DiplomacyEvolving's Profile

I use this method especially during big family holidays. Everybody offers to help the cooks in the kitchen, but taking their time in the middle of cooking to explain what needs to be done (in what order for what recipe and with which method) takes valuable time away from cooking. If this list is tacked to the fridge you can easily enlist any interested amateur as a prep cook for one task or several, depending on their skill level and the amount of time they have to give you. It's why my Thanksgiving and Passover cooking/prep for 20-30 guests actually ends early rather than late.

I do gougeres every year with lots of gruyere in the batter and on top of the puffs as they bake. You can pipe in filling if you like, so crunchy pumpkin seeds could get roughly chopped and folded into a mascarpone (though you're using that in the menu already). You could also do savory palmieres (I use frozen puff pastry) with savory spices.

That project is gorgeous, but what to do if you have the old traditional coil radiator that sits in the corner of the room? The project above works because the radiator has a flat space to be used as a canvas. Couldn't use pretty stencils with mine. Ideas?