Information on storage, handling, and the fundamentals needed to create chocolate confections is clear and concise. Recipe sections include everything you need to know to turn the food of the gods into desserts for us mortals: cakes and cookies, creams and custards, ice creams, pies and pastries, sauces and beverages, truffles and pralines, dipped and molded chocolates, all adapted for the home cook.
Illustrated with four-color photographs throughout, all 380 luscious recipes will send a shiver of delight down the spine of every chocolate lover. Chocolate is definitive without being intimidating; it is a true home companion for anyone who wants to cook with chocolate.
Chocolate provides recipes for every intensity of chocolove and all levels of culinary skills. There are simple mix-bake-cut cakes, a mud-rich fudge sauce that hardens on ice cream, a collection of ice creams to go with it, and a killer Rich Chocolate Mousse.
Any comfortable cook, particularly one who's mastered the techniques in How to Bake, Great Italian Desserts, and Malgieri's other equally clear and precise works, can turn out Cream Puff Truffles, Chocolate Brownie Tart, a French Buche de Noel, and most of the other recipes in this dessert-lover's dream book.
Dedicated amateurs and professional cooks will appreciate Malgieri's explicit guidance for the process of tempering, which is necessary for making certain chocolate confections, and the recipes for European-style molded confections such as liqueur-filled cordials, and hand-dipped masterpieces, including Raspberry Tricolors. Less ambitious chocoholics might attempt the 26 kinds of truffles or play with Chocolate Plastic for making decorations. And no one should miss Chocolate's final chapter, the over-the-top "Showpieces and Decorating Projects."
This book is lavish with color photos. The chapter openings, shot with the artistry of Irving Penn still lifes, are so breathtaking you can taste them. --Dana Jacobi
Valentine's Day is many things to different people- a opening to start new relationships, rekindle old ones, or remind that extra someone how extraordinary they surely are. Others feel it is just someone else "Hallmark" holiday where they are predicted to do something for unknown reasons. Regardless of your hopes, expectations, or reservations about Valentine's Day, chocolate has long been a beloved gift for lovers.
Since the days of the Aztecs chocolate has been used as a gift. Today a box of luxurious ability chocolate says a thousand "thank you's", "good luck", or "I love you". Chocolate can be given as a way of saying "congratulations", "I am sorry" or "get well soon". On Valentine's Day chocolate clearly says "I Love You!" Chocolate is more than food, it not only fills your belly but also makes you feel soooo good. Elaine Sherman wrote "Chocolate is heavenly, mellow, sensual, deep, dark, sumptuous, gratifying, potent, dense, creamy, seductive, suggestive, rich, excessive, silky, smooth, luxurious, celestial. Chocolate is downfall, happiness, pleasure, love, ecstasy, fantasy ... Chocolate makes us wicked, guilty, sinful, healthy, chic, happy." What more could you want to say to your lover on Valentines Day? Even the scientific name for the tree from which chocolate is derived, Theobroma cacao, translated from Greek, means "food of the gods".
Why does chocolate evoke so many feelings and emotions for us? Chocolate has long been connected with passion, romance and love. This relationship may go all the way back to the Aztecs. They believed chocolate was a source of spiritual wisdom, predicted energy and elevated sexual power. Chocolate was widely used as a nuptial aid and was widely served at wedding ceremonies. The Aztecs did not know chocolate as we do today; they consumed the cocoa as a drink. Reports indicate that the Emperor Montezuma consumed large quantities of the drink every day and always fortified himself with a cup before moving his harem. The explorer Cortes reported to Carlos I of Spain that chocolate is "... The divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this costly drink enables a man to walk for a whole day without food." From the earliest times, chocolate was carefully a substance of power and a source of vitality.
Chocolate has been a field of study since the first shipment from Veracruz arrived in Spain in 1585. But modern science has made some moving findings that may help explicate our lust for ability chocolate. Chocolate contains organic substances known as alkaloids. The most prominent of these substances is theobromine, which works as a stimulant to the kidneys. Stimulants in chocolate also influence the central nervous system, with effects similar to caffeine, which is also gift in chocolate. A chocolate bar may comprise as much as 200 mg of theobromine but only about 25 mg of caffeine. someone else prominent substance found in chocolate is phenylethylamine, which is part of a group of chemicals known as endorphins. Endorphins have an supervene similar to amphetamine and are found plainly in the human body. When endorphins are released into the bloodstream, the mood is lifted and feelings of clear energy are reached. The sensation known as "runners high" is caused by endorphins released while exercise. Phenylethylamine levels in the brain have also been connected to "falling in love". One more chemical found in chocolate is seratonin. Seratonin is known for its calming properties. The presence of these chemicals may explicate the multitude of feelings chocolate evokes.
