RWood

Happy Birthday to me 😋. I finally had time to make my octopus cake. Dunno if I would make it again unless lots of money was involved 😉. Those suckers wore me out!

I had this same thing happen on a couple of my Valentine chocolates. I had thought it was because of the point of the heart at first. They are the ones that had the most problems. I had some along the edges of others. The temper in all the others were perfect. I think they just have to mess with you sometimes to show you who’s boss 🤷‍♀️.

This is one of our favorites with ground pork Chipotle Pork Burgers. I make a cilantro lime Mayo for them instead of plain. My mom loves the raw tomatillo on them.

Wagyu sliders-arugula, caramelized onions, Swiss, A-1 mayo, peppered bacon and toasted brioche bun. These were yummy 😋

Thanks, I'll check Chocolat Chocolat. I've ordered a lot from them in the past.

So, I wanted to get some opinions. I've been using Chef Rubber's colored cocoa butter since I started making chocolates many years ago. Lately I've just been getting their small bottles, and I need to restock. Has anyone noticed any difference in any of the other brands? I've never tried Roxy & Rich. Are their colors any different? Better? Or are they basically the same? Has anyone tried Chef Rubber's natural line? How are the colors? TIA

Valentine's chocolates, Success this time! After the Christmas disaster, I stayed in the main house and just microwave tempered all my chocolate (I airbrushed in my work room and it worked out.) I got the molds in the fridge at the right point, and the temper was great. They were trying to pop out before I was ready. Thanks to @Kerry Beal for the advice. Flavors are Raspberry Pinot, Mimosa, Espresso Orelys Pecan, Dulcey Hazelnut, Peanut Butter Crunch, Ruby Vanilla.

We don’t usually buy tots, but I came across a bag of green onion by Ore-Ida. Terrible! They were dry and had no flavor at all.

My mother's favorite are red skinned Spanish peanuts. Always on the lookout. They got scarce in CA, but here in GA, no problem. We went in a local grocery here and they had these on a big rack. They are pretty good, and they make brittle as well. It's good,especially with these peanuts, but they need to cook it just a little longer, it really sticks in my teeth.

When I was living in the Monterey/Santa Cruz area, a new coffee place opened up called Verve. Been hooked ever since. Now that we are in Georgia, I still have it shipped. The 1950 blend is our usual, Streetlevel is the one I started on, and their holiday blend the past two years has been great.

I always brush the tops with either melted butter or heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Helps with browning and adds a nice crunch.

Sometimes you just need chocolate cake 😊.

It is a Lloyd pan. Mine is a 12x12 square. They make a lot of different sizes. Their website is Lloyd pans. I did get mine on amazon, no shipping with Prime. It made a huge difference in browning the bottom and edges.

I’m still adjusting to this kind of cold after being in CA so long 🥶.

Grandma style pizza. I’ve had to move indoors for pizza since there’s a windchill of 12F tonight ❄️❄️. My Ooni is on hold for awhile.

I was in Florida for a few days, so i haven't gone back to check the molds. Before I left though, I did the ice tray crack on them and they did release some. And the transfer sheets are on there, but you can see bloom in the background. Since these are just for family giveaway, if I have time before Saturday, I may attempt filling a few. I was gonna put a couple in the freezer and see if they will come out first.

I'm wondering if this is the texture you are referring too? It looks like a caramel to me, but says it's a ganache.

If this isn't the right place for this, please move. I couldn't figure out where to post. I was scrolling on Instagram and came across a photo of a really nice looking tartlett. The recipe was included but in French. So, I hit translation, and this is what it came up with. I don't think I'll be making tart dough this way 🤣. My mom and I are still laughing!

Let's hope 🤞🏻🤞🏻

I will do that, I put one in my Amazon cart. It was really overcast and damp that day too, so it may help. I'm thinking I'm going to have to figure out a lot of stuff here. I'm really dreading trying macarons 😬.

I don't have a hygrometer. Once the holidays are over, I'll try to figure it out. Hopefully I'll get a fridge in there so as to try her suggestion. The molds are still on the rack. I can get a photo. I thought about chilling a couple to see if I get any sign of them wanting to release. A few are decorated, some not, and some with transfer sheets (which is gonna suck if they are wasted 😡).

Well I was wondering that ☺️, wasn't sure what point you meant. Unfortunately, I don't have a fridge over there yet. I I left them on their sides on the table. The room wasn't terribly warm so I'm just not sure about it. I have rarely put them in the fridge at that point though. Maybe I should start.

I've been wanting cake for a couple of weeks now, so I finally made a marble loaf. This is some random recipe I saved, but I liked the texture of this one.

Well, my machine is doing it. I usually use the temper 2 mode on the Rev Delta, which is the full temper mode. Add the seed at the beep and let it go until I need to remove any leftover. I've always had good luck with this machine and it seems very accurate. I used to check the temp with another thermometer but haven't done that for awhile. It's just so frustrating that the drips on the paper where I was working and on the utensils were totally fine, and the molds were not.

So for Christmas, I decided to make chocolates. This is the first time since we've moved that I've done anything with chocolate. I've been used to dry California weather, so I'm wondering if the Georgia humidity is my problem. We have a second detached garage with a room above it. I'm turning it into my hobby room. I have my Rev Delta set up along with all my other equipment. I tempered milk chocolate, tested it, molded about 10 molds. The test was still fine and the molds looked great. I turned the heater to around 66F so the room wouldn't be too cold when I came back and went to the main house for lunch. The room was probably about 70F while I was working. I came back and every mold had bloomed. The test was still fine, the leftover chocolate was set around the edges with no bloom (the center had a little because it was thick). The molds were on their sides on sheet pans on a rolling rack. They were nowhere near the heater. Needless to say, chocolates have been shelved for this holiday. To much going on to fight with it right now. Anyone in a humid area have any ideas? It's the only thing I can think of that might be the issue. The bottom floor of the garage is very humid, we've had mold issues on some stored furniture there. We are looking at dehumidifiers anyway.