Tri2Cook

That describes me exactly. My booze cabinet is better stocked, in terms of variety, than any of the local bars and the quantity speaks loudly of a serious drinker... but then the more observant viewer of said booze collection notes the abundance and depth of dust on most of those bottles.

That's enough to blow me away.

I see the EZtemper peeking from between those bags as well... I'm betting that's another "don't leave home without it" item.

Burger (6 oz) with bacon, blue cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled Vidalia onion, mayo and horseradish mustard.

Pizza... smoked hot sausage, habanero and sweet onion. Stiegl Grapefruit Radler to cool the fire.

I've had sandwiches I didn't enjoy due to poor ingredients or preparation but I've never really thought about them as being boring. As long as they're tasty, I'm happy with the simplest of sandwiches and it goes up from there.

Looks like that place has almost as many amari and vermouths as my local booze store has... everything. I could probably kill most of a day in a place like that. I'd just need to leave my money with somebody else while I was there.

Interesting. I've only been in hospital once, that just for an unexpected and sudden removal of my appendix, and I found everything, except possibly meal times, to be remarkably accommodating to patient comfort and convenience. I didn't necessarily realize it while I was there but it was pretty clear once I was sent home that that was the case. Meal times didn't matter much to me because they had me on basically a liquid diet the entire time I was there (which was extended apparently longer that it should have been for reasons I never discovered, the Dr. kept there for almost 5 days). Apparently, a key component of the liquid diet is jello, which I am not a fan of. The person from the kitchen kept asking why I didn't eat my jello, I kept telling her I did not care for jello, she kept telling me she'd replace it with something else... then the next tray would come with jello as it's centerpiece.

Make 'em punch a clock. That's not foolproof if they're really determined to cheat the system but it goes a long way towards reducing false hours. If the entire staff is trying to cheat the clock and showing a great lack of motivation, dig into the root of the problem by talking to them and finding out what the problem is and what would help solve it. And don't be afraid to look at management. A great deal of time, lack of motivation or caring among a staff trickles down from poor management skills. If the people at the top of the ladder don't give a fork, why should the people they're supposed to be leading? And don't be afraid to admit, if it proves to be the case, that you just have a rotten barrel of apples that need to be replaced. Not the easiest thing to do but sometimes it has to be done.

Not gonna win any photogenic awards but a Cajun shrimp boil was dinner tonight and it was tasty. Washed it down with an Erdinger Dunkel Weissbier. Yes, I boil the potatoes, corn and sausages first, remove them, bring the spicy liquid back to the boil, toss in the shrimp and kill the heat. I've found that, while it's tasty immediately after cooking if they're all cooked together, the leftovers taste much better the next day if they're cooked separately. Not too much extra effort since it's just me. If I was doing it for a crowd, I'd just toss it all in at once.

Nice! But now I'm going to be somewhat disappointed if the next thing you post here isn't titled "Marcie".

I'm not familiar with that particular gun but for the one I use, it is necessary to have the complete assembly (all 3 parts). Mine came with all 3 sizes that are available for the gun I use and it came with a nozzle, needle and cap for each size. Edit: I type too slow... Kerry already covered it.

You've already negotiated the idea that you'll still be working as a competitor with your own business while working for them and they're onboard with that. If you've managed to get that as a stipulation, doesn't seem like much of a stretch to explain to them that while you will be using your recipes for your own business as well as theirs, you use different ingredients for your personal brand and would likely, at least at this stage, be targeting a different market. That's with the assumption that you're currently working as a home business and not a directly competing local shop.

I have way too many cookbooks and not nearly enough. I have a bunch that I inherited from my mom that I've never used and probably never will that I should get rid of and there are quite a few out there that I don't have but would like to. It just seems easier to call it well balanced as it is and leave it alone.

That is kinda sad, to not find good sweets at a confectioner's trade show.

Cool technique. I've never thought of using butter as a medium to create a hollow shell but I like it. Gonna have to give it a go.

Nope. Just some color from the smoker and low-end photography skills.

Rubbed a couple pork butts with salt yesterday. Got up early this morning, coated 'em in a spice rub and got the smoker going. They spent most of the day relaxing in 225 F heat with 4 hours of pecan smoke at the start. A big pan of beans kept the pork company in the smoker while I made coleslaw. Pretty much your basic slaw other than I added a couple shredded granny smith apples and some minced jalapenos. Figured I might as well make my own bbq sauce to go with it. I actually planned ahead for this one and made the sauces last weekend so they'd have time for everything to mingle. They say variety is the spice of life, so I went with it... From left to right: North Carolina red* (vinegar based), South Carolina gold (mustard based), Alabama white (mayo based) and Kansas City (the sweet stuff). *Just in case any N.C. eGulleters are prepared to pounce, I'll specify that this is the Western N.C. type with the addition of a smallish percentage of ketchup. I've tried the Eastern straight vinegar stuff and it is tasty but I like the red slightly better.

Maybe they're giving the warnings earlier in the process now, it's been a while since I tried ordering anything on U.S. amazon. That would definitely be more convenient. Yeah, I sometimes get hit for duties on orders from the U.S. even when it's something that should be covered under the "free-trade" thing. It seems pretty random sometimes even on the percentage charged.

A few things on U.S. amazon will ship to Canada but most won't. They'll let you add it to the cart and go through the whole checkout process until the very end... and then give you a message saying "this item does not ship to your location". This is one of those items that will not. Not a big deal though, I'm not in a hurry. I have enough things I need to practice at the more basic end of the spraying cocoa butter scale at this point.

Now I'm curious how these compare to others I've made. Gonna have to give them a try. I find it interesting that he says to add fruit purees at the end of the whipping stage, I've never tried that. When doing fruit flavors, I always use the puree to hydrate the gelatin and then whip the hot syrup into that.

I've never used honey or invert sugar in marshmallows. I suppose it's entirely possible that he just likes the taste of honey in his marshmallows since he's not adverse to using invert sugar in other recipes but I agree with Kerry that I'd probably go with invert if I was going to replace it just to be on the safe side. Just in case it's integral to his formula. I strongly suspect that glucose would work just fine though.

He uses dried egg white powder if that makes any difference.

I may still invest in the second edition of the book at some point if I'm convinced there's good reason to but I managed to dig up the pipeable marshmallow recipe. It's not being piped in shells and doesn't say anything about a temp where it becomes to firm to pipe so I'm going to have to play with it to find out if it can still be piped once cool enough for shells.

Hopefully someone will be able to help. I saw your other post but don't have an anything helpful. I've never made marshmallows with Greweling's recipe and never layered with a ganache. I don't have a guitar so there's never been any decision making when cutting. I have some marshmallow ideas I'd like to try in chocolates but I admitted defeat without ever entering the battle and decided to hold out for a good pipeable marshmallow recipe. I may have to invest in that second edition of the book after all...