RobertM

Kerry, thanks for correcting the Aw on the yogurt Bon-Bon ... I'm correcting my notes .... Sorry for the confusion it's caused...

...and then it was over. We said our goodbyes, see you next year, and before Ruth and Kerry went, they attempted to channel Casino Chrissy and, like her, pay for the trip at the slot machines....

Sunday was dedicated to playing in the kitchen and Melissa came in to show us some additional decorating ideas - Jean-Marie stopped in on his "hog" - we cut the nougat and caramels from Friday and Saturday as well - Lionel stopped in for a visit; the Giant Squirrel made an appearance;

Finished Gummies - Some people went all "GaGa" over them

One of the amazing side effects of attending the conference is the ability to meet and get to know some truly amazing people. The level of creativeness shown by the attendees never ceases to amaze me, regardless of whether they are professionals or hobbyist. One such eG friend, Ilana, hasn't yet been able to make it to a conference, but has often sent us some things to share during the reception. She's a great friend and this year, she sent us a T-Shirt from her business in Israel. We took these to show her, that she was with us in spirit. Can't wait until she is able to join us for a weekend

We were going to hold our reception by the hotel's pool, underneath the clear skies of Vegas with the bright neon lights shining off the delicate bon-bons, but Vegas was having a heat wave (yes, even in Vegas) and we didn't think that everyone's chocolates would make it very long under 95 degrees. So, we switched up the plans and moved the party to a room, which eventually spilled out into the hallway. Door Prizes (donated by our very generous sponsor's) were given out - I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get everyone's picture with their booty - I think we shut it down about 3:00 a.m. and got up the next morning to do it all again....

Lionel and his wife of 4 months....

Hard filled candies - sugar work - an awesome demo with some ideas for "home" work... Jean-Marie had an antique sugar work machine in his lobby and I asked him if he used it, he smiled and told Lionel to go get "it" and Lionel brought back a new machine. Hand cranked, with different dies that can be switched out to make different shaped sugar work...now that would be fun to have

Saturday brought Jean-Marie. Hard filled candies; Gummies, with a marshmallow backing (not store bought)...and some wonderful off the cuff discussions about business in general. That alone was worth the price of admission.

There was also a discussion about putting a foot on our slabbed ganache (Melissa calls this a Chablon - pardon my spelling) We all fell in love with Melissa's guitar -

If having a bad case of paint booth envy wasn't enough - then we shown the enrobing room(s). The cooling tunnel is so large that they keep it in two rooms. This also facilitates different temperatures in the enrobing room and the tunnel room. Melissa also shared some decorating ideas...

Then, we all got a bad case of Spray Booth envy - cabinets to warm 4 or 5 spray guns, cabinets to keep your coco butter warmed to the perfect temp, a booth like no other - they use more colored cocoa butter just to clean out their gun than I use in an entire production run....

We made Lemon Ganache Marzipan which was delicious -

We then moved onto a "Lion Bar"....a formula that Jean-Marie developed to remind him of a bar back in France that he ate as a child. You start with Rice Krispie Treats...and for RKT's, use large, store-bought marshmallows, because they work the best. Don't use your own marshmallows.

The finished bon bon. (I like how she said Bon Bon...but I digress momentarily) This had a fruit compote (reversible PDF) and a yogurt ganache - the shelf life was not very long at all. I believe when we measured the aW it was somewhere around 0.63

Friday morning we convened at Jean-Marie's and spent the day with Melissa Coppel, The Chocolatier of the Year. She walked us through the piece she won with "Nombre Receta"

A few of us left the last stop on the tour (Patisserie Manon) and headed out to Red Rocks Canyon for some sightseeing

A light snack at Suzuya Pastry & Crepe. No one wanted to really "eat" because they knew what was awaiting them at Lotus of Siam

Sweet Ruby Janes was the first stop on our Thursday tour, they are in Henderson, NV about 15 minutes from the hotel. They gave us a lovely tour, talked about their business and then we shopped, which I'm sure increased their typical Thursday sales

BRUNO!!!!

It's been an amazing weekend, like Curls, I will post when I get home and can sort out the photo's and properly describe them. Lots of confections and work to share....

Friday with Melissa was a truly outstanding day. My head is still spinning from everything she shared. When we left Melissa, everyone met up at Chef Rubber for a once in a lifetime shopping experience, with discounts. We had to hurry back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, along the way our driver caught a glimpse of a a poor guy who evidently lost everything at the casinos....

Some of us took a side trip to visit Red Rocks Canyon before we headed to dinner at Lotus of Siam

Not just ANY Birthday, but one of "those big" birthdays, so.....stimulate the economy, remember, Vegas is still hurting

Gfron1, I don't fly out until Monday night so count me in on Sunday...