Kerry Beal

Cipirinha for me G&T for @Alleguede beer for Bella Squid bits empanada Patates bravas Octopus Pan con Tomate cheese and chorizo Iberico Creme catalan Flan

posted this mold on Instagram today - I suspect Tomric’s sales are going to skyrocket! A happy new EZtemper owner dropped me a bunch of goodies - we had met at Sigep and he waited until we were here to get one for convenience Today’s lunch - shawarma.

Yes - up to 4% but it will make the chocolate softer

I think the breakfasts I’ve had at the hotel have been some of the better meals this trip. crusty roll, buttered and some yellow mustard with ham and cheese yogurt and granola

The average one I'm seeing on amazon (of course now I'm seeing them on Amazon) seems to be 150 to 160 ml - 5 to 6 ounces.

Caramelized onions. Perhaps some balsamic vinegar I'm guessing - it was more purple than brown in real life.

On our way to find a place to eat we stopped to chat to a lovely fellow outside a little speakeasy canal side. He made some dinner suggestions (should have listened) and off we went. We decided to return after dinner to check it out. Rosalias Menagerie is a very small cocktail bar and when we arrived back he was telling the couple ahead of us that the wait would be a while, leave your number, we'll call and see if you still want to come when there is room. So we gave up hope - until he admitted us saying 'there are a couple of seats at the bar - and I put you on the waiting list when you came by earlier'! Drinks are listed by flavor profile - a bit of a crap shoot what you might get. A little predrink drink - the amuse bouche of the speakeasy. I chose a Moon dog, described as cereal, fruity, booze forward. Hmmmm.... @Alleguede and alcohol are not always compatible - chose a Devil in Disguise - non ETOH. Feeling the need to cleanse my palate (and not having the ability to bin a drink like I do when I'm up north) - I asked for a negroni like drink and he made me a Boulevardier with a nice gentle bourbon. You know those Nick and Nora's I've been watching thrift stores for for a couple of years? The ones that grace the front of Time Life's Beverages book? The ones I can only find with gray stems? they had them. Here's the manufacturer. I was amazing sober for someone who had knocked back an aperol spritz and two cocktails - but I did notice I was a bit loquacious when talking to @Anna N via Facetime tonight.

Found ourselves in yet another chinese restaurant tonight with a gang of people - found I simply couldn't face chinese for a 3rd day this week. @Alleguede and I looked at each other and said - 'shall we go elsewhere?' - and did. Felt extremely rude, and bad about leaving Bella there with her boss and the others - but you gotta do what you gotta do! We walked around a bit until we found something decidedly not chinese and stopped for a bite. Looking at the pasta and pizza on other's plates - we realized we had found the lowest common denominator for tourist italian food. But we ate. You can never go wrong with an aperol spritz Squid bits - so tender as to be unreal. No artichokes - with several nice pieces of artichoke inside.

Lunch foraged by @Alleguede and Bella (actually delivered to the hotel which is across the street and smuggled in the back door) - @Alleguede was stopped at the front door yesterday and turned away as he brought in outside food - he had to go around the back. Today I ran over the the hotel to see if I could find more piping bags - I took one of the doors at the end of the building to get down to one the back entrances - took a wrong turn and ended up going through one door after another that locked behind me. Ended up in a closed restaurant. Though I was going to have to call for help to get me out (and wasn't going to be able to tell them where I was) - when I found an exit door that opened to let me out onto the street. Was unable to lock it behind me - so left that restaurant unsecured for the afternoon! Much better fries than last night - wishing I had the good toppings for them!

They really just tasted like kind of mild BBQ chips.

So one of the tricks seems to be to either dip in milk chocolate (which has less uniform spaces) or add some butter oil or milk chocolate to your dark chocolate for the same reason. Also the adding more 'solid matter' to the filling to 'hang on to the fat'. Controlling the storage conditions as much as possible also helps. But bottom line - nut oils and cocoa butter together form a liquid oil and that sucker is going to work it's way through to the surface eventually. So eat them while they are young!

Wonder if you can still use the pharmacy?

We stopped in for a drink at Cafe de Jaren - a space reserved by the founder of 'Well Tempered' for the chocolate folks who finished up today, the bar makers starting tomorrow and those of us who are attending both events. We didn't last too long of course because our stomachs must be listened to. These aren't Belgian fries I discovered! My mouth had been watering for the crispy Belgian fries that don't get uncrisp even when cold. Anyone know if they are out there somewhere in Amsterdam? These were doorstops and they have the reputation as being one of the best in Amsterdam.

Couple of pics of chocolate packaging taken while having a look around. Tomorrow will be the first of the two consumer days - so there will be a lot more chocolate vendors and less chocolate equipment. Got a picture of the booth from the balconies over top.

Falafel in a pita for lunch.

Look carefully at the picture behind the most forward bag of chocolate

Missing all the information that is behind the table!

Attendees jbates Chocolot Pastrypastmidnight MelissaH* tikidoc Chocomonster Sue PEI and Jane Gwbyls Desiderio curls JoNorvelleWalker (we will find a way) Haley Diana D DayGameCandy Marmish +1 (maybe) Miriam G (tentative) david.upchurch SweetandSnappyJen Valerie B Audrey Brown Anniebakes jedovaty (tentative) *God's willing and the river don't rise

The cousins arrived (we joke that everywhere we go Bhavani's cousins are where he stays or who we have helping at the booth). I think these two might actually be cousins - they have a chocolate business in India - Soklet. It's tree to bar. They are always good fun to go out with. They wanted to eat at the same Sichuan place we were at the other night - so off we went. They attacked before the picture. Vegetarian option. The cousins went for the hot stuff. Cumin lamb Pekin duck sizzling beef noodles vegetarian rice

An interesting comment by Robert who made the back drop - "When we were putting together the graphic for this show it was clear that these folks were lacking a little, and why my greatest fear was that the lower part of the graphic would be hidden, but not grasping the concept fully I just let it go. I saw the graphics on e-gullet and my worst fears where realized."

The hot side this am. The baked beans of yesterday have been replaced by grilled cheesy tomatoes Not sure why the egg cups as the eggs are all hard boiled.

I believe I lost the agenda I had in the great data loss of 2019. If anyone has e-mails I sent them about proposed agenda I'd appreciate them sending it along so we can reconstruct. I know on the Friday class we have Mark Heim doing a couple of things that he and I have been discussing - French creams possibly, laminations and those wonderful Joseph Schmidt bowls (anyone remember those from the very first workshop?) I think Saturday am Brian was going to do a brief one shot demo?

Most of the upgrades are basically related to branding, the way that the branding is put on the unit. There’s a couple of changes under the hood to simplify the wiring.

It's cheese cloth impregnated with a tacky material that you wipe over a surface to remove any lose particulate before the next layer of varnish when you are working on the brightwork on the boat.

Alright - I'll bite - what's crocus cloth? What I know as tack cloth?