All Activity

They are progressing well and all appears to be normal.

Let me second Kerry's welcome. As you have no doubt discovered already, this time in history is a particularly difficult one to begin making chocolates, but I think all of us here have experienced that urge that will not go away and continue to make chocolates, regardless of the cost of the base product. Particularly at the beginning, I would stick with recipes from trusted sources, Peter Greweling being one of the most trusted. When you start to experiment (such as using a cider reduction instead of purée), you are dealing with water activity (and eventually shelf life). Ideally you would purchase a water activity meter, but the expense of that instrument means putting that in the future and, in the meantime, using trusted recipes. I recommend looking into Kalle Jungstedt's online courses. He is obsessive about detail and quite confident about his own methods, but he clearly knows what he is talking about. He provides recipes with water activity stated. Other recipes can be found in Ewald Notter's book and in the giant volume from Jean-Pierre Wybauw with hundreds of recipes. I also recommend the Danish chocolatier Tine Forst, whose ebooks contain lots of basic information and recipes. Recipes that I particularly like can be found on Mats Rajala's Instagram page; he provides water activity readings. And, about the apple caramel: I make one using apple cider jelly, which has a bit less water than juice. Another apple recipe uses apple pâte de fruit with ground dried apples to decrease the water activity dramatically. You will also find many chocolatiers (Tine Forst, Mats Rajala, and Melissa Coppel being some) who use sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that has marked influence on water content. If I seem overly concerned about water activity, it's simply because I have had an experience with mold in a chocolate and have not forgotten that episode. Forgive me if I am providing information you already know from the course you completed.

This is what they look like today. The one on the bottom, second from the right is completely black so I assume that one is ready for baking and the rest should look like that before I use them? I've tried two along the way to this point. The first was starchy, not very sweet. The second, half black, was really sweet at the ends but hard and still starchy in the middle. The ripe ends, however, we're amazing. Also, the peel is quite thin. Is that normal?

@Honkman I first added hot rice to top some spinach that was not cooked tasted good and had interesting textural differences . then tried the same thing w cooked ravioli on top of the rice , which was on top of the spinach. the textural difference between the rice and the ravioli was also interesting . but its probably more the difference between the texture of the rice and the creamy sauce

Sausages, I think. I asked the lady behind the counter. "Yes, my love! Fried bread is deep fried. We can do you toast if you'd like?" I sent for the healthy option today: a hash brown!

Well not my experience and I did live in the east end and south of the river.

As did I, and any caff in the east end or south of the river will know exactly what you mean, but you'll have to go a tube zone or two away to get Heinz ketchup

Vietnamese Chicken Salad from Dinner by Recipetin - mix of poached chicken breast, napa cabbage, red onion, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, Fresno chili, mint, cilantro and peanuts. Vinaigrette made with fish sauce, avocado oil, lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar and garlic

Just curious - why do you add rice to your filled pastas ? - normally both carbs are foundations for separate dished but you rarely see them together

I lived in London for many years. My family still live there. Never heard of sausages being called 'soss'. If you ask for bacon and eggs with 'soss' in London you'll be directed to Mr. Heinz's tomato ketchup already on the table.

Sausage (imagine "baykn egg an' soss please luv" in a cockney accent and it makes sense)

What is soss?

I've always made a fried slice using the pan the bacon, mushrooms and soss (and therefore their fat+flavour) were cooked in. I've never seen it deep fried, nor do I want to 😁 but there's bound to be some greasy spoons out there doing it

Welcome @Sweet-Tempered - @Chocolot is the one to answer caramel questions. Actually also the one to answer fondant questions. You want real fondant - I buy it - in huge pails - but you can make it following instructions in @Chocolot's book Candymaking.

Hello, @Sweet-Tempered. I'm not a chocolatière, I just like reading about all those great confections. EGullet members get together every year to make bonbons . . . Welcome!

Hello all, This is my first post. I have always had an affinity for chocolate, the darker the better. About 20 years ago, I became interested in learning to create bonbons, but didn't know where to start. About 12-15 years ago, I discovered that chocolate courses could be taken online. I still chose to be practical and keep doing my 9-5 office job. That job went away and I have a new job that gives me a lot more flexibility in my schedule. This spring I earned my chocolatier certificate from Ecole Chocolate. Now, I am a home baker who is specializing in chocolate and candy...or at least I am aspiring to be that person. I have so much to learn. It's why I'm here. If my current job goes away, I'd like to be stable enough in my home business to make it my full-time gig. I have Peter Greweling's book, Chocolates & Confections. This is my introductory post, but I thought I'd go ahead and ask my pressing questions here. 1. Mr Greweling has 3 recipes for soft caramels. I have decided the one that uses evaporated milk might result in product with the longest shelf life. (I have zero facts to back up my theory, but maybe someone here knows) I would like to incorporate reduced apple cider and eliminate the vanilla bean. Has anyone had success doing something similar? I wonder which variation to model. I am thinking his raspberry variation, using the cider reduction in place of the puree. Thoughts? 2. In his fudge recipes, Mr Greweling calls for premade fondant. I have "dry fondant sugar" on hand. Could that be used in place of or to make Premade Fondant? Thank you in advance for your suggestions. I am trying to get together a Fall menu.

I still make fried bread occasionally. Always shallow fried, usually in bacon fat (I've never seen it deep fried in my long life). I also make "French bread", but was brought up calling it pain perdu.

And given it looked all brand new I couldn’t resist a quick cook - reverse seared pork chops (not too messy on my shiny “new” Yoder!). I did them slow at 250F until they were about 125 internal then seared them over the firebox. I’ve not really bothered much with doing the sear on the Yoder before but I was pretty impressed, the cooking area is pretty tiny but it did a good job for a quick weeknight meal.

Yeah, I've never been a fan of the global knives because they just don't feel great in my hand. But they could be paying who knows what to those entities to be listed as a top knife.

While was shopping for knives I was somewhat surprised to see that both ATK and Food and Wine had top-rated the Global brand. I have own a couple but was not impressed, plus, I really dislike the handles.

Now that you mention it, I remember going into a Walmart one time and passing a Boy Scout or Cub Scout group with signage, a shopping cart and participating scouts and adults. The idea was to "fill the cart" for the local food shelf. My husband and I bought a bag's worth of non-perishables for the purpose and dropped them in the cart on the way out. I'd forgotten about that. It was years ago, but it was a Walmart so that particular manager was open to the idea at the time.

smooze up your local (independent) supermarkets. chain companies may have "policies" prohibiting local managers from cooperating . . . the signage/info HAS to be extremely pointed, effective and concise. people see it going in - I've seen people donating canned good right out of their bags on leaving - I surmise they bought the stuff with the intent to instantly donate on the way out.

I grew up with fried bread (British relations). Especially good from a camp stove. Best wishes @Kerala for a speedy resolution to your sojourn at the hosp.

My favorite source for everything Roman has a new book coming out, which I preordered today. Rome: A Culinary History, Cookbook, and Field Guide to the Flavors that Built a City

Another question is how to spread the word. Is there a local online forum (like Nextdoor, for instance) that would be useful for spreading the word? Or put up flyers at strategic locations?