John DePaula

You could make a "hot" chocolate drink using water, like for a water ganache but with a higher water : chocolate ratio. OR What about using a little mini-ice chest to store the box of chocolates. It could have a small frozen gel pack and if well insulated enough, it would keep your chocolates cool until ready to give to the customer. During a particularly hot summer day at the Farmers' Market here (over 100F) I brought some cello bags, filled with water, sealed and frozen, to give to the customers so they could make it home ok with their purchases. Worked a charm!

I have made a very nice Strawberry Liqueur from some fraise des bois and vodka that had a lovely strawberry fragrance. Not sure if that would be intense enough for baked goods, though; however, quite pleasant for drinking...

Why not try a water ganache. ← That's a great suggestion! Funny thing, I just had some of this today - wonderful!

I use mine mostly for making pancakes and Pain Perdu.

I agree with everything that Rob has said. On the other hand, if you're going to be working in the U.S., Spanish may be much more practical. But if you plan to ever work in France (or Quebec), obviously... On the other other hand, lots of good (high-end, cutting-edge) stuff is coming out of Spain these days, so there you go.

Is Foie Gras Torture? in the Village Voice.

I think they've just started their $35 tasting menu, running through July & August (?), which should be a FANTASTIC value. I had the Lobster & Tomato Bisque for my app and the Pork Tenderloin (proscuitto wrapped Carlton Farm's pork, Parisienne gnocchi, fava beans, morels, leek puree, rhubarb molasses) for my main. Both were absolutely flawless. My dining partner had the Duck (roasted duck Magret, Belgian endive, artichoke hearts, English peas, saba, foie gras) which she said was excellent, also. But really, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Enjoy!

I found this to be very enlightening. Thanks for the link!

Just returned from a stunning meal at Sel Gris. Chef Mondok and co. are really turning out some wonderful food! And by the way, Foie protesters, it's pronounced 'sel gree' just so you don't, ya know, look completely silly while you're out there protesting... There are so many more important issues out there to be upset about... foie gras production really hardly registers in the grand scheme of things.

Chris, If you look at Dave's blog, French Food Focus, I believe you'll see a picture of said apricot tart - very pretty, by the way. Looks like "halved and seeded" but not sliced.

Toro Bravo is a must. Sel Gris for fine dining. Teardrop, and Clyde Common, for Happy Hour. Bunk Sandwiches for sandwiches at lunch. Bar Mingo is great for food and drinks. Laurelhurst Market for dinner. Broder for breakfast. Apizza Scholls for pizza. Beaker & Flask for great food and drinks.

Oh, feel free to name names... Doesn't mean I gonna publish my recipe That looks like a nice recipe you've got there, though.

Kerry, that looks wonderful! Chris, you could also just use apricot jelly (a good quality one) for the glaze, an acceptable time saver. Also, I'd place the apricots "on-end" so that the wedges are pointing up, brûlée them a bit if you like, glaze then dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

I 2nd the recommendations for: Ristorante Giardino (at the Gate House Hotel) 142 Queen Niagara On The Lake, ON L0S 1J0, Canada (905) 468-3263 and Konzelmann Winery 1096 Lakeshore Rd Niagara on the Lake, ON L0S 1J0, Canada (905) 935-2866 Also, if you find yourself in Niagara, ON, you should check out: Casa Mia Ristorante 3518 Portage Road Niagara Falls, ON L2J 2K4, Canada (905) 356-5410 Although I didn't get to dine here, it comes highly recommended: Vineland Estates Winery Ltd 3620 Moyer Road RR 1 Vineland, ON L0R 2C0, Canada (888) 846-3526

I would say it's more like: Gruhn-o-blwahz.

Quite near you, there's a very informal lunch spot called: Go Fish Ocean Emporium 1505 1st Avenue West Vancouver, BC V6J 1E8, Canada (604) 730-5040 Here you will find Po-boys, Fish Tacos and Fish & Chips all made with impeccably fresh seafood. You wait in line to order, then grab a table on the patio. Lines can be long, so go before noon if possible.

That is an excellent idea, using the propagator! Much safer than using a real oven and inexpensive, too. Love it.

Do be careful, Lior, that you don't let the oven get too hot; obviously, there is a tiny window of safe temperature for your molds before damaging them...

If your room temperature is above ~32C (90F), and it might be in Ashkelon, then cooling your mold might be desirable. For the record, I don't think there is one and only one way to do something correctly. I read that all the time in books and hear it from European instructors, but of course, that's ridiculous. But forgive me if I do have an opinion about what isn't going to work. I can be boorish that way...

Ok, I'm in torsten's camp i.e. I agree with schneich: never cool the bar mold. Lior, I'll go out on a limb and say that the following will fix your problem: 1) Do not use a heat gun to warm your mold. The risk of "hot spots" is too great and that will definitely de-temper your chocolate. Instead, put the molds in a warming cabinet and heat close to the working temperature of your chocolate, say, ~29C for dark. Check this with an IR thermometer (if you don't have one, get one! ) I do not have a warming cabinet (though I would love to have one...) so I am improvising by using either a spare 6kg Mol d'art melter or (and you're gonna love this...) I use my oven by turning it on its lowest setting briefly; I use my IR thermometer to make sure it's not too hot (say < 50C); I wrap up the molds in tea towels to provide more even insulation on top of a couple of cookie sheets; then I "soak" the molds in the gentle heat for about 30 minutes while I prepare other things. You'll have to play around with your setup to see what works. 2) When you fill your trays, you'll find that the warmed trays REALLY help to prevent bubbles. conversely, cooler trays help to CAUSE bubbles... You can wait until the chocolate has just begun to set around the edges, then put the tray into a refrigerator on top of a grill or shelf that has air flow all around, top and bottom. You can buy an inexpensive computer fan + adapter to hang inside the cooling unit to keep air flowing. Hope this helps.

Lior, are you using a cooling fan in your refrigerator to allow them to set properly (and fast) to avoid what Kerry mentioned - latent heat of crystallization.

Are those food safe?

Lots of folks recommend scooping it up with a wet hand. I use two spoons - one to scoop and one to scrape.

The joys of living in the middle of nowhere. I have to order the book and it can take weeks. Finally made the Orange-Szechwan Pepper Ice Cream. Wimped out and used only 2 TBSP of crushed Szechwan pepper instead of 3. It is incredible. Delicious. Amazing. : ← That sounds really wonderful, D. I'll have to make that one soon. By the `way, while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, you can find several DL recipes online...