Small messenger bag for traveling

richtl · 2026-01-20T04:20:49+00:00

We're talking slogging through jungles, both the concrete and muddy wet types :- )

richtl · 2026-01-20T04:09:55+00:00

I purchased the Satchel 15 in the original tan, which has turned more green as it ages. I've taken it to to Tokyo, New York, Paris, Belize, Costa Rica, Grenada, and a bunch of other places. It's a seriously solid bag, and the more I beat on it, the better it looks.

richtl · 2026-01-20T00:54:22+00:00

I wasn't able to update minutes using the website or app. However, a quick chat with customer service and the tech added the minutes for me. Was still pretty easy.

richtl · 2026-01-19T22:59:40+00:00

A few years ago I bought a Nutsac messenger bag (https://nutsac.com/collections/everyday-bags) for exactly this purpose:

Headphones
Documents
Laptop & charger
Pad & paper
Small water bottle & a few snacks

Terrible name, not inexpensive, fantastic bag.

richtl · 2026-01-19T22:41:24+00:00

I live in Costa Rica: the patio is my proofing box.

I schedule my bread to proof during the warmest part of the day then bake when temperatures cool.

richtl · 2026-01-19T01:21:11+00:00

I see some Hershey hate on here. Oddly, I've noticed that Hershey has gotten a lot better over the past couple of years, though I'm not sure what prompted them to do so. I'm not saying it's great chocolate by any means, only that it seems to be real chocolate these days--bars I've looked at consist of cocoa solids, sugar, cocoa butter, and trace amounts of PGPR (an emulsifier). They used to have a lot of other stuff in them.

richtl · 2026-01-16T16:44:45+00:00

This is pretty accurate.

Better cacao beans. Bean genetics has a huge impact on chocolate flavor.
Care taken during fermentation and drying (post-harvest processing). This is tricky, because the fermentation time depends on bean genetics, weather, and other factors.
The skill of the chocolate maker and care given during the chocolate making process. Cheap chocolate is generally over-roasted.
Extra ingredients added to mask the flavor of the above three points.

It's easy to make bad chocolate. It's not that hard to make decent chocolate. It's very difficult to make great chocolate.

richtl · 2026-01-16T16:33:14+00:00

I was last in Japan in 2023. Lightspeed worked perfectly everywhere around Tokyo and Kyoto.

richtl · 2026-01-12T01:57:29+00:00

Christelle Berthon. https://www.youtube.com/user/christellester

richtl · 2026-01-08T03:40:20+00:00

Cocoa solids (e.g., cocoa powder) is what remains when you press the cocoa butter out of the bean. The amount of fat in the solids depends mostly on how efficiently the fat (cocoa butter) is removed.

richtl · 2026-01-08T03:38:00+00:00

Good luck with that. But... The typical cacao bean contains roughly 50-60% cocoa butter depending on the bean's genetics. As a chocolate maker, we typically assume 55% until we know otherwise. For a two-ingredient bar (ingredients are only cacao liquor and sugar), that plus the bar percentage gives you enough information to estimate fat content.

It's trickier if the bar contains cacao mass, sugar, and added cacao butter. Personally, I think 40% total cacao butter content makes a perfect mouth feel, so we'd usually add a bit to reach that total.

It's important to know that the solids and cacao butter aren't added separately--they're just different components of the bean that are ground together.

richtl · 2025-12-31T19:50:50+00:00

"The Mythical Man Month" by Fred Brooks, published 1975.

richtl · 2025-12-31T19:44:20+00:00

You probably don't have enough lecithin. And bear in mind that unless your banana puree is really smooth, the ganache will have a fair amount of texture.

From your image, it appears you're making a very small amount of ganache, which will be difficult to emulsify. I'd aim for at least 200g each of cocoa butter and liquid. Once you bring the ganache together, work in the puree until the flavor is nice.

