Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!



This is my husband as gothic groom and me as gothic bride. We are going to make the costumes even creepier for a party tonight...then we will be Jack the Ripper and his last victim come back from the dead. Wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Home Journal


A new picture to add to my home journal of ideas and inspiration. My home journal is a collection of "home" pictures that I love. Some of them have specific elements I like (which I note) others are just pictures that inspire home-keeping. They usually have a French feel while others have a nice rustic Canadiana feel. I've coined this my "Cosmopolitan Canadiana" look....a little fancy French, a little rustic woodsy. This picture is a nice rustic French country picture...makes me dream of Provence! This one's a keeper!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Taste and Learn - Young Professionals Evening of Chocolate

Last night, as a part of our "Taste and Learn" series of chocolate classes and events, I hosted The Young Professionals Group of Chatham-Kent to an evening of chocolate tasting. We started with a chocolate tasting of various single origin and grand cru chocolates and then went on to pair a few truffles with various beers and fruit wines. We finished the evening with a nice glass of port with chocolate dipped figs and an assortment of cheeses and fruits. It was a great time with great people and lots of laughs! Here are the chocolates we tasted:

Cocoa Barry 75% Tanzanie
Michel Cluizel 67% Santo Domingo - Los Ancones
Michel Cluizel 66% Venezuela - Concepcion
Taza 80% Dominican Republic
Plantations 55% "Arriba" Equador

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Chocolate Gingerbread Men


Trim your trees this holiday season with edible ornaments. These sweet little gingies make a charming tree decoration as well as a nice treat on Christmas day. Follow the tempering instruction below and wrap in a clear cello bag tied with ribbon. Attach to your tree with florist wire. Enjoy!

(Note: Do not place them on your tree touching your Christmas lights, they will melt!)
Tempering Chocolate

Tempering Chocolate
1. Melt out all existing fat crystals
2. While agitating it, cool the chocolate to a temperature at which both stable and unstable crystals form rapidly.
3. Rewarm the chocolate to melt out unstable forms, leaving only crystals to seed the chocolate.
4. Maintain the chocolate at the proper temperature during use.

Directions
Finely chop your chocolate and put 1/2 in the bowl of a double boiler, with water in the base of your double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat until it is around 122 degrees F (feels warm but not HOT). Remove from heat and slowly start to add small amounts of the remaining finely chopped chocolate. Stirring vigorously, keep seeding in small amounts of chocolate until it reaches about 89 degrees F (does not feel warm or cold to the touch). To test if the chocolate is in temperature swizzle a spoon with some chocolate and set a timer for 3 minutes. If the chocolate is set within three minutes it is ready to use. If it is not set, you may need to seed a bit more chocolate to bring the temperature down and/or continue stirring to agitate the chocolate further.

To Make Chocolate Gingerbread Men

Using tempered chocolate, fill a plastic pastry bag 1/2 full and cut tip. Fill mold with chocolate about 3/4 full and tap gently to remove any air bubbles from the chocolate. Chill in refrigerator until chocolate pulls away from mold. Invert gently onto table with a small tap. Using another plastic pastry bag (cut a fine tip) decorate with tempered white chocolate.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Missing Tuscany








It's been almost a month since I've returned from our 5th Anniversary trip to Italy. It was absolutely beautiful but Tuscany, by far, was my favourite place. Looking back, I wish we had concentrated our trip to just the Tuscan region but the first time you go someplace you feel as though you have to pack everything into one vacation. I remember reading once that you should travel as though you are coming back. Italy is a vacation not to rush, it is one that must be savoured. To experience Italy you need to understand what the Italians call dolce far niente..."the sweetness of doing nothing."

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Autumn Favours



A charming way to decorate favour boxes for the fall season. Two-piece favour boxes decorated with handmade paper, autumn leaves and organza ribbon. These ones were packed up ready to go. The customer was waiting so I could only snap a quick shot...but I think you get the idea.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Dining Room Makeover!






In my haste to start painting and decorating by spartan dining room, I forgot to take some before pictures. But, I can assure you that the dining room was in desperate need of a facelift. The wall colour was an icy green with a cold white ceiling and my lack of any furniture made the room echo (not exactly fine dining). To spruce it up and give it some warmth, my budget-conscious reno began with a coat of straw-coloured paint (if anyone wants the name of the colour, I can look it up). I then found an old round table at a garage sale ($20!), a side-board at the local thrift store that I painted and slightly distressed ($40). I recovered some chairs that I found in our basement that were left by the previous owner (solid oak...and free!). The little chair in the corner was found at another thrift store and I stripped, stained and made a new seat cushion ($10). I then gathered some accessories at various antique shops, gift shops and flea markets (totally about $200.) So my total cost was only $300! (I added a little extra for supplies etc.). Not bad I think, not bad.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Christmas....already?



