A final lemonade for 2023

 

On this last day of 2023, I have added another new fruited lemonade to the menu.  This one is blueberry.  Like the last two recently-added lemonades, this one is made by reducing and liquifying berries until we have a very intense reduction. Then it's added in just the right proportions to lemon juice, and a few other things, until we have an amazing blueberry lemonade combination that is out of this world.  This is one my favorite refreshing drinks to have on hand.  And it looks beautiful, too.

This is the last blog post of 2023.  There are many things planned for 2024 on this blog starting with a hot chocolate mix about which I will post in a few days, chicken tetrazzini, chocolate ice cream, and chicken pot pie, all of which are scheduled to be added to the menu in January.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Another new lemonade

 

Here we are on December 24th.  It's rainy here in Kansas City.  But even chilly steady rain doesn't dampen my spirits for a cold refreshing drink.

A new lemonade has been added to the menu. This one is raspberry.  It is strong, and refreshing, and just like the strawberry lemonade discussed in my last post, this one is made using an intense reduction of berries.

That's all for now.

Have a great holiday week, everyone!

A new lemonade

A new drink has been added to the menu.  A strawberry lemonade seltzer was already on the menu.  Now a simple strawberry lemonade can also be ordered.  

This new lemonade is not merely the same as the strawberry lemonade soda without the carbonation.  This new drink is made by reducing down strawberries and sugar long and slow over medium heat until they become a highly intense strawberry liquid.  Strained through a fine-mesh, the liquid is then ready to become the most important part of this refreshing beverage.

It's simple and refreshing and very flavorful.

More beverages will be added in the next few days.

Stay tuned, and eat well during this holiday season!

A recipe

Here's a great recipe for double chocolate pudding.

 

If you're craving something creamy and chocolatey for this holiday season, give this a try. 

I guarantee you'll love it! 

Pans

As I get ready to prepare the first of many holiday foods, I print out the recipes from my database, I examine the needed ingredients and order what I need, and then I check my pans.

Pans?

Yes.  

I remember reading an article long ago in which people were complaining that the recipes they were trying from books weren't coming out as they should.  These were recipes from acclaimed chefs that they felt should have been foolproof.  In response, the article writer commented on a variety of things such as measuring techniques, quality of ingredients, and even slip-shop attention to detail on the part of the chef and details in the recipe.  What got my attention most, though, was when they said that a well-trained chef actually keeps in mind which pans are used for which foods, both in their restaurants, and in their own kitchen.  The chef knows exactly which pan he has used for a specific food and that helps in terms of consistency.  He knows exactly what to expect from a specific pan that is always used for the same food.

I know that in my own kitchen, there are specific pans that I use for certain things.  And, indeed, using the same pan every time helps immensely with consistency.  I have multiple skillets, multiple cake pans, multiple muffin pans, etc.  But I keep track of which pans I use for each food.  Pans may have the same shape, but they are different in other ways.  And how they cook your food can be be significantly different.

So as you prepare for your own holiday feasts, keep in mind which pans you always use.  If you change a pan because you had to replace it, watch your food carefully to see how the new pan works for it.

Eat some good food, everyone!

December has arrived

Well, here we are in December.  The final run toward the end of the year and the beginning of a new one is upon us.

This morning here in Kansas City it is dreary and wet and cold.  No snow, but we had plenty of rain overnight.  It's perfect weather for staying inside with a cup of hot cocoa and some brittle and a good Christmas movie.

In less than two weeks, my normal daily teaching activities come to an end for 2023. That means that I will break out my list of food projects, new foods, old recipe tweaks, etc., and try to work through some of that in those few weeks of free time.

I'm planning on chicken pot pie, perhaps some chili, final tweaks to a hazelnut cream cake and a strawberry cream cake before they go on the menu, hopefully finally finishing fruited lemonades (which I've been waiting to finalize for a few months now!), chocolate cream pie and chocolate ice cream, and some sandwiches.  

I know, I know, it's a huge list.  And that's not even all the list!  

The good thing is that one is never bored when it comes to working on food.  There's always something new to do.

A big food project this week

Good morning, and happy post-Thanksgiving weekend.

This week I had major project going on.  My wife asked me if I would provide some food treats for her workplace.  Of course, I agreed without hesitation.

