pastrygirl

Getting started on Easter. I finally sawed the alignment nubs off my 3-D egg molds to make filled half eggs easier. And some bunny pops, I thought it was a cute shape, haven't done anything on a stick before so we'll see how they go over.

I hadn't heard of her, thanks for sharing.

Fandi, I never charge enough! For wholesale/industry (the seashell order came from a chef friend, I don't even know what the event is) I charge about $1-$1.50 per piece. If they are boxed and I'm selling directly to the customer I'll charge more, but that also has to cover the cost of the box. I try to keep prices around the range of my competitors, Fran's is the big one around here. https://www.franschocolates.com/ When using rigid polycarbonate molds I ladle the chocolate in, but the flimsy hobby molds are harder to scrape clean when full of chocolate, so I piped those. That's also why those are solid instead of a filled shell.

How many do you need? I'm not home at the moment but I'm pretty sure I have a bundle of the two piece boxes. I could send you a few for cost plus shipping.

Here are the shallow boxes I mentioned above: If I'm taking the trouble to decorate bonbons, I like them to be visible! http://www.glerup.com/gleruprevere/cart/detail.cfm?&navid=BOX&type=XAS&id=3368&ItemNumber=T107A http://www.glerup.com/gleruprevere/cart/detail.cfm?&navid=BOX&type=XAS&id=3378&ItemNumber=T111A and a few more options to fit two pieces: http://www.glerup.com/gleruprevere/cart/detail.cfm?&navid=BOX&type=XAS&id=633&ItemNumber=BN04 http://www.glerup.com/gleruprevere/cart/detail.cfm?&navid=BOX&type=XAS&id=3376&ItemNumber=T111 http://www.glerup.com/gleruprevere/cart/detail.cfm?&navid=BOX&type=XAS&id=3400&ItemNumber=T2PFL http://www.glerup.com/gleruprevere/cart/detail.cfm?&navid=BOX&type=XSE&id=2870&ItemNumber=SB2GOL

Nothing to clean up if you eat it straight out of the box by the handful! Duh But washing a bowl and a spoon is too much work? Kids these days! Hell in a handbasket, I tell ya! And I'm only Gen X.

Are you looking for cardboard boxes or are plastic ok? Glerup-revere has a variety of clear boxes, I like the low profile ones, they fit my smaller bonbons without too much extra room on top. Though since I'm local I pick mine up at will call so I'm not sure how their shipping rates are.

Thank you! There were a few trays of ugly ones that got re-melted

A couple of Valentine's Day items... 60% dark chocolate shells with milk chocolate PB&J, milk chocolate salty caramel, and white chocolate orange caramel centers Seashells for a special order, I was told 'purple, turquoise, and aqua blue', I'm not sure what the difference between turquoise and aqua blue is, I hope they like them! These pieces have white chocolate orange caramel and white chocolate passion fruit centers. I used the cheap hobby molds for these so they are solid, not filled. 60% dark chocolate with bits of cocoa nib toffee A few more seashells, solid milk chocolate with bits of candied orange zest.

Maybe it doesn't need a stir, just the act of ladling and pouring into the molds is enough to marble? I'm not feeling very inspired about Easter yet, marbled bunny lollipops might be the ticket!

Deryn, I haven't gotten to know this oven yet, I think it does run a little hot. Maybe I need to make a sacrificial batch of macaron to test bake and find the right temp and rack. 'Cause I doubt the Wolf is getting fixed any time soon Today's batter was a little looser than usual otherwise no changes in ingredients.

I'm frustrated! The restaurant kitchen has two gas convection ovens, a Wolf with a 6-burner top and a Viking with a French flat top top. The Wolf has long been the pastry oven and I've baked approximately a zillion things in it, including a few thousand French macarons. Unfortunately the Wolf has been out of commission and I'm left with the Viking. The cream puffs, brownies, and shortbread have been baking fine, but I've had two batches of French macaron with really poor foot development and some cracking on top. I made a batch today and gave at least a third of the shells to staff because of poor rise. I don't think I rushed the drying, they seemed appropriately skinned-over before baking. It's a nice sunny day and I've made plenty of macarons in the rain so I don't think it's the weather. The Viking seems like a moister heat when I open the oven, is it possible that one make of oven would create a more humid heat, or have I simply lost my macaron mojo? Help!

I have not tried blueberry ganache but like to add a little lime juice to most of my other sweet blueberry things. Depending on the variety, blueberries can be kind of insipid and lime perks them up.

Directed at millennials whose mothers are still living of course.

I was thinking this too. Miss your mom's cooking? Call her, she probably wishes you would visit more often anyway!

What can people be so incredibly nostalgic for at 30 years old? The 90's were good and all but food hasn't changed that much.

Those look great, Ruth! I especially love the one with the green streak in the top pic.

The hothouse rhubarb is usually out in time for Valentine's Day. It's been in stores here for a few weeks now. Look, here's some on Richter's Fb page, they are in Puyallup, about an hour's drive south of Seattle:

I believe richter farms here in the NW starts the season with hothouse then moves to field grown rhubarb.

What, you've never finished a meal and thought, "that really needed more pinterest"?

Honestly not sure. I do try to follow the rules, but I suspect that thawing slowly ( move to fridge for a day then let come to room temp) is more important so frozen truffles don't suddenly enter a warm room and get condensation on the surface.

Ziplock bag and sucking! Some use a straw If you don't need to use the mold again right away, you can leave the bonbons in the mold and wrap the whole thing up in plastic before freezing. I figure at least most of the piece is protected from air or scratches. I do this occasionally and it seems to work well.

I have to say I disagree with that premise. I go to restaurants whose food I think I'll like. I'm not wandering in hoping they'll know what I want I'm taking a business class for entrepreneurs, so I have to ask, what problem are you trying to solve? What benefit is there to the diner? I think the idea of trying to have someone else re-create your grandma's meatballs or satisfy an obscure craving has been proven impractical. But if you are merely trying to offer more options for a group of people who can't decide between pizza and pho, there are a few existing models you may wish to consider. Hawker stalls in Singapore feature dozens of individual food stands, each with their own specialty. Some stands make only one dish, some make a few, but it is a way to offer both variety and expertise. You order your dishes from the various stands and enjoy the variety. Similarly, Portland OR has various food truck pods around the city. They each have a dozen or so different food trucks/kiosks, so you can go with a group and each person can try a different cuisine. Of course in these examples there is no wait staff, so the challenge is turning the food court experinec into a dining experience. The technology side would be pretty simple, you could have all the menus on an ipad and then figure out a payment system so the diner only has to make 1 transaction instead of several. And you'd also want a way to coordinate the timing but again, I'm sure we have the technology. Singapore hawker stalls, each space is maybe 10' x 10'

Sure. In some circles that's called 'catering'.

Interesting point, keychris!