Darienne

Sounds wonderful. Any photos? Recipe sources? Free samples sent to my house?

Made the 'Coffee Truffle' (p.72) ganache yesterday, using Expresso coffee granules for the instant coffee granules and 70% Belcolade dark. DH loves it. It'll never make it to truffles.... No, I lie. I didn't use his method which calls for refrigerating the ganache for an hour and then beating it for 30 seconds. I don't know what this would accomplish. Perhaps someone could be kind enough to enlighten me.

We do have a Restore...Ed lives there I think. And we have a Costco but don't belong. I'll take a look. I've never been in one. Thanks.

Kerry is indeed a font of great ideas. Andie and Anna N also. So, where in Ontario can you buy a Foodsaver unit, please.

Thank you, Richard. What a display. Amazing. I particularly liked the chocolate terra cotta warriors.

O.K. Back in business. I hope. Haven't been able to make much for quite a while now. Made a few dozen Christmas lollipops and sent them down to Moab to the kids from the Multicultural Center where I was known as the Candy Lady last year. Then last week I managed to dip everything in the house and package it up to give to folks to whom I was in debt in some way or other: vets, computer tech guy, chiro, etc. Just made a few dozen butterscotch heart lollipops for our local library to sell and make a few dollars. Learned two things: butterscotch will stick like crazy to marble...I guess I had not oiled it enough although then there's that oily lolly back to deal with. But, much better this time, put the lollipop molds on a sheet of silpat (a woman cannot have too many silpats I have found) and they didn't stick at all, of course. Duh. I like to make lollipops for the kids, etc,...the part I could do without is the packaging. Next week it's chocolate coated toffee...and Enstrom alike recipe. And it's so good you can't believe it.

Well...we don't actually have to eat it, do we? I've never made a ganache out of any chocolate other than dark, but it might be worth a try for the other folks who like milk and white. Thanks

No answers here, I fear. Only a question. By 'white ganache', do you mean using white chocolate? Thanks.

Nothing much of note, but I did manage today to make a few dozen heart-shaped butterscotch lollipops for our local library to sell. They have made this lovely silver paper covered foam slab to display the lollies standing up and with their bright ribbons, who can resist. It earns the library some extra cash every year and I'm pleased to do something for the wonderful folks who have been so kind to me with the chocolate and candy books ordered for the library and also inter-library loans made by the score.

We eat hot dogs every now and then. Has to be all beef franks and charred. The buns have to be the cheap buns and heated. DH uses dijon mustard and dill relish. Ugh. I use French's yellow mustard...nothing else will do...and sweet pickle relish. Chips have to be Kettle style, very crunch, as greasy as possible, with salt. No low salt stuff, thank you. What a meal for near vegetarian, heavy on the raw vegetables, from scratch folks! Just asked the DH and he said: Shopsy's All Beef Deli Franks.

We have three freezers: two upstairs fridge freezers (son lived with us for a couple of years and had his own fridge in the garage) and one cellar chest. The chaos is never ending. DH is the biggest help but cannot attend to any...what to call them?...prearranged decisions about how to keep stuff, put it away, etc. I have been somewhat incapacitated over the past year which is making the usual routines quite difficult. How on earth to manage the freezer contents? We did a massage clean-out of the cellar freezer two months ago and I made a list of everything in it and quantity. I label stuff...DH does not. Typed up and dated the list and printed it out and put it on the kitchen fridge. Tried to attend to it. Did not really Just did a clean-out of one section of the cellar using a newly printed list with additions typed on it. There's a pile of milk crates (& gloves)down beside the freezer waiting for 'the day we do the freezer again'. We are on our way and it is working. (I also have a much edited printed shopping list and needs get circled in red, put on DH's clipboard which has a pen attached with these wonderful little Lee Valley pen magnet thingies. DH does the shopping now. Have I mentioned...only about a dozen times...that he brings me coffee in bed every morning before I get up? :wub: )

Wonderful work. I loved the mortar boards. Good going! I have been busy dipping...dark chocolate, of course...dried papaya (I didn't like it), two kinds of candied ginger, and homemade candied orange peels. Owed a number of kind and helping folks a number of little gifts. Nothing exciting, but still filled the bill.

