Giveaway and a Valentine's Chocolate Strawberry Cake With Rum Ganache

The fine folks at Lucky Leaf sent me a new recipe to test out. A couple of years ago for Valentine's Day, I gave you the recipe for Sweetheart Cherry Cake With Lemon-Rose Buttercream  from Lucky Leaf. I still use that recipe. They're starting to get famous around here for fabulous recipes!  So, when they want to send goodies  to play with I usually jump at the chance. I always have the option of not sharing if I don't like how it turns out. However, I have not had that ever happen. I have to say,that once again,the recipe they gave me is a total winner! I loved it so much, I have to share it! This time it was for a Chocolate Strawberry Cake with Rum Ganache. It's a tart deep and moist cake loaded with strawberries and drizzled with this creamy rum-kissed truffle frosting. Oh my gracious heart! (I'm frantically fanning myself with my hand right now.)

On their website they call it a Chocolate Cherry Cake...but I used their Strawberry filling...so. Do the math. I guess that wouldn't be math would it? That would be like...English or Chemistry or...daggumit. I don't know. Whatever it was, it was ridiculously yummmmy! Look at it.  Can we even talk in the presence of such a chocolate vision? Shh...Silence...while I abscond with  two forks, and we hide in the closet. You, Me...and Beautiful. Hello Beautiful.

Here's what you need:

 Ingredients

• 1 package 2-layer-size chocolate cake mix (I used my Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 0.23-ounce packages unsweetened lemonade-flavored drink mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 21-ounce can LUCKY LEAF ® Cherry Pie Filling (I used Strawberry)
• 1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 4-ounce bar sweet baking chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dark rum

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan; set aside. 
2. In a large bowl stir together cake mix, flour, sugar, drink mix, baking powder and soda. Add oil, eggs, cherry pie filling, sour cream and almond extract. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 2 minutes (batter will be stiff). Fold in chopped sweet chocolate. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Loosen sides and remove from pan. Cool completely. 
3. For ganache, in a small saucepan heat cream just to boiling. In a medium bowl pour hot cream over bittersweet chocolate; let stand 5 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth; stir in rum. Place bowl with chocolate in a bowl of ice water and let stand about 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Transfer cake to serving plate. Spread ganache over cake. Let stand 1 hour before serving to set up. Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Makes 12 servings

This was my first time using the Lucky Leaf Strawberry Pie Filling. I was surprised to see so many whole strawberries in a can! It was fabulous! I was a little concerned by the addition of the lemonade mix...but found it added a nice tart depth to the cake. Excellent twist! 

 So there it is. I'm totally in love. Thank you Lucky Leaf for the fun new recipe! I'm putting it next to my Sweetheart Cherry Cake With Lemon-Rose Buttercream. Two cakes of love. 

There you go. Make a Chocolate Strawberry cake with Rum Ganache. Moist. Divine. Definitely worth the effort for your Special Valentine...or  random day of the week...like Tuesday.
Get the  Printable Version  or watch the video here. Xoxo!  

OH and I did say Giveaway right?!  The fine folks at Lucky Leaf will be doing a  giving away  Lucky Leaf gift package to one of my readers.  Leave a comment to enter. You'll be getting  a complimentary gift package including Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Filling, the new Bake Your Heart Out Recipe Book, crisp mix and a pot holder. Just a fun little goodie box huh?! Winner will be announced on Friday!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Broiled Coconut Pecan Frosting...is Evil.

Are you ready for something evil? Well. This is Evil Think Tank (ETT) worthy. I made it with my kids today but usually I make it for cooking classes and glorious events of flavor and food. I dare say, it's one of the most beautiful-bad-good things I make. Have you ever had a broiled coconut pecan frosting? This is perhaps one of the most tantalizing simple frostings out there. It's a buttery caramel with a hint of rum and heavy with toasted pecans and shredded coconut. When it's put on a cake and then slid under a broiler, the most amazing thing happens. The top layer of the frosting gets toasted and caramelized in a thin layer of candy-like crunch. The creamy layer below is warmed and gooey and oozes in sweet divine rivers of joy over the edges of your cake. It's really one of my absolute favorite dessert toppings.  Use fat flake coconut or macaroon coconut depending on your taste. Today I went with macaroon. If you don't like coconut...I can't help you. Bwhaha. I'm kidding. You can try using dried fruit or more nuts. It won't be exactly the same, but it will still be awesome.

