Looking For A Logo

This post will constantly be updated. I am trying to create a logo for Sweet Tooth Fashionista. Would appreciate your constructive critism. Thank you.

Not too sure if this is to busy. I tend to teeter towards the flamboyant side. So maybe this logo touches on my personality?

I Wasn't Blogging But...

I have been working on my Sweet Tooth project.

Since the last time I've blogged, my mind has been all over the place, trying to decide where should I get started. I have a 12 year old niece, and we poke fun at her because she makes a list for EVERYTHING. But you know -- lists really work! Organization is not my thing. While an "organized" list may not work for me, I have started to carry around a note book in which I list random thoughts.

Starting from the front, I write my random thoughts about the Fashionista project. From the back pages (working towards the front), I list stuff general stuff. Like today, I wrote down that I would like to go online and view our hydro account, and google how to be more energy efficient.I tend to be tunnel vision mode sometimes. So having my note book include both aspects of my life, helps me to manage my life much better.

There is a book titled "Write it Down, Make it Happen" by Henriette Anne Klauser. I think the thought behind it is if think of an idea, no matter how fleeting, or great, write it down. You will find that you will embrace more. Bit by bit your ideas will grow into actions, and you will be able to achieve your goals. Actually, this blog is a little bit of my "Write it Down, Make it Happen".

So on the top of my random list, was to join a Cake Decorating class. Today I have signed on with Flour Confections in Ajax, Ontario. I am enrolled in Wilton Course 1 – Discover Cake Decorating. At $105, I believe it's a reasonable investment towards my future. Classes are on Mondays in January, so I have already booked off the Tuesdays at work. While I would love to focus as much as possible on Fashionista project, my full-time job is my first priority. Thank goodness for my vacation plan. Mondays will be a work day, then a class night -- Tuesdays will be my day of rest.

Dipped Chocolate Fruit Party Favours

The morning before, I purchased strawberries, and berries. After washing them, I placed them in a plastic container, and submerged the berries in unflavoured vodka. Covering tightly, I placed the container in the refrigerator.

The next day, an hour before my guests arrived, I removed the strawberries and berries from the vodka filled container. With a paper towel, I patted the fruit dry. You don't want liquids to mix with your melted chocolate, or you will risk it seizing up.

In a glass bowl, I melted a container of dark chocolate wafers. After stirring the melted wafers, I began to dip the half of the strawberries in the chocolate. Working quickly, I placed them on a sheet of wax parchment paper. I did this with half of the berries, however because they were so tiny, I had to insert toothpicks in them first. I repeated the same process with the balance of the berries, using white melted chocolate wafers.

Using a decorators brush, I painted patterns onto the dipped fruit. For a few of them, I added red powdered food dye to some melted white chocolate, and painted some more of my fruit confections. I inserted toothpicks in all of the strawberries.

I placed a sheet of wax paper on my decorative plate and placed the dipped fruit on it. I placed the plate in the refrigerator for half an hour, pulled it out and voila. A devilish - sweet treat!

Look Ma! I'm Teaching!

Wow! What a day today! I traveled from Ajax to Brampton to conduct my Chocolate Workshop. Kudos to my students (may I add that they are by far THE best students ever). Sukhi, Angie, Jena and Luca. Luca got a little bored with us, but the workshop wouldn't have been the same without him.We created delicious Christmas and Valentine themed chocolate sweets. Sukhi and Jena designed two 3D reindeer, and Angie made a free standing sleigh. I believe they were almost chocolated out, but once they popped their edible delights out of their molds, their excitement level hit a new high!
Check out the photos and enjoy. BTW... They have promise to post their reviews on THEIR designer chocolate. Highlight -- I kind of bonded with Riley -- He's such a handsome dog!! catch this on my Twitter page.

My Year in Status According to FaceBook

I did my YEAR IN status -- I wasn't going to publish it, I noticed it included a quote from my pregnancy with the twins. Well Timmy and Addison couldn't make it here with us --but they will always be in my heart.

Lately I have been feeling a bit of a resurgence. - sometimes this feeling can be fleeting.

Anyway, I have... accomplished alot since then. AND I am venturing in to a new field. So to my year in status --I say...

YOU GO GIRL!

I Love Chocolate!

I picked up this fabulous book at Chapters called "I Love Chocolate!".

Sorry -- There is no author information on this large paperback. I have added some pics -- maybe you will recognize it in your local bookstore.


This book is fabulous! 200 recipies from cocoa to chocolate mousse. It gives you the history, some traditional ways of making chocolate, information on the cocoa plant and alot more.

Fact: White chocolate is not really chocolate at all. Legally it is called "white confectionery coating".

The recipes in this book involve the use of couveture chocolate. I am interested in the recipies that call for melted couveture to be turned back into its original solid state. This process is called tempuring, and the I Love Chocolate, gives indepth information.

The book shows you how to cut out shapes, how to create chocolate leaves -- using actual leaves, and how to work with chocolate moulds.

I hope you are able to get your hands on this fascinating book.

