Beth Wilson

Thanks guys! Gfron - I always wondered about the batter as it does seem a bit dry when I mix it and a bit of unmixed flour is always left behind in the bowl. Will play with that a bit more. I think I will try them in the food processor next time too before mixing by hand. Thanks for the tips. andiesenji - That will be the next scone recipe to try! It seems like it would make a bit more than my recipe and I was thinking of keeping these on hand as a quick breakfast item or afternoon tea. Thanks for the suggestion of the grated butter. Will try that next time I do it by hand. I was trying to not play with the mixing too much so I was worried that I wasn't doing it enough but I think it will be a trial and error process. Colder butter and add a bit more liquid. I have lots of new ones to try now! Thanks everyone! b

I have tried making scones a few times and I just can't get them right. I find the ones in the stores are usually rock hard so I thought I would try making fresh ones at home. Recipe is pretty simple, but I seem to be doing something wrong. They seem to crumble too much and you end up eating them with a fork or spoon. I do love the flavour of the homemade ones so I think I must be doing something wrong in my technique. 1 cup all purpose flour 1 tbsp baking powder pinch of salt 1/4 cup cold butter, cut in pieces 1/4 cup raisins 1/2 cup whipping cream 2 - 3 tbsp sugar Sift flour, salt, baking powder. Rub in butter with fingers until texture is sandy in texture. Stir in raisins and make a well in the centre. Stir sugar into cream until dissolved, pour into well. Incorporate mixing lightly. Brush top with egg wash. Then I place on a baking sheet forming it into a round flat shape and bake at 350 for 13 minutes. I have tried mixing them more, mixing them less and they always crumble far too much. There must be something that holds them together like a biscuit? These things just pile into crumbs - which taste great, so it must be my technique. Any scone experts out there that have a tip or two to help keep these things together or do you have a similar recipe that works out everytime? Thanks for helping me out!

I started with a Sinsation Machine many years ago and found it did not have the capacity I needed and the noise of the darn thing gave me a headache after a couple of batches of tempered chocolate. It is like listening to a blow dryer run, and after an hour or two I couldn't take it anymore! So I have gone the melter way. I do pull it out now and again to temper a little bit of chocolate if I am using it for a decorative affect on top of the chocolates I am making. I usually put the sinsation in a nearby room where I can hear it in a distance but don't have to listen to the machine. It is handy for some little tasks but not for my main work. For the price, for what I have ended up using it for, it is not for me. If you are going to do more than 2 dozen in a day then don't bother, but if you are doing less, and don't have to melt a large volume of chocolate then it will do. You have to decide about the price.

I suspect you are going to start blending your own teas after this exercise! A new challenge to take on!

You should decide what your market is - if it is 70% marshmallows then your website name is pretty good. Think of the expense of running different names with the extra cost of promotional material, advertising, business cards and letterhead. You really need to concentrate your business on the products you have a passion and love for and keep the products that you will dabble in as 'seasonal offerings'. Over the years customers will come to you for your key products and the extras will be anticipated as they are offered. You want your name to be simple to remember and explains your business to attract people. Who doesn't like Marshmallows! Especially homemade ones! Build your reputation on your primary products and introduce new things as you perfect them. When I opened my shop, I spoke to a few people who had two locations or more and it seemed they were spreading themselves thin and were exhausted! I find one location runs my life too much so keeping it simplified has helped. Good luck with the market! How exciting for you to grow your business! Let us know what happens! B

How about Yorkshire Tea? I am not sure of the British Company that makes it but I like it enough. I know there is a British Store near you that I am sure carries it. I like the red box but the gold box has a bit bolder flavour. I can't believe you have gone through that tea supply already!!! I thought it was good for a few years! b

I just spent the afternoon in the kitchen making chocolates and got to try out something Peter of Niagara College showed us! Microwaving stainless steel bowls without sparks. You just have to make sure you do NOT touch the sides of the microwave with the bowl - just place it in the middle of the machine. Using the stainless steel bowls in the microwave means that I don't have to get any more glass bowls for the kitchen! I can use all the bowls that I already have on hand. How handy I found this in the kitchen this afternoon but I still found myself cringing when I pressed the start button wondering if they had magic microwaves at the college but it worked in mine too! Only stainless steel works in the microwave so be really careful if you do try this, and the bowl does get hot. b

It was great to meet everyone this weekend! My sisters and I had a great time. They are newbies to working with chocolate and had fun meeting everyone. Now I will be able to put them to work when they come for a visit!!! The dinner was fantastic and the morning snacks and lunch were delicious too! Thanks for taking care of us Kerry! My sisters were raving about the lunch meats and bread and wanted to know if the bread was made by the school for the event? The rustic flavour and pumpkin seeds were great! b

Truffle shells are great to use for liquid or very soft centers. I have used them alot and always cap them before dipping them. Sometimes I let the shells sit overnight to settle into the shells before capping them off the next day. When you do cap them off, I find that the best thing to do is make sure the chocolate you pipe in to cap them off should be relatively flat. The flat part is what I use as the bottom of the truffle so the flat edge helps to steady the truffle giving it less tendancy to roll around in the boxes. The shells do add extra cost to your truffle so you have to watch your bottom line when you use them. For liquid caramels I love them!

