TN9 Info

Once you begin eating one chocolate, you may want to have one more and this may go on and on, because it’s so tempting with its creamy sweetness, shine and snap. But this shine and snap are not chocolate’s natural qualities and are obtained only by a process called tempering. Tempering has three steps in it: heating, cooling and reheating.

The process of tempering becomes less than straightforward because of the fact that it involves accurately keeping specific temperatures the whole time, as experienced chocolatiers and beginners attest to:

• The fatty acids contained in cocoa butter, the main ingredient of chocolates, form into six types of crystals.
• These six crystal formations tend to multiply at six various temperatures when you do tempering.
• Type V crystals that are one among these crystals make the chocolates crisp and shiny and the other types of crystals, if allowed to dominate at their own temperatures, come in the way of production of type V crystals.
• Therefore, to achieve the most wanted shine and snap, the temperature at which type V crystals are formed must be upheld perfectly.
• Manual tempering is done via tabliering and seeding. In both these methods, specific and accurate temperatures are necessary; otherwise, tempering may have to be done again and again.
• Other factors that may spoil tempering by hand are moisture in the surroundings and in the utensils used for tempering as well as using an imprecise thermometer, among others.

Large quantities can be tempered only by using a tempering machine because with one you’ll have a uniform good quality in the entire output. It is a microprocessor on the tempering machine that does the job of maintains correct temperatures during heating, cooling and reheating. If you use a tempering machine, the chocolates can also remain tempered for an extended duration. You are left with a lot of free time that can be used constructively for improving the quality of your chocolates for improved branding and profit margins.

Learning tempering by hand is also a must in a chocolate confections business because there may be occasions that may demand it. But investing in a tempering machine is also a must-do as you can make consistently good quality chocolates for sticking to the time-schedules imposed by the buyers.

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For those of you who are conscious of wish lanterns and have used them some times on previous occassions, you’ll have been devastated that in the last month or so our stash of wish lanterns at our Wimbledon warehouses decreased to zero. We were forced to let down many an customers awaiting to buy wish lanterns in bulk for a wedding ceremony or house party, because we plainly didn’t have any in stock. This was not due to awful organization on the part of the wish lantern team, nor due to an inexpert and sub par supplier. We got into this state simply because customers loves wish lanterns so much. Due to unprecedented demand, the team found themselves transferring sky lanterns swifter than they could bundle them up. While this was very nice for business, it was not so good for clients when we eventually reached the point where there were no longer any lanterns left to sell. We had to disappoint many people wanting to buy lanterns in bulk for their wedding or for parties, because there were simply not one to spare. Thankfully this is no longer the case. Couples no longer have to put their weddings on hold because of a lantern. We now, finally have them in stock again in their thousands, so get buying!

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Aside from its traditional use, crochet thread can be used for a number of other activities. One of the most creative and fun ideas for your kids to use crochet thread is in this geometry project which is both fun and a learning exercise.

All you need is old cardboard, paper, crochet thread, a large eye needle, ruler, child-safe glue, and any fun, miscellaneous decorative supplies (glitter, stickers, etc.). Remember, this is a child friendly project, so encourage their creative side in order to make the project successful and entertaining.

To begin the project, let your child choose a piece of paper. Take the old cardboard and have your child glue the paper to the cardboard with the child safe glue. This fortifies your geometric shape. Let the glue dry.

While the glue is drying, go through your child’s geometry book or workbook and let them choose a simple geometric shape to recreate. Draw the geometric shape on the paper. Before drawing the shape for the crochet project, make sure you wait until the glue is 100% dry. You should use the ruler to make sure the lines of the shape are clean. Have your child write the name of the shape they drew inside of it on the cardboard.

Take the crochet needle and poke small holes on the lines of the shape they drew. Make sure the holes are not too close together. You will be sewing the crochet thread through the holes and you do not want the holes to rip. Once the holes are punched, help your child put the thread through the crochet needle’s large eye. Tie a knot at the end of the crochet thread. Show your child how to string the crochet thread through the holes in the cardboard dot by dot around the edge outlining your geometric shape. Once the shape has been outlined, your child can add glitter, sequins, or decorate with markers.

In the end, you and your child will have created an array of geometry flashcards to help ensure he/she learns the shapes, sides, and names. Not only will the activity teach your child a new skill, it will give you one on one quality time together. Keep them entertained with different colors of thread, lots of glitter, and any other fun art supplies your child finds interesting.

Margarette Tustle writes ideas for home and family. Read more about Crochet Thread at dbthread.com.

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Canvas work is the technique of forming stitches on a special open-weave fabric known as canvas. Canvas is constructed if vertical and horizontal threads that are woven together to produce precisely spaced holes between threads. The points at which these threads intersect are known as meshes. All canvas work stitches are worked to make use of the grid-like structure of the canvas.

Basically, any canvas work stitch can only go in two directions - either diagonally across or parallel to the canvas threads and meshes. The direction of the thread takes is dictated by the kind of stitch that is being worked. Several canvas work stitches only fall in one direction; others require threads to be laid in several directions or even to be crossed over each other.

The size of a stitch depends upon two things. One of these is the character of the stitch. Certain of the stitches span only one canvas thread or mesh; other stitches span two or more. Stitch size also depends on the gauge of the canvas that is being used. (The gauge of the canvas is the number of meshes to each one-inch or 2.5 cm of that canvas).

The more meshes per one-inch a canvas has, the smaller the stitches worked on it can be. Canvas is available in many gauges; this wide range generally falls into one of two categories - Petitpoint (16 or more meshes) or grospoint (fewer than 16 meshes). In general, the smaller the mesh, the more time it will take to complete. However, the smaller stitches are more durable.

Jo Kefford has been creating needlework for many years, and loves to encourage others to renew their creative flair. For more top tapestry and canvas work tips, visit http://www.toptapestry.com . All the sources of inspiration you need to complete your very own masterpiece.

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