This frosting is outstanding on carrot cake, white cake or any cake in-between. I've used it on spiced mango cake and used artistically arranged thin sliced fresh pineapple on the top of the frosting...with rave reviews. Usually I put it on my homemade Chocolate Toffee Buttermilk Cake. It's perhaps one of my favorite cake mixes...and I make it from scratch. You can, if you're in a pinch, use store purchased chocolate cake mix and prepare it using buttermilk for the liquid. It won't be exactly the same, but it will work. All I know is the buttermilk cake with a hint of cayenne, tart with a subtle hot finish, is the perfect companion for sweet crunchy-gooey frosting.  I used on 10 inch layer cake. 

 Stephanie's Broiled  Coconut  Pecan frosting

6T  butter (melted) 

1/2 cup sugar

2T Molasses

1/2 tsp rum extract

1/4 cup whipping cream (unwhipped)

3/4 cup coarsly chopped pecans or almonds (toasted)

1 cup  coconut (unsweetened looks cool, but use whatever you have. Today I used macaroon coconut)

 1/4 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend(optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven broiler. In a bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, molasses, and whipping cream.

Add the pecans,coconut and spice.

Spread the frosting in a thick layer on the cake. It's amazing on little cupcakes or smaller cakes as well, but take care to cover the top. This will be broiled so the cake needs to be on a metal tray that is heat safe. That's my only rule. I don't want any emails telling me you broke Great-grandma Pearl's antique cake plate by putting it under the broiler. For the record, that's not a good idea. Plus, Granny didn't give you that cake plate thinking you would be an idiot. Oh. Did I just type that out-loud? 

Let the record show, my broiler is under my oven...by the floor. I laid on my belly in my kitchen to take this picture. Be impressed (or be disturbed). You want the frosting about 6 inches from the flame. Don't put it right on the flame (why do I even have to type that?). If you have an "in oven" broiler, put the rack in your oven as close to the top of the oven as possible without the heating element actually touching the cake. Not only would that be messy, it would also be daggum near hilarious...for me to watch. Um...just watch the cake. 

It takes 3-5 minutes depending how close it is to the broiler. What ends up happening? The top gets crispy and toasted caramel while just below the crust...a  layer of buttery coconut and pecans goo. 

We usually drizzle a little chocolate sauce over the top. Because it's just evil enough to push it over the edge to insanely-evil. 

Oh...and if you want to just pass out...add a sprinkle of sea salt. Mercy.

There you go. Make some fabulous Broiled Coconut Frosting. I'm certain you'll either love me or hate me for sharing it...but I'm thinking you'll love me, kiss me...lick the computer screen. Just don't embarrass yourself...too much. Xoxo! 

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Homemade "Thin Mint" Cookies and Chocolate Dipping in the ETT

Today I visited Evil Tara and had some much needed girlie time in the Evil Think Tank-o-glory dipping chocolate for the holidays. I talked about the secrets for good chocolate dipping this week Here.  Tara had a heap of these dipped cookies to do. I am a friend. I'll dip chocolate out of the goodness of my heart. Bwhahaha! Well...I may have had other motivations. Case in point. These...

 I adore Tara's thin mint cookies. Even more, I love how simple they are to make! It's just six drops of LorAnn Peppermint Oil to a half pound of melted  dark chocolate...

 Oh...and a few sleeves of Ritz crackers. 

 I kid you not when I say they are pure genius! The light salt and the crisp and the chocolate...I get so excited I almost pop!

