Time

Time waits for no man.
Time heals all wounds.
More time is all we want.
Time to stand up.
Time to grow up.
Time to let go.

Sugar your Steak

Chef's confirmed that sugaring steaks - and pork and fish, too - is a common restaurant practice to ensure a good sear.
It can reduce the browning time by nearly half - two minutes per side, rather than the usual three to four minutes - which let you sear the steaks without cooking them through.

Useful tips:
Start by bringing the steaks to room temperature.

The cooking surface should be piping hot.

While the pan or grill heats, rub both sides of each steak with oil, and season each side with salt, pepper and sugar. How much sugar? For large strip steaks and rib-eyes, sprinkle on a scant 1/2 teaspoon per side. For filet mignons, about 1/4 teaspoon per side. Wait to season the steaks until you are ready to sear them, because the sugar melts quickly.

Blackberry Turnovers

Today was my first adventure baking homemade turnovers. They turned out pretty good, next time I'd add a little more sugar into the berry mix—it takes quite a bit of sugar. There's a lot more to baking turnovers then one would think: balancing out the berry to cornstarch ratio, whether or not to reduce the berry mix, and how much to mix to fill the pastry so it closes properly. All fun. I enjoyed brushing the pastry with egg, added a nice glaze to the outer crust. I also sprinkled a touch of sugar on the crust which made the crust even tastier. Delish.

Inspired by The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, who also authored The Cake Bible.