gfron1

I lean toward hummingbirdkiss' perspective on this. I too have lived around (Missouri, New Orleans, Indiana, Colorado, Peru and Bahrain), and while I definitely go toward quality, I can find dirt cheap quality anywhere if I get off the main road. If we say its not possible in Japan, well...we need to make the economies comparative. No, $2US won't by you more than a square of toliet paper in Japan, but take $2US to the hills of Peru and it used to buy me a huge dinner with drinks. So what is the equivalent Yen value of a 2 liter bottle of soda...that's the comparison point. But once we leave WF and step into the neighborhood Asian markets, Middle-Eastern markets, etc, there's a goldmine of high quality, low priced foods. Not everything, and not everyday, but it is undoubtedly is there. (I've got your back Heidi!)

I think people unnecessarily freak out over leaving things out. I leave out my butter 365 days of the year. I leave my eggs out for days on end. Milk I would definitely leave out overnight if I was baking with it. My only problem has been when I didn't read closely enough and the recipe calls for chilled.

Mine is labelled as sugar, but is a syrup.

Two updates. The food of our region does have a name gileño which refers to the people of the Gila River region. I have two people working on a definition - both of which have family from the area since well before we were a state. And here's a creation by one of Kerry's students that has been very active since the class. She called them misfit mice: and as for my chocolates for Chocolate Fantasia, let's just say that my hazmat suits have been ordered. And apparently I was part of a write up of the CF event in New Mexico magazine, but I haven't seen it yet. They also published a recipe - my riff on PH's fried ganache balls.

I am certainly not a word smith, nor an etymologist, so these may not capture the meaning fully, however, I like epicurean or food enthusiast. The write up of Epicurius in wiki Synonyms from google on "food enthusiast" I originally thought of food enthusiast b/c of the CIA's preference for the term. So, that's my offering - do they encompass the full meaning?

Yes and no. I like the visual of if there is mold, but the contradictory shelf life of 6 months v. 2 years is a big spread. And one of my pet peeves is the idea of a time from purchase since we have no idea how long that stuff has been sitting in a warehouse.

So how pathetic am I!? Can you imagine Chefpeon or the others who make a living selling cakes calling all of their customers to see if they liked it. Well, I emailed the customer because my insecurity was getting the best of me and I finished with, "I still have your check, so if the cake didn't meet your expectations, please let me know." I received this response: OK - insecurity gone, I promise I'll take the check and run next time.

When I ordered they did not ask for any business paperwork, so they really should be called a bulk retailer versus a wholesaler.

Interesting question since I have a 2/3 full pail in my cupboard. Mine has separated, but when I go to use it (I bought it over a year ago), I mix it up, nuke it to help it recombine, and go ahead. From Wiki and a nice explanation of invert found HERE. From sugarindia.com

I know our farmers market has a centralized credit card processor that all vendors can send customers to the main booth for payment. You can also just set up for the paper process - you lose more cut, but its about convenience. Or, if you know some other vendors that are complementary and not competitive share costs and space. As a consumer, I often times will only have credit. And at events like that, often times people expect to pay cash, but if they can use credit, they might do a bit more. Are you going to have Valentine's Day goodies? Can you upscale them by adding flowers, more packaging, putting your products on sticks and making them into bouquets...all of which allow you to charge more, which will justify the extra credit card expenses?

My first questions are always: What is the minimum order, if any? And, Do you offer free shipping in a certain geographic area, or at a certain purchase level?

Oh no...that's my job. I'll take one for the team.

My first thought was...ugghhh, homework But then I remembered...I have an intern! Patrick A - get to work!

Just a quick post-note. I've been asking everyone I can about the style of food we have here. No one could give a distinct answer, but all agreed it wasn't Santa Fe style New Mexican. The best description I was given was something like this: Its our own distinct style. Its not Tex-Mex. Its not Arizona Mexican. Its not really New Mexican as most people understand it. Its the food of our people because unlike most of the other styles that have evolved over the years, our style has remained relatively pure because of our isolation - meaning, no big chef has come in and popularized it and modified it. This is the food that is made in most kitchens in our area, and has been for a long, long time. There is no pretension. There is little fanciness (aside from a smiley face on your taco). It is working people's food. Hearty and affordable.

This is what I did a few months ago as my contribution to the Apple Pie Bake-off Basically its a baked apple with cinnamon and sugar wrapped in glazed fillo.

They've never given me a price list, I just call. And they do seem to get testy the longer my list gets, but I let that be their problem not mine. I buy out of the LA office, since UPS ground is only 2 days from them to me.

Same here - they just sit in the bottom of my dark cool cupboard and they last a long time. I know I make a lot of desserts, but few chocolate based desserts, and I go through my 5 kilos about every 6-9 months.

Qzina from last week: Valrhona Jivara lactee discs 3kg: 48.70 Cocoa Barry Tanzanie discs 11#: 72.05 CB Guayaquil 64% 44#: 213.05

You should be able to find some good leads in the Pastry & Baking Index Special Diets section HERE.

My recent El Rey order (prices fluctuate based on their specials) was $159US for 10kilos.

I'll let you know what she thought...I'm hoping she says, but I'm afraid to ask. There's more to that story.... And as far as fennel - John nailed it but I would be surprised if you don't know. If I have my terms correct, in India they call it Soaf - sugar coated fennel. So maybe you have soaf? At many Indian restaurants they have them in a bowl at the entrance for you to cleanse your mouth after a meal.

I've used my Cuisinart for 4 years and it hasn't failed me yet.

I can't say enough about curry marshmallow - just love them! This time I put them on crushed Domori cacao beans and decorated with candied grapefruit peel. I tried the cookie cutter method of cutting - it gave me a lop-sidedness which I don't really like. I thought maybe instead of oiling my cutter I could try heat and going slower.

Here's my first paid gig. Pros - you're not allowed to snicker or gafaw! A customer wanted a cake for their 60th. The only must-have was petit four icing (Thanks Jumanggy for the tip). I made an almond cake layered with damson plum jelly, with a bit of Grand Marnier simple syrup soaking. I should have thinned the poured fondant more than I did, and my decorative work needs work, but I was happy with it. I don't know if the customer was yet...I'm very nervous. Then the next day I made two desserts for an Indian inspired meal. I wanted to play off of the sugar coated fennel at the doors of many Indian restaurants, so using the same batter as above, I added crushed fennel seeds and coated it with the same poured fondant. These were very good. And my Madras Curry Marshmallow Project v.3. Generous amounts of madras curry, this time on top of crushed Domori cacao beans, and topped with leftover candied grapefruit peel. Okay - I've always loved my marsh, but on top of the beans - man was it good! The textural play and flavor balance....

My sense is that the problem is too diffused to address. You can look at dairy, oil, grain for fuel, or you can look at the overall impact of the decreasing value of the US$, the impact of last year's fires in Cyprus (impacts my store anyway), the increasing consumption in China and India (where I no longer can get inexpensive grains). Its a BIG problem - what politician is ready to deal with this?