The Star of Bethlehem

OK...if you're a Netflix user, you should put something into your queue right away. I just finished watching something that I approached rather skeptically, as is my wont, but now I'm blown away. I mean, really blown away.

You should put this in your queue.

A lawyer decided to decipher all he could about the Star of Bethlehem, and concludes, convincingly so, that from the very foundations of the universe, God knew when He would redeem mankind, the exact moment when His Son would enter earth as a man, and the exact moment when He would die, for all of it was written in the skies. The lawyer calls it celestial poetry, and it's goose bump producing stuff that he uncovers.

Crazy Chocolate Man

I'm chocolated out! I think this will be the last time I do such an ambitious project in such a short amount of time. I figure I've put about 40 hours or so into these chocolates and candies. Don't get me wrong--it's been fun, but I don't want to see chocolate or sugar again for a long time!

Here's the final tally:

• Peppermint Stick Bark

• Oreo White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

• Homemade Toffee Brittle Milk Chocolate Bark

• Chocolate Covered Espresso Bean Milk Chocolate Bark

• Dried Cherry Pecan White Chocolate Bark

• Malted White Chocolate Ganache Truffle, wrapped in homemade brittle and dipped in milk chocolate

• Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

• Irish Cream Milk Chocolate Truffles, dipped in milk chocolate

• Coconut Grand Marnier Truffles

• Almond Rochers

• Gelees: Pomegranate, Blackberry, Passion Fruit, Guanabana, Sour Cherry, Blueberry/Orange

• Caramels

And I had plans for peppermint patties and another candy too. I guess you can say that I don't do things half-heartedly. At least that's the positive spin I'm going to go with. You could say I'm neurotic or obsessed, and a bit crazy, and you wouldn't be too far off the mark either. I'm going with passionately crazy.

Word to the wise: avoid my kitchen for the next week. It might take me that long to clear it of the detritus.

Pictures of everything will be forthcoming tomorrow.

I can't leave well enough alone.

My mind was a-cogitatin' during the Nutcracker performance tonight and I decided to whip up a couple more ganaches tonight when I got home. What got me all fired up was thinking about creating a truffle with milk chocolate, imbued with Irish cream. I was contemplating rolling it in ground up chocolate covered coffee beans. That's an itch that just needed to be scratched, so can you blame me for chopping up some chocolate and getting to work again when I got home? Here's the kicker...I couldn't find a recipe that uses alcohol with milk chocolate so I sort of had to wing it. I'm going to write what I did, in case it works and I want to create it again. And if it doesn't work out, well, then I'll know to avoid it. The recipe I started with called for 8 oz. of chocolate and 1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons, of heavy cream. I wanted to make sure that the ganache was thick enough to roll or cut into squares, and since I wanted to double the amounts, I went with one cup of cream, two tablespoons of butter, a couple of teaspoons of vanilla and three tbsp of Irish Cream. Let me tell you, it's TASTY!!! We'll see what it looks like in the morning. If it's too runny I'm thinking it could really be a great filling for molded chocolates, which I haven't tried my hand at just yet.

I haven't broken out the dark chocolate yet either, so I whipped up a raspberry ganache using some really good Belgian dark chocolate. The recipe I used suggested steeping some raspberry or black currant tea with the cream while it heated, so I looked in the pantry and fortunately found some raspberry tea. It should add a nice complexity to the raspberry flavor which is heightened by adding some Chambord raspberry liqueur. That's the essence of raspberry and it's one of my favorite liqueurs. I'll always have that in my pantry. I was tempted to add some black pepper, believe it or not, but decided to hold off on that. I think that would have been a nice background note. As to the source of my recipe, I used Sherry Yards's recipe. She's one of my favorite pastry chefs and is the guru at Wolfgang Puck's restaurants. She really knows what she's doing and anything I've ever made from her book is absolutely top shelf. I highly recommend her book The Secrets of Baking.

