Hi, For years now I have been looking into a career as a pastry chef, baking is something I love and something I am very good at. I have recently been accepted into the CIA, and now I am beginning to question if this is the right career for me. I have never been under false impressions that this would be a glamorous life, I know that it will be long hours, crappy pay, and working just about every holiday. What is leaving me to question if this is the right career for me is the fact that I also want to be a mother. I want to be able to be a mother that will see her kids for more than ten minutes a day, I want to be able to be home with them until they are school age, and even then I want to be able to get them up for school in the... » read more

Dear Colleagues,   I'm enormously interested in your two-cents.   I have a small business in which we make our own puff-pastry and use seasonal fruits and vegetables to produce both sweet and savory tarts.   As a business philosophy I try to use the highest-quality ingredients I can find in my production. Though we make nearly everything ourselves I've come to appreciate the ease of use of a commercial clear apricot glaze to finish a number of our fruit tarts.   Albert Uster's clear apricot glaze (from Italy) was a revelation; but the company's minimum order requirement is onerous for a business my size. I've also been looking at Hero, who do a pretty unadulterated version of clear apricot glaze. (I hope I'm not being... » read more

I already own a 2 qt saucepan. Is also owning a 2qt saucier redundant? » read more

Hey Cheftalk users and perusers.  Brand new to-be chef here. Turned 21 and just moved into an apartment. I love the freedom! But cooking... Whew... What another story. I'm learning to love it. And, making great food I look forward to eating seems to be the only way to coerce this relationship. Right now I'm in the process of cleaning this kitchen (it is so gross..) while taking inventory and could use some help.  I inherited a solid (you'll see what I mean) amount of cookware my parents never used, found some more at goodwill, and some more at flea markets, BedBath&Beyond, Walmart, etc, etc, etc, etc. I'm wondering if there's anything important that I am forgetting or overlooking.    Dirty Drawers...  -Stoked on sharp... » read more

I'm hoping to find a really good recipe for gluten free bread--the ones I've tried so far (and a package mix) were no where near what I hoped for, ending up more cake-like than bread-like, too dense and crumbly. Here' how the last one looked after baking:       It did not rise as much as I would have liked either, although it included two eggs and gaur gum, which were supposed to yield the proper rise.   Flavour was just okay, nothing special and it was made using sorghum flour, potato starch, a little bit of rice flour and some barley flour. Yeast was used as well, and honey as the sweetener, and olive oil in place of shortening or butter.   Anyone have an ideal recipe to offer? I love all types of bread, but want... » read more