In the retail world, you are always experiencing the upcoming holiday well before you've even landed on that month in the calendar. Which suits me down to the ground because I lack in the patience department and can't wait to decorate the store and showcase all our new creations for the holiday. Throughout the next few months, I will be posting some ideas to get you started on some decadent homemade gifts for Christmas. Today's feature is Chocolate Almond Bark!


There's only two things you need to know about making Chocolate Almond Bark:
1. Use the best quality chocolate.
2. Learn to temper chocolate

Tempering Chocolate

Tempering Chocolate
1. Melt out all existing fat crystals
2. While agitating it, cool the chocolate to a temperature at which both stable and unstable crystals form rapidly.
3. Rewarm the chocolate to melt out unstable forms, leaving only crystals to seed the chocolate.
4. Maintain the chocolate at the proper temperature during use.

Directions
Finely chop your chocolate and put 1/2 in the bowl of a double boiler, with water in the base of your double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat until it is around 122 degrees F (feels warm but not HOT). Remove from heat and slowly start to add small amounts of the remaining finely chopped chocolate. Stirring vigorously, keep seeding in small amounts of chocolate until it reaches about 89 degrees F (does not feel warm or cold to the touch). To test if the chocolate is in temperature swizzle a spoon with some chocolate and set a timer for 3 minutes. If the chocolate is set within three minutes it is ready to use. If it is not set, you may need to seed a bit more chocolate to bring the temperature down and/or continue stirring to agitate the chocolate further.


Toasted Almond Bark

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and toast almonds until aromatic and dark gold in colour. COOL COMPLETELY. Temper chocolate (see above directions). Pour out chocolate onto parchment paper filling only about 1/3 of paper (you may have to repeat on several pieces of parchment, depending on how much chocolate you have tempered). Spread out to 1/4 inch thickness and sprinkle with almonds. Using an offset spatula, press almonds into chocolate and spear chocolate over top to cover the almonds completely, allow to completely harden (about 1-2 hours) and break into pieces. Package in festive tins, boxes or bags!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

All Hallows Eve







Our Halloween display at the shop is a real accomplishment. My sister and I are quite proud of it because it was put together with whatever we could find downstairs in the store. Usually we have to get new items to put together a fresh display but this year we surprised ourselves with found junk. We used some table legs, an old cupboard door, chairs and two lamps. It's amazing what ordinary things you can uncover to transform into something really special. It was kind of like opening your cupboards, throwing stuff into a pot and digging into a delicious hot pot recipe!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Maple Caramel Apples


This recipe comes from Gourmet Magazine. I used it instead of my usual Caramel Apple recipe and was happy with the result. The caramel is thin so it's not too sweet on the apple (which I like). If you want it thicker allow it to cool a little longer before dipping the apples. But, because of the maple syrup, you have to eat these right away. They crystalize really easily and can't be kept in the refrigerator. You can dip them in dark chocolate and nuts as I have but they are equally as good in the caramel alone. Enjoy!

Maple Caramel Apples

1 pound dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups maple syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
10 Granny Smith or other tart apples

In a deep heavy saucepan combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, and cream and cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in cold water, until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil it, undisturbed, until a candy thermometer registers 250 degrees F. Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter, and swirl the pan gently until the butter is melted. Let the maple caramel cool for 5 minutes.

Push a wooden skewer or chopstick through the length of each apple and holding the apples by the skewers dip the apples 1 at a time in the maple caramel, coating them well and letting the excess drip off. Put the apples on buttered baking sheets until the maple caramel is cool and firm. Serve the apples immediately.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Perfect Pear!


New this fall, my sister and I have created these charming little pear crisps. A great favour for your autumn table!

Blackboard 101


After

Before

Blackboards aren't just for the classroom, they are a great addition to a kitchen, office or kids room....or in this case, a retail shop. If you own a retail boutique, it's a charming (and cheap!) way to advertise a feature item. Find a nice size picture frame (I personally like a frame that has a lot of ornate details), take out the picture if it's still there and paint it the colour you've chosen. I recommend that you use the Aura paint by Benjamin Moore, it can go over anything but washes up with soap and water. It also dries in 1 hour and is low VOC which is safer for your family and the environment. Once you've painted your frame you can get started on the blackboard. Blackboard paint can be bought at just about any hardware store, it is an oil-based product so prepare yourself with gloves and turpentine for cleaning up. Have the hardware store (or yourself, if you're handy) cut a piece of pressboard to fit the shape of your frame. I'm not handy with a saw so we brought the actual picture to the hardware store to give them as a guide for the size of board we needed. Slip the painted blackboard in place and attach it with finishing nails of the back. Voila! a beautiful piece to hang in your boutique or you home!