I made another gelee earlier today as well. This one used sour cherries from Traverse City. I'm a little underwhelmed by these gelees. I need to do more research on them because none of them are really working out the way I want them to. They all are a bit droopy, for lack of a better word. They don't hold together like I want them to do, but I suspect that's because they're not laden with all kinds of chemicals. I think these are the types of things that you serve ala minute, putting them out with the hopes that your guests will eat them within minutes of serving. Regardless, I made the cherry gelees today and even if I never give them away I've just got to tell you how amazingly tasty they turned out. I've decied this: All God ever had to do was to make a cherry and I'd dedicate my life to him. The creative brilliance behind such a remarkable fruit makes me stand in awe. Sour cherries are so damn tasty that I'll get down on bended knee and thank the good Lord for giving them to us. The complexity of flavors in cherries really boggles my mind. And aren't you glad that cherries are red and not not brown? If anyone wants to know, incidentally, I eat to give praise to God. I'm going to go with this: eating is an act of worship. (Sounds like a keeper of a philosophy, don't you think?) So let me publicly say it: thank God for cherries! My life is decidedly richer and more complete because of a perfect little red fruit.

While mulling around in the kitchen, I was thinking about the anticipation I was feeling the other night on the eve of starting my chocolate marathon. It caused me to think back on moments in my childhood on the eve of vacation, or on Christmas Eve. My niece Betsy came to mind as well. Last Christmas, several of us went in together to buy her an awesome play kitchen that she wished for with all her little heart. That Christmas there wasn’t a happier girl in America than my niece. When no one else was around, she went up to her mom and said, “Mom, I’m so excited, I can’t get all my excited’s out!” I think God is pleased when we’re excited by good things, when we can’t sleep because we’re so excited at the prospect of an adventure or a fun endeavor. There is something good and wholesome about being so passionate about something that we can’t sleep. Making chocolates and candies feeds a desire to be creative within me, and I believe that desire stems from God. Anytime we use our creative skills we model ourselves after God, don’t you think? And when I think of Betsy not being able to get all of her excited’s out, I think about the fact that we are made in God’s image. Don’t you think that sometimes God is so excited that he can’t get all of his excited’s out? I think back on when God told me to just trust me—in my mind he appeared as excited at the prospect of me trusting him as my niece felt about that kitchen.

A few year's ago, there would have been a part of me that would have been a bit embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about chocolates, but thank God I’ve reached a point where I’m willing to celebrate that instead of be embarrassed by it. I think not being able to sleep before an exciting day is something that we have because we're made in God's image. I've just got to believe that God was thrilled and filled with excitement when he created the cherry! Imagine him saying to the angels, “check this out boys…go ahead and have a sample of my handiwork, and tell me what you think.” I’m thinking they gave him two thumbs up and that they echoed their God and said, “it’s good!” My satisfaction in making a tasty little treat is a mirror of that, but can you imagine conjuring up a cherry where none existed before? That just blows my mind.

For me, all I really need to believe in God is a cherry.

I gotta just tell you, my heart is filled with a lot of joy right now, and a lot of love for my Maker. I'm glad he called me to him, and my heart is filled with joy that can only come from him. And all of that because of chocolate and cherries.

Can Someone Please Call C.A.?

I'm sugared out. Somebody call Chocoholics Anonymous, will ya? All I got accomplished today was the final rochers, the almond chocolate cookie. I only have 32 of those, unfortunately. With the rest of the chocolate, I made another brittle bark. I whipped up a new batch of gelees using frozen sour cherries. The darn thing just wouldn't come out of the pan, so I heated the bottom of the pan in some hot water. I think it was a little too hot, since it sort of lost it's shape. It was a different recipe as well, and unfortunately this feels more like a thick jelly than something substantial enough to form into candies. Speaking of forming the gelees into candies, I started doing that today as well with the passion fruit and guanabana versions. I'm going to be making orange and grapefruit versions tomorrow and hopefully cut up the pomegranate and raspberry versions tomorrow. I've got a blueberry/orange version too that just tastes way to sweet so I may skip that one. I have a hankering to make a papya version too because it's a very cool orangeish/red color.

I think what I'm going to do for my colleagues is give them bags of the three barks and perhaps a box of the gelees to try. I wrapped up the three barks today for the gift bags and I think they'll be happy with them. At least I know I would. I think all I have left in me is some raspberry truffles and finishing the coconut/orange truffles. You can see a bit of the product in tht not-so-good picture above.

