RWood

Thanks, I went back and found it. I had noticed the difference before, but had looked at so many, they all blurred together. I think I will get other sized nozzles so I can experiment. I have no clue what my other airbrushes are, I'll see if I can find out. It's a basic gun, but nothing in the info on it said anything about size. There compressor is a teeny little square thing. It's fine for liquid airbrush colors on cakes and cookies. I've been looking into a dehydrator anyway for quick drying of gum paste flowers, so I'll check out the one Jim mentioned. It looks similar to one I was thinking about, but his looks bigger and has a better temperature range. I hope to get a small melter at some point as well, so that's another one the list. The EZtemper would be great, but with the price, I don't think I'll be doing enough to justify the cost. Thanks for the recommendations!

Yes, I read the thread and was still cross eyed ☺️. Thank you for the input. I will look at the Grex again, I didn't realize this was on the side. I don't think I will ever need something like a Fuji, so I think the CAT compressor is fine. I appreciate your help!

OK, so I'm gonna break down and invest in a new airbrush. I may have mentioned before all I have is one for cake decorating, which isn't that powerful. The old KopyKake I had did work somewhat with a Badger 250, but I tried it with a different gun, and it was cold and the cocoa butter clogged it up, so it did a blow back I'm assuming and there was a loud pop and now the control knob doesn't work anymore. I hated that thing anyway. The other one is by Dinky Doodle, and is made for cakes and cookies. It's a teeny thing. So, here are a couple of things I'm looking at if anyone has the time for feedback. https://spraygunner.com/grex-tritium-ts-micro-spray-gun-set-0-7mm/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YBG8XQJ/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A1DXN92KCKEQV4&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WM1VPKE/ref=ewc_pr_img_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 I'm looking at maybe spending around $500. I'm not going to be doing major production from what I can fore see. When we move and I have my separate kitchen set up, I might try to do some things for holidays, etc. I'm mainly going to be focusing on cakes, but offering chocolates as wedding favors. But, if I'm going to airbrush, I want to be able to do it with the least amount of hassle (if that's possible with cocoa butter ). TIA!

They have a nicer chew to them. It could be the recipe, or that it has a little egg white powder in it, the method, who knows. I still have experimenting to do. I've never been a fan of the Italian method. They always seem so hard to me. The last batch I made of Italian never softened up even after two days in the fridge. This batch need a little more folding because the batter was still tight and didn't spread as much as it should.

So, I wanted to try a Swiss meringue version for macarons. I didn't fold long enough, but I really liked the texture. These are filled with pistachio buttercream. To much black color though, you get a scary mouth. But, my mom said it's ok for Halloween 👻

A couple things for Halloween. Decorated Halloween cookies, and the Corpse Bride. I wanted to make her for a few years, so I finally got around to it. I don't make many figures, so I can see things I would like to do better on, but I think she's cute for a first attempt.

I would go with windowed. When I first starting making chocolates, the chef I worked for for years kept telling me to get all clear. He said the designs are so pretty, you want everyone to see them, not covered up. So, I tend to agree with him. While I haven't found exactly what I want for totally clear, I would at least have a window. I'm going through the same thing now looking for boxes to package my to go wedding cake tastings. Such a pain!

Yep that's what I think too

Keep in mind that French buttercream with yolks will have a more yellow hue.

Basically yeah, a lot of color in a small amount of icing. The colors deepen as it sits, so I would do a trial run and mix them ahead of time to make sure it's the color you want. Burgundy from Americolor (not sure about Wilton) doesn't come out looking like what I think it should, so you might have to do some experiments on mixing your colors. I would make your darkest color, then take some of that and mix into small amounts of the regular icing to get a lighter tone that's in the same family, unless you want a variety of colors.

Yes I know. I only leave it in there briefly.

@heidih I tried this recipe Oven dried tomatoes, and they were great. Only issue is I left them in to long, and some were a little too crispy. I blame our stupid oven 😑. But, I'm going to make them again and I'll know not to leave them in as long. I put them olive oil with a garlic clove and a few herbs, very tasty.

A little Spidey 😊. I'm a fan myself, so this was fun.

Blue macarons with vanilla bean buttercream and sprinkles for a gender reveal party.

I have not tried those tomatoes, but I think I'll have too :). I'm not a fan of most sun dried tomatoes in stores. We are going to the tomato farm today, so I'll see what they have to try this.

So, 14 lbs of tomatoes made 4 1-quart bags. Not real impressed 😑. Oh well, be buying another box.

Our yearly marinara sauce making has started. We get these San Marzanos from a tomato farm nearby. They always have a distressed rack that is $1/lb. We picked up 14lbs this go round. Since they just started coming in, we'll probably go back for one more box.

I split the baby gems in half and brushed with olive oil. I placed them on a hot grill till they had marks on both sides. I made my usual Caesar dressing. I had read This article about salad breadcrumbs instead of hard croutons and wanted to try it. So much flavor in them compared to croutons, and was nicer to eat. I'm not a fan of baby gems for regular salad, but I thought that since they are such sturdy little buggers, they would grill well. And, they are a better size than a big romaine head.

Baby Gem grilled Ceasar salad with garlic butter bread crumbs.

For our FaceTime happy hour with by step sister and her husband, I made a Caprese salad, crab stuffed zucchini flowers and arancini. Served with a Pinot grigio.

We were out of ice cream, but had whipped cream and strawberries. My mother complained the whole time that it was Soo dark chocolate, (ate it anyway 😑) with a dome of whipped cream that was as big as her head to help cut it.

Wanted something chocolatey, so I made a small chocolate Bundt with glaze. I usually half the recipe, and it fits perfectly in this little pan I got years ago. Since there is only two of us, a regular Bundt is way too much cake.

Thanks, they came out really good. A little tedious, but I knew what I was getting into 😊. That's not the one. Here's a link for the one I used. Stuffed Arancini

Decided to try making potstickers. Came out really good. Pork, Napa cabbage, scallions, garlic, Ginger. Cleaned out there produce drawer for a veggie stir fry (pretty sad ), and brown rice.

You know, they aren't that hard to make. It just takes patience stirring risotto, which doesn't take that long. I used a recipe from Epicurious, and there is a video of how to make them as well. Give it a shot 😊. I breaded all of them, cooked what we needed, then put the rest in the freezer.