The baking gods were not smiling last night!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Profile a Culinary Persoality
As part of the UCLA Extension: Food Writing Online Class, I had to write a profile on a culinary personality. Earlier in October, Clotilde Dusoulier author of Chocolate & Zucchini blog and books Chocolate & Zucchini and Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris was a guest speaker for a teleforum of the Food&Culinary Professionals Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association. I listened in to Clotilde's presentation, emailed her a thank you and then emailed a request to set up an interview. She said yes! We had the interview yesterday and I am still working on my notes.
Again what a great experience!
Again what a great experience!
UCLA Extension: Food Writing Online Class
Monday 24 November 2008
Well, my six week on line class on Food Writing ended yesterday. The instructor Dianne Jacob, was also the author of "Will Write for Food." Great experience, and learned a lot. Weekly topics included; Intro to Food Writing, Understanding what publications want, Developing your story idea, Researching and writing your story, Recipe writing, and Restaurant reviewing. Wow, a very busy six weeks!
I would definately recommend the class and the instructor!
Well, my six week on line class on Food Writing ended yesterday. The instructor Dianne Jacob, was also the author of "Will Write for Food." Great experience, and learned a lot. Weekly topics included; Intro to Food Writing, Understanding what publications want, Developing your story idea, Researching and writing your story, Recipe writing, and Restaurant reviewing. Wow, a very busy six weeks!
I would definately recommend the class and the instructor!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
TWD Round 2 for Arborio Rice Pudding, just white this time
Monday, 17 November 2008
So I made Arborio rice for a second time. This time I increased the rice from 1/4 to 1/2 cup and I increased cooking time from 30 to 55 minutes. Definately not rice soup this time! I only made the vanilla version. After almost 24 hrs in the fridge, I tried it. Very tasty, not soupy, and the vanilla was really pleasant. I would say a success, next time re-try the chocolate! But I have a question, what about the growing bubbles of skin when it is cooking? I had to mix it fairly frequently to keep the bubbles from getting too big.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
TWD Arborio Rice Pudding, White, Black (or both)
So it is late afternoon on Sunday 16 November. Here in Minneapolis, MN we woke up to a little spitting snow, not enough to stick, but very pretty. I read the recipe this week for TWD (tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com) and got to work. Photo at left shows you the resuls just prior to putting plastic wrap over the puddings and into the fridge for at least 6 hours. After doing all of this is when I went to the TWD site to read the postings. Itw as then I read there were some problmes with the time of the pudding on the stove. Oh well. I plan on making this tomarrow night after work and it will be great. Also planning on reading posting prior to starting to bake next time. No complaints, and anyway, I LOVE rice pudding so now I woill have two batch es of both vanilla and chocolate!
Let them eat cake!
Saturday 15 November 2008
I was baking at Open Arms of Minnesota today. Instead of making a recipe for over 400 servings, I frosted and decorated cakes. My job for today was to take eight frozen cakes (baked earlier in the week) and frost and decorate them. The cakes were then to be placed in cartons and kept in the walk -in for distribution this week. When clients have a birthday, an individual birthday cake is included with their weekly meal delivery. So today half of the cakes I frosted with scratch made chocolate frosting, and the other half with scratch made cream cheese frosting. Decorations included mini M&Ms, mini butterscotch morsels, and multicolored fine granulated sugars. It took longer than I though, and it was a lot of fun. I hope clients with birthdays this week enjoy the surprize!
I was baking at Open Arms of Minnesota today. Instead of making a recipe for over 400 servings, I frosted and decorated cakes. My job for today was to take eight frozen cakes (baked earlier in the week) and frost and decorate them. The cakes were then to be placed in cartons and kept in the walk -in for distribution this week. When clients have a birthday, an individual birthday cake is included with their weekly meal delivery. So today half of the cakes I frosted with scratch made chocolate frosting, and the other half with scratch made cream cheese frosting. Decorations included mini M&Ms, mini butterscotch morsels, and multicolored fine granulated sugars. It took longer than I though, and it was a lot of fun. I hope clients with birthdays this week enjoy the surprize!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Photo test and a meal from South Africa
Wednesday night 12 November
This was my test to try and post a photograph with a post. It looks like it worked! The photo is a sample meal from an after school program outside of Cape Town South Africa. I will post more on that soon. Now it is off to french class this evening.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Yellow Cake; It's not like it was in school!
