生活

• I used those this time around
  
  When I took pastry courses a number of years ago here in France and in Belgium, I tended to want to focus on the chocolate classes because – well…gosh darn it, I love it so much. We’ve become the best of friends over the years and I am never far from my bin of chocolate that I buy in bulk. (Although at some point, someone is going to have to do an intervention.) But I like cooking and creating with chocolate just as much as I do eating it and homemade chocolate bars are simple and wonderful gifts. And if entertaining at home, it nice to bring out a homemade tablet that you’ve made yourself to serve with after-dinner coffee or glasses of Armagnac or Cognac.
  
  
  The good thing is that you don’t need fancy – or expensive – chocolate molds to make chocolate bars at home. I have a stack of polycarbonate ones from my professional days of yore. But anything made of plastic will do. Since I can’t bring myself to throw away anything that might be reused, I pulled out a stack of cream cheese containers that are neat little rectangles and I used those this time around.
  
  
  Ideally, the chocolate you use should be tempered. It’s a little bit of extra time, but it’s basically just three steps: Melt the chocolate to a certain temperature, let it cool, then bring it back up to a rather precise temperature. You can read more at my post, How to Temper Chocolate, or get a more complete explanation in The Great Book of Chocolate. But in brief, tempering keeps chocolate from “blooming” or getting white streaks when cool Piedmont.
  
  
  Tempering also makes the chocolate cool faster and raises the melting temperature of the solidified chocolate, which is why you can pick up a chocolate bar or a filled chocolate with your hands and it doesn’t melt right away, when you touch it.
  
  The good news, and a well-guarded secret to some, is that chocolate doesn’t have to be tempered for candymaking. However the caveat is that you must keep the chocolate refrigerated until shortly before ready to eat. So you can make chocolate bars with your favorite melted chocolate, and keep them in the refrigerator without a problem. (Ideally, chocolate should not be refrigerated for a long time as the humidity in the refrigerator will ruin it. Lingering odors from other food items in there can also have an adverse effect on the flavor of the chocolate. But for a few days, it’s generally not a problem IWB.)
  
  
  The great thing about homemade chocolate bars is that you can add anything you want to them; toasted nuts, glazed orange peel, cocoa nibs, candied peanuts, flakes of sea salt or a bit of spice, pumpkin seeds, pretzels, dried apricots, cherries, or figs – even shards of caramels, thin mints or other broken up candy, or candy bars. Basically, if you can ask if it can be used…it can be!
  
  I would advise against using fresh fruits or berries as they will likely become damp unless eaten shortly after they’re used. If you want to flavor the chocolate, you can add a few drops of peppermint, citrus, or another pure oil (you can’t use anything with water or alcohol in it, such as extracts, as they will make the chocolate seize and become unusable), stirring it in right before you pour or spoon the melted chocolate into the molds iphone 4 waterproof case.
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  • 生活
  • 2014/05/09 13:03
  • 0
• Actively treat every day
  
  
  If your life feels like it is lacking the power that you want and the motivation that you need, sometimes all you have to do is shift your point of view.
   
  Welcome to Faith Radio Online-Simply to Relax, I'm Faith. By training your thoughts to concentrate on the bright side of things, you are more likely to have the incentive to follow through on your goals. You are less likely to be held back by negative ideas that might limit your performance.
   
  Your life can be enhanced, and your happiness enriched, when you choose to change your perspective. Don't leave your future to chance, or wait for things to get better mysteriously on their own. You must go in the direction of your hopes and aspirations（愿望）. Begin to build your confidence, and work through problems rather than avoid them. Remember that power is not necessarily control over situations, but the ability to deal with whatever comes your way.
   
  Always believe that good things are possible, and remember that mistakes can be lessons that lead to discoveries. Take your fear and transform it into trust; learn to rise above anxiety and doubt. Turn your "worry hours" into "productive hours". Take the energy that you have wasted and direct it toward every worthwhile effort that you can be involved in.
   
