gfron1

I have and thought the same thing. I think that technique provides a bit more control over the shape of the butter as you begin rolling it. Not necessary, but I see the usefulness.

That's really exciting David - it looks like a great collection, and great gifts.

I see you huge wheel of blue cheese, but...isn't that a gigantic viper attacking an army man (or woman) in the corner. That's a scary house But besides the death and destruction, the house looks great - lot's of fun features!

I just brushed with water and it sealed fine.

This topic was started to learn about the differences/purposes of butter and shortening in cookies. If someone wants to start a topic on the health issues/concerns, or ethical issues, etc, I would encourage them to do so. Thanks.

Roasting bags...brilliant!

HERE'S the topic on King Arthur's black cocoa powder.

Thanks for these tips. Yes, I'm a cheapskate at hearts, so I hear your words of caution loud and clear andiesenji. Its tempting to go cheap now and fix up later - but we all know that means, go cheap now and forget to fix it up later. I'll dig a bit deeper and see where this goes. And tsquare - we're doing no grease work at all - and have assured our fire inspector and food inspector, so they're totally going off of my word. And I've talked to my potential chef and she is on board with that because she doesn't want to deal with grease either...that's why they're letting us off easy.

The secret is...look at how much of the cake you can see. The top layer broke into a bunch of pieces...really, it was an ugly mess.

HERE'S three previous topics that might be helpful.

I'm in the final steps to certifying my store's kitchen for non-grease cooking. So my Fire Marshall said I can get by with a Type II hood. I took this to mean cheaper than other suppression hoods. But I have two factors that will play into my decision. First is cost. We're a low use kitchen that is strapped right now, so a fancy shmancy hood is not necessary. Second is output. Our Fire Marshall suggested we just knock out a window and vent out the window. This is great since we won't need to put holes in our ceiling and roof. But does such a vent exist - meaning a vertical instead of horizontal hood? So, any guidance out there from someone who knows what all of this means - I'm very lost and not knowing how to proceed.

Here's my Demayo. We decided its not a German Chocolate cake because of the intensity of the chocolate - 1 C. of cocoa. My deep dark dirty secret behind this picture is that the cake was a disaster. First, I made high altitude adjustments that weren't quite right...odd doming on top. Second, my spouse sprung a dinner party on me where the cake was expected (2 hours before the party)..."oops, you mean I didn't tell you?" Third, assembling a cake before it has fully cooled is not a good idea. Fourth, I only had my finely grated Indian coconut - good flavor, poor texture. The result was a good tasting cake where the top layer broke apart into 6 pieces and slid off the sides because the filling wasn't quite set. We all liked it, but not to the extent that lperry did. But, I don't know what's the recipe and what was my doing. But it certainly would be worth making again to find out.

Great minds...its on my to-do for this afternoon. I'll try to get the pre fork pic.

I taught a kids cookie class today and we created 1) Pam R's gingerbread hamentaschen with sour cherry jelly (I didn't bother telling the kids that we made it for the wrong holiday), Amernick's almond lace cookies (too hard for the kids), and a cherry, coconut skillet cookie from a contest I judged a few years back. Everyone agreed that the hamenstaschen was the best and most fun to make. The recipe is in RecipeGullet.

Fox & Obel is a small chain and is highly respected in the specialty food circle. I was very impressed when I toured them last summer during the Fancy Food Show.

I was honored to get some of hummingbirdkiss' black cake this year. I've never had it before so I didn't know what to expect. The closest comparison that I read in this thread was fruitcake, but this is no fruitcake. To me its closer to a rum cake (a very heavily soaked rum cake) with fruit. When the package arrived I smelled the alcohol coming from the box, and the more I opened it (plastic wrap, cheese cloth) the odor became stronger. I was also not expecting the level of moisture since my comparison point is a fruitcake. I'm not fruitcake expert, so my standard here is a dry texture with moisture (if that makes sense), but the black cake was almost like an underbaked brownie - but it was clearly fully baked with the rum causing the moisture. Tonight I finally tried it. Following HBK's instructions, I let the slice air a bit before I tasted it. It wasn't as sweet as I was expecting, in fact the sweetness of the cake balanced so nicely with the astringency (if that's the right word) of the liqueur. The fruit added texture and some twang - especially what I assumed were apricots. My mind is always thinking of how to manipulate flavors and textures, but with this, there was none of that - it seemed perfect just as it was. I know I'll never have the patience to do this myself, so I'm truly thankful for the offering. This was wonderful and a perfect treat for these cold nights in the mountains - thank you HBK!

I'd loan you my pump but... Why not go to a medical supply store - I think we're talking the same thing.

Then cough them up! There's a bunch of us who would love to see them.

Here are some previous topics that might be helpful: Small scale sugar tools Pulled and blown sugar Rohira Sugar Class

Thanks for the tip. So did you take any pics on your visits?

Since I threw caution to the wind and dared the humidity gods...I have a problem. I made a bunch of sugar pieces (spun, tear drops, etc) a week ago to be put on a croq that we will unveil next week. We're in the desert so the odds were on my side. Well, of course, we had three days of rain over the weekend and everything melted. Do I need to give up on the idea of sugar work on the croq or is there anything I can do? Its for display not eating so I don't mind adding things to it? Can I just spray it with a sealant?

I don't feel alone anymore Three years ago my family gathered at my Aunt's house for a traditional Thanksgiving. We had a half dozen pies, including 4 pumpkin pies and 2 cream pies. Just before halftime to whatever game we were watching I went to pre-drool over the pies and noticed that my Aunt's two Russian Blue cats walked right through every one of the pies (which were covered in saran wrap). Each pie had no less than 4 footprints that sunk all the way to the bottom crust. Not wanting to make a big deal, I quietly called my Aunt aside to show her and I suggested we get rid of them and go to the store to get new ones. She told me that she would take care of things, so I returned to the game. At halftime we all gathered in the dining room and I looked over to see that my Aunt had cut circles out wherever there had been footprints. I politely suggested that we might not want to eat them. She less politely said, "They were covered in saran wrap, so they're fine." I even less politely responded, "Yes, but we all know what cats do with their claws when they step on something soft." And her final answer, "But I removed anything that could have been touched." She won the argument, but no one touched the pies.

I get the sense that Larry is ready for this topic to die But I think its an interesting question. It seems to me that copying a plating is more akin to copying a work of art. The plating is an artistic endeavor that once re-created becomes a new creation. For example, if I were to repaint the Mona Lisa - not to pass it off as the original - then its a new creation. I would call that painting "Rob's Mona Lisa" (actually I would call it "Rob's Moana Lisa"). Warhol made a career out of this. No matter how hard you tried, your plating will never be 100% exactly the same as the original (or any other recreation for that matter), so by definition it becomes inspired by or in homage to. If copying these leg tuiles were a problem, then think about the ramifications - no swirls, no circles, no triangles, etc... But to finish my comparison - if I recreate a recipe (implying that everything is measured, my temperature is true, and all other stated elements are identical-which of course is nearly impossible) then the item is not my own creation. It is my making of someone else's creation. Cooking/baking is art, but its a combination of art and science (for lack of a better word), moreso than plating which is the assembly of the art. Just the rambling thoughts of an aspiring food ethicist. Hope it turns out great!

Someone earlier mentioned Salt Works being the source. If that's true, HERE'S their info. and I think this must be the salt you're talking about:

Definitely the lemon. Think lemon chiffon with an underlying taste of celery, and just a very small hint of ginger. It tasted just like I think my soap bar would taste I'm not kidding when I say the taste was good enough that I am going to play more with this combo.