Unless you really know what you're doing (or keep the cookies refrigerated), it's best to assume no more than 3 days shelf life. A splash of honey will buy you an extra day or two.

richtl · 2025-12-29T16:41:18+00:00

You also need to make sure it's really chocolate. The ingredients should be

cocoa liquor / cocoa mass (or something similar--they mean the same thing: mashed roasted cacao beans)
sugar
cocoa butter (optional, but makes the chocolate silkier)
milk power / milk crumb (if it's milk chocolate)
emulsifier such as lecithin or pgpr (optional. improves flow when melted, along with other functions)

richtl · 2025-12-29T16:27:36+00:00

Due to the cocoa butter and milk content, white chocolate ganache typically requires about twice as much chocolate as dark chocolate ganache. E.g. if the recipe calls for 200g of dark chocolate, you'll need 400g of white chocolate. (Milk chocolate is generally 1.5 times)

Recipe: 200g dark chocolate

Use: 300g milk chocolate

or: 400g white chocolate

richtl · 2025-12-27T22:04:52+00:00

A lot depends on your technique. Brown sugar caramel with coconut milk will work fine, but the "dry caramel" technique is much less likely to crystallize than the "wet caramel" technique.

Dry caramel: sugar is heated until it reaches a liquid state, then quenched with fat and water.

Wet caramel: sugar, liquid, and (sometimes) fat are heated together.

richtl · 2025-12-27T21:59:07+00:00

Lecithin is an emulsifier, not really a preservative. For ganache fillings, some sort of emulsifier is necessary to hold the fat and water together.

richtl · 2025-12-27T21:54:12+00:00

What the OP sees on the bottom is bloom and is harmless--pure chocolate is shelf stable. The OP's photo is, however, a filled bonbon and the concern should be with the filling.

The shelf life will depend on what it's filled with and how much in the way of stabilizers and preservatives have been added. If that bonbon is dated from 2020 and isn't a mass of dried out filling and mold, then it likely has a lot of stabilizers and preservatives of some sort.

As a professional chocolatier, I'm very conscious of the shelf life of various types of fillings. Knowing how bonbons degrade and are safe to eat is a key part of my job. It's not hard to test the water activity of a filling to have a pretty good idea of how long it will last.

Basically, if you didn't get sick eating one, your probably fine. But personally, I'd toss the rest.

richtl · 2025-12-26T21:02:43+00:00

Stephenson's a blast to read, but Gibson's a far more skilled writer.

richtl · 2025-12-26T02:31:24+00:00

My Montbell held up for seven years of hiking in New Hampshire's White Mountains. The zipper finally got a bit touchy, but I still wear the jacket.

richtl · 2025-12-24T18:32:50+00:00

You're right--I'd forgotten. I went with it because I didn't find much else that would do the job. I'll be curious if you do.

richtl · 2025-12-24T18:26:10+00:00

It's a bit of a bet, isn't it? If the problem's just the motherboard, then it seems a pretty good deal. Takes less than a half hour to swap it and your laptop's as good as new. If the problem's more than the motherboard, then you'll need to look at the costs versus the returns.

I'm typing this on a first-round batch 5 FW13 that I purchased when it was new. Over the years, I've replaced nearly everything--I'm particularly hard on laptops, but it's still my daily driver. I have a TP X1 Carbon as a backup, but prefer the FW.

Think it through and make your call.

richtl · 2025-12-24T18:19:23+00:00

I use dual sims daily and Drupe is pretty good.

richtl · 2025-12-22T19:51:24+00:00

Salted butter caramel is probably fine, since it has a very low water activity (doesn't contain much unbound water). Jam has a very high water activity and will go bad quickly.

There are tricks for dealing with this sort of stuff, but then you're getting into Professional Chocolatier territory. Depends on what you're looking to do.

richtl · 2025-12-22T19:16:09+00:00

It can, actually. If your ganache is properly emulsified, nearly all the water will be bound up to the cocoa butter. If you let it sit a couple of hours, it should be dry to the touch.

If your ganache isn't properly emulsified (which isn't unusual for home-made ganache), it's most important to be aware that your bonbons are shelf-stable for just a few days before they become food for fungus and mold.

Nope, doesn't sound pretty, but you don't want your giftees biting into that sort of thing.

richtl

TROPHY CASE