curls

And then there were truffles and coconut rum.

A fun polycarbonate mould I ordered from JKV, the peanut shell. These are filled with peanutbutter meltaways. Meltaway filling tempered with EZ Temper silk & piped into the shells.

Cooler weather has come to Virginia so it is time to start making chocolates! Picked up some moulds from JKV chocolates while on vacation this summer (took lots of photos to share but have yet to sort thru them all). JKV has a great showroom and amazing "museum" with a collection of antique metal moulds. I found a 50 gram bar mould that I liked -- using it to make dark chocolate bars. The pictured bar is with Agrimontana orange peel.

Yes, I make a cranberry pdf based on Notter’s pdf recipe and charts.

@liamsaunt best of luck making it thru the storm, hope you're soon back to your regular schedule of wonderful meal and beautiful sunsets.

Please report back when you do. Hope you like them.

Started seasoning my 20 using the stovetop method from Serious Eats (https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/how-to-season-carbon-steel-pans.html). Liked the way that it looked so switched to the Serious Eats oven method and added seasoning to the 25 & the 20. Here is a picture of the 20 with 6 coats of seasoning (the 25 has more but I've lost count). Will cook on the 20 tomorrow (and clean the cooktop!) and see if it does as well with eggs as the 25. @Hassouni, @j89k, and other new Darto owners how are your pans doing?

Concept sounds similar to a pizza chain restaurant we have in Virginia, Mod Pizza https://modpizza.com/.

@Nickos perhaps you may be interested in the online courses at Savour... a number of people here have taken these online classes and spoken well of them --> http://www.savourschool.com.au/online-classes.aspx What in particular do you want to learn from Ksenia Penkina? Perhaps if we know that, people can provide a better answer to your question.

Looks like the OP x-posted on Facebook and Renee from Chocolat-Chocolat has a packaging solution for him.

Have you checked Nashville Wraps, Gleurp Revere, and ULine? Please let us know where you have oozed so we can suggest other shops.

Started seasoning and using the 25. Was able to cook a sunny side up egg and some potatoes after following one round of the oil, salt, potato skins stove top method. Following up with some thin coats of oil done on the stove top. May try an oven seasoning method on one of the other pans. Really enjoying the Darto pan!

Just wondering how much chocolate you usually work with at one time and how long you want to hold the temper of your chocolate... knowing the answers to this may help us give you better advice. As Jim D. mentions, the Rev 2 machines are very noisy. They also do not hold a lot of chocolate. When I first started, I was given a Rev 2 as a very generous gift from a wonderful and well-meaning person. Honestly, I haven't pulled it out of its box in years. It may be the right solution for you but I would not recommend it for many scenarios. Where do you live? If you're nearby, perhaps you would like to purchase my lightly used Rev2. The larger Rev machines are far more capable and quiet... still, my general recommendation is getting a melter and the EZ Temper.

Mine have arrived! Next, find the time for cleaning, seasoning, and cooking.

Some great recommendations donk79. To your list I would add the following recommendations: Linden Vineyards and Pearmund.

Haven't gotten mine yet but I also got a DHL shipping notice.

Looks delicious. How was their croissant?

@BVWells wonderful that you will be taking a class with Melissa Coppel! I would suggest that you email her and ask her your question about which class would be the best fit for you. She might have additional questions for you but I suspect that this would be the best way to ensure that you take the right class. Enjoy!

More info about Peter Yuen and his expertise in Viennoiserie, https://pastryartsmag.com/people/peter-yuen-interview/.

You're welcome! I was surprised to see them at the store before I saw them on eGullet. Usually eGullet is my early warning/reminder system for the Hatch chiles. 🙂

Hatch chile roasts have begun at the neighborhood Wegmans. I picked up a small box of roasted mediums. This year's mediums were less spicy than last years... might have been safe for me to work with the hot peppers. Made a batch of @Jaymes' enchilada sauce with the hatch peppers and a jar of homemade canned tomatoes. Added some to a batch of chili and put the rest in freezer bags to for later inspiration.

A 9"x13" pan of Paul Young brownies that I baked to bring to a potluck party. This is a chocolate batch, no additions. I'd love to make a batch with a tahini swirl... just need to make sure that there are enough people around to help me eat them!

Great memory @Jim D., wasn’t expecting you to remember that I go to Staunton for their glass festival. Interesting information about Zynodoa, I’ll try to check it out next time. Excellent that they are offering your chocolates!

@Jim D. Staunton's customer base is starting to be interested in quality and the prices are going up -- that is if the acclaim that The Shack, https://www.theshackva.com/sample-menu, is getting is drawing in locals as well as out of towners. For pricing, I would go with raising the pricing to $1.50/piece now (vs. staggering your price increase). If you can, sweeten the deal for your favorite customers by giving them a little something extra (lagniappe) with their purchase. You decide the criteria for being a favorite customer (close friend, family, regular customer, large order, etc.). For example, I have some smallish resealable food safe bags (https://www.uline.com/BL_5561/Resealable-Polypropylene-Bags?keywords=Resealable+Polypropylene+Bags) that I can write a presonalized message on (Sharpies are your friend) and tuck a treat into that I add to my favorite customer's purchases. These treats are usually something that I do not offer for sale, they are made with the same Valrhona chocolate that I use for all my bon bons, but the treats can be reimagined "mistakes", chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate bark, small mendiants. I try to make this treat the equivalent of eating 1 to 1.5 bon bons. One lagniappe per applicable customer no matter the order size.

At what price will you break even? At what price will you begin to make a profit? Looks like you should find the price that allows you to keep doing what you love without taking a tax hit. @Jim D. it sounds like your goal is to not lose too much money... what price do you need to charge to meet that goal? That is the price to set and then see how your old & new customers react. Wishing you all the best.