Debra Waterhouse, author of Why Women Need Chocolate, conducted a inspect and found: 97% of women reported cravings, 68% of which are for chocolate, 50% would choose chocolate over sex, and 22% were more likely than men to choose chocolate as a mood elevator. These findings could surely be interpreted as a supervene of how chocolate makes us feel. I don't know why more women choose chocolate than men, for I am a man and I love chocolate.
Critics would say that the benefits of eating chocolate are small when compared to the sugar and fat contained in a chocolate bar. The best chocolate, dark chocolate with high cacao butter content has no added fat, as well as a high ration of cacao solids and correspondingly less sugar. Although chocolate will never be carefully a condition food based on its nutritional value, it is still good for you! Good for your heart and soul-anything that helps ease stress and makes you feel so good must be.
Receiving a nicely wrapped box of chocolates causes a sense of anticipation. The delight of unwrapping the box, the sensual smell, lifting the soft seductive papers, the look of the level dark chocolates. When it finally passes your lips and starts to at once melt filling your mouth with exquisite pleasure. The taste and smell flood your senses with extraordinary ecstasy. Eating it slowly, taking time to enjoy and savor every bit. What good way to start off an evening of love?
Why Chocolate for Valentine's Day?How to Make Chocolate Truffles : Melt Ingredients for Chocolate Truffles Video Clips. Duration : 1.90 Mins.Pigs are intelligent, gregarious, greedy and hedonistic. They are also curious. Being both arresting and arresting can soon prove problematic for those of you who are thinking about retention pet pigs. This is because they will soon find a way to fly their enclosures, no matter how long you have spent making sure they stay in! Once they have made the first great fly they will try again, and again and again. So they are determined petite beasts but they will also give you much pleasure.
Pigs love concentration and will bask in being spoken to, enjoy a scratch behind the ear and a good scrub down with a brush. However, never slap a pig on the rear end, or on the shoulders. Your pet pig will hate this, will be unforgiving to those who effort this, and will sulk for days, if not weeks.
Pet Pigs: A Word of Warning
SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Maker sources and blends the world's best cacao beans using the highest quality ingredients and a wine-maker's expertise to build layers of chocolate flavor. Our commitment to artisanal chocolate making guarantees consistent quality and taste in every bar from start to finish.
Milk Chocolate Bar — 41% Cacao
With hints of luxurious caramel, our 41% Cacao milk chocolate is as rich as it is creamy.
Milk Chocolate Nibby Bar (Milk Chocolate w/Roasted Cacao Nibs) — 41% Cacao
Our 41% Milk Nibby unites the luxurious caramel richness of our milk chocolate with the delicious and crunchy texture of roasted cacao beans, also known as nibs.
Milk Chocolate with Sea Salted Almonds Bar — 41% Cacao
Roasted almonds with a hint of sea salt add a nutty flavor to the caramel richness of our milk chocolate in our 41% Cacao Milk Almond.
Semi-Sweet Bar — 62% Cacao
With soft notes of citrus and honey overtones, our 62% Cacao Semisweet bar has a perfectly balanced flavor profile.
Dark Chocolate Nibby Bar (Dark Chocolate w/Roasted Cacao Nibs) — 62% Cacao
Our 62% Nibby combines the honey overtones of our semisweet chocolate with the delicious and crunchy texture of roasted cacao beans, also known as nibs.
Mocha (Dark Chocolate w/Freshly Roasted Coffee) Chocolate Bar — 62% Cacao
With great texture and real coffee in every bite, our 62% Cacao Mocha Chocolate bar is made with finely ground Sumatran coffee.
Bittersweet Bar — 70% Cacao
With bright fruitiness and a long, smooth finish, our 70% Cacao Bittersweet bar embodies everything we love about cacao.
Extra Dark Chocolate Bar — 82% Cacao
Like fine red wine, our 82% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate bar has rich notes of dried figs and a mild peppery spiciness.
America's first contemporary artisan chocolate manufacturer, SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Maker set out to craft the richest, most flavorful chocolate by sourcing the best cacao in the world and blending it in small batches using vintage equipment.
SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Maker was founded in 1997 by chocolate connoisseur Robert Steinberg and winemaker John Scharffenberger. The pair tested multiple combinations before perfecting a unique blend that highlighted the true flavor of cacao instead of masking it with sugar and other flavors. The result is an array of truly distinctive chocolates with balance and complexity — not unlike those found in exceptional wines.
