choux

I picked up a few plastic cutting boards from Ikea recently, and am going to get my huband to cut out the centers to make a frame. (It's only been 2 months, should happen soon!!) I figure I can make a 7x9 square in the middle. The boards are 6 mm thick, so I think they will work well to make 2 layer centres.

Thanks for the info David. We're thinking of using stainless steel tubing for the frame, it may help with your problem of the wires not bending. I'm only going to be making one frame, and 1" slots on the board since that's all I use now anyways. I have a friend who does welding so I'm going to get him to help. I'll post pics, I hope to get started soon.

Hi David, I've been reading with interest, and have been collecting materials. It was difficult to fing a thick cutting board, but I happened to run across one at my local housewares store. I have a question, what kind of blade did you use on the tablesaw to get a thin cut in the board? My husband is in to RC(remote control cars), and suggests you look at 'rigging couplers' for RC airplanes. They are pre-drilled threaded shafts that may work for tensioning the wires. Also, what kind of wire are you using?

The Lemon Cream does set up firmer than normal lemon curd, so I'd just put it on top of the already baked shortbread crust and chill.

Brown sugar meringue tastes really delicious, I'd give it a try.

Kerry, What is the plastic wrap on the melter for in your first picture? To keep it clean? Is it under the insert or just around the outside?

Maybe try 'Scoop'n'Save' out in Langley. I know they have a lot of cutters, try phoning before making the trek out there.

I tried the coffee ganache from the Hazelnut Latte, I don't really know if it was worth the extra steps. Mine turned out kind of 'waxy'. It was firmer than I thought it would be, I like mine to be softer. I also tried the Apricot Butter Gancahe, it was the first time I've tried a butter ganache, and I quite liked it. The alcohol flavour was way too strong, but I liked the texture. It was firm at first, but then it kind of melts away.

Drew, I'm wondering how to use the g pectin for other fruits. Is it the same ratios of pectin, sugar and puree for all friuts, or are there some adjustments to be made? Also, I'll be using Boiron purees, straining by hand takes way too long! Do you have any tips for using those types of puree?

Ack! I lost my first post attempting to put the picture on, so here I go again. The Sleeping Beauties are very tasty, but the nougat didn't really cut very well. It has a bit of a 'stepped' appearance on the side. I think a guitar would be very handy for these. I did let them sit overnight before I cut them, so maybe cutting when they are fresher would help. The chocolate nougat is really good, it has a texture like a 3 Muskateers bar, soft and dissolves in your mouth.

The top of the chocolate wasn't bubbled. I was worried that it didn't foam very much because the top was solid, but once it set and I cut into it, there were lots of bubbles. I'm not sure about using it in a mold without lining it first, it probably would work. I think portioning it into small bon-bon molds would be hard, but a larger one might work well. Ok I went and took another photo that might show it better (since I ate my last photo subjects):

Ok, so the Aero Bar totally worked! I used 2 chargers, and didn't really shake for a full minute, I was panicking that it would harden in the canister so I wanted to get a move on. It worked really well and tastes awesome. I used Callebaut Java. I cut the rest into squares and am going to dip it. The cutting sort of squishes the bubbles on the sides and doesn't show very well, the broken pieces show the bubbles nicely. Now I'm wondering if it works on dark chocolate!

And it gives the measurements as percentages!

The Sleeping Beauties are a caramel base and then a chocolate nougat on top. Cut and then dipped into dark chocolate. I have to go out and do some work now (damn snow!) but I'll finish them this afternoon.

So I've just made the Nougat Montelimiar and the Sleeping Beauties. The nougat is very yummy, it should be set up in the morning and ready for cutting, but the beater tasted good! I used wafer paper for the first time and am unsure as to which side should be used in contact with the nougat: smooth or nubbly? I haven't dipped the Sleeping Beaties yet, the chocolate nougat is so good, a 1000% improvement on a 3 Muskateers. I'll report again tomorrow, I'm going to make a couple other things and dip everything at once.

I like the strawberry a lot too. The plain one is one of the best I've tried. I think the only one I don't like is the plum&walnut, but that's just because I don't like 'bits' in yogurt.

If you're trying to find some nice thick yummy yogurt, try Liberty. They are a brand from Quebec, and it is really good. I don't know how it compares to Greek yogurt, but it is much, much better than any other yogurt out there.

Yeah they're open year round, and even open all afternoon. No closure between lunch and dinner which I like because I always seem to end up there at 4:00. It's behind the Best Western and Extra Foods.

I'll admit my secret. I love the milk chocolate foil-wrapped pieces that Purdy's chocolates puts out for every holiday. There is something about the taste of thier milk chocolate... Even though I make my own truffles and such, and use high quality chocolate, I can't resisit them.

I don't refrigerate choclates and I tell my customers not to. That 'fridge' taste is so easily picked up and it is so nasty to me.

I don't really have any advice about the caramel rulers since I don't use them, but you can keep transfer sheets for a long time. I've had some for 3 years or so and they are fine. You don't need to refridgerate them unless you don't have anywhere cool to keep them. Room temp is fine.

OK so I finally got around to making some stuff from the book. I ordered the 'g' pectin from Chef Rubber, and tried some jellies. I hadn't made them before, since the only way I could find pectin was in 7kg buckets, and I didn't want that much. Well, it works really well, it's super easy and the results are awesome. I made the Strawberry-Balsamic and the Raspberry(no wasabi). The jellies are yummy, and the perfect texture. I really liked the flavour of the Strawberry-Balsamic. I also tried the Salted Caramel(yummy) and the Hazelnut praline. The flavour of the Hazelnut was good, but my sucky food processer wouldn't grind the praline finely enough. I've noticed that as the raspberry jellies have sat for a couple of days, there is a slight grainy texture on the chocolate that is in direct contact with it. Should I have let the jelly dry a little more?

OK, being the charter member of the hard-cooked-egg club, I really wish I hadn't seen that picture.

I have never ever rinsed chicken (or any other meat). I cannot for the life of me figure out why on earth one would do it. If your chicken really is laden with bacteria, a simple rinse isn't going to do anything. It is totally puzzling to me.

Elements is also great for breakfast.