emmalish

I'll definitely do that, Kerry. I had a quick look through last night and got a good feel for the ingredients I may need (and found a half dozen recipes I want to try right off the bat). And I think I know what basic equipment I'll need for both enrobed and molded chocolates. I guess I was wondering about any helpful items you've found while working with chocolate that might not occur to a beginner? Like I see a lot of people use a heating pad in a bowl to keep their chocolalte warm while dipping. Or Chris' trick of using a cake slicer to wipe the bottom of his enrobed chocolates on to get rid of excess. edited to say thanks, Chris! I was thinking that about the wafers vs bars as well.

His website doesn't give a comprehensive list of products...

Woo! I just got an email from Patrice at Sugar Arts, and he can meet me tomorrow morning. I may get my caramel rulers after all! And couverture and glucose and invert sugar and anything else I may need. Any suggestions or advice on what to buy to start out with?

Heh. Trust me, it's WAY too many. I've gotten it down to 5. Five I can manage. Depending on shipping times, I may be trying out molded chocolates as early as next weekend. Woo! In the meantime, I think I'm going to make caramels this weekend. I haven't tracked down caramel rulers (or a decent substitute) yet, so I'll just make them in a lined pan. I may or may not dip them.

Hmmm. I've just gone through Chocolat Chocolat's site and picked out all the molds I want. I now have 29 in my shopping cart. Too many...?

Sorry LizD518, I've never worked with Splenda so I have no idea. I'm sure someone else will have an answer for you. I'm having some of the strawberry sour cream ice cream right now – great strawberry flavour with a nice tang from the sour cream (I think someone else said the same thing upthread...?). And it's great with the fudge ripple too (had a little on the side). I've almost finished the first batch of fudge/caramel/vanilla, so I'll make another batch this weekend and use up the last of the syrups. And then the next one I want to try is the chocolate sorbet – I never did get around to trying it last summer.

I saw someone make a Tres Leches pie filling on a Food Network Challenge show one time. The recipe is here.

John, I saw that upthread – I thought it was a great idea! Unfortunately it's rainy and cold in Vancouver right now. I'm going to wait for nicer weather to have an ice cream party. In the meantime, the ice cream is mine... all mine!

I'm more likely to buy vanilla ice milk than ice cream, so I'm sure I'll be happy with the lighter version of the recipe. I've got a bit more syrup to use up, so I'm going to make another batch of the philly vanilly as soon as I finish up one of the existing containers in my freezer. I mixed up the strawberry sour cream ice cream last night and churned it this morning, so I now have THREE big containers of ice creamin my freezer. I'm a single gal, I really don't need that much at any one time. Really. Instead of just pulsing the mixture so there were bits of strawberry, I puréed it and strained out the seeds. So yummy. Next time I might do the same and then add in a few bits of strawberry at the end. I was tempted to swirl some of the fudge ripple into it.

Thanks, Kerry! I notice Chocolat Chocolat has their molds divided into subsets, including Belgian, Italian, and French. Is one better than another? Clear vs white? Or is it just personal preference?

I just got this and Making Artisan Chocolates. Not sure when I'll be able to try my first recipe. First I must curl up with a cup of tea and browse both books cover to cover. I'm dying to try some molded chocolates, but I haven't got any molds yet. Chocolat Chocolat has a ridiculously large selection. I'm having a hard time deciding.

Me too, thanks Alisuchi!

Thanks, both of you. It'll be small quantities, Karen. I have a friend whose office is just down the street from Sugar Art. I meant to go in and poke around, but they were closed with a notice saying by appointment only. I'll make more of an effort next time I'm out to see her.

Does anyone know of a place in Vancouver that carries a good selection of candy-making & chocolate-making supplies? Or a Canadian on-line source? I'd rather avoid paying duty if possible.

Tried it. Phenomenal. I'm making more Philly Vanilly (hee!) right now to use up the rest of the syrups. I'll make the strawberry tomorrow.

I decided to make both the sour cream strawberry ice cream, and the Philadelphia style vanilla ice cream with fudge ripple and the salted caramel swirled in. I just made the two sauces. The fudge ripple? Amazing chocolate sauce. The salted caramel sauce? Oh. My. God. David, that is the most amazing caramel sauce I've ever had. Let me just say it didn't all make it into the fridge. I can't wait to try it with the ice cream.

Oh, that sounds amazing. I haven't made any of these recipes since last summer, but I've just cleaned out my freezer and suddenly have space to fill up. I usually go for the chocolate or citrus-y recipes, but I think I'm going to have to try this one.

I made the Peanut Butter Crisscrosses again this weekend. The first time I made them, I couldn't roll them because of my broken wrist so they became drop cookies. I also didn't have any peanuts, so I used chocolate chips instead. This time I had the peanuts, but the chocolate chips were so tasty with the peanut butter, I used both this time. Rolled them in sugar, pressed them down with a fork, and as much as I loved them last time, this time they were even better. It makes a lot of cookies so I'll be sharing with my coworkers. I'm sure they won't mind a bit.

I had some leftover orzo salad (orzo, spinach, red and yellow grape tomatoes, calamata olives, bocconcini, basil), and scrambled it together with a couple eggs for a pseudo-frittata (stove-top only). Very tasty. I have some more salad left – I may do the same thing tomorrow!

The black and white banana loaf has become one of my go-to recipes. I've totally lost track of how many times I've made it. I shared some with a friend of mine a couple months ago, and she LOVED it, absolutely raved about it. So now I want to give her a thank you gift for some help she gave me, and I'm going to make a loaf for her. And probably one for myself too.

Oooh, biscotti... I haven't tried Dorie's biscotti yet. I think I might know what I'll be making this weekend!

Same here. I love to bake and have a shelf full of various cookbooks, but since discovering this book, it's the only one I use anymore.

I just made the Peanut Butter Crisscrosses... sorta... I didn't have any peanuts, so I added chocolate chips instead (can't go wrong with chocolate & peanut butter!). And because of my recuperating broken wrist, I skipped the rolling into balls, rolling in sugar, and crisscrossing steps, and just baked them as simple drop cookies. Fabulous! It's a great peanut butter cookie recipe. I'll definitely make them with chocolate chips again, but next time I'll make sure I have peanuts. I used crunchy peanut butter, but I'd like them to have a bit more crunch. After seeing DesertCulinary's photo upthread, I reallywanted to make the Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars, but again, no peanuts.

In fairness, people can develop allergies over time. And allergies can vary in severity. Personally, I've discovered that I now have a problem with raw onion. Never used to bother me. And cooked onion is fine. But whenever I eat something with raw onion in it, I end up with a headache. And not all onion is created equal – red onion is the worst, but they all bother me to some degree. It's not serious enough that I'll make a big fuss over it – I won't end up in the hospital or anything – but I make an effort to avoid it now. I try to make a point of saying "no onions" on sandwiches and salads, but if I forget, I'll just pick it out. And if I do eat some unknowingly (potato salad is a prime suspect), no one else would be able to tell I was affected. I'd just have a low grade annoying headache that could've been avoided. That said, when I'm invited for dinner, I'll tell people I'm vegetarian, but not to go out of their way. I don't need a special meal prepared just for me – I'm perfectly happy with side dishes. I just need to know that there are at least a few things that don't have any meat products in them. I wouldn't even mention the onion issue – that's my problem to deal with.

I've had waffles similar to what sanrensho posted. There's a bakery nearby (Patisserie Lebeau) that serves all kinds of Belgian waffles (both sweet and savory, with different things added to the batter, like pecans or fruit), including both milk and dark chocolate dipped waffles. It is quite sweet, but also really good. I love the dark chocolate dipped one.