On my way...

I just got off the phone with a company that sells chocolate tempering machines. One will be winging it's way to me in the next few weeks, along with ten pounds of chocolate. Today in the mail there was a check I'd forgotten was coming that was $1.00 more than the machine I was looking at buying. I took it as a zero sum proposition, just so long as I viewed all the work I did for the check as volunteer work which is easy to do.

This machine should make chocolate making a breeze--it keeps it at the precise temperature you need to ensure that your chocolate stays in temper. And let me tell you--the recipes in this book from the CIA look absolutely fantastic. I'm going to have a field day making these things!

Here's a blurb from the opening of Chapter 1:

Confectionery is arguably the most demanding of the culinary arts, requiring a degree of precision and accuracy unequaled in other areas of the kitchen...By understanding the ingredients commonly used in confectionery, knowing the proper use of confectionery tools, and mastering the basic processes, the artisan confectioner can bring to fruition any creative inspiration...when a professional truly understands ingredients, there is nothing that he or she cannot accomplish in formulation.

I think chocolate's right up my alley. I really enjoy things that require "precision and accuracy," and I like anyone who states so emphatically that with a thorough understanding of something like this, it's possible to "bring to fruition any creative inspiration." I think this is the guy to learn from, no question about it. This book is fantastic.