Schielke

Thanks for your thoughts on the pudding pops! I do need to get some popcicle molds for a more manageable shape. I think my mom might have some. Also, whole milk is a must next time. The package did not specify so I went middle of the road with 2%. Ben

Shady, Thanks for the recipe! Ill have to think about how I want to convert that to pudding pop greatness! I may strip it down a little for the first attempt and then get fancy later on when I perfect the technique. Thanks! Ben

Rachel, Thanks for the tips with the icecream machine. I just might need to pick one up. I plan on feeding alot of them to friends so I wont grow tired of them. Also, I am relentless in my search for pudding pop greatness! Huzzuah!!! I did think about sticking the spoon in the premade cups, but I wanted to be consistent and also have the ability to peel away the cup. Thanks again! Ben

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody! Keep em coming, I could especially use a homeade pudding recipe. Tonight I got started with a bang and made two seperate batches. I did this before reading what anybody said so I didnt manage to pick up sausage casings or use an Ice cream machine. I picked up two boxes of instant pudding (cook top stuff next time nightscotsman), one chocolate fudge and one vanilla. I grabbed some 2% milk as well. I think I may try whole next time too. I also got some premade pudding snacks to see how they would work too. All of these would go into paper cups with spoons inserted as handles. The Equipment First, I directly transfered the premade pudding snacks to cups with spoons. I marked the bottom of them with a "P" for Premade and put them straight in to the freezer. Only 5/6 of the pudding snacks fulfilled their destiny as pops, a rouge party stole a cup in the construction process! Premade Jello Pudding Pops Next, I whipped up a batch of Chocolate Fudge pudding and Vanilla pudding. I am hoping to create the marbling effect that I remember in the pudding pops. I do think that the quality of these puddings will be greatly improved if I do the stovetop versions with whole milk as nightscotsman suggested. They tasted ok, but with a large artifical overtone. Chocolate Fudge and Vanilla With these two batches, I assembled the pops. I made two pure chocolate pops and the rest were marbled. I alternated the pudding as I filled the cups to hopefully create the marbled look. I think I am going to call the one in the middle row on the far left "stripey". I was also pretty happy with myself at this point. I covered the pops with plastic wrap so they wouldnt take on any rouge flavors in the freezer. I also covered the first batch when I remembered this. The second batch was labeled with an "I" for Instant and went into the freezer. I had to move some vodka to fit them. Nestled all cold in their beds! Once the pops were on their way to chill-land I hung around and took pictures of the cat. The cat did not care about the pudding pops. Sophie = not caring about pudding pop experiment. Later in the evening, the rouge party earlier mentioned in this piece declared that a pudding pop must be eaten before bedtime. We found that the first batch was nicely frozen (about 4-5 hrs) and ready to eat. The peeling of the pop! The completed "P" pop had some airholes and should have been filled better by myself. The marbling seemed a little muddled, but there were definite layers. The freezing process did definately create large ice crystals and I think this is going to be a key element to creating the correct texture. The taste was good and was a very nice snack. I look forward to trying an "I" pop tomorrow. Ben

I am planning on attempting to recreate the classic Jello pudding pop. I plan on trying this with regular Jello chocolate pudding mix and also some homeade puddings or other mixes. I would appreciate any suggestions for mixes, pudding recipes, or pudding pop recipes and resources. This will be an ongoing project and I hope to post pics of the completed pops. I want to try to get that wavey pattern that was on the old pudding pops. Also I would love to hear your thoughts on pudding pops. Man, I cant wait to make the first batch. Ben

And I will be in Fargo, ND at that time. No ocean there, just earth. Ben

Hey everybody, I emailed Chef William today about the possibility of an eGullet cooking class. I will update this as soon as I hear a reply from him. Feel free to suggest possible topics for this class, some may or may not be fesable, depending on what William can do. Ben

Welcome Giblert, You seem to be jumping in with both feet! Congrats! Consider posting a little about yourself in the Bios section of the site. Look forward to seeing your posts, Ben

I recently got the chance to try Ultimat vodka; it is quite expensive for vodka, but is really worth a try. The only way I could describe the flavor is "clear", it had a medium body without the viscousness of potato vodkas. All in all, it made a hell of a vodka martini. And it comes in a neat bottle to boot! Ben

Check out the PacNW Cocktail Party thread, there was an amazing array of tasty treats in that format. The bacon candy might be good, but I dont know about the refrigeration issues with that one. Ben

I just read Penelope's latest column, and while I respect what she is trying to say...she just needs to be a shade more tactful about alienating her readers. At the end of the article I got this mental image of her doing a Z snap and wagging her head from side to side. hehehehehe. Woah mamma, take it easy! Ben

You should stock some stock! If you think people in your area might go for the idea of buying a nice quality stock, It could be a good moneymaker. Ben

Cabrales, thanks for the tip, I am guessing I will make it to vancouver after the hollidays are over. I'll let ya know when I get closer to the date. I cant wait! Thanks, Ben

DOES IT EVER STOP????????? Why would you ever want it to??!!! hahaha Ben

Ohh! now I can go to Vancouver and eat at both Ouest and Lumiere! Yay! But at which one do I get the tasting menu? Ben

I prefer Peanut Butter, Jelly, and a Baseball Bat! Sorry, I had to, Enjoy! Ben

I did an Alton Brown one last night too, Baked Mac and Cheese, I changed it up a bit by using half Sharp Cheddar and half Chipotle Cheddar. Tasty, tasty.

Perfectly ripe peaches and a nice bleu Ben

I have always wanted to have a really big party with one bottle of wine.

Now is the time on Sprockets when we cook!!!!

I have heard that freezing is not an optimal way of storing coffee. It was explained that each time you take out the beans for use, they acquire little bits of condensation, which destroys the bean's integrety. It would be interesting to see if you notice it though. Ben

I too was skeptical (and was proven rightly so last night) about this practice. Does anybody know why this is a recommended practice? Charlie Trotter even endorses it. Agreed, I will now make my own damn pasta. Ben

Last night I made some butternut squash ravioli and used wonton skins for the wrappers. I have heard that this usually results in an acceptable product. My result seemed fairly weak though. When I poured out the cooked raviolis to drain, they all stuck together and some split open quite easily. Did I cook them too long? Does anybody have any experience with these? Thanks, Ben

Does tapioca go bad quickly onced opened and unrefrigerated? One of the pieces mentioned it's perishibility. Ben

Are there any updates in the MICRI world? Has anybody on the board cooked with it? I believe there was a reference to it in the Heston Blumenthal QA. Ben