Darienne

Was Anna N. correct! I guess! Today following a lead in Smitten Kitchen I looked up Ateco 11-piece Graduated Round Cookie Cutter set. Sounded like a good idea to me. Wow! Only $14 on Amazon.com (aka USA) Looked it up on Amazon.ca (Canada): $25.75 for a savings of: wait for it! 24 cents.

The Hot Chocolate on a Stick is interesting. It tasted very good in my mug of steamed milk. Melted well, and stirred in well enough. However, it presents a number of challenges which will have to be thought out...for next year. The stick: what to use? Popsicle sticks, plastic spoons? Stir sticks swiped from Starbucks (don't report me please. Think of all the stir sticks I never used in the past. ) When the chocolate melts, a stick is not the optimum stirrer. The instructions on how to use: hmmmm... and where to put them? One photo showed a sort of banner stuck at one end. Not only useful, but also decorative. The mold: ice cube trays are the correct size: 1 oz. But you cannot smooth them off properly. The deep cheapo chocolate molds worked well. No problem getting a clean shape. However, you need 2 to a 8 oz cup of steamed milk...but then 2 sticks needed. I could have purchased something more useful...but have no time, etc. Packaging: In a long cellophane bag? Several in a box? Oh heck. Too many variables for this tired mind. Back I go to truffles, dipped ginger anddipped Montelimar nougat.

I'll second that recommendation for the book. Wonderfully basic. All the 'stuff' you need to know to get started. Ruth is a splendid person. As for your variant, I think I might try it with a Canadian wine cream liqueur, Panama Jack, which has a teensy bite to it and costs substantially less than the regular cream liqueurs because it's made from a wine base. (Canadians: look for it in the wine section) Also it occurs to me to add something...a touch of brandy?...to give it a bite. I'm not a fudge lover by nature. It's just that your fudge looks enticing...as well as your nougat. My own Montelimar nougat day is postponed until next Wednesday...and hope for NO SNOW that day.

Love that nougat. Looks beautiful!!!

Second photo. I have no idea of what I did wrong, but I could not get the photo to change.

Today's candy-making day was canceled on account of massive amounts of snow dumped in our area. But I was productive blanching and roasting 4 cups of hazelnuts...that ought to last a while...and starting to fool around with the 'melt chocolate chunks in steaming milk to make hot chocolate' gift idea. They look a little barren right now, needing some kind of decor or flags to tell the recipient how to use them, but they are on their way. And then packaging makes all the difference. Amazing. Here are the chunks in two different sizes of molds. and here are the chunks decanted onto a plate (next post) They look a little forlorn, but with banner type tags on them, they'll look better. I hope. Haven't even tried one yet. Edited: manual dexterity is not my thing. That's why I have a partner with magic fingers.

That's an idea I hadn't thought about. We normally dip the chunks in chocolate. Of course with brushing on tempered chocolate, you then have the problem of cutting it all before the chocolate hardens... ...but you bypass the problem of sticking...

I'm really low on communion wafers, but have lots of silpats, cornstarch and confectioner's sugar. Thanks. I feel better now.

Help! Help! Our area appears to be out of wafer paper for making Montelimar nougat and tomorrow is our candy making date. I thought I had a wad, but can't find it. And now we have run out of time. Any ideas of what we could use/do instead? (Nothing esoteric please, we won't be able to get it. )

This sounds excellent. I have recently simply melted bittersweet chocolate and added it to peanut butter and icing sugar and to tahini and icing sugar. Both excellent little delight. Now I'll add a beaten egg and see what occurs. Oh. Tomorrow is candy day for three of us: Montelimar nougat dipped in chocolate, a copy cat recipe for Enstrom's incredible toffee and something new to play with: chocolate chunks for melting in steamed milk for hot chocolate gifts. Found a few variations of this idea online and we'll fool around until we find one we like. Oh, what a challenge. All the testing and tasting coming up...

Good point. Never thought of that. Oops. Goes back to John DePaula' post.