Lovely colors and presentation. And next time...make lots more! We should all have these problems. You go, girl.

Sorry David and all, I will not be able to attend this year.

Peterborough. A local bulk food store, The Main Ingredient, carries Belcolade which Barbara and I use. He gets it from his rep obviously and I could probably ask him how you could find it where you are. You could PM me with your information. Etc. I know that Kerry Beal uses Belcolade and thinks highly of it. I agree. Also, when in Moab, I used Guittard chocolate which I had sent in from SLC. But then, you have to have everything sent in to Moab. I could not even buy lollipop sticks there.

You might try asking this question as a thread in the Ontario Cooking and Baking part of Regional Cuisine for a more useful answer than I can give you. Many eGulleters live in Toronto and know it well. I don't know Toronto well at all and the place I go to, Charlie's, I found because it's on Morningside across from Lee Valley, just north of the 401.

Got it! Kept wondering what I wanted to try in 2010. And then Simonne posted her wonderful Durian recipe and I remembered that more than anything I wanted to taste a Durian. We can get only frozen puree here...that's when our little Asian store gets it in...but that's my goal for the year! DURIAN...now if I could only smell one, just to have done it.

Dear Kajikit, My heart goes out to you and I hope your hand mends quickly. I have a different problem. Both my hands work about as well as they have for a long time, but I can't stand for very long. Now my DH is a good cook. But besides doing a large portion of the cooking (which is wondeful), he is acting as a sous-chef especially for the Chinese food. Maybe this is something your husband could do without cooking anything. I have typed many of our recipes in a fashion that Ed can follow for his part of the work. Bowl #1 contains:.....; bowl # 2 contains: and so on. He gets the stuff out of the cupboards and lines them up. He opens cans, washes, rinses, and chops vegetables and meats. He adds things by the 1/2 cup or teaspoonful or whatever is called for into the designated bowls. He stands there and fries the ground pork. He fries the green beans. He cuts the roasts. Everything but cook it. And all the bowls are lined up for my use. It has worked very well. I'll add a photo of one page of recipes.

Yep, metric, US ounces and percentage are given for all recipes. I use the metric, myself. There are NO metric/Celcius measurements in Greweling's new book. Chocolates & Confections at Home. Greweling DOES use Celcius/ Metric/ American/percentages in his other book Chocolates and Confections:formula, theory, and technique for the artisan confectioner. He includes a page of justification for using both metric and US measurements on p.x

Personal taste cannot really be measured can it? It appears to be a huge company with a terrific output, but I found quite a lot of the presentations not to my liking. But then I too have strong likes and dislikes. Perhaps you are the only one who has tasted their confections. I wonder if they are a new company? I'll go back and look. ps. Should add that I do not like milk chocolate and never have.

Good going! You won't have any trouble buying the burnt syrup in TO. There are so many WI stores around. I got mine in Scarborough.

Well, what did the chocolates taste like to you? They certainly have a huge selection for sale and lots of catalogs, etc, not to mention an outlet in Dubai. But are they any good?

It all sounds really good Heather. Let us know how they turn out. Phoenikia....how did your cakes turn out? I'm going to make my cakes...someday...I just don't know when, but I'll post it for sure.

Sounds good. Make sure the spinach is in...and maybe leave the dill out. Dill is not a family favorite. Thanks again.

Did you check the expiration date? It is a Sobey product which means a reputable brand in Canada, but it has no expiration date on it. Our Canadian laws lag far behind your American ones and we have all kinds of exceptions to every rule you have to live with. It was being sold off because the holidays were over and presumably no one is entertaining after NYE for a while....like buying Christmas wrapping paper in January as the stores try to clear the shelves. I guess. The pizza topping sounds good too.Another way to 'cook' the fish.