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Wendy DeBord

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Everything posted by Wendy DeBord

  1. I feel right at home here. Get together a group of people that enjoy their drugs and you'll get some of the most long winded freedom loving never ending discusion that justifies just about anything so long as we can keep our favorite medicine. Yet I never see you all doing anything to make a real difference in the laws that no one but hardline idiots think are working. pretty soon you'll all get into a huge fight so you can unwind with another hit, come on guys and nothing is worse then a sob story about a hard life that's an excuse for a drug spree life. it's probably ON the fridge and behind the apples because no kid can reach it or wants to there.
  2. I'm not a drug or alchol abuser. I'm way too closely related to these problems to seriously play with them myself. You can laugh at me commenting on this topic if you want, but if you walked in my shoes you'd understand why I avoid both. They created alernon (or however you spell it) for all of us whom live with users. We understand the drugs and pay daily for everyone else using. After reading this thread I have to add that Bourdains posts rang true. There's some crap that some attempted to pass on this thread. You want to find grey areas too Bourdain, but you know in your mind that your holding on to them as grey areas when you know they really aren't. I appreciate your words, I see alot of truth in them. I hope one day I'll read even less grey area in your opinions on this topic.
  3. Please, I HIGHLY envy Frieberg, Silverton and Torres their all brilliant pastry chefs, I'd never speak poorly of any of them. Nor have I worked in the best pastry kitchens. And I DO use all three of their published books as reference. But I stand by my comments as literally as I wrote them. There is a difference between the audiences each book was written to. The first place that becomes apparent is in the use of measurements. When a book is published using imperial measurements instead of weights that's because they are forced to by publishers who want to apeal to more then just professional chefs. Then look at the amount of directions given. The pro to pro books assume you understand proceedure and rarely give method more then once through out the entire book. I'm sorry I've gotten off track. Just wanted to explain my previous comments. About drying the butter. I've only accidently come across this, it's not something I practice. How this works or happens is: ice cold butter doesn't incorporate liquids (that's why you use it at room temp. when baking). So when you beat it at a high speed when it's really cold it's sort of sweats out some of it's liquid. You have to use paper towels to soak up the liquid, it's not quite as dramatic as melted then chilled butter where the two seperate and you can pour off the water. The fat and liquids want to seperate when very cold. But if you do this with butter that's not ice cold, the butter will incorporate the liquid. Hope that made sense.
  4. To the best of my experience, the top pastry chefs do work with the best ingredients available and don't take shortcuts in places where they are capable of doing things "correctly". Which leads me to believe that Bau is referring to a Plugra type butter. Which seems to be commonly used in Europe although pretty rare in any pastry kitchen I've worked at in the States. Adding flour to your butter for the rolling in, is a shortcut I don't think Bau would take. Why- he know's how to handle the butter at the right temp./density. No shortcut because: His book isn't on the same teaching level as someone like Frieberg nor is he selling his books to homemakers like Torres or Silverton. His book is professional to professional. Beating frozen butter to release extra h2o would leave you with a higher fat to liquid butter like a pulgra. So either buy the better butter or try to dry it as described. Having a butter with excess liquid content or salt is never optimum in the pastry kitchen. Rarely will something totally fail because of it either, but you won't get the "best" results which is what Bau is trying to give you. The steam puffing effect isn't coming from the water content of the butter, that's unwanted. Too much steam and your layers don't dry out and layer nicely.
  5. Jessica, Nightcotsman gives you good advice. The ONLY way you could just add fresh strawberry puree is if you simmered it down to thicken it (till very thick), otherwise it would be very runny. Although I haven't made Rose's sb conserve, that really does sound like a better tasting way to go. If you don't mind, I'd also like to suggest switching your butter cake recipe. I think the best one (to date) I've ever had came from "The Bakers Dozen" cookbook, which you can find online (I promise, you won't be disappointed). Personally, I'm not a big fan of RLB. cakes, I see them as very good technically but everyone I've tried (except a couple) haven't tasted as good as they read. She's a outstanding scientist, but not an outstanding baker. (Sorry, just my opinion) Xanthippe- I learned about the oj instead of lemon from a Michael Roux's book. I wish I had thought of it myself, but I didn't. I don't know, I can't taste much difference in a blood orange then a reg., it's really just the color. Hum, good point nightscotsman about thickening. I think I'll try gelatin instead of cornstarch. But I suppose then it's a fruit bavarian and not a curd? Maybe you need to keep lemon or orange for your acid/thickening then just make it a compound by adding another stronger flavor?
