choux

Ok I hope this works. I finally got some pics of some of my chocolates, I suck at photography. There are a few more in Imagegullet, but you'll have to figure out how to see them yourself, since I don't know. I love chickens.

It's also available on amazon.ca and says that it ships within 24 hours.

If you want a lot of veggie ideas, they have just put out 'Cooking Fresh', in which they collect recipes from the old issues and re-issue them. I't great to have them all in one spot, and it reminds of all the recipes I forgot to try. It's not part of the subscription, I ordered mine from the website and got it today, so it should be in stores soon. I'm trying to figure out your buttercream dilemma, I make a very similar recipe and have no trouble. After reading the recipe in the magazine, I am wondering if you kept your mixer on while pouring in the syrup. The directions are a bit vague there. You should end up with very fluffy egg whites, they should at least double in volume. It will taste like marshmallows. Yum. (If you take a bit and brown it with a blowtorch it is just like toasted marshmallows.) Then you whip it until it is cool and then add the butter. It may look like total,crap at some point when you are adding butter (curdled and lumpy), But just keep whippin' and it will emulsify.

Or maybe use some of the syrup from the fountain drink dispenser at the bar? (if you are in a restaurant).

Awesome!!! Thanks!!

I just got the book "Charcuterie", and now I'm dying to make my own bacon. Does anyone know where to get curing salt in Vancouver? Or a mail order source in Canada?

Qzina has disposable piping bags, 2 sizes. I know they sell individual ones at the Gourmet Warehouse, but don't know how much they are.

Has anyone else tried putting moulds in the dishwasher with no ill effects? I had heard the warnings about not putting them in, and someone else told me it was fine to dishwash them. So I tried it, works great, chocolates come out better. Has anyone else tried it or are we all following someone else? Maybe the myth needs to be busted.

I have started putting my molds in the dishwasher and my chocolates come out even shinier and with less sticking than when I didn't wash them between batches. It's just a home dishwasher, maybe commercial ones have harsher detergents. I do polish them, just to get the water spots off. I have found that the coloured cocoa butter sticks more often when the layer is too thick. When swirling colour in with your finger or whatever, I have to be careful that it doesn't pool in the bottom, because that is a recipe for sticking. I rarely have any airbrushed chocolates stick.

I use disposable pastry bags to fill the cavities, I have a vision that I would have 2 or 3 spots left to fill and trying desperately to get the last drops out of the bottle! At least with a pastry bag I can get every last drop out. Christopher, will you ever ship to Canada??

Whenever I watch a Food Network Chocolate competition, I always think the sculptures are pretty and all, but I totally can't believe how clean thier work area is. I know that cleanliness is part of the score, but it would totally drive me crazy to have to wipe up every single drop as soon as it lands. And forget about keeping chocolate from getting all over the front of me. And smears on my face that my husband never tells me about.

The photo is of Christopher Elbow and it looks like he is filling the moulds with ganache with the squeeze bottle. they are already lined with white chocolate and the next pic shows him covering the bottoms of dark ganache with white chocolate. I think if one used a squeeze bottle, by the time you get to the last cavity, the first ones would have started to set up and you'd end up with some pretty thick shells. I get chocolate all over the friggin place too. The best way to clean it off your counters is with a scraper, or if you like fire, melt it with a blowtorch and it cleans pretty easy.

I'm pretty sure they are open all week, during the winter I don't think any restaurant isn't open 7 days. Sachi is on Main street, in the Summit Lodge. Lunch is good there too. The room is on the small side, so get there early.

I'm surprised no one has brought up Canada yet, at least British Columbia. Alcohol is only sold in government-run stores and it is only very recently that they have been open on Sundays, and only for the past couple of years have they accepted anything other than cash. No charging up beer on the Visa! There are beer-and-wine stores around, but they charge more for the cold beer. There are also some crazy restaurant rules, like you have to eat a certain amount of food to be able to order drinks, but I'm not that familiar with it. The rules are different in other provinces. i remember being in Quebec and trying to find a certain beer to bring back to a friend. Checking 3 different SAQ's with no luck, it never occured to us to check the grocery store!

It's interesting how the dishes look different than when I was there. The soup didn't have all the garnish(was still yummy!) and the pork was more of a pork chop, with the bone attatched. It doesn't look like yours did, although it could be on the other side. Different chefs working.

Try Behind the Grind for coffee, but remember that Whistler isn't that sophisticated for coffee(we have 3 starbucks!). All directions in the village begin with ' turn left at starbucks...' If you like sushi, Sachi sushi or Sushi Village are good, neither take reso's so go early or be prepared to wait. Carumba or Ric's Grill are good too. There are a lot of different restaurants here, and I can't think of any that I would particularly avoid.

They were delicious! Anyone ever seen them around? My hubby wanted me to describe his pork as an orgasmic piggy experience. I only got one tiny bite.

I had dinner at west tonight, was absolutely fantastic. I had the duck salad, sablefish and chocolate cake. I'll be dreaming about the sablefish for a while! Hubby had coca bean soup, pork and cheesecake. We loved everything. What on earth are coca beans anyways?

I have one that is much the same size and it is just fine. Depending on your location, you may want to be careful about storing it outside, or accessable to animals. The second day after I had my new freezer, we were awoken at 5 am by a bear absconding with a package of frozen blackberries! Didn't even close the lid behind him! So it got dragged inside and shoved in a corner.

If the cannoli filling was on the cool side it would cause the buttercream to curdle. I would have just kept beating the crap out of it with the mixer and it probably would have come back together just fine.

I've tasted it too, but usually associated it with age. As in a fresh curd will taste great, but a day or two does it no favours. I just thought it was that "fridge" taste, but no amount of saran wrap could make it not happen with lemon.

Pumpkin pie. I love the smell, but the texture is just horrific.

Another plug for Famous Foods on Kingsway for chestnut flour. I bought some a couple years ago, and now can't find the recipe I wanted to use it in.

I make ganache in 8" square pans, lined with parchment up both sides. When it's time to cut, unmold and measure out 1" sections along all 4 sides. Then I use a long knife to cut into 1" squares. I still get some wonky ones, but those end up in my tummy!!!

I'm not sure if it is George or not, but the older guy definitely makes them better than the lady. Hers are still good, but he has some special touch. Maybe I can taste the love. I sense a trip to the city coming soon!!!