curls

Breakfast with amazingly delicious pastries by @Alleguede. I’m hoping to get one of his raspberry croissants before the end of the workshop. Some of the ingredients and candids from the master class. Lunch

I wish you and @Chocolot were here this year — you are both missed. Ruth the bar was filled with a mint meltaway layer. I credit the gorgeous shine on the bars to our talented participants and the EZtemper.

That is a peanut butter & jelly bar that will be enrobed tomorrow. A few of us sampled it — very tasty!

Candy bar class coming up — some of the set up.

Dinner and a bit of Lake Ontario.

I enjoyed lunch at Falafel Bar, a restaurant recommended by @Kerry Beal and @patris. Delicious fried cauliflower and some cigars — ground beef in phyllo with two sauces (a super spicy harissa and a tahini based dip). Followed by some sightseeing at Lee Valley. Hoping they open some stores in the US.

Today’s events a bean to bar talk at Tomric by Brian Donaghy and shopping at Tomric. I think everyone left with a least a few moulds. :-) Everyone who placed a bowl order with @patris, welcomed her arrival at Tomric. The bowls are even more beautiful in person — beautiful colors, with just the right weight and balance! I’m looking forward to using mine. I think a few folks captured photos of the bowl delivery — hopefully they’ll post later.

@Kerry Beal for those going to Tomirc Thursday that are leaving from the workshop hotel, what time do you think we should leave the hotel to get there on time? 10:30 am at Tomiric, correct?

I’m planning to be there Thursday. Definitely a yes for Tomric not sure about dinner — have some sightseeing I would like to do & that is my one day to do it.

Ruth it won’t be the same without you. So sorry you won’t be able to come. Hope you feel better soon!

For those newly joining us, the veterans, and the curious about the great Niagara on the Lake Chocolates & Confections Workshops here are the links (AKA rabbit holes) to our past reports (not going to try to track down the other reports -- I'll leave that as an exercise for someone else). 2018 report coming soon! 2009 Report: eG Chocolate and Confectionery Conference Niagara on the Lake, the 1st conference 2010 Gaithersburg, Maryland 2011 Report: eG Chocolate and Confectionery Conference Niagara on the Lake 2012 Woodbridge, Virginia 2013 Report: eG Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop Niagara on the Lake 2014 Las Vegas 2015 Vienna, Virginia 2016 Toronto 2017 Las Vegas 2018 Niagara on the Lake the 10th conference 2019 in St Louis

If people are willing to drive there are some close'ish places that Kerry & Anna have gone to that look good... Kerry I think all of these are within an hour of the hotel but don't know how large a group they can accommodate. - Grimsby Thai and in Hamilton: - Lemongrass - Brux House - August 8

Well, I can assure you that we are not imaginary but we might not look like you have imagined. Before we met, @Chocolot was expecting me to be an old bald guy (perhaps she was expecting one of the three stooges). It is nice to put faces to names. @chefmd would you like to learn how to make some chocolates and/or confections? Chopping is somewhat helpful but even more helpful is dishwashing! :-) Looking forward to meeting you too!

@patris they are gorgeous! Looking forward to using my bowls. Going to find some display space for them too! Thank you.

I'm going to bring photocopies of the recipes (mostly from William Curley) I'm thinking about trying out and a few base recipes (mostly from Greweling) -- happy to let people look at those.

Yum, Rebecca’s leaf croquant is tasty! I still need to try making it — she made it look so easy.

That looks delicious! I may have to sneak over one day during the workshop. Just kidding... I'll be on the hunt for savories while the chocolate workshop is going on -- may try out one of your Vietnamese or Japanese restaurants.

First, @ptw1953 what you bought is just right for putting in the EZtemper. You can call it cacao butter or cocoa butter but they are both the same thing. The important part is that it is 100% cacao butter or 100% cocoa butter. You do not want a product with anything added. I found this explanation of the differences between cacao and cocoa here (https://nuts.com/healthy-eating/cacao-vs-cocoa) but that is about chocolate & not the "butter" portion.

I am rather sure that cacao and cocoa are the same things just different languages. What color is your cacao butter and which company manufactured it? Can you include pictures of the callets and the packaging? And enjoy you EZtemper when you get it!

Sorry but I don’t have a dehydrator. Let me know if we need colored cocoa butter and I can bring some of mine along.

Thanks Kerry! I'll figure out what I want to work on and check in with you on ingredients. Will we have access to the grinders Saturday or will they only be available for the master class?

Yup, I’m working on that. Next time I get to my local pick your own orchard I’m going to ask them if they have some cherry, peach, and plum wood that I can take off their hands. Need to do some research and make sure plum and peach woods are safe to burn/smoke.

I'm still acquiring various smoking wood chunks so my choices are quite easy: oak or hickory. I've got dibs on an old apple tree for smoking chunks and wood turning blanks. Trying to get more fruit woods. Which woods do you like to smoke with?

I use those too, but in my chocolate kitchen. :-)

@Hassouni good luck with your new business venture! Please let us know when you’re up and running; I’d like to visit your bar/resto. What part of DC?