To baking-and-pastry students with dreams of owning and operating their own bakeshops, whether to create from scratch or utilize a convenience-added product has everything to do with quality and consistency.

By Mark Kwasigroch

Your mission: Make a batch of turnovers that are light, buttery and flakey. Do you …

One, commit to a multi-step process that includes preparing a base dough with bread flour and all-purpose flour, enclose butter at exactly the right temperature, chill rolled-out dough before rolling out again (then repeat), then cut, fill, fold and bake to consume literally hours for perfect turnovers? 

Or two, lay out ready-to-use puff-pastry dough, cut into squares or circles, fill to make sweet or savory, crimp and bake for beautifully golden, fresh-from-the-oven turnovers in minutes?

Today, more American bakeshops (and even bakeshops in France) seek short-cut solutions to creating high-quality classic pastries, breads and other baked goods. This should come as no surprise; after all, the phrase “from scratch” entered the English lexicon as recently as the 1950s—the same decade that produced the first electric can opener. In an industry beleaguered by excruciatingly short profit margins and a dearth of qualified help, “speed scratch,” or the use of convenience products to eliminate time and labor in food preparation, makes a lot of sense.

If you’re 45 or older, you probably prefer a baked potato over french fries, according to results of a recent study. However you like your potato, it’s the vegetable of choice for nearly one-quarter of Americans, and virtually everyone in this country eats them.

In the latest consumer survey by the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) conducted in January 2014, 97% of Americans said they eat potatoes, and more than 81% enjoy them as a side dish, snack or main course on average of three days per week.

Conducted prior to Potato Lover’s Month (February), the survey polled 1,000 nationally representative Americans ages 18 and over, and delivered unambiguously pro-potato results. “America’s favorite vegetable is now consumed three times a week, up from two times weekly in 2009,” says Frank Muir, IPC president and CEO.

Other revelations include:

• More men than women (84% vs. 78%) eat potatoes once a week
• Regionally, Midwesterners are most likely to eat potatoes at least once a week (88%)
• Popularity of preparations rank with ease of preparation–baked (29%), mashed (25%), french fries (17%), hash browns (9%), potato chips (5%)
• Consumers ages 45+ favor baked potatoes (36% vs. 23% for ages 18-44)
• Consumers ages 18-44 prefer french fries (21% vs. 12% for age 45+)
• Nearly 25% choose potatoes as the vegetable they crave; leafy greens follow at 20%
• 72% said they would eat Idaho® potatoes in preference to potatoes from other states

The Los Angeles Dodgers expects to sell more than 3 million hot dogs to fans this season, while the Detroit Tigers unveils the Poutine Dog. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs will offer a taste of hot dogs over the last 10 decades at Wrigley Field.

It’s a love affair that has spanned generations, and baseball fans will once again make hot dogs their No. 1 choice at the ballparks this summer. The Washington, D.C.-based National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) estimates that fans will eat a whopping 21,357,316 hot dogs and 5,508,887 sausages during the 2014 Major League season—enough hot dogs to stretch from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to Wrigley Field in Chicago. 

“When it comes to the food of choice at baseball games, nothing cuts the mustard quite like hot dogs and sausages,” says Eric Mittenthal, NHDSC vice president of public affairs. “It’s a tradition that fans relish, and despite growing options at concessions, they keep coming back for their old favorite.”

This year’s total includes a new single-season record for most hot dogs at one stadium as the Los Angeles Dodgers anticipates fans will consume 3,077,537 hot dogs, a jump of more than 800,000 hot dogs from last year. That is enough to round the bases at Dodger Stadium 4,274 times.

Chef Bill Telepan leads school wellness initiatives while running successful restaurants. He says that if you have a chance to give back, do it.

Bill Telepan, chef/owner of New York City’s Telepan and Telepan Local, advised new graduates of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) about the importance of giving back when delivered the keynote address during commencement ceremonies at the CIA on March 21—the first commencement held in the new Marriott Pavilion on the CIA’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus.

The 1987 CIA alumnus lives his advice. While running two successful restaurants, earning a Michelin star and being named a semifinalist for the James Beard Award as Best Chef: New York City, he has spent the last six years as executive chef for Wellness in the Schools.

Wellness in the Schools (WITS) inspires healthy eating, environmental awareness and fitness as a way of life for kids in public schools. Through meaningful public/private partnerships with school leadership, teachers, chefs, coaches, parents and kids, WITS develops and implements programs that provide healthy foods, healthy environments and opportunities for regular play to help kids learn and grow. Telepan’s work with that organization led to his being asked to serve on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move to School task force when that initiative launched in 2009.

Following up on last month’s inspiration to teach curiosity by capitalizing on the five “W”s, this month Dr. Mayo reveals three additional strategies.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

This month is the second installment of suggestions for encouraging curiosity in students. Last month, we talked about inviting them to lead critiques of food, asking them to ask questions about what they are doing in class, and inviting them to consider what could be done differently each time they do something. These strategies keep their minds active and promote both curiosity and creativity along with critical thinking.

This month, we will discuss three other strategies that are part of good teaching, but can be particularly useful in promoting curiosity.

Controversy
One very effective way to encourage curiosity is to create some discrepancy about something that is being taught or discussed. Since you want different perspectives, give students various roles to play in the discussion of some concept. They will investigate it and think about it more profoundly since they know that there will be several points of view. The benefit is that they will consider more aspects of the topic knowing that they have to debate it.