The Recipe Writer's Handbook

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

If you have lived for a while on this earth you will notice that there is very little new under the sun, with the exception of perhaps technology, which we're not talking about here. There are creative and interesting ways to use sugar, chocolate, spices and herbs in baking. There are fascinating ways to decorate cakes, cookies and all things sweet and edible. If you are a seasoned cook/baker you probably already know about this little jewel of a book, but if you are not this may be something you will want to look into. Originally written in 1997 by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane L.Baker The Recipe Writer's Handbook is something all bakers should have on their cookbook shelf. Why? Because one day you will be (perhaps not a "baby-boomer") but a generation "X" boomer or generation "Y" boomer and you will be passing on knowledge to the next generation of bakers. This sort of information is helpful.

This little book is designed to teach you to "think" your way through a recipe to make important decisions and trouble shoot problems concerning format, syntax, spelling, cooking terminology etc." Those who attended at professional culinary art program probably already know this, but trust and believe if you live long enough it will escape your memory.

You may not think you will, but one day you may want to put all your recipes to pen or in today's case "Word," and publish all those dynamic dishes that have made you famous or not so...famous. Publishers are always looking for ways to take a bigger piece of your pie, so this book can assist you in structuring your recipes in such a manner that publishers will think you had help...well you did it just didn't cost you an arm and a leg.

The more you know, the more you can deliver and you won't have to rely on the publisher finding culinary writers to "clean up" your recipes.

I have the old copy (original 1997) and plan of purchase the revised and expanded copy soon. The chapters in my copy are well written and the information is invaluable. Here's a hint of what's in the book (1997 version).

Chapter 1 The Philosophy of Recipe Writing
Chapter 2 Recipe Writing Style
Chapter 3 The Style Sheet
Chapter 4 Recipe Testing
Chapter 5 Cooking Terminology
Chapter 6 Preferred Spelling of Commonly Used Food Words
Chapter 7 Generic Terms for Brand Names and Trademarks
Chapter 8 Metrics
Chapter 9 Nutrition Analysis of Recipes
Chapter 10 Copyright, Plagiarism and the Ethics of Recipe Writing and more (15 Chapters in all).

The new revised book is on Amazon for under $10 (used) and I have emailed the authors to see if they might be revising it again (it's 2009). As I mention before if this is old news, no sweat, but for those baby bakers out there, just another resource for your baking arsenal.

Mom made a "FEAST!"

Monday, January 12, 2009

I am going to tell you a story so just roll with it. Once upon a time there was a little child who loved his mother very much. Mom and dad worked very hard to provide "little man" with everything he needed and most of the things he wanted. One day it was discovered that mom was going to have a baby; twins to be exact. This made "little man" very happy. When the babies arrived home, a very interesting thing happened. Mom decided to stay home with the babies until they got bigger. This made "little man" really, really happy. He had his Mom and sister and brother home when he arrived from school each day.

One day "little man" explained to his teacher that he was just so happy his Mom was home with the babies because she now prepares a "feast." The child went on to say, "Mom is COOKING US DINNER AT HOME, she made a chicken in-the-oven, and green bean casserole, rolls, and a pie and we are so happy."

So why was the child so happy? This little story is true and was provided by a teacher in a public school system in the south. It was reported that most of the children in the school eat out for dinner every night, rarely getting a home cooked meal. And we wonder why our children are obese, diabetes is on the rise and our little ones suffer from all sorts of allergies, headaches and insomnia?

I will continue to say it until I am blue in the face. GET BACK TO THE BASICS! GET BACK TO THE BASICS! GET BACK TO THE BASICS! Please parents, understand that it starts with you. Don't talk about how busy you are, or how you have to work late and don't have time. Learn, take a cooking class or two or three. Learn how to organize your food pantry and LEARN TO COOK! I teach private classes and I had maybe two inquires last year. Today people want to be entertained, but you better wake up and get educated about food preparation. Look, just think about!

We have already lost two generations, how many more must we lose.

Attention Home-Based Bakers – Is Your Online Business Revenue Struggling

Friday, January 9, 2009

What purpose does a website serve today if it’s not generating revenue? I teach a home-based bakery course and work with home-based bakers who sell their baked goods either for a living or part-time to generate extra income for the household. As our economy dips further into a recession everyone is searching for ways to make extra money. It would be wrong to say all these little earn extra money schemes are effective, most aren’t and few people will tell you that.

When economic times are tough expendable income becomes more precious than gold, silver, and diamonds (combined) and trying to pry it from the super glue drenched hands of the everyday consumer is near impossible. I have friends and acquaintances who constantly want to send emails asking me to purchase this or that from their site and I want so badly to say, I am not spending the extra income I have on sweet smelling stuff, candles or other items that end up cluttering my home. If I am going to spend extra money on anything it is usually going to the theater, movie, out to dinner or planning a dinner party with family and friends.

There are simply too many online businesses chasing too little online revenue. The whole Web 2.0 social networking genre has created a multitude of online businesses whose main focus is to build followers and databases of contacts without a clear definition of how they will generate revenue.

For the home-based baker one way to create a sustainable income is to create forums whereby all consumers who purchase from you; receive your product over time. A sort of get your money up front ventures. For example, one home-based baker devised a plan to ship out miniature pound cakes (6 ounces) to retiring teachers across the nation who belongs to a specific organization. The organization has a database of retiring teachers and each time someone retires they receive a gift card congratulating them on their retirement and pound cake. The gift is personal. less expensive than flowers, rarely thrown away because it’s delicious.

I still believe people involved in the food business are some of the most creative folks on the planet. The one item people will always be interested in spending their expendable income on is FOOD!

Jae's Oven Fresh Cinnamon Buns

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Well, my daughter, who is 28 years young finally learned to make cinnamon buns. She loves them and has wanted to do this for many years. What stopped her? Fear of failure. I kept telling her that old adage "if at first you don't succeed" well that didn't work, but for some reason on Monday, she got up the nerve and did it and this is the result.

No, it wasn't easy and they were not perfect. I know they might look good but this was her first try. They were to bake for 25 minutes and they really could have stood 18-20 minutes. They were a bit dry, but that's what learning is all about. I recently spoke to a man who was attempting to recreate his mom's potato rolls and did not know where to get fresh yeast. (fresh yeast is another blog) We talked for several minutes before also finding out that the recipe a family member had may not be the mom's original recipe. He was quite desperate since he wanted to serve these luscious rolls for Christmas dinner. I provided a couple of well respected sites where he might find a good recipe and told him to try the recipe three times. The first time to see if it works, the second time to get the bugs out...if it did work, and the third time would be a charm. He said he did not even want to trust messing up the first time.

This leads me to this question. Why is it so hard to get people to attempt new culinary endeavors? Why do people insist on having recipes work on the first try? What ever happen to "if at first you don't succeed try, try again." I know, I know, food is expensive, but you have to learn some way, right? What are your thoughts?

I teach cooking classes for a living and recently took my show online. I'm gonna teach personal one on one cooking techniques online. (you know schedule a time online and walk folks through the recipe) I'm hoping it will be a blast. With all this technology, I'm looking to reach those lurkers, fearful foodies, cooks and bakers who hide in the booth in the back in the corner in the dark...just dying to jump out and shake their culinary booty! I know you're out there and I'm coming to teach you...you little novice cook, you little budding baker...I see you.

Let me know your thoughts!