We also dipped a hundred of these...

 I know that Oreo makes chocolate covered Oreos now in  nice packages, but there's nothing like putting really nice chocolate on a chocolate cookie and drizzling it with more chocolate. You know...for artistic purposes. Purely artistic purposes.

Our friend Kayola was there and said I needed to do "like a red tree" on them. So...this one's for Kayola! Thanks for the how did you say?  "The Bass Ackward" way of doing the trees! Hillllllllarious my friend! Grin. 

Raspberry Clusters. Prepare to be dazzled! Insert Chef Tess and her lame cool-self making cheesy Jazz hands!   Last but not least on the list of Evil amazing...the chocolate dipped Freeze Dried Raspberry. Just a few in a little good quality chocolate.

 They come out in these little clusters that look like peanut clusters. However, this is big, they taste like a piece of heaven. The fruit is tart and the chocolate sweet. It's perfection. I loved that the fruit just stayed crispy like a raspberry rice-crisp{ almost}.  Picture me just rolling my eyes back in my head and passing out when I say, "A-freakin-mazing". If you want my humble (yet accurate) opinion...everyone should make them. 

There you go.

Another trip to the Evil Think Tank...totally worth it. Yes. I am going jogging in the morning! Xoxo!

We're having a great Giveaway this week too. So pop over and see what you could win! 

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Jerri's Almond Joy and a Little Chocolate Dipping 101

It's candy making week on the blog. I say week but it's only been two actual blog posts so far. I'll try to be more ambitious in the future and do one every day of the week. Wow. I just said I could be more ambitious. That's scary.  Christmas is getting closer and some serious attention must be given to the brown snowballs. Really. We're having a great Giveaway this week too. So pop over and see what you could win. Or just stay here and look at this picture of chocolate for a few dreamy minutes. Dream. Dream. Grin. Grin.

I am a chocolate nut.  seriously.  Pastry school ruined me.  In a good way.  There are a lot of chocolate products and coatings out there.  Use what your family prefers.  Don't let me be a bad influence.  Just know in advance that there are a lot of things to know when working with chocolate, and even now I still learn something new every time I turn around.  here are a few tips that help, but there is a ton of information on the Internet and in books on working with chocolate and chocolate candy making. 

Someone asked me this week if it was okay to use chocolate chips to dip pretzels and stuff. Chocolate chips, since you asked,  are funny because if it is a higher  quality and not the cheapy stuff ( I'd say Guitard or Giradelli or Nestle Chocolaiter) and isn't heated over 130 degrees for the dark chocolates, and 120 degrees for the milk chocolate it should be fine for coating. However, and this is a big however, it's really hard to judge if it has been out in the heat or not. Once chocolate has separated due to heat, it's got to go through the whole tempering process. That's fun. I'm not even showing that today. Just know for chocolate, I'd rather see you get a good bar of the good stuff and chop it fine. To ensure it stays nice,  I use a thermometer when working with chocolate. 

 If it gets too hot, the chocolate will get white splotches on it when cooled called "bloom".  It is still safe to eat, but it looks funny.  It may even look like it was coated in a white powder if it doesn't get the splotches.  It isn't shiny and pretty like you would expect.  This is caused by overheating-- the cocoa butter will separate from the chocolate solids.  It is called being "out of temper".  If you hear the term "lose your temper" it actually started with chocolate making... getting too hot. 

 Some tips:

There are many different kinds of chocolate.

Couveture:  good quality chocolate.  This is the good stuff.  My favorite is Guitard.  By far.   No other fats/waxes are added besides cocoa butter.  Most require a tempering process where it is heated, then cooled while spreading thin and working to help the cocoa butter stay well dispersed within the chocolate.  Cocoa butter can be purchased "micro-dried"  and that stuff will help in the process.   My mom gave me a big can of it for Christmas last year, ahhh the perfect gift for a pastry chef.  Who would have thought of that?  This product  gives the cocoa butter a "seed" to hold onto within the chocolate instead of floating to the top of the melted chocolate.