Dan's Confectionery

Well, it's been a long, but productive day. I have almost five finished products that came off the assembly line today: white chocolate malt truffles, peppermint stick bark, mint chocolate oreo bark, brittle/chocolate bark (using the leftover brittle from the truffles) and almond rochers, terrific almond/milk chocolate cookie things. Besides these there was the caramel debacle that needs a do-over though I don't think that's going to happen this year. Tomorrow's going to be busy too since I've got a few more things planned. Most of all, I'm itching to try my hand at making peppermint patties, the recipe that got me headed down this direction in the first place.

I've put a lot of time into these things, and I'm realizing that making your own chocolates ain't cheap either. I'm beginning to rethink my plans. When I think about how much time and energy I've expended on these things, I realize that I want them to go mainly to my family and my closest friends. I think I'll whip up some Chocolate Mint Explosion cookies for my colleagues, along with some pecan cookies. I want the people who I love the most to have my chocolates!

Oh, and I forgot to mention something that happened yesterday. I've got my eye on somebody, a woman I met yesterday. Talking with her was the first time in a year and a half I've actually been able to say, "Meg who?" That's a good sign, even if the woman doesn't say yes to coffee. But I have a feeling she will. At least I'm hoping. She works at a gourmet store that I really enjoy and we were able to strike up a conversation after she helped me find something. It turns out her family owns the place. I'm thinking that kind of woman would be perfect for me, don't you think? Anyway, we seemed to get along and I'll definitely be asking her out. And here's a bonus: she's really, really cute too. I'll let you know what happens.

Alas, Alack

Disaster strikes in the house of Dan. Nothing major, just a problem with attention to detail. I made some caramels this afternoon and at first they were coming along terrifically. They are fleur de sel caramels, caramels that have a little bit of hand harvested sea salt (la-dee-da!) in them which I think would really hit the spot with the salty/sweet crowd. I set everything up before I started since I knew when making caramels you're dealing with really hot stuff and it's best to have all your ducks in a row before you get going. Well, it just so happens that I measured the salt wrong. It calls for just 1/2 tsp. I tripled that and having tried some, all you taste is the salt. There's still time in this day to do it again.

I also made some peppermint bark today. That's easy, but I didn't like the proportions that the lady suggested I use. I decided I needed to add a bit more chocolate, so I need to go back and pick some more up, but I needed to go out anyway. I think I'll pick up some fixings for another kind of bark to take the pressure off feeling like I have to do too much. That's easy and you can have plenty in no time.

Dave P came over to borrow a tool and so he sampled two of my concoctions. He really dug the brittle, especially when it was rolled around the malt ganache. I think these are going to be the best tasting thing I make this year. The other one reminded him of suntan lotion. I gotta say having heard him say it, I agree with him, but it's very tasty. Think pina colada in a chocolate.

This brittle was very cool to make. You boil sugar until it hits 300ºF then add some baking soda. It bubbles up like a kid's volcano science project. You then poor it immediately onto a pan and it sets up looking like an alien world. I broke this up and now I'll roll the malt ganache in this. It's very tasty and very cool.

The rest of the day will be spent making up a few more barks, another try at the caramels, and if all goes according to plan, I'll have some almond candies completed and the malt ganache chocolates completely done too.

My New Picture

I love the picture that I placed in my masthead tonight. I was in Britain a few years ago when they were doing a stamp series of famous children's authors and this was a postcard of the C.S. Lewis stamp. It just feels like Christmas to me. I hope all of you who are Narnia fans enjoy it.

Late Night Chocolate

As I'm typing, I've got sugar boiling on the stove to turn into a crunchy, caramely coating for some malted white chocolate truffles. I've already made two ganaches for truffles, one the malt ganache and another that is a coconut/orange/Grand Marnier ganache that I made at the Culinary Institute of America last year and which I think is incredibly tasty. With just these two recipes, I should have 150 individual chocolates. I figure before I'm done I'll have made about 500. Is that nuts or what?

But man, it's fun!

