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I will never again . . . (Part 3)


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oy...

...i will never again experiment in a pinch with making my own 10x sugar...

granulated sugar + cornstarch + blender = crunchy, pasty buttercream.

Torren O'Haire - Private Chef, FMSC Tablemaster, Culinary Scholar

"life is a combination of magic and pasta"

-F. Fellini

"We should never lose sight of a beautifully conceived meal."

-J. Child

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oy...

...i will never again experiment in a pinch with making my own 10x sugar...

granulated sugar + cornstarch + blender = crunchy, pasty buttercream.

Really? I've made superfine sugar by food-processing regular sugar with no problems. Did the sugar melt after long processing?

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

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oy...

...i will never again experiment in a pinch with making my own 10x sugar...

granulated sugar + cornstarch + blender = crunchy, pasty buttercream.

Really? I've made superfine sugar by food-processing regular sugar with no problems. Did the sugar melt after long processing?

sadly, superfine and confectioner's sugars are not the same, especially in a decently large quantity as would be the case in cake icings.

Torren O'Haire - Private Chef, FMSC Tablemaster, Culinary Scholar

"life is a combination of magic and pasta"

-F. Fellini

"We should never lose sight of a beautifully conceived meal."

-J. Child

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Did that thing with the superfine-not-confectioner's sugar on Valentine's Day - 140 red velvet cupcakes with grainy icing. The kids didn't seem to mind, though (they'll eat anything, as long as it's sweet).

Then I made DH a green velvet cake (because I and every other home baker in town used up all the red in their Valentine's Day confections) and used waaaay too much green food coloring (wow, a little green goes a long way!). I wanted a nice light green because it was a pistachio cake, but it turned out Brrrrright green. Oh, well, DH didn't seem to mind (he'll eat anything, as long as it's sweet).

But then I topped myself last week. Made a beautiful batch of scones and decided to freeze most of them. Never again will I think it might be a good idea to seal them in a Handi-Vac baggie and not pay attention to how much air (all of it!) I'm sucking out of the darned bag!!

Think 1/8 inch thick scones.

I'm never gonna live this one down. I may have to turn in my apron.

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Think 1/8 inch thick scones. 

I'm never gonna live this one down.  I may have to turn in my apron.

But in the commercials, the pillows expand right back up again--how come the scones won't? :laugh: Besides, think how much valuable freeze space you're saving!

I'm still giggling at the mental picture of those compressed scones...

Feast then thy heart, for what the heart has had, the hand of no heir shall ever hold.
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Think 1/8 inch thick scones. 

I'm never gonna live this one down.  I may have to turn in my apron.

But in the commercials, the pillows expand right back up again--how come the scones won't? :laugh: Besides, think how much valuable freeze space you're saving!

I'm still giggling at the mental picture of those compressed scones...

Nooo, nooo, they don't expand right back up again! And yes, they were pretty funny looking . . . but DH didn't seem to mind (he'll eat anything, as long as it's sweet). :wub:

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But then I topped myself last week.  Made a beautiful batch of scones and decided to freeze most of them.  Never again will I think it might be a good idea to seal them in a Handi-Vac baggie and not pay attention to how much air (all of it!) I'm sucking out of the darned bag!! 

Think 1/8 inch thick scones. 

I'm never gonna live this one down.  I may have to turn in my apron.

The secret is to freeze them individually, then vacuum pack them. And yes, I speak from experience (except I think mine were really bad char siu bao, so it wasn't so bad they got hockey-pucked).

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This isn't a dumb cooking thing, but it's a dumb food thing. I will never try to put two 1 litre tetra packs of orange juice in the pantry on a shelf above my head.

One of them slipped and fell lengthways on the floor on the narrow side. The pressure of the liquid popped open both the pouring spout and the bottom, causing a gush of juice to go all over the floor, my feet and under the fridge. There was no way of picking it up without spilling more juice, so there was a trail of juice from the pantry to the sink. There was also juice splattered everywhere.

What a frickin' mess. :angry:

I don't mind the rat race, but I'd like more cheese.

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The secret is to freeze them individually, then vacuum pack them.  And yes, I speak from experience (except I think mine were really bad char siu bao, so it wasn't so bad they got hockey-pucked).

Ah, thanks! (Now I feel even stupider, er, more stupid). :laugh:

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I decided to replace my very old mandoline with a ceramic-bladed one...I don't really even need to finish writing this post, do I?

Do I know better than to mandoline eryngi mushrooms, without the handguard, and without looking at what I'm doing, but instead watching a pot of deepfrying saba bananas? Yeah, I know better...

The whole idea was to save time so I could get back to work...instead, I've spent days trying to type flat-tack with a swolllen, sensitive, bandaged up thumb.

I will certainly be looking for kevlar gloves, armor-plate gauntlets etc. Wonder if any brands have extra-large sizes? (Gloves always too short in the fingers and generally too small).

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But then I topped myself last week.  Made a beautiful batch of scones and decided to freeze most of them.  Never again will I think it might be a good idea to seal them in a Handi-Vac baggie and not pay attention to how much air (all of it!) I'm sucking out of the darned bag!! 

