Trishiad

I love the Jones guys. I met a bunch of them at the Fancy Food last year. They talked me into trying their new energy drink which I swear was called "whoopass". Husband thinks I'm remembering incorrectly, could be. Anyway, they are silly and sassy and really enjoy their work. I already enjoyed their sodas and after meeting them I enjoy them even more. I think Strawberry lime is one of their regular flavors isn't it?

Typically the water in the bain marie would not be simmering but just warm enough. I don't know how you would suspend chocolate in water without it contacting the water but I have known people who drop a thermometer in the bain marie water. For the record, a marble or granite slab should cost about $20 or $30 and is attainable for the home cook.

doing a little thread CPR here because I'm wondering if Gary modified Lloyd's design and managed to make a hinged guitar. ???

The rows don't get all wonky when you slide a metal sheet under them? I need to go spy on someone. Anyone in the California Bay area that wants to show me their guitar slicer??

Oh dear, I have to admit I have one very similar. I bought it for slicing slabs of caramel because I couldn't afford a guitar slicer. It wasn't quite as expensive, around $120, I think. It is really heavy duty and slices anything with enough elbow grease and it is a real B...H to clean!

Researching guitar slicers. Trying to figure out how to buy everything I want and need. Thinking of having husband build something temporary (against some rather good advice on this forum, I know). Still the budget is growing tighter...... Here's the thing, I don't really understand how one works. I know you coat the slab of ganache on both sides with chocolate, let it mostly set, place slab on guitar base and slice through with wires. So, then the wires are embedded in the base and somehow you turn your ganache which is now in strips? How do you turn it without it getting all tweaked? Visuals would be great if anyone has the time. thanks

Are you looking for something chocolatey or more caramely?

Oh! I am familiar with lychees. I'd never heard of them reffered to as nuts before. So, I would treat them like pears and puree them or dry them or juice them or something like that and then add them to your ganache. Steeping them in cream won't bring much to your ganache. Try to be aware of liquid quantities and their affect on shelf life though. Also, while I love Caoba, the subtle qualities of lychee may not stand up to it's bold caramel flavor. keep playing...

I'm not familiar with lychee nuts. Could you make a paste of the nuts and add them to your caoba/cream ganache?

many chocolatiers are using them and they seem to be all over wedding cakes. monkey see, monkey do (this monkey anyway)

For the record, I wasn't suggesting that Tweety send wasabi truffles to the wedding. I was suggesting that her flavors be unique. Not all raspberry chocolates are equal. Flavor everything with liqour and it all starts to taste the same. Flavor everything with jams and marmalades and they all start to taste like sugar. My point is find a great recipe, modify it to make it better and then use the best ingredients you can find/afford/support to produce your product. As for transfers and other decoration, when you're starting out one more albert uster order can really break the budget. And, while time is money, you can spend as much of your time creating something memorable and building your name/image/awareness without typing in your credit card number. I wouldn't pipe icing on your chocolates unless that's what your audience likes (and it may be). I was thinking about lustre dusts, cocoa butters, chocolate placques, hand stringing, and the like. And back to flavors, passionfruit is pretty mainstream at this point. You probably can stray from the raspberry, amaretto, orange basics if you want to. Most chocolate eaters are pretty slutty and will eat just about anything you give them. Make mint with fresh mint or mint tea instead of the typical oil or booze, they'll still devour it and think you're amazing at the same time. 2 more cents: sure the mouse idea is cute. L.A. Burdick is making alot of money with those mice. Be yourself, the money will follow.

oooh salad? Fresh green vegetables and yummy meat! ScooterQ, now you're speaking my language.

a 2 hour drive to mountian view??? ouch! maybe saw something online about T-Rex in Berkeley. Any opinions?