Saturday 08 November
This morning was my every other Saturday baking at Open Arms of Minnesota. I am usually there for 2-2.5 hrs and typically produce over 300 servings of what I am making. To learn more about Open Arms of Minnesota check out the website at http://www.openarmsmn.org/ So what did I make today? Yup, yellow cake, and 420 servings of it! It was a little retro to think about yellow cake. I was right back in junior high study hall helping the lunch ladies. But this yellow cake is nothing like the old school sheet cakes. This was scratch baking at it's finest. I was working with 18 lbs of butter, 33 lbs of sugar, 144 eggs, 28 lbs flour, 21 quarts of buttermilk, etc. You get the idea. And we ran out of buttermilk so we made some from scratch. Milk with lemon juice and mix. The recipe was so large I had to make it in halves and then still have to use three bus tubs to finish a final mix. It looked great, and smelled really nice! A fun way to spend 2.5 hrs on a Saturday.
Now I am home making Choclate-Glazed Chocolate Tart for a dinner party tonight. This comes from the September 2008 Paris issue of Gourmet. It is easy to make, beautiful and delicious. What more could you ask for?!
This morning was my every other Saturday baking at Open Arms of Minnesota. I am usually there for 2-2.5 hrs and typically produce over 300 servings of what I am making. To learn more about Open Arms of Minnesota check out the website at http://www.openarmsmn.org/ So what did I make today? Yup, yellow cake, and 420 servings of it! It was a little retro to think about yellow cake. I was right back in junior high study hall helping the lunch ladies. But this yellow cake is nothing like the old school sheet cakes. This was scratch baking at it's finest. I was working with 18 lbs of butter, 33 lbs of sugar, 144 eggs, 28 lbs flour, 21 quarts of buttermilk, etc. You get the idea. And we ran out of buttermilk so we made some from scratch. Milk with lemon juice and mix. The recipe was so large I had to make it in halves and then still have to use three bus tubs to finish a final mix. It looked great, and smelled really nice! A fun way to spend 2.5 hrs on a Saturday.
Now I am home making Choclate-Glazed Chocolate Tart for a dinner party tonight. This comes from the September 2008 Paris issue of Gourmet. It is easy to make, beautiful and delicious. What more could you ask for?!
First snow of the year
Friday 07 November
When I got up I looked out the window as I was making coffee in the kitchen. It was still dark out so I really couldn't see very much. It looked a little hazy, but not sure. When I opened the front door to get the newspapers, I saw it! It was snowing! To me there is something amazing about the first snowfall of the year. It didn't stick, but it was great to watch walking to the garage and driving to work.
Now it really feels like fall in Minneapolis!
When I got up I looked out the window as I was making coffee in the kitchen. It was still dark out so I really couldn't see very much. It looked a little hazy, but not sure. When I opened the front door to get the newspapers, I saw it! It was snowing! To me there is something amazing about the first snowfall of the year. It didn't stick, but it was great to watch walking to the garage and driving to work.
Now it really feels like fall in Minneapolis!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day Rugelach
OK, so note to self; in the future don't try a recipe for the first time after a really long day at work and then trying to watch the election results.
So what I need to do differently next time; Dorie said dough could be refrigerated for up to one day. I had to leave it in the fridge for two days due to schedule error. Also, what is it about when I read be careful to not overwork the dough, I tend to underwork it! And, next time pay attention to chopping nuts and chocolate a bit finer and less listening to the political pundits!
It was nice to have such a great smell from the kitchen watching the election results. I'll still bring them into work tomarrow morning and I think they will be gone quickly.
