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ChocoMom

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Everything posted by ChocoMom

  1. Just solid wire, no coatings. Some of the sources I looked at recommended wires being 6 ft or higher in the air; place the posts 6 feet apart. I just kinda did it willy nilly. And still, wow.
  2. Sure. So, I used wooden posts/sticks 4-6 feet high. I spiral-wrapped 2-or 3 wires around each post with extra wire at both ends. The ground end of the wire extends pretty far into the soil- maybe 1-2 feet. The other end has the wires going into the air 1-2 feet. The idea is, that the electromagnetic energy flowing through the air from say, lightening or solar events, would be "caught" and conducted into the ground so as to re-energize the soil. Supposedly, this had been done in Europe and Australia for decades - before commercial fertilizer was a thing. Now, if you take a deep dive, there are some pretty elaborate designs out there- but I just went with simple.
  3. Okay....so how many of my fellow gardeners have ever heard of Electroculture? and, How many have tried Electroculture? My husband happened to come upon a video about it, and took a deep dive into the history of it, etc. He showed it to me, and I was curious. In 2002 when we purchased the house and property, we found many clusters of copper wiring out back and never did anything with it. So, I figured- why not try it?! I'm not putting any money into it- just a few minutes locating some wooden posts to wrap the wires around. My garden is about 45 feet by 90 feet, so I made up a dozen or so of these contraptions, and when I ran out of sticks, I just stuck the wire right into the ground. I did not fertilize the ground. I did water a few times bc the early summer was very dry here. I rototilled and pulled weeds same as I do every year. The results have been astounding: The first cabbage I EVER GREW was this year, and weighed in at 7 pounds. There are three more in the garden - even larger. The first brussels sprouts to ever grow beyond 3-4 inches are now boasting dozens of sprouts on each 4 foot tall plant. The first cauliflower to ever grow at all in that garden were huge gorgeous heads. The first broccoli to ever grow beyond a couple inches w leaves produced over 16 heads - and are still producing. The carrots and beets are massive. I've pickled over a dozen pints of beets for hubby- and that;s less than half of the beets I planted. The carrots are insane. The zucchini are growing faster than I've ever seen, and I've begun pickling those too! I grew red onions and they are huge! The acorn, buttercup and pumpkins seem to be growing faster than normal. The green and yellow beans are producing more than I have ever seen. I've picked them four times- and there's so many I've had to freeze dry, freeze, give away, cook- I cannot believe it. I blanched and froze 12 pounds in one harvest, and today will be the fifth harvest. Peas, I've picked three times- freezing or freeze drying 3-4 quarts. They are still producing. Sweet potatoes are ridiculous. Not even done growing, and they are massive. The tomatoe plants are so huge, I had to pound T-posts inside the tomatoe cones to hold them up. The basil was so plentiful, I made 6 jars of pesto- and they are still producing!!! The parsley has grown so well, I've been able to make salads using the parsley as greens. Like in Shopska salad. The only thing that did not fare well were the potatoes. The potatoe beetles were the most horrendous I've even witnessed. I did a second planting, and hope to harvest in Sept/Oct. We will see. But, I was just curious if anyone else has tried it and had similar results. Fun experiment, nonetheless.
  4. Made my very first Apple Tart Tatin. Hubby and Gramps enjoyed it very much!
  5. One of the two cakes for Saturday, this is the checkerboard cake. Dark Chocolate espresso and vanilla for the cake. Icing is vanilla marshmallow buttercream with espresso buttercream filling and swirlies. Had a bag of Callebaut chocolate vermicelli- mixed with some gold sugar for a little pizzazz.
  6. Well. My baby is turning 18 this weekend. She requested "a tall cake". Because this is a party of epic "I'm turning 18" proportions- with 4 of the 5 kids coming, plus their families, and friends, and extended relatives to celebrate - decided it had to be a little over the top. So.....doing an 8 or 9 layer Geode Fault line cake. Her colors are turquoise, blue, purple.. Got the rock candy. Got the gold dust and vodka to paint the edge of the fault line. Making a quadruple batch of marshmellow buttercream- because its is just so ethereal and easy to work with. Cake flavors are odd. The child visits our local Bigby shop and gets teeth-aching coffee drinks a couple times a week. So. Turned the vanilla layers into vanilla cappuccino. And the chocolate layers are more along the lines of a mocha. The filling in the middle of layers will be the caramel macchiatto. It'll be ....a piece of cake! 😂 Two of her brothers have their birthdays within a seven day period of her birthday. Since they are both going to here, I decided on Friday night, I'd do a checkerboard cake for them- because I miss doing cakes for them . Its been A LONG TIME since they were here for a birthday. Just for fun. So. That is what is I am baking. Conveniently, the igniter decided to poop out as I was baking the last couple layers. Found out too late. Chickens ate the remnants, resorted to finishing the baking in my chocolate workshop. Freeze drying may not really count as baking, but I did make a massive batch of chicken and steak fajita last night. Ended up with 4 full trays- so that is in the freeze dryer. Hubby did an Aldi run for me while he was on a business trip in Marinettte, WI. They had a ridiculous (in a good way) price on 3 packs of peppers- so - there we go.
  7. Life has been crazy. A dear cousin passed away. My youngest son needed help moving downstate. MIL had a bad stroke. ( Incidentally, that happened the same day I had taken dinner over to them, with 2 pieces of that dark chocolate cake with the marshmellow buttercream. ) I've taken a month off of work - because I just needed a break, but every moment is filled with stuff to do. I've not been in the chocolate shop much this year, but will get back to it- even if its just to clean and organize. Nice to be back.