Cocoa:  dry powder that remains after cocoa butter is removed.  Dutched cocoa is processed with an alkali, has a smoother flavor, and dissolves better than other cocoa.

Bitter chocolate:  straight chocolate liquor.

Sweet Chocolate:  as little as 15% liquor, no milk solids (not milk chocolate)

Milk Chocolate:  Sweet chocolate with milk solids added, used as a coating on confections.

Less expensive chocolate has part of he cocoa butter replaced with other fats.  They don't require tempering but don't have the same eating quality of chocolate.  Choose your audience...and your budget.  With chocolate chips it may be a good idea to add some of the "coating", but maybe only one square that way it will keep from losing it's temper, but not have a waxy aftertaste--this also depends on the coating as some like "Wilton" don't have a strong wax-i-ness, while the candy quick is pretty stiff--but good for chocolate sculptures here in the heat.  Those are my thoughts.  I like the white coating for pretzels for kids parties and for putting in a bag an making decorations squeezed out on waxed paper to top cupcakes.  It doesn't melt very quickly and in Arizona we do have to modify things sometimes because of the heat.  If however it was for a client, it would be real chocolate.  A lot of them are very particular about that.  I am always happy to use the real stuff.   So for working with the regular chocolate, here are some important tips: 

Watch the temperature.

Critical temperatures:

Milk Chocolate/White Chocolate : never heat over 122 degrees and keep it lower if possible, I try to keep it right around 86.

Dark Chocolate:  never heat over 131 degrees.  I keep it at 89. If one section gets too hot and it's mixed into the cooler chocolate you may run the risk of the chocolate separating. It will depend but don't risk it. I start new batches when in doubt.

Melt it slowly  in granny's double boiler. Okay. If you don't have granny's double boiler, then you can use a metal bowl over a pan. Just be very, very, very good at stirring often and watching your temperatures. Don't crank up the heat. Slow over time is better.

The best way to  melt chocolate is in a double boiler over a simmering water, not boiling.  Stir constantly, and check the temperature often.  Keep the room were you are working with chocolate pretty cool... between 65 and 77 degrees. Oh, and don't eat it all before you coat things with it.  That is a big one. 

No Water. Never allow chocolate to have water or moisture of any kind come in contact with it. The chocolate will "seize" and no longer be able to be used as dipping chocolate.

How do you get pretty chocolates?

 When dipping, use a fork or Chocolate dipping prong. This will allow excess chocolate to drizzle off the product and give you clean pretty chocolates instead of ones "with feet:. 

A few years ago my friend Jerri sent me this recipe. It has found a home for the Holidays with us every year since. 

 Jerri's Recipe for Coconut Bon Bon  "Almond Joy"

Ingredients
* 3/4 cup Karo syrup (I use 3/4 cup honey)
* 2 1/2 cups dry macaroon coconut ( I get mine at Honeyville in a 5 lb bag)
* 1/2-1 teaspoon almond extract (depends on how strong an almond flavor you wish)
* almonds (if you want the almond joy type)
* 10 ounces chocolate Couveture 
Directions
1. Toast the almonds in the oven at 400F just till they are warm and you can start to smell them (3-5 min); set aside.
2. Bring the Karo or honey to a boil and add the coconut, remove from heat and add extract. 

3. Place in fridge till firm.
4. Form into round balls or ovals and place on waxed paper -- press 1 almond to each ball or 2 to each oval and chill for 1/2 hour. It helps to moisten your hands a little when making the balls.  I didn't use the almonds this time. I just rounded into balls. I would not suggest putting them in the freezer.
When I put mine in the freezer they came out like this...

Dang freezer elves. I really need to increase their freezer survival rations.  They make snow men...They've also been eating the frozen cookie dough. {I swear it was the elves...}

When you put them in the fridge they come out like this.

5. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Watch your temperatures (I never go over 89 degrees). It helps to put your face really close to the pot. It will get chocolate up your nose and increase your popularity. Okay. I lied. You won't be popular with brown stuff on your nose.

6. Dip each candy-dandy-licious center into the chocolate; coat evenly and completely. Place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet until chocolate is set.

I highly recommend taking them to the window and letting them see some sunlight. 

Allow to cool at room temperature. This helps the chocolate not to separate. 

Place in candy liners. 

7. Store in a airtight container. Hide container from the elves.

There you go. Tomorrow I will be spending a few hours with Evil Tara in the  ETT (Evil Think Tank). Be afraid. Galactic destruction and general chocolate chaos are sure to ensue! Until then, dip something. I want to hear all about your chocolate adventures! Xoxo! Smooooches!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

François Payard’s Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

I think we need to have Chocolate Wednesday...Every Wednesday on the blog.

What do you think? 

I think the biggest complaint I hear from friends who go gluten free is they really miss a good cookie. So...I'm here to tell you I have found an evil-delicious recipe that worked amazing for a chocolate chewy nugget of happiness. The cookies end up with this delicate crust on top and the chewy nutty center that make you want to cry. They're just joyful! 

 I can't even claim the recipe as my own...but it is pure awesome in it's design. So...that's my preface. Amazing recipe. I'm a big fan. 

 I found the recipe :Here
from  Payard’s Upper East Side pâtisserie and featured in his book, Chocolate Epiphany 


This recipe uses egg whites and has this chew and light delicate crust on top of the chew...it's remarkable. I've added a note at the end from the person at Payard's that tested the recipe for the book so it will help with making them at home. 
François Payard’s Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

2 3/4 cups walnut halves
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the walnut halves on a large-rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 9 minutes, until they are golden and fragrant. (1) Let cool slightly, then transfer the walnut halves to a work surface and coarsely chop them. Position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and lower temperature to 320. Line two large-rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. (2) In a large bowl, whisk (or combine in an electric mixer on low speed) the confectioners’ sugar with the cocoa powder and salt followed by the chopped walnuts. While whisking (or once you change the speed to medium), add the egg whites and vanilla extract and beat just until the batter is moistened (do not overbeat or it will stiffen). (3) Spoon the batter onto the baking sheets in 12 evenly spaced mounds, and bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until the tops are glossy and lightly cracked; shift the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through to ensure even baking. Slide the parchment paper (with the cookies) onto 2 wire racks. Let cookies cool completely, and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Payard’s Upper East Side pâtisserie and featured in his book Chocolate Epiphany


Printable recipe: here

Note:

ALESSANDRANICOLE

I am the person at Payard who actually tested all the recipes for the book....and I see that some people had very good results and some not so good. This recipe completely depends on your egg whites. If your using Large eggs, medium eggs, etc. It will make a huge difference. Start with using 2 egg whites, and then slowly add the rest. The mix should look like thick brownie mix, that can be scooped. Depending on the day...how, cold, humid, not humid, your product will change a lot, as do all pastry recipes. Dont add all your whites at once, and check for the consistency first, if your dont use all the whites, it is OKAY. I hopes this helped. At Payard, we want EVERYONE to have a positive review on our recipes, especially these cookies, since they are a huge hit in the store @ Payard. GOOD LUCK

There you go my gluten free friends!
Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

An ETT on BFFF...Brownie Pudding

This is going to be a very special Best Food, Finds and Friends Friday...because last night I was blessed to be able to visit with my darling culinary school friend Evil Tara! Yes, that is a term of endearment. Those who have been friends and readers of the blog-o-glory will know, all too well how we call our cooking adventures the Evil Think Tank or ETT. The ETT started originally at the beginning of this blog the first time I ever held a digital camera almost 3 years ago. Tara invited me over to cook...and to let me use her camera so I'd have some pictures to put on my blog. Yes, things at my house were *that* tight. I started this little adventure on a shoestring budget and a dream.  

