Darienne

A Calamansi/Kalamondin tree would be wonderful.

Just thought of another idea. I have a friend who LOVES hot stuff. Went to our local hot stuff shop and bought her an assortment of hot sauces and ingredients, packed it into a basket with some more exotic fresh hot peppers. I also added a rubber rat, but that's another story.

Two small ideas: Storage: throw out everything which doesn't match and buy a set of good main stream brand plastic containers with lid. Make sure they are stackable. Then buy ONLY that kind as you need or break them. Worked for us. Prep: we have two sets of small bowls. A stainless steel set which have all the benefits of metal and a really cheap...got them at a garage sale...of the ugliest lime green plastic bowls. They can go into the microwave, are easy to use as a tare, etc. The two sets work well together. As for your other concerns, well, I am looking for answers too. We have a useful cutlery set...probably our fifth over the years. However, I keep the second last one in another drawer because I use it. I find the newest ones, while lovely, etc, etc, just too heavy for my smaller arthritic hands.

I was thinking about adding some cranberries...

Do let me know when the rubber keyboard is made in the ergonomic style. I want one. :wub: What about one of those mortar and pestle sets in which the pestle entirely fills the bowl of the mortar. I want one. :wub:

Chicken wings were tossed into the leftover bin and you could get them for free to feed to dogs. Lamb was one of the cheapest meats on the market. I know because it's all we could afford 50 years ago when we were first married. Now we can't afford to eat lamb. Also according to some sources, almost the entire soya markets arose from a clever idea of how to market the leftovers after fermented soy products were made. I have no idea of whether this is true or not.

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...