We’re entering a major heat wave, which means no chocolates for awhile. Which, of course, meant that I had to get my test batch of chocolates in before the heat wave hit, resulting in this:



Which, of course, led to this:

and eventually this:

The one unfortunate part is that I didn’t put enough pectin into the marmalades, so they squished while I was cutting them, resulting in some seriously deformed chocolates. No matter – I’m sure my coworkers will enjoy them. I’m not super wild about any of the flavors – or rather, while I think they all have promise, they definitely need more fine-tuning in the test kitchen before they’re ready for prime time. I’ve noted them all as prospects for the test kitchen in October.
And I’m pleased to say that the tempering machine worked perfectly! It’s a joy to use – way better than the old one.
Finally, here are Fritz and Tigress, laying claim to a new piece of furniture we bought recently:

(Yes, I know it’s an odd place to store butternut squash. But we are still working our way through the thirty-seven butternut squash our garden produced last year…despite giving many away to friends, we still have more than enough to carry us through to next harvest time!)