Think 1/8 inch thick scones. 

I'm never gonna live this one down.  I may have to turn in my apron.

The secret is to freeze them individually, then vacuum pack them. And yes, I speak from experience (except I think mine were really bad char siu bao, so it wasn't so bad they got hockey-pucked).

LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, stepping up & joining the parade.......

Ummmmmm, I did the same with homemade biscuits. I actually (hanging head) was sorta surprised they didn't spring back. They *WERE* very fluffy, so I was hopin'............

I *can* vouch for the individual freezing & then vacuum sealing. Works like a dream....unless you really like baked goods that look like they've been run over by a bus.

--Roberta--

"Let's slip out of these wet clothes, and into a dry Martini" - Robert Benchley

Pierogi's eG Foodblog

My *outside* blog, "A Pound Of Yeast"

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not sure if someone has posted this one, putting dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher and ending up with overflowing foam coming out the sides of the dishwasher, then spending an hour scooping the foam out and pouring cold water on the foam.  haha.

I have done it in both the washer and the dishwasher with pain in the butt results. Still, on those few days when I have forgotten to get the right detergents, I will try to "sneak in" a little of the bubbly stuff and hope for the best. I must plead insanity.

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not sure if someone has posted this one, putting dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher and ending up with overflowing foam coming out the sides of the dishwasher, then spending an hour scooping the foam out and pouring cold water on the foam.  haha.

Ah, takes me way back. My grandmother did this when the White Album came out -- just for chronological purposes, altho, come to think of it , Liverpool was 30 miles from where she was born.

It was like an "I Love Lucy" episode. We stared, dazed and confused, at the suds rising halfway up the lower cabinets. Then someone turned off the dishwasher and we laughed 'till our sides hurt.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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not sure if someone has posted this one, putting dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher and ending up with overflowing foam coming out the sides of the dishwasher, then spending an hour scooping the foam out and pouring cold water on the foam.  haha.

I've done this--twice. Clearly, my brain is defective.

There is something really hilariously ironic about cleaning up soap, though. If I were a 20-year-old frat boy, I'd just call it a foam party and go with it.

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...forget to put my ground almond in when I make my next Friands....

how duff!!! :blush:

austramerica

Life is short: Break the rules...Forgive quickly...Kiss slowly...Love truly...Laugh uncontrollably...And never regret anything that made you smile. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance...
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not sure if someone has posted this one, putting dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher and ending up with overflowing foam coming out the sides of the dishwasher, then spending an hour scooping the foam out and pouring cold water on the foam.  haha.

Back in the day, I lived in a house full of hippies in a suburban neighborhood, we were the talk and the scandal of the street. Naturally, our pre-teen newspaper boy was fascinated and liked to hang out at our place, that is until the day when he opened the kitchen door and the suds from the overflowing dishwasher lapped at his feet. He backed away slowly and we never saw him again. :blink:

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not sure if someone has posted this one, putting dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher and ending up with overflowing foam coming out the sides of the dishwasher, then spending an hour scooping the foam out and pouring cold water on the foam.  haha.

Back in the day, I lived in a house full of hippies in a suburban neighborhood, we were the talk and the scandal of the street. Naturally, our pre-teen newspaper boy was fascinated and liked to hang out at our place, that is until the day when he opened the kitchen door and the suds from the overflowing dishwasher lapped at his feet. He backed away slowly and we never saw him again. :blink:

My solution was always to sprinkle salt on the foam. In fact, I kept a big round shaker full of salt next to the sink for various tasks, including dousing suds that used to come up through the disposal when an old dishwasher discharged through the drain.

It also works on suds erupting from the washing machine!

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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not sure if someone has posted this one, putting dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher and ending up with overflowing foam coming out the sides of the dishwasher, then spending an hour scooping the foam out and pouring cold water on the foam.  haha.

Back in the day, I lived in a house full of hippies in a suburban neighborhood, we were the talk and the scandal of the street. Naturally, our pre-teen newspaper boy was fascinated and liked to hang out at our place, that is until the day when he opened the kitchen door and the suds from the overflowing dishwasher lapped at his feet. He backed away slowly and we never saw him again. :blink:

My solution was always to sprinkle salt on the foam. In fact, I kept a big round shaker full of salt next to the sink for various tasks, including dousing suds that used to come up through the disposal when an old dishwasher discharged through the drain.

It also works on suds erupting from the washing machine!

Now that is a good thing to know! Thanks!

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I will never again ask my husband to wash the Moka.

The genius that he is, washed it, put it back together (empty) and put it over a flame to dry it.

Yes. Yes, I have driven through his skull to either make sure the cast iron is dry after washing it, or leave it for me to do. But I don't know how you can confuse black cast iron, with shiny aluminum/steel/whatever a moka is made out of.

Here I am, trying to get out the door in time yesterday morning...

Him: "honey are you ironing something?"

Me: "No..... OMG, Whats that smell?"

That smell was the plastic handle on fire.

Falling off.

And landing in the flame of the gas stove top.

:wacko:

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