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Locke's Christmas Candy

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:25 am
by locke
Anyone who wants a christmas goodies packet from me will receive some.

I'm making cookies and christmas candy this week and I will be happy to send a box of candy out to any pwebber who sends me their address via PM.

It's very tasty and I'm making it anyway for work, but I like you guys better, so let me give you all some too. :):):)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

-Adam

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:26 am
by jotabe
Anyone who wants a christmas goodies packet from me will receive some. I"m making cookies and christmas candy this week and will be happy to send it out to any pwebber who sends me their address via PM. It's very tasty and I'm making it anyway for work, but I like you guys better, so let me give you all some too. :):):)
Omg... you are grinding the level up of cooking IRL! :shock:

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:28 am
by locke
Anyone who wants a christmas goodies packet from me will receive some. I"m making cookies and christmas candy this week and will be happy to send it out to any pwebber who sends me their address via PM. It's very tasty and I'm making it anyway for work, but I like you guys better, so let me give you all some too. :):):)
Omg... you are grinding the level up of cooking IRL! :shock:
It happens at christmas, I can't help it, it's programmed into me from the time I was able to toddle. make candy at christmas or it's not quite christmas yet. :nods:

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:55 pm
by Petra456
What is considered Christmas candy? Everyone I know makes cookies, but i've never known someone to make candy.

You're putting me in a baking mood.

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:39 am
by locke
I'll post pictures as they're completed candy consists of:

peanut butter balls
Coconut creams
Chocolate truffles
Peanut Clusters (if I can ever find almond bark in Los Angeles, apparently it doesn't exist out here :( )
Rocky Road Fudge

my mom never did show me how to make peanut brittle or pecan brittle because by the time I was old enough to be around boiling hot sugar her candy thermometer had long sense broken.

and the cookies are simply chocolate chip cookies, but they're very good. :)

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:37 am
by Petra456
*drools*

All of those sound amazing.

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 5:05 pm
by Ela
I would love to try your Xmas cookies and candy, but I would feel obligated to send something back if I got something that sounds so yummy from you.

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:47 pm
by locke
don't feel obligated, I'm happy to send them out. I love making it, and in my opinion it's a great way to say thank you to this marvelous community we have here and for all of you being here. :)

here's the three things that are done so far, three more to go tomorrow

Image
Coconut Cream

Image
Truffles

Image
Peanut Cluster

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:54 pm
by ender1
*drools*

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:13 pm
by steph
Adam, you are not helping me to stick to my decision to not send you my address! Holy cow, those look amazing!

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:05 am
by Ela
Agreed. I am very impressed that you can make such beautiful candy.

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:21 pm
by locke
openings have closed to receive candy. :P

10 pwebbers getting boxes. amusing it worked out like that as that's about what I wanted to send out. :)

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:34 pm
by Gravity Defier
*clears throat*

*sings* On the first day of Christmas, Adam gave to me: a box of homemade chocolate candy!

*exits*

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:45 pm
by locke
*applause*

that was terrific, Spidermonkey. see, you can sing! :)

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:23 pm
by locke
I decided no chocolate chip cookies both because I haven't made them and for weight reasons. :) some other time perhaps. :D

anyways, here's the last of the two goodies:

Image
Peanut Butter Balls

ImageRocky road 'fudge'

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:06 pm
by Mich
*drools*

*wipes drool off of keyboard*

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:00 am
by locke
everything was sent out.

Westcoastish pwebbers (rockies and west of that) got sent priority mail. everyone else went regular parcel post. though I should have sent it priority to the other US pwebbers it'd have worked out to within a few cents when you factor in buying the silly ready post boxes at the post office, whereas the priority mail boxes are free. :/ oddly I got the idea to do this about a week after I threw out a dozen amazon boxes that had been cluttering up my closet for the last year or two as they accumulated. :lol:

enjoy everyone, some of you will get them before christmas but if it doesn't make it by christmas, well it's just stretching your christmas out, as we put it in my family.

I was going to write a note to put with the candy but I didn't remember that until I was driving away from the post office. a bit late to remember then. :D

Adam

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 2:38 pm
by Gravity Defier
Just so everyone knows, in the event that I drop off the face of the earth, I received my candy today and have tried a piece. It was yummy and there are no signs of poison. Yet. ;)

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:23 pm
by Petra456
I can't wait!

*excited dance*

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:52 pm
by Valentine
Me either, Fred! :D

Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:54 am
by steph
Brian informed me in the middle of the night when he got home from work that my package had come! I'm on my way to try some candy now!

Thanks, Adam. You're pretty much awesome.

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:10 am
by lyons24000
I got a letter in my mailbox that I got a package so I'm assuming it is Adam's candy. I'm going to pick it up today.