My Tweetest Adventures

Well I set up my Twitter account today. Now you can get a play by play of my adventures and shannnigans, as I work towards my dream of becoming a Fashion Confectioner.

It took me two hours to find the perfect background. I love the one I found. The pic was large enough, that it didn't take on a tiled affect.

Unfortunately, I am unable to fully spell out Sweet Tooth Fashionista. My account name is STFashionista. It still flows though.

Let me know your thoughts on my Twitter background. You can view it on Twitter by clicking the Twitter logo in the left column of my blog. And of course....by all means -- Follow me too!

Grasshopper Becomes The Teacher

I had brought a few of my home made chocolates to work for my good friend Sukhi. She brought them home to share with her family. Later that evening, I received a FaceBook message from her.

Her family LOVED the chocolates, and especially enjoyed the white chocolate Santa. She added that my confections were "the bomb".

FYI-- that is a VERY good thing.

She had asked me if I would visit her home, and give both her and her daughter a lesson in making chocolate. I said yes, but honestly, I didn't think she was serious. She came back a week later and said that another one of our co-workers -- Angie was coming to visit, and if she would join us.

So, this Wednesday, I will be driving to Brampton to conduct a chocolate making workshop.

Isn't life funny? Not ha ha funny.

Exactly two weeks ago, I was getting excited about learning how to make chocolate. Look at me now. I will be giving an instructional course on how to make chocolate.

Tomorrow, I take on the world!

Ok-- getting overly excited. Calm down Dee... Calm down.

What will THEY need:
-glass measuring 2 cup (microwave safe)
-two small glass or ceramic bowls / cups
-a few medium sized spoons for mixing
-a small bag of almonds and
-an apron
-wax parchment paper
-a sealed container to hoard their chocolate sweets

The supplies / ingredients that I will BRING for them will be
-three colours of powdered food dye
-600 g of Merckens White
-600 g of Merckens Cocoa Lite
-decorator paint brush
-cotton gloves
-small cake box
-sleigh mould, Christmas mould, and a heart mould (for Valentines Day)

I will be picking up the majority of these suppiles at Scoop 'N Weigh Foods Limited.

Lindt Chocolate Outlet

Well my Christmas Chocolates were a hit. I made a tray of 75 treats, and they all disappeared! I am very excited.

I decided to look into purchasing some Couveture Chocolate. I visited the Lindt Chocolate Outlet in Scarborough, Ontario. I am not too sure when I will use the Couveture, but I bought it to keep it on hand when I am ready.

So what is so special about Couveture Chocolate?

Couverture chocolate is a special form of chocolate used by chocolate manufacturers and professional bakers. It is richer and creamier than basic bar or eating chocolate, with a very high cocoa butter content which makes it ideal for things like molding, coating, and dipping. and they also use it to cover truffles, chocolate garnishes, coat fruit, and perform a variety of other tasks. The higher percentage of cocoa butter, combined with the processing, gives the chocolate more sheen, firmer "snap" when broken, and a creamy mellow flavor.

The term "couverture chocolate" should not be confused with "confectionery chocolate", "compound chocolate" or "summer coating": These products have a lower percentage of solids (cacao), and they may also contain vegetable oil, hydrogenated fats ("trans fats"), coconut and/or palm oil, and sometimes artificial chocolate flavoring.

Couverture chocolate is generally not mixed in with an excess of other ingredients, because of the high price and quality; it is designed to stand alone as an ingredient. It can also be used to prepare chocolate shells, glossy coatings for cakes, and so forth.

Chocolate Christmas Candy

I have a potluck at work next week and I have decided to make chocolate treats. There are 32 people in my department, so I decided to economize using Merckens Chocolate melting wafers.
I purchased molds in various Christmas themes. Santa, JOY, Drummer Boy and a Snowman. I bought Merckens Milk Cocoa Lite and Merckens WHITE. I also bought powdered food dye to add colour to my treats.

Merckens candy wafers are very easy to use and do not require tempering. Merckens chocolate wafers are by far the best tasting wafers. They do not have a waxy taste to them. I half way filled a small glass containers with the Merckens white. I added a bit of powdered food dye to each container. One red, one yellow, and one green. I heated up the red container in my microwave oven for 1 minute. Using a spoon I mixed the red wafer, until it became creamy. Using a fine paint brush, I painted various parts of my mold. For example, red on Santa's hat, or red on the snowman's mittens. Once finished with that colour, I melted the yellow wafers and painted, and them moved on to the green. Once my chocolate molds were painted, I filled larger glass containers with the chocolate wafers. One with the Merckens White, and the other with the milk cocoa.
I melted the white first for a minute and a half. And stirred vigorously.
Using a spoon, I filled some of my molds 3/4 full. I followed the same process with the Merckens Cocoa. I filled the balance of my molds the same way. (each mold sheet, has about 12 molds). I tapped the sheet a bit, so the melted chocolate would spread, filling the smallest parts of the molds. I then placed my molds in the refrigerator for about two hours.

You know your chocolate is ready to be popped from their molds when the color of the chocolate has gone from shiney to matte. I tapped my chocolate on to wax paper. and voila!