So what I need to do differently next time; Dorie said dough could be refrigerated for up to one day. I had to leave it in the fridge for two days due to schedule error. Also, what is it about when I read be careful to not overwork the dough, I tend to underwork it! And, next time pay attention to chopping nuts and chocolate a bit finer and less listening to the political pundits!
It was nice to have such a great smell from the kitchen watching the election results. I'll still bring them into work tomarrow morning and I think they will be gone quickly.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Tuesdayswithdorie
Well, it is official! I got the email from "LW" and saw my name and roomatthekitchentable on the http://www.tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/ website! If you are not familiar with this website, check it out. This was the push I needed to put together this blog. To participate in tuesdayswithdorie (TWD), you need a blog. Basically once a week a recipe is chosen from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, and over 300 (I think) bakers make the recipe and blog about it. Too cool! So, since this is my first week I wanted to get a jump on the Tuesday (hence the name of the blog) deadline to post. So, I made the dough for the Rugelach which is this weeks recipe. Tomorrow night I'll make the filling and glaze and bake them.
So now in addition to my goal of trying to bake each Sunday afternoon from le Cordon Bleu recipes, I now have at least every other week goals of TWD. This will keep me busy in the kitchen on Sundays!
So now in addition to my goal of trying to bake each Sunday afternoon from le Cordon Bleu recipes, I now have at least every other week goals of TWD. This will keep me busy in the kitchen on Sundays!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Recent books on le Cordon Bleu-Paris
01 November
Have you read "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry" by Kathleen Flinn? What about "Sacre Cordon Bleu; What the French know about cooking" by Michael Booth? Both of these books are great reads on the experiences of going through the training at le Cordon Bleu-Paris to complete le Diplome de Cuisine. I am not aware of any recent books published from graduates of le Diplome de Patisserie or le Grand Diplome from le Cordon Bleu-Paris. Ms. Flinn an American and Mr. Booth a Brit describe the experiences of going through the training in cuisine at le Cordon Bleu-Paris of, shall I say mid-life career changers? Both are very interesting and entertaining. While Ms. Flinn's is very positive of her experiences, Mr. Booth gives a slightly different perspective on the experience. Is this based on male vs. female or American vs. Brit perspectives? I would recommend you read them both and decide for yourself, they are both great reads. For more information check out http://www.kathleenflinn.com/ and http://www.michael-booth.com/ .
What is my experience with le Cordon Bleu-Paris(LCB-P)? I started taking one day and then one week classes three years ago. In June-July 2008 I attended and graduated from the Intensive Basic Patisserie class. LCB-P classes are structured as Basic, Intermediate and Superior for both Cuisine and Patisserie. Completing the three levels in either discipline results in le Diplome and completing both disciplines results in le Grand Diplome. Check out http://www.cordonbleu.edu/ for more information.
Have you read "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry" by Kathleen Flinn? What about "Sacre Cordon Bleu; What the French know about cooking" by Michael Booth? Both of these books are great reads on the experiences of going through the training at le Cordon Bleu-Paris to complete le Diplome de Cuisine. I am not aware of any recent books published from graduates of le Diplome de Patisserie or le Grand Diplome from le Cordon Bleu-Paris. Ms. Flinn an American and Mr. Booth a Brit describe the experiences of going through the training in cuisine at le Cordon Bleu-Paris of, shall I say mid-life career changers? Both are very interesting and entertaining. While Ms. Flinn's is very positive of her experiences, Mr. Booth gives a slightly different perspective on the experience. Is this based on male vs. female or American vs. Brit perspectives? I would recommend you read them both and decide for yourself, they are both great reads. For more information check out http://www.kathleenflinn.com/ and http://www.michael-booth.com/ .
What is my experience with le Cordon Bleu-Paris(LCB-P)? I started taking one day and then one week classes three years ago. In June-July 2008 I attended and graduated from the Intensive Basic Patisserie class. LCB-P classes are structured as Basic, Intermediate and Superior for both Cuisine and Patisserie. Completing the three levels in either discipline results in le Diplome and completing both disciplines results in le Grand Diplome. Check out http://www.cordonbleu.edu/ for more information.
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