Darienne

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...

OK. That hard. No, the montelimar would never shatter. Not shatterable, so to speak. Nor even breakable. Definitely cuttable.

How hard is hard? The Montelimar was soft enough to dip into chocolate, so I wouldn't have described it as a good 'chaw'. But I wouldn't call it 'soft' either. Hmmm...it was soft enough that one or two of the dipped pieces, being insufficiently dipped, developed little worms coming out of them. That's pretty soft, I think.

He took the words right out of my mouth.

I'm with OliverB 'Cut in half, remove pit, fill cavity with good olive oil (or avocado oil!), add salt. Use spoon to eat, maybe with some bread. And pepper. Still the best way to eat avocado IMO. '

We bought an inexpensive mandolin from Kitchen Stuff Plus in Ontario. It's their brand. Whatever that means. Amazingly it's solid metal through and through, and good enough for our home cooking. Actually DH prepares what he calls the 'mises', so who am I to quarrel? Second use, he took off the teeny tiny tip of his finger. Will he wear a glove? No. Is it a guy thing? He simply says he will not do it again.

Confectionery partner, Barbara, and I have made the Montelimar probably four times now. Each time was a fantastic success! Almost eerie. As in 'when will our luck run out?' However, we did heat the sugars to 155C/311F degrees each time with no problems of any kind. And we did use the entire list of inclusions except for the pears. And we did make it in both the summer and winter. No, I don't mean we are expert geniuses either. IMHO having two people working together makes life much easier, especially when making something like nougat which is so difficult to get out of the bowl with only two hands. I am lucky to have found someone with whom I can work so well. We have a confection date next Wednesday. Hmmmm...nougat sounds good.

Turron sounds so much like Torrone that I googled both words together. From Wikipedia: Turrón (Spanish), torró (Catalan), or torrone (Italian) is a nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. It is frequently consumed as a traditional Christmas dessert in Spain and Italy. There are also some varieties in Latin America and the Philippines. Greweling has a recipe for Torrone which I have never tried, but perhaps others have. I always have made the Montelimar version of nougat.

A bagel so near and dear to my heart. I am Montreal born and raised and although I haven't been to Montreal for quite a long time now...I still long for the bagels.

Welcome to eGullet, Berry Sweeet, and thank you for the information.

Now that's good.

I might mention that one of Santa's elves sent me a multi-tier stainless steel bamboo steamer. Was I surprised!!! To the very core. Some folks like to give surprises. Those folks are truly the very nicest folks! Now to find some ginger to steam. Oh. I know. I have already made a sponge cake in a steamer a la Chinois and now I have a proper steamer and will make another .

Interesting. After spending decades fighting with huge honking blocks of butter, I really prefer the American sticks.