Karri

Maltesers, 125g bag, 3,5e = 4.921 USD!!! Here on the Canary Islands.

In Cape Town the price of Kerrygold, marketed as Irish butter don't know if that's the case, 250g R50 = about 7 USD, same for Lurpak 250g, interestingly the unsalted butter was R5 more expensive. I believe it is brand recognition and maybe there is a target market for these products; yuppies or just people who see a brand that they know is good and they go for it? I don't know if you get it in America but a brand of müsli called Alpen, it's Austrian or Swiss or German, but in Finland you pay about 2euro for a 500g box, in Cape Town which has quite a considerable population of Germans it cost almost four times at much being somewhere around R70. But there is a distinct difference, you're everyday müsli in a see-through plastic bag just tastes like dirt, but Alpen... It's so good!

EvergreenDan: I don't know, I always understood it was about the "inbuilt tension" that is prevalent. Since the same thing happens if you drop it on the floor, it becomes fragile. I promise you I've seen it happen a few times and the one time it happened to me also it had been washed in the machine, and when I banged it like usual on the side the whole thing exploded like prop glass, pieces flying everywhere.

To 'unstuck' a boston shaker all you have to do is hit it not on either one of the inclined sides, but on the sides where the hold is strongest. And the talk about tempered glasses breaking, unless it has been washed in a machine or polished too much it will never break. Had only one glass burst on me and that was when a temp blocker had washed it in a machine... And this is in four years where I used it to make about 20-40 cocktails almost every night. edit: And ofcourse if you do not like the boston, then a regular cobbler shaker is a very good option, you can get them very cheap, http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Cocktail-Shaker-Set-Stainless/dp/B000796F1W

Yes for cake layers freezing is an excellent practice, a frozen/half-frozen sheet of sponge is very easy to cut, and you can get just the right shape you want. As for the cupcakes, to put them straight in to the freezer, first thing that pops in to my mind is a hygiene concern? The fastest way from bacterial growing temperatures to below them is in the freezer, but as a rule-of-thumb you should never put anything in the freezer that is still hot, as said before it will raise the temperature, and the problem is that if the freezer isn't high-powered enough it would theoretically cause vaporization and then cause condensation, and then it would freeze which would result in big crystals forming in or on the cupcakes... This is not the case in... your case though? edit: When you take the cupcakes out are they moist of soggy on top?

Alessi makes a very good boston shaker, the one with the separate glass and metal, worked with these ones for four years, very good, very sturdy, excellent seal, but do not wash the glass in a machine or you're going to end up with a face full of shards. edit: quick googling located this at Bloomingdales http://www1.bloomingdales.com/registry/wedding/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=115883&CategoryID=8287 108USD, a little steep... But it is an excellent shaker, never been disappointed with it in a professional setting.

All I've ever seen is royal icing, I think it's a mixture of plastic and sugar

I... am become god. In my hands I holdeth the power of choice... The choice betwixt life and death. Every day we cook live lobsters and I am the one to pick them. My limited knowledge on the topic did not prepare me for this... game... this twisted game... To choose between who lives and who dies; the fools, do they not realize they are dead nevertheless? I always pick at random, maybe the one easiest accessible, but when I am bringing the poor little crustacean out if he puts up a fight, kicks his tail around, then I let him live. For I am become a monster, I only wish to kill the ones who have already been broken, who already are dead. Spiritually they have nothing left to offer, this metamorphosis, this change in me I do not like, so I have come up with a plan. To soothe my troubled mind I have began a series of faux legal actions, I am the judge of my very own kangaroo court, I frame the invertebrate of something and I sentence him to death by boiling. For example: One of the lobsters was traveling through Yemen by train from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, the customs officials inspected his luggage and found 20 grams of hashish. This lobster's sentencing date is pending requirement. This opens up the possibility of accusing other lobsters for the deaths of the previous ones, which would make all the previous ones I have killed in a way the fault of others... But nothing helps, I am nauseated, I do not like to do it but I have to, for it is a part of my job. Who am I to choose who lives and who dies? What gives me the right, and always I project my own mixed emotions in to those bright black beady eyes and I see indefinite sorrow...

I always thought that type of shit was a joke... Holy shit that's disgusting, MacDonald's aside but that is horrible!

Two and a half years in South Africa catering for the 'colonnial' ladies, some of the pickiest people with the weirdest orders ever. Example: One order of scones = 2 scones, Ladies wanted 1 scone each and to pay half price for the half order, so I recommended that the 4 ladies should order 2 portions and then split them. This simply would not do, every lady wanted an individual scone paid separately. POS system wouldn't let me do that, so in the end the GM told me to comp one portion. Same group of ladies always wanted to order lamb burgers, but just the patties for their dogs, done medium-rare. What I have been wondering is condiments, how are they in your respective countries? In Finland it has come to pass that people order a pizza and then empty about two tablespoons of dried oregano and half a bottle of tabasco on top. Atleast where I come from. The south africans who dined at the restaurant would order a rossini with black currant jus, and ask for ketchup, hehe this used to get the sous chef's veins throbbing...

