Tri2Cook

I was going to see if the site was working by ordering a pail of the cold-use neutral glaze they carry but it's listed as currently out of stock. That sent me checking a couple of Canadian online sources for pastry supplies I've used that didn't carry it in the past. As it turns out, one of them now carries it and, though more expensive than the l'epicerie stuff, by the time I factored in currency conversion and an educated guess on what the shipping cost from the US would be, it's close enough to avoid the cross-border stuff. So the question of their return remains unanswered...

There's not a coffee pot and a hair dryer in your room?

I tried that one and was happy with the result. I didn't have maple balsamic vinegar so I used some fig balsamic I had at the time instead. Figured it would do with there being only 1 tsp. in the entire pie. I haven't made it since but that's not a commentary on the pie, just haven't made pumpkin pie using any recipe in quite a while.

At the very least, that last option would taste so much better than any drink with tomato juice in it... or even worse, clamato juice. I'm picturing somebody saying "What can I do to this tomato juice based drink to make it even less appealing? I know! Clam juice!"

I know, it was in jest. But a large percentage of our conversation does consist of me saying things with question marks at the end.

Thanks! I wanted to ask her that myself but I feel like I'm constantly asking her how to do things or for advice on things I want to try to do. Thought I'd wait and see if somebody else would ask this time before I completely wear out my welcome.

I think that's what Shalmanese was getting at. You have to offer something more, photography, stories, specialized education, etc. to make people want to buy a printed cookbook. So many people post recipes from books with the "adapted from" disclaimer that it's usually pretty easy to find the one you want without buying a book. The secret to selling printed cookbooks is exactly that... offer them something more than they can get by just googling the recipe.

If your salads are losing money, or even generating low profit numbers, you need to reign that one in quickly. Salads should carry a ridiculous profit margin. People are willing to pay premium prices for a plate of lettuce with a few garnishes so they can feel like they're eating healthy without having to make it themselves. They're fast and, in most settings, inexpensive to make, they should never be a point of loss. If waste or excessive generosity with portioning is the problem, you'll have to address that with those doing the prep/assembly, get them on board with doing it the way you want them to and mean it. Don't let them shrug it off or do it right for a day or two and go back to what they were doing before. They'll adapt. If not, replace them. Assembling profitable salads shouldn't require micro-managing everything down to the gram. Not that there's anything actually wrong with that but, unless they're pre-assembled or you have a very large staff, there's really not time to weigh everything out each time you make a salad when it's busy. If theft is the problem, in any department, you need to get them out the door. If they've been long-term getting away with theft, they won't stop and it will be a constant battle trying to prevent it. I can honestly say that in the years I've been in this business, I've never encountered a vegetable thief. Not saying it can't happen but most of the time it tends to be higher dollar items that grow legs. Is there any chance the lack of profit is happening at the pricing end? Without having been given any numbers, it is possible that salads were just never properly priced based on cost. Somebody may have simply decided "this is what a salad should cost, it's what I'd want to pay" and went with it.

That's not a problem, there's no hurry. Just trying to figure out which one I'd want. Less expensive is better unless there's good reason to spend more.

I think we all know how this one's going to end...

I'm kinda glad it wasn't a recipe you could link to. That sounds amazing and I don't need it.

My ancient crockpot has reached a point of needing to be replaced. I no longer trust it to be left home alone while operating which, for me, is the entire point of having it. It's developed a condition where the outside of the unit gets as hot as the inside, you can't touch it for more than a quick second when running on "high". I'm considering the Instant Pot as the replacement because the pressure cooker I have is ancient as well so I could replace both with one device. I have no interest in the "Smart Bluetooth" model so I guess my question is, are there any good reasons for me to pay the additional $70 for the Ultra over the Duo 6 quart? The Duo is already considerably more costly than a new slow cooker so I'm not looking to go higher than that unless there are some really solid reasons why I should. Edit: I'm sure this question has been answered many times but I'm not willing to read through hundreds of pages trying to find it. Apologies for my laziness.

I'm a little curious about what it is!

Somebody that doesn't know Kerry or what all of those devices are is going to walk into her little room at work one day and think they stumbled into an episode of Breaking Bad.

He should have made this 10 years ago when I would have been able to come up with tons of justifications for having it even if I didn't really need it.

Marco Pierre White gave his back* before it was the cool thing to do... *You can't actually "give them back"... the most you can do is proclaim them unimportant to you and not strive to maintain them. Which is what he did.

Thinking alike! I'm making corn chowder with jalapeno and ham (not a recipe, just winged it). It's chilly and raining here today so soup seemed perfect. It's college football day so I didn't want too much kitchen time. So I bought everything and did all my prep after work yesterday. Got up early this morning and got it all going in the crock pot so it could cook while I was at work today. I'm going to make some cheddar cheese biscuits to go with it and there's Rob's peanut butter pie for dessert.

If I was in the market for a blender, processor, crusher and spiralizer, I'd consider something like this over 4 separate devices. I don't see how it's any different than having a stand mixer with attachments for doing other jobs, it's a blender with attachments for doing other jobs. The "smart" stuff and touchscreen don't matter to me but I get it... this is the age of the cellphone that is used for almost everything except a phone so people enjoy those touchscreens and program pre-sets for certain tasks have been around for a long time.

Never thought of the microwave for the dough, might have to give that a shot. I'm with you on making the dough a day ahead. I've made it several days ahead before and the results were still as good as usual.

Is that the "Sally's Coconut Macaroons"? My favorite macaroons recipe for many years now has been Anna Olson's from her show "Sugar" They're my idea of coconut macaroon perfection but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to try others if they come with a good recommendation. *Anna also did a variation on them in which she dropped the almond extract and replaced the 1/4 cup of flour with an equal amount of cocoa. Those are tasty too but I prefer the non-chocolate version.

Even then, it's just feet. No cause for alarm.

She really is. I'm completely convinced that you could put her in a room with a pair of knitting needles, 6 empty bubblegum wrappers and a talking parrot and she'd walk out with a nice selection of chocolates and maybe a steak dinner to go with them.

Too fiery or just not very tasty?

It does look really nice and I'm going to steal... err... borrow that mousse recipe. It sounds tasty. Thanks!

Yeah, it's almost like he tried to adopt the Bourdain snarkiness but couldn't successfully pull it off. It flows from Bourdain in a natural way that I enjoy, Alton just comes off as petulant and cranky in his more recent shows. But like you said, almost anything has to be better than endless episodes of Beat Bobby Flay and kid cooking competitions.