[Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 3)]

Here is a photo of my Diepenbrock & Reigers (DRU) pot. It is yellow but it does not have the tulip, just the "leaves". I wonder if mine is newer or older than the one @chefmd found.

 

[Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 3)]

1 hour ago, chefmd said:

A small cast iron pot and two pasta cutters for 5 dollars.  I have never seen cast iron made in Holland.  

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy”

 

Can I go thrift shopping with you? You’ve been finding some amazing stuff. Or maybe tell me which stores you’re visiting. I have a small enameled yellow pot made by the same manufacturer and it originally belonged to my oma/grandmother. 🙂

[PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2019]

20 hours ago, Haley said:

Just signed up!  I’m sad I didn’t get in fast enough for the master class but I’m very excited to meet everyone and learn.

Have you checked with @tikidoc? She might have a master class slot to sell.

[How do they do that? (the bonbon thread)]

Very interesting technique and it would be nice to figure out how it is done. Yet, as a chocolate it is not at all appealing to me -- looks too much like an eyeball. For a chocolate, I prefer the Halloween eyeballs done by Chocolat/Ruth. 

[Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )]

@minas6907 thank you so much for all the information and the encouragement. Starting with the oven & just a stripe sounds like a great way to start. If I start down this path I'm sure I'll have tons more questions for you. 🙂

[Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )]

Beautiful confections @minas6907! Whenever I see your work I ‘m inspired to try some sugar work. Did you need to keep things warm or rewarm the sugar while you are working? If so, what is your process / heat source?

[natural food coloring]

6 hours ago, teonzo said:

Some of those molds are almost impossible to get right without a cooling tunnel.

I was thinking that a cooling tunnel (along with perfect temper) would be the answer but didn't want to look like a smart aleck for suggesting it.  Especially since my reply wasn't going to be a through as teonzo's answer.  

[Packaging Chocolate Eggs]

@JoNorvelleWalker which egg mould did you get? How many would you like to ship per box? There are many sizes of cellophane bags, perhaps there are some that are big enough for your chocolate eggs. If that doesn't work, you can get sheets of cellophane wrap -- wrap & tie around the egg. If your shipping, try putting the egg in a box with lots of packing material. 

[natural food coloring]

On 2/13/2019 at 12:51 PM, Beckykp27 said:

I've thought about doing that but I'd like to incorporate colors. I'm also having a hard time getting my chocolates as shiny as I'd like, they usually have pretty bad release Mark's. I'm hoping colored cocoa butter will help.

Beckykp27 hopefully you'll get a few more people answering your questions now that the Valentine's day production if over.

 

As far as not getting shiny chocolates... can you post some pictures of your work? What kind of moulds are you using? What chocolates are you using? How do you temper your chocolate? How are you planning to apply colored cocoa butter (manual application / airbrush)? A lot of questions but with more information, we can be offer better solutions.

[Starting a high profile new restaurant (after closing another)]

6 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

Thursday through Sunday.

Dinner only or lunch too?

[natural food coloring]

@Beckykp27 have you considered a more classic aesthetic and not using any colors? You can still achieve beautiful chocolates with moulds, natural garnishes, using a contrasting chocolate for marbling/striping/accent, etc.. I know the siren call to airbrush and transfer sheet is strong but you don't have to go in that direction -- you could market on the beauty of natural & organic.

[Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )]

@pastrygirl they look great and sound delicious. I hope the weather doesn't affect your sales too much. Hoping the same for myself (wintery mixed precipitation coming to my area Monday & Tuesday).

[Cookbooks 2019]

Vietnamese Food Any Day by Andrea Nguyen released 5 February 2019

https://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2018/11/vietnamese-food-any-day-cookbook-preview.html

Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors 

[Cleaning chocolate from floor]

If it is tempered, I just wait until it sets up and then I scrape it off. If it is untempered, I wipe it up with a sponge or towel. Thankfully all small spills, so not much to clean up. One shop that I visited made a floor scrapper tool by attaching a metal scraper to the end of a broom handle; thought that was rather clever.

[What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

I seriously thought about SV'ing and I think I will next time.  I will also poke in the end next time if we bake.  Thank you! 

Kenji to the rescue --> https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/02/the-food-lab-guide-sous-vide-sausage.html.

I use this Serious Eat article, The Food Lab's Guide to Sous Vide Sausage, to decide time and temp for sous vide sausages.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

@rotuts fyi there aren’t any InstantPot recipes in her pho book — she published before she created those but her book does have recipes designed for a standard pressure cooker. So for IP recipes, check her website.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

@rotuts the chicken meat was tender and juicy. In the recipe Andrea Nguyen specifies a few steps that she uses to keep the chicken moist... low pressure, natural release, removing the bird from the broth to cool. Hopefully those steps will work for any fowl but they definitely did for the chicken I cooked last night. Her recipe suggests using half the chicken for the pho and using the other half for Viet cabbage slaw or chicken sandwiches. I'll probably use the leftover chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches. 

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

The result was a winner! Will definitely make this again and try out her IP beef pho recipe. Two photos, the ingredients ready to be pressue cooked and the resulting pho.

[Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)]

I recently ran across an InstantPot pho recipe from Andrea Nugyen https://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2017/11/instant-pot-chicken-pho-recipe.html. Has anyone tried it? I am planning to give it a go later today. Also picked up her pho cookbook. She also has a recipe for IP beef pho on her website.

[What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)]

30 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I promise you will now be on the eternal hunt for on sale mushrooms.  

 

For me it takes about 4 regular size containers of whole mushrooms to make a quart jar full.  Like @HungryChris suggested, I add some thinly sliced onions on the bottom and the top.  They are really good in salads.

Yup, I added one sliced onion to mine, may add more next time.

[What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

repurposed jars are kitchen stars!  I have a drawer full.

I probably have two plastic bins full of repurposed jars — I don’t want to check the basement too carefully, if there are too many I might have to start recycling them. 😉

[What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)]

Finally put together a batch of @HungryChris marinated mushrooms. He said they would shrink during their five minute cook but I didn't realize just how much they would shrink! Next time I'll either double the batch or put them in a smaller jar. Looking forward to trying them three days from now! Yes, that is a repurposed jar -- no longer any cherries in there.

[Chocdoc takes her heart back to San Francisco]

Really, no microwave in the room? Wouldn’t be a crisp but you could make a fruit compote with a microwave cake.

[Chocdoc takes her heart back to San Francisco]

They're all jealous because they weren't able to find their own extra tables.

And what is today's footware?

[Chocdoc takes her heart back to San Francisco]

Kerry you paint quite a picture! Good luck in your travels. I hope you packed your bags earlier and have posh socks for FCIA.