thel little ones cooked up for you?

  7. I had actually forgotten about this until yesterday when I was telling a coworker about it.

    Years ago my sis had a rather-fond-of-food samoyed named Scruffy who loved vegetables, especially ones that were crunchy and green. Green peppers were her favorite and Tam always fed her some while she cooked dinner.

    We had moved into an apartment with a large yard....the apartment below was available at the same time that my sis and her boyfriend (and dog) were looking to move. They moved in, and we decided to plant a garden since we had so much yard space.

    One day while I was outside weeding I gave Scruff one of the green beans we were growing, to see if she'd like it. Apparently she did, because the next day when we came outside, all the beans that were easy to reach were gone. Vanished. I got a lecture from my fellow gardeners about not teaching the dog to pick her own food.....

  8. I was going to make the standard replies to this thread, when I realized that most of my replies did not have to do with me, but with the eating habits of my son. My son has autism, and has had some issues with food over the years, but I have also come to realize that part of the problem was me. I had responded to his picky eating habits the way parents usually respond to picky eating habits...by making fairly bland food. This for a kid who used to eat Dijon mustard straight from the jar with a spoon! I have since discovered that he loves vegetables (but only raw, or roasted...I've even roasted brussel sprouts after a quick toss in garlic butter...he loved them). He also likes meat, which is a surprise since previously he had only seemed to like mushy fast food meats....nuggeted or in burger form. Rub a pork chop with olive oil, garlic and herbe-de-provence and a generous sprinkle of pepper, sear well and he'll eat three of them.

    Despite all these exciting developments, there is still room for improvement, therefore:

    I WILL continue to learn how to cook good food for my little guy.

    I WILL find a kick-ass salad dressing that Gordie likes, so that bottled crap can stay the hell out of my fridge. (Feel free to pm me a recipe if you have one, kid loves garlic and dijon mustard).

    I WILL find a way to get him to drink water at least some of the time (he's been know to suck back a litre of juice all on his own, and does not recognize milk that is not chocolate). This one is a little tough for me personally, I hated drinking water as a kid, it felt really heavy and sat in my belly like a brick.

    ETA: in response to a pm I got asking why I would want my son to drink water when I didn't enjoy drinking water as a child:

    It's a health issue. He is on a medication that causes weight gain, and all the juice he drinks add too much sugar to his diet.

    I WILL find a non-fast food restaurant where he feels comfortable and enjoys the food. Not that I begrudge him the occasional Subway or McD's, but he makes almost constant demands for fast food. He is becoming old enough and well behaved enough that this almost seems doable.

    That seems like enough on my plate for 2008.

  9. It wasn't dinner, it was a Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake I'd made to bring to Easter dinner. When I went down to the basement to put clothes in the dryer it was baked and decorated and sitting in the refrigerator. I came back upstairs to find my son (then 3) and the 2 cats sitting together on the floor contentedly chowing down, with everything in sight sticky and covered with cheesecake and chocolate. Fortunately the cats can't get into the fridge on their own. Their "accomplice" still gets into the fridge and eats things he shouldn't , but now at age 11 he won't share with the pets.

  10. My main beef is with the pants.

    You have the choice of the sized pants or the elastic waist ones, and neither kind fits women well. I have the elastic waist pants, because like a lot of women, my waistline can fluctuate. The large size was too big...there was enough room in the sides of these suckers that I could have carried around a small child on each hip. The medium is not as bad....but the crotch depth doesn't allow for a woman's butt...so you have a wedgie all day and they're a bit more snug on the waist than I'd like.

    There has to be some better solution, a bit of elastic on the sides only, or a side zipper on the fitted pants might offer a better fit. One of these days when I have time I'll experiment on a pair of my worn out checks with my sewing machine.

    These are pants that you have to wear all day, sometimes for 10 or 12 hours, so they should be comfortable, why doesn't anybody make them that way?

  11. I've worked in the kitchens since I was 20 years old, and haven't had too much trouble with not being taken seriously. I have been at places where male kitchen staff are treated differently than female staff, but this can take all kinds of forms:

    At one place, the exec chef would verbally abuse the male staff, and then when he came across one of the girls it'd be "Good morning dear, how are you?" all formal and polite.

    The hiring procedure was funny too, guys interview consisted of "You're hired...fuck up and you're fired." Girls got a full sit down interview and grand tour of the kitchen, pastry kitchen and various storage areas. I hate job interviews, so I'd love the "You're hired, fuck up and you're fired." sooo much better.

    Currently, I seem to be thought of as bad-tempered at work, even though one of the male chefs is Mr. Mood Swing and the other throws (quite literally, as in duck from flying objects) a good tantrum once in a while. The source of my "rep" seems to be the fact that I'm willing to let people know when they've pissed me off (even the boss) and that I have two X chromosomes. And I've never thrown anything at anyone ever, honest!

  12. My mother thaws out meat by leaving it out on the counter.

    My mother did this my entire childhood without managing to poison anyone. However, it was too much for my nerves several Christmas dinners ago when she washed out the turkey while prepping it and sat it in the dishrack to drain. As soon as she had it in the pan I scrubbed it and the sink down :shock:

  13. - If she threatens to never patronize your cafe again, thank her profusely.

    Best advice so far!

    Honestly, there is such a thing as BAD customers.

    The place where you work sounds very much like my work. We have really loyal regular customers who will come in 3 or 4 times a day for coffee, sandwiches and treats. I can't even fathom spending $8 or $9 dollars a day on coffee alone.