  6. Wendy DeBord

    Sugar

    I have a question for others: do you use reg. sugar in your bin or do you only buy superfine? The last two chefs' I've worked for buy the superfine as their everyday sugar, I don't see the need. This just turned on a light bulb! My chocolate cake problem.........they have superfine sugar in their bin and I'm working with cups not weight, so I've been adding too much sugar-which would make the cake too moist! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
  7. When I make banana mousse I like to use orange juice mainly as my acid and tiny splash of lemon. The orange doesn't over power the banana the way lemon does and the acid does prevent browning. So to make banana curd why couldn't you make an orange curd and add pureed banana after cooking? Joseph, you'll like your curd even more if you wait until your curd cools down and then add your butter and emulsify it. Techically, that's proper technique...just like when making ganche... try it-you'll like it. How about freezing it? Do you? I've read others say they do, but wouldn't you need to add some gelatin so it wouldn't seperate/crack during defrosting?
  8. I'm in a rut, I only make lemon or key lime curd. Anyone have other recipes of flavors they like and would share? I saw a ad with a strawberry curd and thought that would be interesting. Any reason why I can't use the same base recipe and just change out the fruit juice, balance the sugar and maybe add a drop of similar flavored emulsion?
  9. Darn, I just lost my message getting kicked off by aol. Can't retype it now, but will later.
  10. That's exactly why you should post your menu: because it's a work in progress. It's something specific to work on and just think about. Seeing this list tells me what recipes your using and then how you could build out with your other desserts(tortes and such) so you have overlap in your items. Also shows me what you might be missing that is popular or that would round out your line. That's how everyone can help you. You want to work smart, that's very important from the start. You want to come out of the starting gate with out tripping. You'll have plenty other obstcles to handle. By the way, in my opinion unless your specializing into a very specific area of baking I think it would be foolish to omit any popular items like molten cakes. We all have to make what sells unless your independently rich. What do you mean by "disk", what's a lemon disk? How do you sell an unmolded brulee'? Are you sure you want to make your own tart shells? Most places I know of buy them in because their more time consuming then their worth. Will you package your molten cakes? All the ones I've seen brought in were in paper cups so then didn't have to unmold them at the factory. Can your apple studel be frozen? Will you bake them off or will they? I love making semi-freddo's but I've had a hard time selling them. I tend to believe you have to relabel their name, cause no one knows what a semi freddo is. What do others think about it? Will you put all of your individual desserts on their own gold boards, will they come wrapped in acetate liners? Is there a minimum count for each item? Can I order 3 of each? Will you send everything out frozen or thawed? I'm sort of playing devils advocate to help you. There's so much to think about when your starting and the more you do ahead the less money it will cost you in mistakes, hopefully. All your items sound good, I'd love to try them all!
  11. You have to get specific listing out your menu for us to contribute any real help. Sometimes seeing everything in writing makes a huge difference.
  12. Yeah, your being a little stubborn. As long as you have the right equipment it doesn't matter where you work (IMO), yes it's slower. But there are tons of work to be done before sending out samples. Mainly working on costs, pricing and profits. In my opinion you want to aim for the most profitable items that take the least amount of labor. What mark-up percentages are you using, will that work on all your items and still place you in a reasonable price range? Are you going to except net30? Do you have enough money in the bank to keep purchasing while your waiting for payments? Have you found the least expensive wholesalers? Priced out the difference between using different brands of chocolate and how it relates to your profits? Got all your recipes sealed in a book? Got your packaging lined up? etc........... Do you have a product list? Do you have a minimum order? What about cancelations? If you could post what you already have lined up in your product list I'd be more than happy to help in anyway possible. Are you doing mini's, ala carte/banquet items and whole tortes? Are you doing what's popular or are you looking to create your own niche doing variations?
  13. If I were you: I'd start with recipes I already have, that are superior! Desserts I know I can assemble easily, inexpensively or should I say profitably. I'd also spend alot of time approaching clubs, restaurants and whom ever my targeted customer is and talking to them about what they want, need and will pay for. Being bold and talking to clients is the most important part of starting a business. It doesn't make sense to develop anything that doesn't have a sure audience imediately. I wouldn't dream of doing a front end at this point. That's really a second business and requires more money and thought then most would guess. Too many reasons not to do this then I can post at this moment.