I have one that I keep for times when I am baking something to give away. I have a couple of pets and although I try to keep the kitchen tidy, I am paranoid if I know I am taking food somewhere. The jacket covers my clothes to ensure no contamination. For everyday I like an apron. Plus the little pocket on the jacket sleeve fits my MP3 player perfectly!!!

I still have a foot of snow in my garden!! I am so jealous of your Rhubarb! All this talk of gardening is making me want to move to a warmer climate....

I think the MacDonald's themed pizza and cocktails are a bit much. How would you eat a pizza burger anyway?

This site seems to take fast food and make it even worse! http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/page/1 They were talking about this site on the radio this morning and I have to agree with them. It is like watching a train wreck, you just can't look away.

I make many pans of toffee in the store and usually I heat up 2 or 3 pans then put them all on top of a few layers of towels. The towels help insulate the heat and the 2 pans under the pan I am working on, keep the heat a bit longer than just on top of the towels. Most times I just warm the oven to 170C, put the pans in and turn off the oven. As soon as the toffee is spread evenly I take the top pan with the toffee and put it in my cooling racks, put the warmed trays back in the oven to make another batch of toffee. Our kitchen is airconditioned and I find the pans cool too fast without the benefit of the warmed trays underneath.

I know what you mean about snacking and tasting in the kitchen. Being around all those great smells kind of trick you into feeling not hungry when dinner time rolls around. Since most of our stuff is candy or chocolate related I try to have nice cheeses and crackers, fresh fruit and vegetables around to snack. I usually bring extra along and everyone in the kitchen will snack on it. Keeps us out of trouble and keeps our energy up! My friend who is a chef always has unsalted mixed nuts and assorted dried fruits on supply for lots of energy on those busy days!

My friends and I played around with some soft caramel sandwiched between two social tea biscuits and then ran them through the enrober with milk chocolate. I want to try making some biscuits that are long and thin but the social tea biscuits were perfect in a pinch. I think they were peak freans. Totally addictive and extremely sweet which is what we were looking for!

That was a great run down on the book and I really appreciate the review. I have a lot of chocolate books and I am interested in trying out more sugar works so I think I will track down one of the less expensive copies for myself. Thanks for the information. Let me know if you try out any of the recipes! Beth

You might check out the type of peanut butter too... I know Skippy is pretty sweet for my tastes. Try different types to see if there is a difference. This has been making me hungry to try it out and I just bought some peanut butter!

I was watching The Food Network Challenge show last night as it was on Chocolate Showpieces. Due to the excessive heats from the camera one of the contestants had rigged up an ingenious little cooler box with dry ice in it. It was a simple plastic Coleman type cooler with 4" dryer venting on one side, it must have had some sort of wiring in the venting so he could direct the venting and it stayed put. The cooler was full of dry ice and the back end of the cooler had some sort motor that blew air over the dry ice and it came out the venting as cool air.

Have you found Choice Confections useful? I like the idea of having 2 recipe sizes - small & large batches. Good idea for trying out a recipe.

That's a great deal Lapin d'or! I can't wait to hear your report back!!

Oh, and for the record! $1936 is waaaayyyy out of my price range I just wondered if anyone was familiar with this book to warrant that kind of money!!! It is a paperback afterall! I will stick to my <$100 book price for now!

My shop is closed in the winter so I like to take this time to get new recipe books and try some new things out, so tonight I found some interesting books on Amazon and wondered if anyone has an idea what they are about. The cost is pretty high on them and my usual go to reference person - The Chocolate Doctor - has not heard of them so I thought maybe someone out there has some input! http://www.amazon.ca/Complete-Confectioner...3195633&sr=1-12 $1936 seems a bit out of this world And there is a pre-order listing of a book to be released in July http://www.amazon.ca/Technology-Coated-Cho...3195633&sr=1-11 If anyone has suggestions on more reasonably priced confectionery books I would love to hear them. Thanks for your input!!

When it comes to decent chocolate at a bargain price, why does anyone consider needs? I think I need to make a trip in to the dollar store to do a little investigating! You never know what you find there. Never thought to look at their chocolate selection, just the kitchenwares.

Oh the complaints just bring back memories of my mother. She would complain non-stop in the grocery store, isle after isle, nothing seemed to please her, so I stopped and confronted her (quietly of course) about her attitude towards our errands. Her response made me realize there was never anything I could do to turn her view around - "Well, I am not happy unless I have something to complain about!" Suddenly, I realized she was having a good day and soon began to tease her about "having a good day today"! Honestly, I now notice this with many people that some people really look at the world with a slanted view. To be doing something you love and honestly putting your best effort into it, because it it what you love to do is something these people have lost sight of. Now when I hear the constant complaining that some people do I hear my mothers words and look at the situation.....Is it really something I can fix? Or are they having their own "Good Day". I really feel sorry for them now that they feel the need to bring everyone down with them, and really try to not go there with them. Have a great day!!!! Honestly!