It depends on what vegetable sides you are referring to, easiest are your broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, mange tout, etc. In the kitchen we blanche them (put in boiling water for a few minutes, depending on veg), and then put into icewater to rapidly cool down. When the time comes, you just heat it up again in some hot water. Greens stay green when you refresh them in the icebath. Take them out of the water pinch of salt, dash of olive oil or melted butter and that's it! Ratatouille or Pisto or something like that, you just cook it in advance refridgerate it, and based on need you just throw some in a pot with some olive oil or butter, adjust seasoning, and the quality of the product is not diminished by this, atleast I can't tell the difference between fresh or day old. Ratatouille actually tastes better to me when it has had some time to sit and "marinate" in the fridge. Again this is what we do in the kitchen.

Does anyone know the name for the feeling you get when you hear the printer go nakanakanakanakanaka and it doesn't stop for a good 2 minutes? And you end up with these dockets that are the length of your arm?

Hahaha, late night service! Cockroaches are one thing that I can not stand. They give me the biggest creeps. One guy told me a story about a hotel restaurant he used to work in in a city that ends in "ondon", that every morning when they came in, the first guy had to give the lockers a hard bang, and then a torrent of those brown little monsters would stream out of the lockers and disappear in to the cracks in the walls. He said there were literally hundreds... Was blanching about 3kg of green asparagus a few days ago, went to get the ice for refreshing, came back and started ladling the asparagus in to the water, found a cockroach. Needless to say 3kgs of spoiled very expensive asparagus in the bin.

Looking through the list I ran in to: Eve with a moldy lid: apple pie with a slice of cheese <- ohhhh right... wait, what? Is this an American thing, or was it an American thing? edit: Yesterday, today, and forever: hash -Haha, reminds me of brunch.

For risotto there are a few stages where you can hold it. First stage: Fry the onions, add the rice, fry together, hold ~10 minutes to cook, can be held at this stage for quite some time. Second stage: Add stock, and keep adding until risotto is just about done, hold ~ 2 minutes to finish, can only be held for a little while as said before the grains will soak up, but a good way is to hold before the last ladlefull, likely you wont need that last ladlefull. Third stage: only for if you know you are going to have to wait for a few minutes, but finish the risotto and leave it, when you need it put it back on the fire, take off the fire, add butter and parmesan. Never put risotto back on the fire after you have added the parmesan, most of the times it turns the parmesan in to bubblegum. And sometimes it's even possible to bring risotto that's been finished and left standing for a while by adding just a little bit of hot stock and stirring gently. This last part works sometimes, might be benevolence of the gods.

Spinning = To lose the thread, looking through all the dockets and aimlessly trying to get something out. This guy is usually called Spinderella afterwards. Car Tyre = Well done Rushf*cked or RF'd = When a seemingly slow night suddenly takes a turn for the worst. The waiter usually came in to the kitchen and said "Might aswell take off your pants now boys, you are about to get rushf*cked, seated five tables of 8 at the same time"

Italian: Carbonara or... Puttanesca, simple enough, very easy to mess up completely. Used to work in a restaurant that went through 5 10kg bags of potatoes a day for french fries, first cut, then blanched in a steamer, then fried. Some of the best fries I've ever eaten. Then again, there was only one guy doing fries all day long, quality might be lacking, but there are some frozen fries that are quite alright.

Yes, I actually had the first conversation with the General Manager today, she seemed quite enthusiastic about the idea, but said she needs to run it by the owner. So I'm guessing it's about 50/50 here, I personally can't see why not, since I would be doing all the actual work and ordering the seeds -if need be- on my own account. So here's to hoping for the best. But yes, herbs that would be used in the kitchen for the purposes of cooking.

