Darienne

Sorry Tammy. Darienne is taking the bread workshop but NOT her + 1 Neither Darienne nor her +1 are going to the Grange Darienne is taking the Organic/Locavore/Personal Food choice but NOT her + 1 Oh, the +1 is her husband of 50 years, Ed. Thanks.

Glad your halvah cured nicely. Your update led me to my update. Took my cut pieces out of the fridge to roll them in whatever and after they sat a while, they wilted into nothing. Put them back in one pan, smoothed out, and they are back being a very soft ganache to be spread by DH on chocolate discs. And your website led me to reread the first couple of pages of this thread. Took me back to some pretty different and strange halvahs that I made a couple of years ago, including the one that ended up in the round bin.

Do get back with more. I've only just begun....

Wonderful article. Thanks, Paul

I think this thread ought to be renamed: Chris Hennes does "Fiesta at Rick's". Wonderful.

Deensiebat posted this lemon poppy seed cake the other day on Your Daily Sweets: What are you making? Poppy seed cake If you like poppy seeds and lemon...this is the cake for you. I baked it in 8 little mini-loaf pans.

Since early childhood I have loved halvah to distraction. It is one of my earliest happy memories...eating halvah given to me by my Bubbi. Go ahead...be obsessed. Interesting videos...I watched several of them. And also a lovely photo on the blog. Alas! No recipes. Where is that magic recipe?

It would have been more divine if I had tempered the chocolate instead of melting it. I meant just to make a throw-it-together ganache type thing, and then thought...why not little bon-bons types? Then after thought...idiote, you should have tempered the chocolate!!! So now they must go from the fridge into the mouth...hmmm...unless I roll them in cocoa. Good idea. Or finely chopped nuts...

The top of the Lemon Bliss cake...it appears that it would not be something you could freeze? Too sticky?

Hi Ilana, Thanks for going to the trouble of writing the author. Very vivacious lady. Quite charming, even though I couldn't understand any of it...except for 'halvah'. In the interim, I took my soft halvah, mixed in some more nuts, the neglected vanilla, and some melted 56% and 70% chocolate and filled tiny muffin pans for delicious 'pop into your mouth' snack goodies.

The CYC guy quoted $60 over the phone and tomorrow the DH says we'll pick one up in town. Yay! I can almost smell that cake from here. Lemon. What smells better than lemon...and orange...and chocolate...and raspberry...

Lovely plate. As least your halvah is firmer than mine... And back to Kerry's post: "Anytime I've made halvah this way I ended up with it softer than I wanted. I wasn't sure if a higher temperature would have helped. I think you are essentially making a fudge with the ingredients - which is essentially a fondant. I think beating longer might be the solution until it starts to thicken." Beating: how much longer? At what speed? And why? (I still don't have this kind of knowledge assimilated properly.) Is it that more beating would tend to accentuate the crystallization process?

For the Canadians in the forum: Hand-held infrared readout thermometers are on sale in Canadian Tire, in-store special for an indefinite time period, Mastercraft, for about $60 instead of $100. In Peterborough anyway, they are not in housewares, but in tools.

The thermometers are not in the CTC flyer, but rather an in-store special for an indefinite time, not in housewares but in tools (Peterborough anyway), about $60 instead of $100. Thanks, Kerry

I am blown away by your energy, your dedication, your enthusiasm...and your finding a IR thermometer on sale at CTC in Sudbury. I'm getting out the flyer and taking another look. Right now!

Anytime I've made halvah this way I ended up with it softer than I wanted. I wasn't sure if a higher temperature would have helped. I think you are essentially making a fudge with the ingredients - which is essentially a fondant. I think beating longer might be the solution until it starts to thicken. But if your syrup was starting to colour - to me that means it was reaching 150C - so I wonder if your thermometer is off a bit? Kerry is no doubt correct about your thermometer. I did a careful check of all my thermometers...tossed a couple...a plague on all their houses...and found one that was bang on! So my syrup was removed at exactly 121C. (I am going to look at the Canadian Tire thermometers tomorrow. Might just bite the bullet and buy one not on sale. Actually, I read the CTC flyer faithfully and carefully every week and have never notice a IR thermometer for sale. I must have missed it.) A good idea to put the nuts and vanilla in first. Actually, I was so discombobulated at the syrup solidifying on the side of my honking big bowl, that I forgot the vanilla. I'll try it again after tomorrow, with a larger amount, with the bowl set up ahead of time, with the beaters lifted up so that I can more easily pour the syrup in, etc. And then I'll get back.

Welcome back. We have missed seeing your contributions, especially on the Halvah thread. Well, it was not a great success in that it did not harden properly and it also wasn't sweet enough. Not the fault of the recipe, but rather mine. I didn't have enough tahini to make the complete recipe which meant that my sugar and water portions were not really large enough for the stand mixer which is a 7-quart. I should have just done it with my hand mixer. I spilled some of the syrup down the inside of the huge bowl and it solidified immediately which meant it never went into the mixture. Monday, I'll buy the ingredients again and this time I'll get it right. DH and I agreed that it did have a good taste and was rather like the halvah from Israel. Thanks again for the recipe. I'll get back when I get it correct.!!!

Thanks Ilana, I'll try it this afternoon. But without pistachios. Have none. I could use pecans. I couldn't watch the video very well. My computer speed seems just too slow for the download. I did catch the word 'halva', but that was about it for my Hebrew. Thanks so much for this recipe. I'll report back. Returned to the site and this time the video downloaded quite nicely. What was she drinking from the little electric appliance? OK. Now we try it. Thanks again.

Thank you for the answer, kind sir, especially because you couched it in non-scientific terms. I shall be careful to check the ratio when I purchase a thermometer.

Tuscan Wine Grape Pie Recipe - Schiacciata con l'Uva. You can Google it. I made it once. Interesting. I don't think I'll make it again. Probably needs particularly tasty grapes.

However, the 4:1 distance:spot ratio (wide angle view) would seem to make it a poor choice for targets that are boiling and spitty ... you (and your instrument) don't want to have to be close to such things!

Strange, we have the refinished and rebuilt white pine plank floors in our house, up and down, with area rugs, and two large dogs (if not more). Dogs don't do slippery very well. And we have never ever had a slip problem. Our floors are semi-gloss urethane. Ed is redoing our upstairs bathroom and it will be wood also. I loathe any kind of vinyl flooring...dog hair magnet...and if we ever refinish the downstairs bathroom which Ed built 15 years ago, it will be wood also. (This house was built with NO indoor bathrooms) Just reporting.

We live in a century farmhouse, so the kitchen floor is in keeping with the rest of the house: white pine planking. No2 grade, dyed to a dark honey color and now with 5 coats of urethane. Yep, it scratches and dents and all the rest, but I love it. In fact, when my DH laid it 15 years ago, our male Rottie, Nigel, walked in the drying urethane and now his paw-prints are forever immortalized in one corner. We do have an absorbent rug in the most vulnerable spots for wear and tear. After having a variety of floors in my kitchens over the last 50 years, I would never want anything except wood ever again. Next, Ed is going to make me some pine counter-tops. I had them in Moab and fell in love with them. All the more charming to create your own distressed look.

If I may: [from Wikipedia] Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984. He also appointed the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day. Reagan recognized the popularity of ice cream in the United States (90% of the nation's population consumes ice cream) and stated that these two events should be observed with "appropriate ceremonies and activities." Let's get busy and celebrate! I know I am doing my part!

Just made DL's delicious Classic Hot Fudge sauce again...which reminded me...that last week I found the first batch I made hiding at the back of the fridge, weeks and weeks after it was made, and it was still excellent upon reheating.