I dragged my friend, Alejandra, down to the book store at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, on a Friday night, to see Christopher Kimball from America's Test Kitchen. It was pretty awesome to see him in person. He had a cute yellow bow tie on. He answered questions for half an hour and when asked about the ties, he estimated that he owned seventy of them. People asked all kinds of questions. About organic food, which to sum up, he said, doesn't really have any regulations in the states, and that a producer can essentially use the title without really providing an "organic" product.
I don't remember everything that was said however, someone inquired how it was that he got into food. The story is this: When he was about seven he made a chocolate cake for his family that wasn't good, and the frosting came out looking like snot. But, when he served it to the family, everyone remarked how good it was. It was because of that feeling, of making something and then having people appreciate it, that made him gravitate to food.
I even asked him a question. Here's the background: When I make their desserts at home, they'll usually call for a one to two hour cooling time. I can never wait that long to get my hot little hands on the goods, so I, from time to time... okay, I admit it, more often than not, will, take a little bite off the corner immediately after it has emerged from the oven. This mostly pertains to desserts like lemon bars, or brownies, but isn't limited to these by any means.
The question: Do you sneak bites of the desserts before they've cooled, or do you wait the recommended cooling time? My answer: Because we're filming, and we don't want the the whole film crew to wait for hours for the dessert to be ready, we have a backup waiting that is ready to taste.
Ah yes. I always think it's so cute, when on the show, he says he's going to talk to Adam Reid in the equipment corner, or Jack Bishop in the tasting lab, while he's waiting for his dessert to cool. Damn you magic box for fooling me... I shake my fist at the heavens!
He even signed my book. Me and my new BFF Chris!