Ganache Day

Today is ganache day. I'm going to be making chocolates tomorrow in earnest and in order to get ready for that I need to get the ganaches made today so they can set up by tomorrow. this should be fun.

Here's what I have planned:

• White chocolate surrounding some white chocolate coconut ganache. This is something I made at the CIA a couple of summers ago and it was tasty!
• Dark chocolate with a raspberry ganache
• From a great book called Chocolate Obsession I plan to make a white chocolate/malt ganache, coated with what the author calls honey brittle, then dipped in milk chocolate. I think this one is going to be fantastic!
• White chocolate filled with Nutella
• And if I have time, dark chocolate with an orange/Grand Marnier filling, with little bits of orange peel inside for good measure.
• Peppermint white chocolate bark
• Peppermint patties.

Besides this, I'm in the middle of making a bunch of fun gelees. I've made raspberry, passion fruit and pomegranate so far. I've got plans for blueberry, guava, lime, grapefruit, orange, and a few other tropical fruits. They're incredibly easy and very tasty. In the photo you can see raspberry and passion fruit. I think once they're all out on a platter they'll look fantastic.

This is what I call fun.

Christmas Goodies

At work it's somewhat obligatory to give Christmas gifts. I never seem to have enough time to do anything of note, but this year I have a plan. It all came together when December's Gourmet came in the mail. I saw a recipe for homemade peppermint patties and knew what I needed to do. This Christmas will be the Christmas of homemade chocolates and candies.

Besides the peppermint patties, I'm planning on making some homemade gelees, sort of gourmet Crush candies. I remember having some blackberry gelees at the Culinary Institute of America that were simply fantastic. There's a recipe for passion fruit gelees in the Gourmet magazine, but I plan on altering that and making several kinds, including one using black raspberries from my garden that I froze last summer. I'm planning on making several citrus varieties too, along with pomegranate. It sounds like they're the easiest thing in the world to make, which is a bonus.

It's not Christmas without chocolates, so I'm planning on making some truffles and some filled chocolates. I think one will be white chocolate filled with Nutella, a pre-made and tasty filling all ready to go. I'm thinking of a raspberry ganache, and perhaps a caramel filled chocolate surrounded by milk chocolate. I think dark chocolate and orange/Grand Marnier could be nice too. We'll see how ambitious I get. The process of making filled chocolates has several steps, but they're not really all that time consuming or complicated. A bit messy, perhaps, but satisfying. I may make some simple barks too, with peppermint candies or nuts of some sort.

I'll post some pictures of the progress.

Rants from a Music Snob

Ok, so I set up a Christmas channel on Pandora. Up popped Amy Grant's Christmas album. The first tune was OK, then it sent me a tune that featured an orchestral opening ripped off from Handel's Messiah. Blech. The orchestra sounds like my heiny. The strings can't seem to play together, the woodwinds aren't in tune, the trombones seem not to know how to play together and the lead trumpet sounds like he's playing on a kazoo. Then Amy Grant comes in with a voice that sounds like she's been smoking six packs a day, and the choir sounds like they're singing in a sweaty locker room with the funky reverb the tech guy put on it. Plus, they sound like they're sight reading it.

Blech. Avoid that at all costs. It's really, really, really bad.

Christmas Music, II

We're in the middle of our Holiday Pops madness--we're doing six concerts this weekend. These can be a real drag, depending on what music is programmed or who our guest artist is. Fortunately our soloist is a great musician and I'm enjoying hearing him play. His name is Sam Stryke and he's originally from our home town. He's now a jingle writer in Chicago who's most famous for writing the theme music to the Real Men of Genius ad campaign for Bud Light--go figure. I've really been enjoying this piece that he's been performing during each concert which has nothing to do with Bud Light, thankfully.

This is his version of Still, Still, Still which has always been one of my favorite carols. Check it out and see what you think. If you like it, you can hear full samples of his Christmas disc at his website.

James Taylor Christmas

I just started listening to my Christmas CD's and I thought I would share some samples of them throughout the Holidays. I bought the JT Christmas album last year and have enjoyed it quite a bit. I don't like all of the tracks, but I think this one, Some Children See Him, is my favorite.