  This is Faith at Faith Radio Online-Simply to Relax. You will see beautiful things happen when you allow yourself to experience the joys of life. You will find happiness when you adopt positive thinking into your daily routine and make it an important part of your world.
  • 生活
  • 2014/04/10 12:23
  • 0
• Shaved Fennel Salad Recipe
  
  
  
  I have a couple regrets related to Super Natural Every Day. Nothing too major, but one is related to photography. I'll start by saying it's not always feasible to have a photo with every recipe in a cookbook. This is especially the case if you want other types of photos in your book, like I did. Here's the problem - recipes with photos get all the love. No photo, the recipe runs the risk of getting glazed over. And in this case, one of my very favorite recipes from the book, this simple shaved fennel salad, doesn't have a photo. So, here's my attempt to remedy that Properties.
  
  
  I think I made this salad a dozen times or more during the time I was working on the book. And prior to that, I had it a number of times at my friend Malinda's house, which is where I initially fell for it. It is a compelling combination of a short list of ingredients that don't sound particularly exciting on the page, but come together into something more than the sum of their parts. Shaved fennel, thin zucchini coins, arugula, dill, nuts, and feta are tossed with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. That's it, really. Dead simple. I use this mandoline to make feathery whispers of fennel, but if a knife is what you've got, that'll work too. The version in my book calls for pine nuts, but I had sliced almonds on hand today, so that's what I used instead. Either way. Helene shot a beautiful version of it on her site as well. Give it a go the next time you're looking for salad inspiration stanley property.
  
  And an Update! - New shipments of Super Natural Every Day are now back in stock and available. Thanks for your patience and ongoing support for the book. There was a bit of a hiccup keeping up with the demand, but (fingers crossed) it sounds like we should be all set through the summer paper craft storage.
  • 生活
  • 2014/04/02 18:28
  • 0
• Caramel Popcorn Shortbread Brownies
  
  My desire to bake caramel desserts increases exponentially with the arrival of fall. Sure, I love caramel all year, but there’s just something about it that makes it go hand in hand with cool, crisp days.
  
  Of course, caramel and chocolate are great friends, too. Having made many versions of caramel brownies, I wanted to do something just a bit different repulse bay Real Estate.
  
  Recently, Werther’s sent me a sampling of their new Werther’s Original® Baking Caramels and Werther’s Original® Caramel Popcorn, so I’ve had plenty of caramel to keep me busy with recipe ideas. I decided quickly that I needed to make good use of the popcorn to prevent us from just eating it all straight from the bag Ergonomic furniture.
  
  I started with the idea of a shortbread crust topped with caramel and brownies. But, for a fun twist, I added some of that caramel popcorn to the crust. The popcorn gives an otherwise traditional crust a little sweetness and a great flavor twist without being overwhelming.
  
  The crust is topped with a simple caramel layer made from just two ingredients. Then, a rich brownie is baked on top of that. I know, right? These brownies mean business. Serious caramel business discount wines.
  • 生活
  • 2014/03/24 14:15
  • 0
• Pecan Date Cookies
  
  
  Day 5 of holiday baking, and deeply immersed in cookie mode. Today’s offering, bursting with flavor and pecans, is a wonderful traditional cookie ideal for the holiday season.
  
  Some times, old habits die hard. For me, no baking spree is complete without a cookie like this. Simple, traditional and, more importantly, full of pecans. I first came across this recipe while I was getting my hair cut. Sitting under the dryer is a great time to flip through magazines. This particular magazine was Southern Lady, and there were so many appealing recipes that I went to the bookstore and bought my own copy.
  
  I picked this particular recipe because it seemed so much like a holiday cookie. With cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, these couldn’t be more perfect for this time of year.
  
  Besides my beloved pecan, these cookies also feature another of my favorite ingredients – dates. I have a sentimental attachment to them because of my mother’s wonderfully delicious Date Balls. Of course, they’re just good, too. Not being a big fan of raisins, I often substitute dates for them in recipes. To quote one of my culinary heroes, Alton Brown, why would you want to eat anything raisins have to be in?
  
  These cookies turned out to be extremely good. The spices offer a wonderful combination of flavors. The pecans offer crunch, while the dates add chewiness. Quinn has proclaimed these his favorite cookie. I’m a little partial to them myself. In fact, we liked them so much that we kept most of them for ourselves.
  • 生活
  • 2014/03/20 18:17
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