So last week, I worked out the menu of treats.  Then I carefully planned out the logistics for the week, the timing of what doughs could be made ahead of time and what needed to be made on the last day, the balance of different types of treats, the timing of baking which would last a whole day, etc.

This project included 4 types of cookies, 3 types of brownies, gingerbread mini cakes with lemon zest, and several mini loaves of banana bread.  As always, when I am baking I am constantly looking for little tweaks to make either in recipes or in preparation protocols or even packaging.  And with this amount of food being made with an initial prep of doughs and batter ahead of time and then all being baked on the final day, there were plenty of opportunities to find tweaks and refine processes.  Large-scale batch baking can get easier and easier every time you do it if you use each attempt as a way to identify refinements.

This morning, I got up early, packaged everything in boxes, took them in with my wife as she went to work, and set them all out and unwrapped cakes and opened boxes.  It was a very satisfying thing, indeed, to see it all completed.  And of course my wife was all smiles.  And that alone is worth the effort.

Preparing for the next step

Good morning and welcome to Thanksgiving week!  

I've been doing weekly food orders for quite some now.  In doing that, I've been able to refine many processes, tweak and polish many foods, and work out scheduling routines for multiple food preps on the same day.  And now I have decided that it's time to prepare for the next step.

As a result, I'm on hiatus for a short while.  I won't be accepting weekly orders during this hiatus.  I will continue to post here on the blog.  I will continue to add new foods to the menu.  And occasionally I will text out to some of you that I have some experiments for you to try if you wish, a new cookie, a new stew, a new brownie, etc.

But when the hiatus is over, and I don't expect it to last long, the website will be open again for orders, and I will be somewhat along in developing plans to take this whole enterprise further. 

So please keep checking back here on the blog for updates and regular posts, and I will let everyone know when the ordering website will be open for orders again.

Have a great holiday week.  I will be back again in a day or two with a new post.

All-night baking

 

It has been a quite a while since I had an all-night baking session.  Today, I'm preparing ginger spice cookies and mac/cheese for orders this weekend.  However, next week, I'm doing a lot of baking for a special event that my wife asked me to help with.  I won't have to bake all night for this event, but I thought about it.  I have scheduled different doughs and foods to be done at different points in the week with a final burst of preparation on Friday night before the Saturday event.  With the schedule designed as it is, an all-night baking session won't be needed.

But all-night baking sessions are sort of fun.  To be awake in the middle of the night churning out tray after tray of cookies and rolls and muffins and cakes while the rest of the world is asleep .... there's something rather uniquely special about that. 

When I do an all-night session, I carefully plan out my ingredients and the order of items to be prepared and baked.  I select a few fun things to put on the TV as background, things that I'm already familiar with such as a favorite TV show, and in this way I have something going on that I'm listening to and which is engaging part of my mind to keep me fresh as I work in the kitchen.

As the hours pass and dawn draws closer, the food piles up, going into boxes as it cools, or being wrapped in appropriate wrappings and bags, and the work of the night becomes ever more evident.

Finally when first light is hitting and the work is almost done and almost ready to be picked up, there comes that moment of "what did I forget to make?" and other similar thoughts.  I always think about what else I could have made, even with no time left.  I always think big and then bigger at the end, I suppose.

When the food is out the door and the kitchen is empty, it is as though nothing had happened at all.  No evidence remains.  But when I hear about how everyone enjoyed the food, it makes the work all worthwhile.

The holidays are getting close

 

The holidays are getting close.  I can smell the spices.  I can feel the dough.  I can see the textures.  All before I even make the food that is being planned for next week.

This coming weekend we have a wonderful spiced cookie ready to order and also macaroni and cheese.  Mac and cheese is perfect for autumn weather, don't you think?

I have nothing earth-shattering to write about today.  I'm enjoying a relaxed morning.  I'm beginning to plan out the foods for Thanksgiving week.  As always, I will not do usual food orders for Thanksgiving week.  However, I have had a special request to provide some food for an event and I am happily fulfilling that request.

That means deciding on multiple cookies, brownies and muffins/cupcakes.  And that means a lot of planning to determine how to schedule it all throughout the week so that it doesn't all have to be done on a single day.

It's fun.  It will be busy.  But it will be fun.

Have a great week, everyone.  I'll be back with another more substantial post in a few days.