Kerry Beal

Exactly! And not only the cocoa butter content in the chocolate - the coconut oil that is used is going to be a factor in recipe development I think. The coconut oil that I use most at home is (gasp) hydrogenated and as firm as shortening at room temperature - very different than most of the coconut oils that I see in bottles. The stuff we were using for this had been in the warm car and was semi solid when we scooped it out. One other thought about the meltaways - if you already have an established recipe using a particular chocolate and a particular coconut oil that gives you the texture that you want - then 1% will probably be all you need. The main reason that the EZtemper is such a joy for making meltaways is removing the extremely fiddly techniques required to temper them. No more very liquidly mixture pouring off your slab onto the floor - or dealing with an ice bath and having to stir constantly to make sure you don't get clumps and watch for that exact right moment between liquid and solid when it's time to pour them out. I need to do one of those Ron Popiel commercials!

Kimchi potato salad and chicken in the CSO - life doesn't get any better than this! This little character was looking at me last time I poked my head in the fridge.

Bitter Mai Tai - 3 out of focus pictures - this is the best!

In an old OR back of the ER - I frequently check out what I might find in there. A couple of years ago they were cleaning out old the old OR stainless - I've still got a box of things that would make some cringe - but I could make a turducken with no difficulty at all!

Broke one of my favourite beakers just before I came up here!

I have a stubby little one at home I use for a variety of functions in my chocolate lab. Last seen it was holding the hose from the dry ice filled cooler for my panning.

Text from Lancaster Mike when the jelly was being made suggested an award winning jelly maker friend of his uses panty hose. When we were in the VV's in Sudbury - I pointed to the panty hose and asked Anna whether we should get some for fruit projects!

So this evening I had a couple of chocolatiers over to play with meltaways. Two batches made - one with 1% silk - the other with 2%. My kitchen was over 30º C so it wasn't a completely fair assessment. We popped both batches in the fridge after pouring them until they firmed up. Both set up in a reasonable time - both had the wonderfully silky meltaway texture. The 2% batch while still cool shattered a bit on the cut lines, the 1% did not. The 1% was softer than the 2%, a bit too soft at +30º C - but at a more reasonable room temperature later the 1% was fine. I expect that people will want to do their own experimentation and decide which texture best suits the product that they are making.

Brother's Perryman - a favourite! Lamb chops, spiralized zucchini cooked in garlic oil, peas and mushrooms cooked in bacon fat. Look at all that green on the plate - almost eating vegetarian as we planned!

You know there is a fine food mill in the closet under the pantry?

Tastes just like apple! Unfortunately in the impossible version it sinks to the bottom - but they are snarfing it down anyway!

I see your Zucchini Bumper Crop Zucchini Mock-Apple Pie and raise an Impossible Zucchini Mock-Apple Pie.

Actually lemon verbena - was one of the recipes from The Last Course. I suspect recipe testing more thoroughly might have been in order. It called for 1 tightly packed cup of lemon verbena leaves (1 ounce) to 2 cups of liquid. I didn't even tip the 5 gram mark on the thermomix and the flavour was decidedly too much like furniture polish. I think a sprig of the herb - just enough to give a subtle background flavour would have been the way to go. Can't imagine how it would have tasted with 30 grams! Oh yeah - and it was supposed to un mold as a solid piece - I called Anna in from the living room - asked her to pick me a sprig of lemon verbena to show it off - the look on her face when she saw the puddle on the plate was rather priceless.

It's the slime - or in our case - the neighbour doesn't grow okra!

But didn't it un mold beautifully! NOT!

Scallops - sous vide then seared in duck fat, grilled romaine and endive with Jeannette sauce.

Esquire Formula Cocktail - not sure we like it yet!

There is a chipmunk that lives under the steps at the side of our house. My neighbour grows cherry tomatoes right across from the steps. I often go out to find him chowing down on one.

Over on the Manitoulin thread I've been using my EZtemper to help me made some wedding favours. Check it out here.

Here in Canada we are supportive of many kinds of unions LOL!

Those would be the President's Choice Oreo like cookies.

The son of one of Kira's sitters is getting married this weekend - so I asked what wedding favours they were having made. She explained they had contacted a few people on the island about it and no one got back to them. So of course you know who's going to volunteer to put them together. I learned a few things about using a brush for painting which I didn't know before - so a fair number of the bowties are not quite up to snuff - but I suspect I'm my own worst critic. Brides under construction. Couples being assembled for packaging. 60+ packages ready for pickup.

Oh my god - I spent too long at the hospital yesterday - forgot to post our dinner pictures. Jacques Pepin's Maman's Eggs.

Got called out last night to give ketamine to a rug rat with a nasty arm fracture - so didn't have time to bake. So this am I threw together the Fine Cooking Bake Shop Muffins - added currants and bitter orange oil.

Summer Tomato Pudding from Splendid Table - How to Eat Weekends Shrimp on the barbie Dinner - steamed brown bread on the side