gfron1

Thank you for all those leads. Since there are good and bad acorns, my hope is that since the acorns in my area are delicious and edible right off the ground, that maybe I can create a tasty acorn liquor.

For years I've tried to find one of two Korean acorn liquors in the US with no luck. One is called Yangdoksul and the other Totorisul. No luck googling for an online purchase so I'm guessing they just don't get imported. The reason I'm interested is that if I can find them I might be able to replicate, that, and I love cool obscure liquors. Anyone heard of either of these?

Thanks! All of those cities are tentative. My rule of thumb is 1) needs to be on the way to or from somewhere; 2) need to fill 20 seats at $100 (which would be dinner and the book); 3) needs to have the support of the publisher to link me with a book store or media program. I'm hoping to spend a full month doing these.

Bwah! Ooops.

I can't figure out how to see the stats on readership of this topic to know how many eyes have read it, but don't make the assumption its only the culinary elite. A small handful of experienced people are commenting here, but many, many more have read it. To all of those anonymous eyes I would ask - would you use this service as defined and more importantly, would you use it a second time once the novelty has worn off. 59% of all restaurants fail in their first year. Good thing this is theoretical and not real money.

okay, one last thing and I'm walking away so you can actually write the paper. When I went through the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) process, they bragged that their role was to help entrepreneurs know when to NOT do a project- that was more important than knowing when TO do a project. After 12 years with my business and seeing all those who didn't make it - they are right. Its a fun idea to play with. Now you have to do the hard work.

Another angle...a typical conversation heard in almost every household every day: Partner #1: Honey, what do you want for dinner tonight? Partner #2: Hmm...I don't know. What do you want? Partner #3: I guess we'll have meatloaf again. I know in my household we hate answering that question. You go to a restaurant because, for whatever reason, it sounds interesting to you. If its in your realm of possibilities you're either going to make it yourself or go where you know that you can get it. I'm craving injera tonight..."Nah, they won't have that." I won't bother.

I want to ask the bigger question. Is this change for an improvement or change for change's sake. Maybe go about this from the other side to test the merit of the project. What is broken that isn't working for you in the current food service system? This keeps feeling like its dancing between personal chef and dinner club. The problem is (as I interpret your comments) that you can't always get the meal that you want (type and quality) at the price you want (a personal chef is expensive). Throwing this idea to see if it sticks: When I opened my first business I was told to pick two of these three, but I couldn't achieve all three: Price, Product and Service. We opted for Product and Service figuring that was more appreciated than price to our target market. I think you're asking for all three - My choice of food, at my choice of quality and my choice of price (affordable). That goes against this basic business premise. Again, just throwing it to see if it sticks...because damnit, eGullet deserves an A

Are you suggesting that chefs might do things that are illegal or not to code?! Surely not

I would be surprised if this were true. A quick google showed me some things, but many aren't established enough to even hit google. Watch your weekly alt paper and adds will appear from time to time.

I guess its not too far off from visiting the dorm cafeteria food court of a larger university. I would think quality would suffer from being something for everyone, but I know many, many people don't really care about that. But, they would care at the price point you're suggesting.

I had a mistaken batch of ganache once that just wouldn't set up. So, I pulled out my airbrush and airbrushed the crap out of the open bottoms. That gave me enough firmness to then back off the bonbon.

I"m officially out. Looks like my sale is going to go down really quickly which will have me moving and renovating right during the conference.

Beautiful collection, and a second to Jim D's question

@Kim ShookJust seeing the picture raises my blood pressure thinking about getting that cake out without sticking. Great job!

@IowaDee - but I just have to say...the editor hasn't even returned the manuscript to me! Its such a crazy, crazy world. We're still editing the cover which i know will change. Its just so bizarre to me. I've always used this forum as educational, not shlepping, but we're certainly getting closer to the shlepping phase it appears. But here's another learning... I started my own site to sell. Not knowing the price, we set it at $40. Amazon is showing $35, which again I ask how they can know since the book isn't set to print (i know they can guess based on the manuscript). With Amazon I get $3.25 per book. With my site I'll get closer to $20. The price difference between my site and Amazon was meant to accommodate a few perks - inscription, additional recipes not in the book and detailed technical data from my photographer...plus shipping. I'm interested (but not asking) what the publisher thinks of me selling on the side with a website. Every author sells but it seems like its competition at some level. Just thoughts for the night. I can't wait to see what the designer does from here. Really happy with her work. And yes, you'll see me in St. Louis. A food reporter somehow found out and contacted me today. My lips are kinda sealed to the media since its so premature.

What!? I didn't know that. How cool.

I'm reviewing page layouts today...just a glimpse:

a few quick thoughts. Don't partner with lemon or it comes off as floor cleaner. Spruce in tip form is the king of the edible needles. You can do a few quick blanches to clean them prior to eating. I've taken mostly to having the needles in my cooking vessel (floating not submerged) to release just an essence of needles.

Just a quick note from my editor today that made my day: She GASPED!

So many great memories of Oaxaca and especially taking the various classes of buses. If you get a chance, be sure to his up Itanoni. Its an eGullter's dream on the north side of town. And I remember great gelato in that part of town as well.

@CatPoet was my go to source for all things in that region during my trip last December.

well, welcome to both of you!

Have you tried the Askinosie white bar? That's a knockout! Not one you'd make bonbons with however.

My thought after reading through this - good for you Anthemoney for hanging in there. Its always hard to enter an established community. We do welcome folks into the forum every single day, but once we know that someone is going to be making money off of our knowledge, and they haven't invested in the community's knowledge base (take, not give), then we get a bit touchy. I want to point out a small version of a model that might be of interest. I don't know that your target market is interested in reading a story or essay - the whole point is convenience right? Askinosie choclates offers just a brief snippet of info that makes the chocolate more interesting. I could see you sending a bibimbop package with a "trading card" of either someone important to the origins of the dish, or maybe a daily Korean working person who might eat it and a short quote about what it means to them...tied to a website with more info for people who actually want to take the time to learn more. As to reading these forums - they're too big to just jump in. Instead of the dinner forum suggested above, I would go into the regional cuisines where it will be more digestable. Maybe the Pad Thai topic, or Ethiopian. Lots of info, but less overwhelming.