It might also be the CD's I ordered.

---------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: It was the candy, Adam! The box smelled so good that I wanted to eat that, too! I just took a nibble of the Rocky Road Fudge thingie but it was good! Thanks a bunch. My wife wants to send you seven dollars to make up for the shipping and package. I couldn't quite read the street name so do you think you could send a PM with that so we can repay you?

Shawn

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:40 pm
by Valentine
The candy is awesome!!! :D I just got mine today; thanks Adam!!!

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:48 pm
by Gravity Defier
My brothers found mine and managed to sneak into my room and eat it at various times until there was nothing left. They kindly request more, and are willing to pay. :P

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:56 pm
by Ela
Maybe you should go into the candy-making business, Adam. ;)

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:38 pm
by locke
glad folks are enjoying. :) I hope you got to try some of each, Alea, I'm very cross with your brothers right now, how incredibly crass. :(

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:52 am
by Young Val
So there's this fancy, humongous, super expensive gym on my block that I have always wanted to join, but because it was so much more than I could afford and because I didn't believe I'd really force myself to go, I'd never done so.

Well they are having a HUGE end of the year membership sale, and I think I'm finally in a place to take my health seriously. So today I joined!!!!!! I was SO proud of myself.

And then I came home.


AND THE CANDY WAS WAITING FOR ME!

*sigh* The peanutbutter balls alone are worth it. OMG so good!!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:59 am
by locke
making peanut butter balls is quite easy. :-P

Peanut butter balls
2 ½ cups (28 oz jar) chunky peanut butter
1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups)
½ cup plus 3 T butter
3 cups rice krispies

1 package chocolate
1/3 stick cooking paraffin.

Toss rice krispies in powdered sugar.
Melt peanut butter and butter together, pour over rice krispies and powdered sugar and mix all together. portion out the peanut butter mix onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet and chill. Roll into small balls after cooled. Melt together chocolate and paraffin and dip the peanut butter balls.


I actually didn't use parafin for the Pweb coconut creams and peanut butter balls. I used an alton brown technique.

most chocolate when melted won't set back up unless it's tempered. that's because if it goes over 96 degrees iit loses the crystalline structure that allows it to set up hard. parafin lets the chocolate set, but it has a waxy texture, naturally, and is a much thinner and softer coat of chocolate. tempering resets the crystalline structure in the chocolate but is a massive pain in the ass and requires special equipment, iirc. another alternative is to add almond bark to the chocolate, like with the peanut clusters, but that will result in a much sweeter coating and be less chocolately But Alton has a way to melt chocolate so you can dip things in it and it sets back up as hard as it was before. It just takes time and patience. basically you take a heating pad, like the kind you use for a sore back/muscles, put it in a big bowl, put another mixing bowl on top of it and then plug in and turn on the heating pad to its highest level. Then pour the chocolate chips into the top bowl, and wait, stir it every few minutes. It'll probably take about 45 to melt a package of chocolate chips (less if you use chocolate chopped off a block yourself as the pieces would be smaller) and you'll have an extremely thick melted chocolate about 94 degrees. dip the balls, taking care not to use too much chocolate per ball, as it's easy to pick up an awful lot of chocolate and set on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and then chill. doing it this way will probably take about a package and a half of chocolate chips rather than a single package you can get away with if using the paraffin. :P

this technique can be seen in Good Eats season 8 episode 10 the Art of Darkness III which is also where I learned to make the truffles.

btw I used Gutillard semi-sweet chocolate chips, for all the chocolate which are by far the best chocolate chips I've ever tasted and I've tried most every variety. luckily they're in regular supermarkets on the west coast. The exception is the ganache in the truffles used Sharffen Berger 70% and they were rolled in Trader Joe's unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch processed but still a really great cocoa powder).

I used a number 60 disher for portioning out my peanut butter balls, but my mom just uses a spoon or her hands. :)

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:46 am
by Petra456
I got my candy yesterday after picking Will up from the airport! The first thing we did was have some!

It's completely amazing!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:59 pm
by Jebus
Hey locke, gimme my avatar back. I'm pretty sure it's been over a month since I was Very Bold.

And gimme some candy too.

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:07 pm
by Mich
Best "Welcome back from the Great White North [in America]" ever: a plain white box containing tasty, tasty candy.

Thanks, Adam. Now if only I can keep some away from my dad long enough to share with my roommate.

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:16 pm
by daPyr0x
Wow, I was beginning to think I wasn't getting any, but it finally showed up! That was totally awesome Locke, both the gesture and the candy. Thank you.

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:16 am
by Eaquae Legit
Same here, Cam! Except I didn't get to eat hardly any of it, since I flew out the next day. :( They looked so delicious! I was afraid the mail people had eaten them. Thanks, Adam!