Premise: A 23-year old young man excited for the first day of practicals in a 4*-hotel that shall not be named, in a city that shall not be named, in a country that shall not be named, on a continent that shall not be named, but for interests sake I'll give you a hint. It ends in frica. After entering through the staff entrance with the waste room next to the receiving area, the walls covered in a bit of dirt, everything looking a little bit worse for wear... Enter the bar, front-of-house looking quite nice, dark woods, dark iron pillars, high-back chairs. Very classy, but not overly 'cigar-lounge' feel. Staff all dressed in uniform going about their business, Bar Manager in a suit and tie comes to greet. Shows the way in to the back-of-house, the scullery and storage area. The door green on one side, the paint peeled off on the other. First day of work is to be spent getting to know the cold and dry stores, how to make special coffees, going through the different wines, all seems well. Shocker: Open the first lowboy, cutscene from a pirate movie, thinking that the scene is either of a hip-height refridgerator or a pirate's cave... Moss or a substance that mimics moss growing on the ceiling, the walls, the floor. Schweppes tonic cans, freshly restocked, shining at the young man like gold dubloons from a pirates cache... Wire rack too wide to properly store small cans, what used to be cardboard placed on wire rack. Consider carbon dating, might find the missing link in human evolution. Closing the lowboy, young man thinking it's not so bad. First tray of glasses comes in, pack it in the plastic crate, open the dishwasher... The young man almost drops the crate as he is greeted yet again by possibly the most authentic replica of an ocean vista. What is inside the machine is what looks like seaweed, perhaps the workings of a druid or sage who has grown tired of the machine revolution. The seaweed is growing from the nozzles on the ceiling, the ceiling, the walls; it seems to be growing out of the filter that can barely be seen through the brownish, black water. Polite inquiry to Bar Manager about the date the water was last changed, response: enquiry about the need to change water, answer 4 months ago when the machine underwent routine maintenance. The young man takes his time, building courage, preparing himself for what is to come next, rolls up his sleeves, removes the plug and the filter from the machine -filter full of cocktail sticks- about to throw sticks away, when employee loudly questions young man's actions. Sidenote: "In an attempt to save the environment, the cocktail sticks shall soforth be recycled until no longer presentable". Young man, abashed, places sticks in employees hand, employee places sticks in bar. Young man sarcastically enquires about straws and garnish: Answer: "Straws are only given if you ask for one, fruit from drinks that are clear, such as gin&tonic, are to be re-used, other garnish is to be thrown away." Young man rushes back in to the battle with the machine whose only interest earlier had been to wash glasses. Water draining slowly, young man removes rinsers and starts to unscrew the nozzles, one nozzle full of peanuts and seaweed, second nozzle full of hair, third nozzle full of cigarette butts, fourth nozzle full of... Bar Manager interrupts young man, thanks him for his initiative, tells him to put the machine back together -for if there were a malfunction, the young man would be liable to pay for repairs-. Before even starting to clean the young man is forced to abandon the battle and leave the machine in the hands of fate. Rest of the day spent trying to systematically remove images from brain; attempts: unsuccesful. ... It doesn't get worse, it doesn't get much better... Please share yours. To quote some wise man "What has been seen, can never be unseen",

Blether: Nice piece of spindoctoring and misquoting on your part: "since autoimmune diseases are pretty much nonexistent in 3rd world countries" that is what I said. Which incidentally were words that came out of a South African doctors mouth when we were discussing prevailing diseases when I was seeking a consult for my MDI... (edit: Lived in Cape Town for 2½ years) And yes, I am still formulating my ideas, but it's quite hard to formulate on your own without anything to bounce your ideas off of. But this topic is one of those where we could spend days on days arguing, you know you're right, but how do you know? You insult me, question my logic, but then again none of you have provided any hard evidence, except for the handwashing which I agree with 100%. That is what I mean about media hysteria, people can quote out of memory lines that aren't actually linked to anything, just that they sound very effective and that "e-choli is going to kill you if you don't wash your hands". (<<< hyperbole... getit?) Please provide facts.

Please read the whole wiki entry, everything you just said is a gross generalization of facts and studies performed by doctors.

"Parsley is a little bit tricky to germinate from seed, mainly because of the long germination times (3-4 weeks). If you are starting from seed, plan to start them indoors 6-8 weeks before you want to plant them outside." Any comments?

andiesenji: Getting a little bit too high-tech for me... I was just thinking about a nice little patch with one side set of the sure-wins and one side for some experimentations and adjustments for the climate. And my budget is going to be very limited to say the least... Blether: Thanks for the info, truth be told it's alot more work than I imagined. Will propably post some pictures and the results as soon as I get the catalogue, place the orders, receive them and finally get my allotted plot. Thank you very much to all.

BarbaraY: I read that it affects the taste somehow? Atleast in coriander it would seem... Have you noticed anything like this in the basil, parsley?

Good god I think I'm turning in to one of those people who rant alone on an empty forum... Well might aswell start blogging next. On autoimmune: "The hygiene hypothesis has expanded from eczema and hay fever to include exposure to several varieties of microorganisms and parasites, with which humans coexisted throughout much of our evolutionary history, as necessary for balanced and regulated immune system development.[14] In recent times, the development of hygienic practices, elimination of childhood diseases, antibiotics and effective medical care have diminished or eliminated exposure to these microorganisms and parasites during development. Examples of organisms that may be important for proper development of T regulatory cells include lactobacilli, various mycobacteria, and certain helminths." Who didn't grow up with atleast a few of those kids who were allergic to pretty much everything from the air to the clothes they wore? I believe it is due to hypochondriac parents. More info here To avoid embarassing myself anymore this is all I have to say about this.