    These customers never complain, or if they do it's reluctantly. And we are strive to keep all our customers happy, not just the ones that are in daily. The customers that do complain are ALWAYS people who buy one cake a year, or come in once every 4 months for croissants etc. The one thing the complainers all have in common is that they give off the attitude that our shop would go out of business if it weren't for THEIR patronage. Behold the power of one delusional customer! :biggrin:

  14. I make enchiladas

    and we sit on the floor in front drinking beer

    Invite me over! No, really.

    As far as the topic goes, I agree simple is best. Experimenting with untested recipes for a dinner party is never a good idea. Use yourself and family as the guinea pigs first!

    I'm a pastry chef, and my sister loves baking. At ever family get together she will usually have homemade cookies and dessert out....so I always offer to make bread, unless specifically requested to bring something sweet. I can show off anytime I want....at work.

  15. I make a scone mix that I keep in my freezer.

    3 cups flour

    4 teaspoons baking powder

    1/2 teaspoons baking soda

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1/2 cup of sugar

    combined and pulsed in the food processor with 4 ounces frozen butter diced small

    If I left the sugar out of this mix, would it make a decent sub for Bisquick? I'm not a fan of shortening.

  16. I make a nice jam with rhubarb, ginger and strips of lemon peel. I think it's 2 1/2 cups sugar to each pound of rhubarb. I don't measure the lemon or fresh ginger. Not chutney, but still good.

  17. Lots of great suggestions in this thread, here's my 2 cents worth.....I cook for me and 3 kids so it's more of a challenge for me to stick to a budget.

    No food is ever cheap enough if you won't eat it. I buy beans, chickpeas etc in the amounts I think I will use, and only cook them if I have a specific plan in mind for them. I buy loads of steel cut oats because I eat them every day for breakfast.

    I agree with the previous poster who said it's sometimes better not to have too much planned ahead. Sometimes you'll get ideas when you see what's on sale at the supermarket. Last week I came across phyllo dough ridiculously cheap and thought of a thread on egullet where someone mention wrapping salmon in phyllo. My two daughters love salmon, and I always have some in my freezer. We had it for dinner, and my oldest brought the leftover piece to school for lunch. Her friends ate most of it. The leftover dough is back in the freezer awaiting further inspiration.

    Leftovers are your friend....but only if you don't have to eat them all week. Try to get a few meals out of a batch of something, but see if you can change it up a little...last nights leftover chicken in a salad, or add some stock to leftover beans to make soup.

    Speaking of soup, a hand blender makes leftover vegetables into soup really quickly.

    Make your own doughs or mixes and keep them in the freezer if you have room. I make oatmeal cookie dough in a big batch, divide it....half becomes raisin or butterscotch chip, the other half chocolate chip. Shape into pucks and freeze on a paper-lined sheet pan. When they are frozen, pile them into a freezer bag, and bake them as needed. I also bought 5 pounds of butter last time the grocery store sold it at $2.99 a pound (we pay $3.80 a pound for it at work). I made up about 8 bags of scone mix for my freezer and I bake of one batch at a time when I want them. I also like to have a batch of crepes in the freezer for quick meals. The kids will eat almost anything if I put a cheddar cheese sauce on it. A couple of crepes, some leftovers or poached eggs and a nice sauce = dinner.

    It would be easier to give suggestions if I knew what kind of meals you like to eat. Anyone can eat cheaply, but you want to eat WELL on your budget.

  18. Oh I am sorry!!!! how about I change the name ...

    hmmmmm

    the worst meal at someones home

    Tuna Cassrole al la (name changed to protect any names of any people who can cook because she honestly could not cook!!! how is that? )

    THANK YOU!

    I have to say, it's not really my fault that I took offense to having MY name associated with canned fish and slimy noodles....it brought back a very painful food memory:

    Long, long ago my two sisters and I sat down to dinner. It was one of those the-night-before-payday meals. Anyone who's grown up in an, umm, financially unstable household can tell you what these meals are like. Strange and unfamiliar food combinations arising from Mom going once around the pantry and throwing together what's in there....with some pasta. There are people who believe that EVERYTHING goes with pasta. They are wrong.

    Adding to the ambience is a general "bad vibe" permeating the atmosphere. Adults are TENSE, so it is a bad time to criticize the cook.

    On these particular plates were canned salmon, mushy canned peas, cream-of-whatever and other ingredients that defied identification. I don't mind canned tuna, but canned salmon looks and smells too much like catfood to me, and the sliminess is definitely a turnoff for me.

    One sister immediately made a rude remark, and was banished from the table with a slap. I don't want to give the impression that my mom dealt out slaps regularly...quite the opposite...it meant you were in Big S**T.

    Anyway, reluctant to suffer the same fate as Tracey, Tam and I pushed around the slippery mess on our plates, choking down enough to buy our freedom.

    It was quite the test of my gag reflex.

    Catching my sister's glance from across the table, the horrible truth occurred to us both as we realised we'd been HAD......a slap was a small price to pay for not having to eat THAT meal!

    :shock:

  19. Just some observations:

    1. Things that need to be watched/stirred constantly while cooking take twice as long when you REALLY need that bathroom break.

    2. Place an order for some desperately needed item or ingredient, ordering a few other things to make up your minimum. On delivery day the only item your supplier shorts you will be whatever thing you based your entire order on.

    3. If a freezer or fridge is shared by cuisine and pastry, one group will feel they need more fridge space and cover any free space with their mise.

    4. Customers that request to speak with you personally or on the phone will assume you have ALL day to talk to them. Of course this will happen mostly when your coworker is sick and you are working alone.

    anyone else got any?

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