Forum Replies Created
-
I'd hate to guess the number times I've hit the wrong key and wiped out a post I was writing. I've taken to writing them in stages, saving them every paragraph or two. That's one of the reasons why I allow posts to be edited for several days.
I have exchanged several emails with Greg on the subject of Boston Cream Pie, he's one of the experts I was referring to. He and I also had a lengthy email discussion on Hawaiian white pineapple, which is, sadly, becoming hard to find, even in Hawaii.
Here's another good article on the history of Boston Cream Pie.
I've made my own confectioner's fondant several times, and a couple of years ago I made at least six Boston Cream Pies over a two month period to test various types of cakes, pastry creams and toppings. The fondant-topped ones actually got the poorest scores from my testers, I think it's because at least around here a thin ganache coating is what everyone expects.
I don't know how many regulars there were at the BC, but I do have access to Google Analytics data for my site, and we've got fairly steady group of around 60 regular visitors, though only perhaps about half of have posted more than once. Not a lot of newcomers yet, and a number of BC stalwarts don't appear to be either here or posting on Zen's site yet.
Based on my experience with other sites, that's about a third of what we need to be a self-sustaining community. I figure it's my job over the next several months to work on building user counts and traffic, starting with getting into the search engines and doing some promotional work, which probably means working the social networking sites.
I've got some notes and a few outlines for about another dozen blog posts so far, I just need to start making time to write them. I will be taking a chocolate class this fall and plan to write a series on that. (And that doesn't count the time I need to spend working on the site itself.)
If they're unopened bags and are a product that store stocks, I think nearly any chain store will take them, receipt or not, if only because it creates good will with customers. (I'm pretty sure they get reimbursed by the manufacturer, too.)
Without a receipt, they might only issue you a store credit, I think that would be reasonable.
I've been making and freezing my own chicken and beef stock for years, and use little or no salt when making it. (None when making beef stock, I do use a little in chicken stock, I think it helps extract flavor from the bones.)
I also have turkey stock, duck stock and goose stock in the freezer, and also rendered goose fat. I've never made my own vegetable stock, but I don't use it when cooking anyway.
I think most canned/boxed stocks taste awful, why would I want a soup or sauce made with them?
There's a Zoup restaurant in a nearby mall, they sell beef, vegetable and chicken stock in jars, and advertise that it tastes good enough to drink. But as far as I can tell, all 3 have garlic in them. 🙁
As best I can tell, the USDA says cooking foods to an internal temperature of 165 degrees should kill E. Coli. Bread is usually cooked to a 190-200 degrees internal temperature.
With my wife on a low-carb diet, I don't use nearly as much flour as I used to, I think I have at most one unopened bag of flour in the pantry at the moment, and none of my flour canisters have GM flour in them at the moment (because I ran out and haven't replaced it yet.) I use GM mostly for products where I want a lower protein content than KAF AP.
I wonder what fraction of their annual flour volume 10 million pounds represents? (According to government sources, Kansas alone produces 10.8 million TONS of wheat a year.) I also wonder if the recall affects flour for commercial use? I'll have to ask my neighbor (he manages the local Sysco office.)
As I read the notice, it is still possible other brands of flour could be affected, because apparently what the epidemiologists found was that SOME of those affected made products with flour, SOME of those flours were from General Mills and SOME of those affected ate raw dough or batter. There's no direct indication that flour, much less GM flour, was the source of the E. Coli.
By the time most recalls are issued, a high percentage of those foods have already been consumed, but I do wonder how GM plans to dispose of potentially several million pounds of recalled flour?