As the first American "bean-to-bar" chocolate manufacturer in over 50 years, SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Maker led this country's contemporary resurgence in artisan chocolate-making. It was also the first chocolate maker to label their chocolate with the percentage of cacao inside.
Today, SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Maker travels the world to source the finest cacao. We select the best beans from small sustainable farms in fabled cacao-producing countries: Madagascar, Indonesia, Trinidad, Venezuela, Brazil, Guatemala, Vietnam, Grenada, Paupua New Guinea, Bali, Ghana and Peru. Of the more than 150 samples we taste each year, only a select few are chosen to become SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate. Beans from each region are picked for their unique flavor characteristics, and our roasting parameters are specially developed for each origin to bring out the best in each flavor. We blend these freshly roasted beans to produce our signature flavors, balanced and complex, highlighting the true, rich flavors of cacao.
This artisan process, honed with a wine-maker's attention to craftsmanship, results in the richest, most flavorful chocolate you've ever tasted.
Keeping pigs as pets can be fun, but you also need to be truthful with them when you feed them. Many a man can recite a tale of losing fingers to pigs by leaving their hands a petite too long in the trough when spilling out the feed. A pig is a voracious eater and being an omnivore will eat virtually anything, along with your hand if it is in any place near his feed! So practice caution here.
Pet Pigs: Diet
Pigs are also exquisite producers, have large litters which they are fairly good at in finding after, which makes them a great source of extra income if you are thinking of selling off the piglets from your pet pigs. They are also good as work animals because their smelling abilities make them ideal for sniffing out black gold; truffles. If you don't have truffles don't despair as you can use your pig as nature's plough for fields that need turning over. In foraging for roots and food below the ground they use their strong snouts to splendid depths in the soil and make subsequent cultivation of that land very much easier. However, if you find that they are undoubtedly damaging the land that you have put them on this foraging action can be curtailed by having a ring or two inserted into the edge of their snouts. Although this is a fairly painless process it should be carried out while the pigs are fairly young. They love to eat excess whey milk after you have made your cheese, they will also eat vegetable scraps and spent veggie crops, and fallen fruit from the orchards.
Pet Pigs: selecting What to Buy and Why?
Pigs come in all shapes, colours and sizes and different breeds ensue in different temperaments. The first thing you should be choosing on is why you want to keep pigs for pets in the first place. After that it then gives you direction as to which pig breed would great fit your needs and the appropriate pig care your pigs would then receive.
Pink-skinned pigs like the one in the photo above suffer terribly from sunburn, and so if you don't have any kind of natural or manmade shelter for this type of pig, then this breed would be unsuitable for you. Some pure breeds are coloured, like the red Tamworth and Duroc and black pigmented Berkshire and Large Black. The Saddleback and Hampshire are also black breeds but carry a distinctive white belt over the shoulders and down the front legs. Potbelly pigs are other firm favourite for pigs as pets.
Few population perceive just how big pigs can grow. Your pet pig could end up weighing in excess of 200 kilo grams! This is other suspect why you need to make sure that those fences are strong! If you choose a petite pig as a pet their mature weight range could be nearby 20 - 50 kilo grams. Still no featherweight!
Your pet pigs are sociable animals and therefore would prefer to be in a small group rather than being on its own. Therefore it is advisable to get more than one so that they can keep each other company. You will also find in doing this, that your pigs will get up to less mischief as they will be less bored. However, if you do settle to only have one pig as a pet, there are some advantages. Firstly finding after one pig means that they become easier to manage, especially if this is your first pig. There will be no jostling for position during meal times or bullying and fighting with other pigs. If you buy a single pig just remember to give it lots of love and concentration that forestall it from being bored, lonely and naughty.
Pet Pigs: selecting which sex to buy
If you are thinking of having pigs for pets you are probably wondering which sex you should buy. Male pigs that have not been castrated are best left as breeders rather than that makes them very unsuitable. If you settle on a male pig, it should be castrated. Female pigs make the best pets whether or not she has had a litter.
Pet Pigs: Purchasing your first pet pig
What should you be finding for when you are about to buy your first pet pig? First of all you should check with your local municipal council to see if you are allowed to keep a pig in your area. After you have passed that important hurdle the next step is to find yourself a reputable breeder who will be there for you for after sales advice and normal advice on pig care. Do not buy pigs from stockyard sales or at auctions where as a novice you would not know if the animal was sound and healthy.