The ETT went on from there as a grand delightful time when Evil Tara and Evil Tess needed time out creating culinary delights from a combination of ingredients of our choice. Sometimes we'd end up at a special market or grocery store. Always there was some new thing to create.  As it has progressed, I've had a few ETT's without Tara. I've been to other dear friends' homes and enjoyed creating with them...but always the resulting event was to be the same. Random ingredients and creative minds. It's like a melting pot of all things amazing...and usually involves a block of chocolate. Ironically, last night was not an exception. To my joy, we had a few sweet visitors and got to play "dessert fairies" after our adventures and deliver some little bowls of happiness to a few of our dear friends in the area. 

It's not an ETT without the 

Evil clip boards and evil bobble-head giant pens-o-love-and-destruction. Oh, and I can't even work my magic without my lucky socks.

 Tara found my camera and took a shot. Bwhaaha! Can you see the smoke coming out of my ears? OH...and the foot pop with the magic socks is a nice touch. Does popping one's foot out like that help them think better? I think YES. I know the pen the size of a rolling pin helped!

 So, we decided to make a variation of Brownie Pudding from the Barefoot Contessa. We'll give her full credit for this one because it was a truly amazing recipe. I think it's one to keep forever in my Evil notes.   What came out was a cross between a hot chocolate pudding and a fudge brownie. It's a warm, gooey, rich almost brownie fudge "cobbler" effect if I can put it that way. I was stunned by the simplicity and the straight forward heavenly globs of goo that ensued. Ahhh. You really want to have this in your life. 
Barefoot Contessa's Brownie Pudding

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup good cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
• 1 tablespoon framboise liqueur, optional
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 by 12 by 2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the 1/2 pound of butter and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow.

We did add the vanilla bean to the butter as it was melting. Small change but the vanilla will actually have a nice pronounced flavor if you do that. This is a vanilla bean collection. It appears I'm still, somehow, keeping up the bean week theme for this week by using these today...right?! Say yes. Please say yes. They may be the only healthy thing in this post.

Cut the bean in half with a sharp knife and add the contents of the bean to the butter...along with the bean.

Be sure to take the bean out of the butter before you put the butter in the batter. Ya know...because that would be just sad.

 Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the framboise, if using and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined.

Instead of the alcohol, we used 1/2 tsp of each of these. Amazing! I'm a big fan of the whole new Mix-a-meal line of these Powdered flavorings. I use them in a lot of my homemade cake, cookie and muffin mixes and today I just had to try them in this brownie pudding. I'm totally addicted. 

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. We did a large pan and then a second batch using 4 smaller loaf pans.

Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. (That "halfway up the side" is a key phrase here. If you go too high you will have only chocolate pudding...not brownie pudding. half of the pan will be cooking at a higher temperature than the water, producing that brownie on top!).

Tara also thought it was quite humorous that I had chocolate all over my hands and still managed to take pictures of the pudding. Look...I never claimed I had clean hands while in the Evil Think Tank.  

 A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding

How evil is that?!

I also managed to put some caramel  and chopped chocolate on half of the brownie pudding while it was still warm and it could melt. You know, strictly for scientific reasons. There must be a control side and an evil variation side, right? Only so we could compare flavors. (Wink, wink...) 

Friends who came by made the ultimate sacrifice...and ate some of the evil thing. Xoxo to Kim.

Hugs to Amy...who didn't stay for the tasting but brought us peaches!

Plus two or three late night chocolate deliveries from the ETT to girls we adore who spoke up on Facebook during the ETT! Xoxo ladies! You soooo got chocolate because you are loved. Plus...it was fun reading comments on Facebook while we created! How fun! It was almost as good as having you all here!

There you go! I love the ETT! We'll be doing this again really soon and look forward to many, many more culinary adventures together. God bless. Big hugs...and keep moving onward and upward!
Your Friend,
Chef Tess