Hints and Allegations


Hints and Allegations

Baking is really easy most of the time. The hard part is following the instructions. As with nearly most things, practice makes perfect.

You do NOT have to put your bowl and beaters in the freezer prior to making whip cream.

Vanilla Sauce=Creme Anglaise
Sweetened Whip Cream=Chantilly Cream

It is always advisable to coat your mixing bowl with lemon juice prior to making a meringue, just to make sure there isn't any fat left in the bowl (say from the last buttercream you made).

In my humble opinion, American Buttercream is the reason why many of us don't like buttercream. Take the time to learn how to make Italian buttercream; it's worth it.

Invest in an ice cream maker (I got mine for $35 on sale during the off season). The difference will amaze you.

Regardless of what Food Network chefs and my own instructors have taught, you can refrigerate batter overnight that contains baking soda or baking powder in them and still achieve a good rise in your baked products.

Pre-scooping cookie dough and freezing them until your ready to bake them off is a very good thing indeed.


4.02.2011

Overnights

I work nights. Actually, we call them overnights. I start at 10 pm and leave the following morning at 6 am. And between last week and this week, I worked six of them in a row. It takes about two nights to get into the rhythm, but once I get going, I do pretty good. But switching from days to nights and back again is a pain in the ass.

I am sure everyone has their own method, but on the morning of my first night, I attempt to get up between 3-4 am. From then to about 10 am, I attempt to get things done around the house without the aid of coffee. It doesn't usually work well. At 10:00, I try to go to bed and sleep until my daughter gets home from school. After putting her to bed around 7:30, I try to nap for an hour. It doesn't usually work well.

At least the next night I don't have to attempt to get up at 3:00, because if I'm not already up, I am in some serious trouble.

On my last overnight, if I want to get back into day time living, I stay up throughout the day until bedtime. Yes, that would mean I am up 24+ hours. And you wonder why night shift people have shorter life spans?

I am not posting this for sympathy. There are definitely benefits to this arrangement for my family and for me.

One nice thing is that I am not being interrupted from my work by petty matters of the office, which for me is such a relief. Is there ever a night that goes smoothly, every step of the way? This is still life we're talking about, so the answer is a most definite, "NO!" But there is a sense of accomplishment, because I have to figure out my own solutions. All my orders need to be completed, and I must prep for the next night.

So, what do I do? Bread and cookies, mostly. At one point or another I make and bake quick breads (fruit breads/muffins/scones), sweet dough (cinnamon rolls), laminated doughs (croissants and Danishes), our daily bread plus rolls and possibly other varieties for brunch and banquets, and finally cookies. Usually, when I make cookies, I use the 80 quart mixer. Our chocolate chip cookie batter contains 28 pounds of chips alone. If I am making brownies, I make anywhere between 3-6 full sized sheet pans. That could mean 26 pounds of melted butter.

I love the variety. For me, it's like a party all night long.
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