  8. This is just not fair. How can one pick a single dessert?!!!! I mean...for me, there is the seasonal aspect...Strawberry pie,. Raspberry pie. Blueberry pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie....then there are banana splits---which are done on a spontaneous whim. And then the newest addition ..... dark chocolate cake (made with a cup of strong coffee), layered with marshmellow buttercream, and covered in semisweet chocolate ganache.
  9. This looks like something from ASpecialtyBox.com I use a quite a few of their products, and do recall seeing packaging very similar -if not exactly- like this on their site. Very classy.
  10. Both. The one in the photo doesnt show it, but I also affix some crushed Maldon salt flakes to the edge. 😃
  11. I failed to get the flavors listed. Red domes are Strawberry Margarita. Used the Valrhona inspirations for that. The hearts wgold are Strawberry Baileys in milk chocolate. Blk/wh cube is a mudslide in Carmelia. Yellow/white are Pina Colada. Teal/silver dome is White Russian. Orange yellow is mango layered w passion fruit ganache. Then caramel hearts and cubes. Also did a vegan mixed berry with Felchlin's osa filling compound ...pale pink. The hearts wtransfer sheet are Earl Grey.
  12. aspecialtybox.com has bon-bon trays with a clear protective cover that fits right over the top of the bon bons. I've used them in the past for the spheres, but not all that practical if you're doing different shapes. Worth checking out though.
  13. Follow up pic... Red one is milk chocolate. Green one is 62%.
  14. If anyone is looking for a palatable SF chocolate that is easy to work with, I just tried out the Felchlin Milk Chocolate SF and the 62% Dark chocolate SF. Goodness gracious! We have a winner! Well, two winners. One of the pharmacists I work with is diabetic, and asked if I could make some milk chocolate ones for her. She didn't want any flavors added, so I just a made a nice soft ganache with heavy cream and butter. I added just a pinch of espresso powder and vanilla bean to the cream just for a slight difference in flavor from the shell. I also have a dear friend who wanted SF milk chocolate so she got some out of the batch, as well. And, she wanted dark chocolate SF for her sisters. I added a bit of peppermint oil and creme de menthe flavoring to the DC ganache. So, it's a chocolate mint but a very pleasant- not over powering one. As far as casting the moulds, the viscosity of the chocolate was fantastic. I cast each one twice because the first layer looked very thin. They both took on the colored cocoa butter perfectly. All of the pieces released, with no problem. I'll see about adding pics when I have a minute. Really just wanted to let you all know that the Felchlin is outstanding if you're in the market for a good tasting SF.
  15. So, I have the Pralus Pyramid - which is a compilation of 8 or 10 different single origin chocolates. They are identical in formula, but use a different single origin cacao for each bar. And, if money is of no concern...well, that's good. The squares are pretty small- - just a couple ounces each. But, I think you can get larger sizes. There are some drastically different flavor profiles in there - so you might want to get the pyramid, taste, then decide which ones would work best for your client. Having said that, Felchlin is one of my absolute favorite brands. And, AUI has a very nice selection.
  16. Just reading this over a month later - regarding the tape. I bought some some cheap, narrow tape at a Michaels craft store, and some that I found at Wallyworld. Both worked fine. Using the rubber-tipped gum stimulator (dental tool), I found it remarkably easy to press the tape smoothly into the molds and get the sides to stick in there nicely. I tried it in the dome mold, and then did the yellow cars with black racing stripes. Its a little time consuming, yes. But, that dental tool works really really well. HTH. \
  17. Christmas cake for the kids and grandkids...White chocolate cake. Raspberry filling. buttercream icing. decorated with fresh raspberries, pomegranate, and rosemary sprigs.
  18. Winter 2019 Collection by Chassell Chocolate 😃
  19. @Tiffany B ASpecialtyBox has some boxes/inserts that are pretty similar to what you've got there. Not the actual pattern, but the style is quite close from what I can tell. FWIW, their rigid boxes are top notch, and the price reflects it. Sometimes though, items do go on sale. (They kill me on shipping, but I still order my premium corporate gift packaging from them.)
  20. This is the first time I've done stripes- and they ended up on a car. Its meant to be a replica of a classic car that my friend's husband owns. She asked me to do a dozen of these for his 80th birthday... Edited to add that the colors are from Roxy & Rich - Yellow Chrysoberyl and PIrate Black.
  21. Wandered out to the grapevines today. Most of the snow has finally melted, but there is still a little. (Had a goofy little snowstorm Wednesday night). Noticed that the blackberries spread voraciously amongst the grapevines, so I spent two hours out there chopping away at the bases of the blackberries. I love the blackberries, but they have their respective patches: One way out back, and one up front. We figured a bear took to munching on them years ago, and his/her droppings "planted" the ones we're trying to get rid of. My arms bear the markings of thorn exposure. Should look stunning when I dress for church tomorrow....in my cap-sleeve dress.
  22. @Kerry Beal... I'm not sure. We've had a mix of young and old hens, and I don't really know which ones popped out the doubles. I always thought their productivity - single or double yolkers - was related the amount of sunlight and nutrients they received. I do recall that when the younger ones had just started laying daily, some of them would pop out 2 eggs per day, so, maybe that could segue into one egg with two yolks later on. (?) I will report back, should I come across any doubles with this gang.
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