Not too exciting in terms of confectionery skills, but still appreciated by the kids at the Multicultural Center in Moab, Utah...today 4 dozen brightly colored lollipops went into the mail for the kids from the Candy Lady.

Interestingly enough, I have used cheap chocolate molds to make hard tack. Poured water into a cookie pan, put the mold into the pan, and froze the two together. Then poured the hot sugar syrup into the frozen mold. Worked fine. Did it only one for the heck of it. Hmmm....don't recall which cheapo mold it was so I never rechecked it to see if I could use it again. In the beginning I collected a number of those molds at yard sales, etc. I have yet to find a polycarbonate mold at a yard sale. Rats.

Off the top of my head: strictly no brainer quick dessert: fresh warm scones, whipped cream, fresh fruit.

Thanks, Chris. I wish I had thought of that.

I was simply waiting for our ancient chest freezer to die so that I could buy an upright one. I am not that tall and trying to get stuff out of the freezer is very difficult for me. Also, we keep stuff in separate bags, containers, etc, but it works for just a short time. And then it gets everywhere again and is forgotten for a year or so. We do the massive cleanout and defrost every two years also. I still hate it. HOWEVER...I never thought of milk crates! They hurt my hands with their hard edges, but they do stack beautifully. I'm going to look into right after breakfast. We have lots of milk crates from a former life and it just might work. Thank you...

Thanks David, that's a good start for those of us just learning our way around the massive confusion of cooking terminology.

Incredible viewing. You go, girl!

Thanks for the information. I was using a tempering machine, so I just re-tempered the entire amount and all was fine. Thanks. Live and learn...and learn...and learn...

Got it! Got it good. And no, I haven't done it. I did wait. And now I won't ruin Barbara's mold and have to buy her a new one. Too bad. Such a neat idea. Thanks.

Confectionery partner, Barbara, and I own some rather delightful polycarbonate molds, especially the little people mold which Barbara bought from Kerry Beal. I am wondering if I could dare pour boiling hot sugar syrup into these molds to make hard candies. Usually I use the 'hard tack' molds, which are actually quite flimsy although designed for very hot syrup and make lollipops for the children, but I'd like to try making the same candies in these little people molds if possible. Anyone ever try such a thing? Thoughts on the subject?

Quick and to the point. Thanks so much. Back to work!

As embarrassing as this is, I have to get it straight right now. At least it's a first. I tempered a batch of dark chocolate in my Revolation and filled a particular mold with chocolate. Into the fridge, decanted about 1/2 hour later, so far so good. After rinsing the mold out...some tiny bits of chocolate stuck in one cavity...I dried it well. Very well. Used a hair dryer on it to make sure it was really dry. Refilled the same mold, into the fridge, decanted easily...every piece had light brown bloom on it. Question #1. Did this probably happen because the mold was too hot after the hair drying episode? (I completely forgot about letting it cool because we were trying to get out of the house for a dog walk before it got too dark.) Does this scenario make sense? Question #2. Can I re-temper this same bloomed chocolate and use it again in the same mold (cool)? Thanks for answers! I really appreciate all the help I have gotten over the past year.

We bought the Stove Guard and Ed installed it. And it works perfectly. Yep, it does have certain disadvantages no doubt, although we have not done enough cooking yet to encounter them, but already once the stove was left on accidentally and the Stove Guard did its job. I have yet to read the manual and figure out how to work with it except in the most elementary way. I can turn it off completely ...and I don't think it turns itself back on at all.(It does turn itself back on after a power outage. And it resets itself after you leave the room...and it turns off the stove...and you come back into the room and it allows the stove to turn back on. And I can use it with the one minute default. I have no financial or commercial ties with the Stove Guard or the company or the local distributor, but I am going to make sure all the senior organizations in my area learn about this. Oh, there was NOTHING to the installation except that the first time, Ed got it a bit too far from the stove.

Learn somethin' new every day...