Chocolate

[soc_puppet]

As the rest of the family was occupied with the superbowl and commercials, I decided it was a good time to take over the kitchen and attempt to make a test batch of chocolate.
I started setting up to nuke the melting chocolate on and off for twenty seconds at a time, stirring in between nuking as directed, when Mom interrupted me. "They say it's not good to cook chocolate directely. Use a double boiler method." I follow Mom's lead.
"Your grandpa Jim used to make chocolate," she tells me. "You may not remember. He used to set up the chocolate to melt like this, then dip pretzels in it and set them on wax paper to dry."
I blink, surprised. "No, I remember." I do remember, a little. I have a vague memory of Grandpa Jim melting chocolate on the stove.
Grandpa Jim is no longer with us. He and Grandma Ruth used to live in the house that my family and I now live in. There used to be a creek in the side yard, which I barely remember. Then it was filled in, which I also barely remember, and the yard is covered up now. I remember a long time ago when Grandpa used to have both his legs. Both of them had to be amputated above the knee, first one and then the other. Toward the last years of his life he got around on a 'Rascal' ^^. (Mom and Dad tell me how he used to be a terrible backseat driver when he couldn't drive any longer; he even had a second rear-view mirror installed so he could give Grandma directions ^^;) I remember when he went to the hospital; he left us before Grandma did. I remember his face and his voice were both scratchy and his arms were strong.
Mom smiles at me. "You're continuing a family tradition."
I smile back. It's good to keep things alive in the family.
(The chocolate just came out of the 'fridge a little while ago; it was good ^_^)

Comments

[ysabet.livejournal.com]

Oh, that IS neat; I have the same kind of memories about making saltwater taffy with my cousins (and burning the hell out of my fingers and tongue because they'd persuade *me* to 'test and see if it's ready, go ahead, it doesn't look TOO hot!') Yeah, the double-boiler method works beautifully; we always called it a Bain Marie ('water bath'? I think) and used it mostly for doing custardy things like Banana Pudding, which I utterly love and worship. It's just a bit of a pain if you don't *have* a double-boiler; you can fake it by balancing a smaller pot inside a larger one, using butterknives on the bottom of the larger one to make a rack-- that works. But gods help you if the bottom of the inner pot touches the bottom of the outer one, 'cause then you're screwed.

Mmmmm, chocolate.... ^__^

[soc_puppet]

We don't actually have a double-boiler >_>, so we used a glass measuring cup in a pan of water (no butterknives). It worked pretty well.

[(Anonymous)]

If you want to borrow a double boiler sometime, ask nekokenchan.

[soc_puppet]

Gotcha.
BTW, who might this be?

[(Anonymous)]

Erm. Someone close enough to nekokenchan to know of and authorize the use of the family's double boiler? As in a parental unit, perhaps?

[soc_puppet]

Ah. Didn't know you read this.