In order for you to bond with your pig and vice versa you should be finding for a piglet. Look for one that has no signs of ill health. It should be active, have arresting eyes with a moist nose and a shiny coat. The body should be long and slightly arched, the chest wide and sides slightly rounded. The legs should be strong and well located with short and well-maintained toenails. Check the amount of teats that the pig has regardless of its gender. You are finding for 12-14 evenly distributed and well shaped teats. After finding at the bodily aspects of your time to come pet pig you should be finding at its temperament. If it looks at all aggressive, is snapping at its siblings and other pigs and seems generally a bit on the wild side, look for other that is great natured.
Pet Pigs: Pig Care and Feeding
When you are purchasing your pet pig ask the breeder what they have been feeding them and how much. This will give you a baseline to work off, and any changes or additions to the diet should be made slowly. The basic diet for a pig would be to feed them a mixture of household scraps or old crops from your vegetable garden or orchard combined with pig feed or grain. On midpoint a pig should be given about 2 kilo grams of pig feed or grain a day, and less if you are supplementing with household or garden scraps. Pigs will eat roughly anything, as mentioned earlier. Things that they will not eat any way are citrus fruit, capsicums, onions, pineapples and some brassicas. The feed can be given whether all at once during the day, or split into two and fed morning or evening. Fresh, clean water should be ready to your pet pigs at all times, and make sure that the troughs that you are using a strong. Concrete troughs that are heavy and unmoveable are ideal.
Pet Pigs: Housing for your pig
Pigs are often maligned as dirty, smelly, unattractive beasts. Nothing could be additional from the truth. Yes, they love to have the odd wallow in the mud bath, but then so do elephants and warthogs, and they have not been tarred with the same brush. Your pig will enjoy a bed of deep, clean straw or litter. If there are other pigs present they will often be seen cuddling up to each other in these situations. They are basically very clean animals, and will not urinate or defecate on their bedding, but will do so in a angle of their pen, away from their bedding.
They also hate greatest weather conditions, be it cold winds and draughts or soaring temperatures and humidity. So ensure that their pens are draught-free and you are able to get a good circulation of air when temperatures rise. Pigs will tolerate temperatures between 12-26°C. Anything, whether side of these temperatures, and your pet pig will be in distress. This is why in hot weather those mud baths are so considerable for your pig to be able to cool down as he does not have the quality to do so through sweating.
Having said all that, a simple three-sided shed is all that is needed to keep your pig happy, as long as it faces away from draughts and prevailing winds. Each animal should have about 8 quadrilateral feet of space and the floor terminate should be a concrete screed that has been roughly accomplished so that your pig has sure footing at all times. There should also be an area in front of his pen that is adequately fenced off that is also cemented to forestall muddy and smelly conditions. Here the pigs can sun themselves when they need to, get some practice and ease themselves.
We have already touched on making sure that your pigpen is secure, but this cannot be over-emphasised. If your pig notices just a petite frailness in the fencing he will be out. And for those of us who have had to catch a pig we all know that it one of those impossible tasks that swiftly degenerates into something from Keystone Cops! One of the best options is to go with a breeze-block wall nearby the shed with a sturdy pig-proof gate. Having wire fencing, unless it is electrified, which is expensive, undoubtedly is not worth the effort as it is largely ineffectual.
Pet Pigs: retention your pig in your house
There are population who keep pigs in their homes quite successfully. It may not be everyone's selection of household pet, even for those who may settle on a petite pig soon perceive that they can get very big. However, for those who have chosen this selection your pig is undoubtedly trainable with regards to using a cat litter tray. Pigs are the 5th most arresting animals in the world, and therefore getting them to use a cat litter tray is no different to training a cat or a dog. You use the same methods. Start with some newspaper and move it closer to the litter box until the box is being used. Remember though that the conventional cat litter box it too high for your pig. You will need something that is more shallow, more like 2 inches, and your will need to find these trays or favorable receptacles from your local hardware store. They will get used to walking with a lead and harness if you start with them at an early age.
Pet Pigs: Enjoying your new pet
Keeping a pig as a pet is great fun and they undoubtedly do make splendid pets. Each has a distinctive personality and you will soon see this after bringing your pig home and getting to know it. If you have the right type of housing, keep the litter clean and contribute the right food and practice for your pig, you will have a undoubtedly rewarding experience. Pigs are generally hardy and have few ailments and are very good at adapting to new environments. So enjoy your new pet, give it lots of love and concentration and you will be loved in return.
Pet Pigs - Pig Care, Feeding and HousingChocolate Ganache Video Clips. Duration : 3.03 Mins.