  14. I like it when it's very dry and sand like, marbled is my flavor of choice. Last couple times I've purchased it, it was very oily and not as dense as I like. I don't have a good source for it anymore.
  15. I make it so many different ways, each has it's place and a different time to be used. I also prefer sponge cakes to homemade lady fingers. My lady fingers are always too lite to handle the soaking and remain solid. I make my filling like Brians, with both whites and whipped cream. I always play around with my flavoring, like I'll do one layer with plain marscarpone mousse and the other with either melted chocolate folded into it or finely chopped pieces folded in. Sometimes I fold triblit into my mousse, sometimes finely grated orange rind (like a canolli) with mini chocolate chips. When I use cocoa powder I refuse to place it ontop. Too many people don't mix it around before biting into it and get a mini cocoa powder choke. I've made Bau's recipe before and added a pinch of coffee grinds, but I'm too American to like that texture in my mouth. I also like the hard as a rock purchased lady fingers used in a hotel pan with a non-thickened plain filling. In all honesty, I'm not sure why there is such a huge liking for this dessert and creme brulee. Both are good but there are so many more interesting desserts I'd much rather eat.
  16. I made aprox. 100 suckers for my sweet table. They were a huge hit. I glued together two sheets of green styrofoam for thickness, then wired white picket fence aroung the edges. I wanted variation in my carrot patch so I made two different sized carrot cookie cutters and used 3 different sized sucker sticks. From end to end they ranged in size from 8" to 18". I did manage to make this more complicated then it needed to be, but the over all effect was worth the effort. I also learned several things along way. First, I made my own cookie cutters out of copper sheets because the cookie cutters I owned all included the green tops making it impossible to pour two colors. That was a good experience. I've made stencils before and hand cut items but making the cutters is something I've always wanted to do. I made previous attempts at making cutters but never found the right materials before. Then, after much shopping I couldn't find any clay for a reasonable price. Along the way I learned how to make my own clay from flour, sugar, oil and water. After re-pouring into the same shapes, the hot syrup began breaking down the molds a bit. Thankfully not enough where I had to stop and reshape them. I think a purchased clay would have held up better and not been affected by the prolonged exposure to heat so I'll continue shopping for it. Lining the molds with plastic worked great. I was able to pick up a whole sheet pan, minutes after pouring so I could re-use the molds quickly. It prevented the edges from being sharp too. The sugar didn't stick to or melt the saran wrap at all. As to cost and time spent, well I can't believe I could have done it cheaper. I did over complicate this by making my own cutters, making several sizes and pouring two seperate colors and flavors. But I learned several things making it worth the journey.
  17. It's for job and I need volume. I need to make it stove top because the place doesn't have individual containers appropriate to bake it, no extra hotel pans and definately no place to store them. I'll be serving in wide mouthed champagne glasses. Yesterday the chef runs through the kitchen looking for sheet pans. Their all being used and Easter hasn't happened yet.
  18. I've never made it stove top before, but need to this weekend. I have 2 questions, please. Do I need to make any changes to standard recipes? Cook to temp. or texture? Thank-you for your help. It's very appreciated.
  19. I'd be happy to, but I won't begin until we are much closer to Easter. P.S. I have a carrot shaped cookie cutter, so it should be a breeze, I hope.
  20. Thank-you for the help. I attended a sugar demo by Stephan Treand, (whom was the person that air brushed the clown face on the French teams sugar piece last year) he lays regular plastic wrap in his cut out clay shape before pouring the sugar. The plastic natural smooths out as the hot liquid hits it. That made it release perfectly and the plastic gives the sugar a nicer edge then when it hits a hard edge. So I want to try his technique. I'm only making small carrot shaped suckers for Easter and I thought this method would work great (cheap too). Different degrees of firmness bothers me. I hope I'll be able to feel it through the packaging.
  21. If I read your post right, then you probably only want 1 more selection to compliment what you have now. You already have 1 sweet bread, 1 herbed bread and 1 crunchy bread. Doing a sweet potato biscuit is another sweet bread and it's heavy. I think you need something "plain" for fussy eaters. Maybe a potato roll or and egg bread. I know this isn't exciting at all, but I try to be practical and think of the customers. I believe you want something to compliment (no more herbs) the entire menu and something that's not heavy. If their full, they won't buy dessert.
  22. I'm looking for the type that never hardens. Can anyone tell me a reasonable source to buy it from too? TIA
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