Alright Tweety, I know you were looking for a simple answer but you really are going to have to figure out what it costs you to produce these chocolates. Cost of ingredients, cost of travel to fetch ingredients, cost of kitchen rental, packaging and the hardest of all...cost for your time. If you want to give them a break to get your foot in the door it's your labor that you should discount. Remember too that your prices may increase as you grow and become legal (county fees, taxes, insurance...). Regarding flavors, if it were me I would dictate the flavors. Give them options if you like but you need to have some creative control and some leverage. Let's face it, anyone can get a recipe and make truffles. You should strive to make yours unique in some way so that you become indispensable. If they are unique and yummy enough the price will not matter so much. To save yourself some money skip buying transfer sheets and do some hand decorating.

Ah Jerome's....baked potatoes that taste like they are fresh from the microwave. Is that really the best we can do?

We have a Kenmore stove from Sears and really love it. It has 4 burners, one of which has more power than the others and one simmer burner. It also has a self cleaning oven and a warming drawer. It has a stainless look but isn't entirely stainless which made it more affordable. They also make a 6 burner version with 2 ovens but since we were just pretending we could afford the small one we really couldn't justify the big one.

My husband has a birthday this weekend and has requested ribs for dinner. I'm looking for a restaurant in Northern California with great BBQ ribs. They must also have decent side dishes. I love my husband but not beans and coleslaw. I may have to kill myself if I'm served shriveled corn on the cob that was cooked hours before. Please save me from having to make a special dinner with a 3 year old hanging from my hip. We're in Sonoma County and will drive over to Napa and down to Oakland or into the city.

Fall apart? What exactly do you mean? (low humidity northern california here)

soft ball, no cover. however, they are on a speed rack with an unzipped cover so nothing strange gets stuck to them.

I let my caramel sit at least 24 hours before slicing. It gets less sticky and easier to work with if you give it some time.

I'd call the guys at Glerep-Revere too. They will do something custom for you with a pretty low minimum.

Lloyd used to be a subscriber here. Maybe there is still an address for him and you can ask him directly. He and I "graduated" from chocolate school together and I remember he was trying to create his own guitar slicer and buying used equipment when he could so I doubt he bought anything too fancy to create his transfers. That said, I did see a chocolate transfer creating machine on ebay a few months ago that had a buy it now price of like $24,000! I paint on acetate using colored chocolate and then slice into shapes and place on top of wet chocolates. I rarely use actual transfers because the affordable ones bore me and the fun, exciting ones just aren't worth the cost (for me).

Some fab ideas here! I hadn't thought of salads with crackers as utensils. I love it. It's not that I have anything against broccoli, it's just that my son won't eat it. He'll sometimes bite the tops off of 1 or 2 florets which have been steamed for dinner but I am hesitant to trust that broccoli will tempt him at lunch surrounded by distractions. What else is fun? Anyone make animals shaped crackers or fruit kebabs or something like that? What about tiny muffins as a treat? Too desserty to pass the healthy lunch test?

My 3 year old has chosen the cutest orange lunch box with a Puma and his name in bold letters! He's off to preschool in 2 weeks and it's occurred to me that I actually have to fill the box with nutritious food 3 days a week! When I was growing up I got a PB&J or bologna sandwich, some chips and fruit or cookies. Around here, parents brag about putting broccoli florets in place of chips and yogurt instead of a treat. Now, I like to feed my guy healthy foods and I enjoy baking cookies at home and skipping the various preservatives and hydrogenated fats, but broccoli florets instead of chocolate chip cookies!? I need some lunch ideas which are healthy and yummy and fun. Alden always finishes a sandwich if I cut it with a cookie cutter. Items will be eaten straight from the lunch box, no heating.

Length of steeping time depends on what you're steeping and how strong you'd like the flavor to be. I steep fresh mint for 15 minutes but I steep cardamom pods and pink peppercorns for an hour. Taste the cream after 10 minutes or so and see if it's what you want. If you're using tea pay attention to the tea prep guidlines. I steep green tea for 5 minutes at a lower temp than anything else so I don't extract too much bitterness. Also, don't push on the herbs when straining as that will extract the bitter qualites. I always steep more than the recipe calls for or you may add more fresh cream if you don't end up with enough.