pastrygirl

If you were going to braise it to death and cook to 180f and nobody was pregnant, maybe. Otherwise better safe than sorry.

crush them into powder via mortar and pestle

how high is the humidity? 21 is on the warm side, add high humidity and that can cause trouble. If you can get the room a few degrees cooler and below 50% humidity that might help. I prefer 18-19C.

On the subject of chocolate thermometers, got one for Christmas that recommends tempering white at 82F and makes me wonder what ‘plain’ chocolate Is ... anyone else find this odd?

But how do they look out of the mold?

Those both looked good. I didn't realize chips & guacamole, tamales, and polenta were Chinese food!

Red envelopes are usually gifts of money - New Year's gift?

I poured hot caramel sauce over fresh rosemary and let it steep for a while then strained before mixing with chocolate

Tough choice! Did one sell better than the other or about the same?

I suppose one could argue that strawberries provide the same dash of tartness that a squeeze of lemon does, but it still seems wrong. I went out to dinner recently and the chicken liver mousse had kiwi on the side. I was all, " kiwi? wtf?" but in reality the flavor is not that different from a tart apple, which I wouldn't have questioned.

No, because even though the servings are smaller there are more of them, up to a few hundred in a few hours time.

It's a good idea to cook your fruit at least briefly to pasteurize it and kill any yeasts or bacteria that may be present. Cooking will also soften the fruit and help it break down. Depending on how juicy or tart the fruit, add up to 10-20% water by weight and 10-20% sugar by weight. For example, raspberries would need very little water or sugar, pears or apples need more liquid, and rhubarb might appreciate extra sugar.

Quite happy with the shine on these - airbrushed roxy & rich green sphene and gold, shelled in dark chocolate, filled with rosemary infused caramel ganache.

so about 5 x 5 x 3"? you can search here by size, they have several options: https://www.papermart.com/box-search I think shipping will depend on how thick the layer of chocolate is and how much bubble wrap you use. If it's snugly packed in a rigid box surrounded by a couple layers of bubble wrap and packed into another box, it may survive.

Maybe a cocktail pick or seafood pick? But both those are usually longer and slimmer. Steak markers and the other sides say rare, medium, well? Fancy corn cob picks?