Antique Sideboard Glow Up

Over Christmas break, I thought a lot about the need for a better storage solution for my chocolate supplies. As my collection of molds, flavourings, colorants, and tools has grown, I've tried a variety of solutions. First there was a cute blue rolling cart that I found in the trading area of my building. Then when I moved my baking supplies into a new cabinet, I repurposed the Rubbermaid cart for molds. Soon there was a pile next to these carts and everything started looking cluttered.

And so I spent some time over Christmas looking at options available to me. There wasn't much in stock at Canadian Tire or Home Depot, and what was available seemed expensive given that it's made of MDF. I considered ordering from Amazon, but then worried about it arriving damaged (or it being dropped in the lobby while I am at work). As much as I would love a trip to Ikea, I knew I wasn't likely to do that before the spring. 

I started contemplating the secondhand options in town and then did something I never do -- I looked at Facebook Marketplace. I quickly found a number of listings for sideboards at a used furniture store in a nearby community and decided to make the pilgrimage there for when they opened the next day. 

When I arrived, they were loading furniture onto the truck and they commented that if I picked out something in the next 20 minutes, then they would deliver it the same day. No problem, I thought, as I strolled around. I walked the perimeter and stopped in front of an antique sideboard unlike any other in the showroom. "I'll take it." The guy was a bit dumbfounded by how quickly I made the decision, but then flipped the sign over to SOLD without missing a beat. (I also picked out a new chest of drawers for my bedroom to replace a collapsible, cloth wardrobe.) I quickly paid and then headed straight home to clear a path for the sideboard that would have to roll past the Christmas tree and presents. Two hours later, it was in place. 

Now, this tiger oak wood sideboard needed a little love. The spindles holding up the top shelf were spinning freely and had to be toenailed into place. The mirror was rattling with every movement and needed the wooden backing put back into place. A few pronounced scratches needed to be coloured with a wax pencil and furniture marker. The molding along the top shelf had to be glued and clamped into place. The drawers required some shelf liner and one needed a cutlery tray to be functional. My boyfriend and I (but mostly my boyfriend) tackled each task over a two week period while waiting for new pulls to arrive.

You see, a few of the wooden pulls were missing and broken. And while it was tempting to try to match the originals, I had in my head that it needed a bit of an art deco vibe with glass drawer knobs. Green glass drawer knobs, to be exact. They couldn't be procured locally, but Amazon was happy to bring the world to my door. We struggled to install them because each section required a different length of screw, but we persisted. And I'm glad we did. 

One last piece that bothered me was that only one of the three keyholes still had its brass plate. If I could, I wanted to replace those as well. I had little luck with my searching until I discovered the term "escutcheon," which according to Google is "a flat piece of metal for protection and often ornamentation, around a keyhole, door handle, or light switch." Who knew? Armed with that term, I quickly found what I was looking for and ordered them. The installation was tedious, but not difficult. We completed the three over a 2-day period. And when I say we, I mean my boyfriend carefully widened the keyholes with a hand file until the escutcheons fit. He's been a great partner in the glow up of this sideboard. 

The storage space inside is incredible. All of my chocolate molds fit in the bottom drawer. The left side of the middle section contains all of my chocolate supplies, while the right side is now storage for board games. The top left drawer contains my Aunt Mona's cutlery, making it much more accessible for entertaining. And the right drawer contains some seasonal stoneware.

It will take some time to decide exactly what to put on top of the sideboard, since the mirror will reflect everything, but for now I'm loving this as the home for my green glass decanter, a gift many years ago from my late Aunt Rosella and Uncle Mike. A treasure from our antique and flea market days in the late '90s, this Italian blown glass piece features an ice chamber for chilling white wine. I have a few more pieces of green glass that may also suit the vibe. 

Until then, I couldn't be happier with this restoration. It feels like this sideboard was meant to be with me.

If you're curious, here's the before pic:

Climate Change and Chocolate

With a title like "Climate Change and Chocolate," you might expect this blog to be about the growing and fermentation conditions for cacao -- and that would be an interesting post, I'm sure. But tonight, knowing that vacation is nearing, my reflections are much closer to home. Since doing my professional chocolatier program in 2018, I have noticed the impact of hotter summers in my apartment, not only because of the impact on my own personal temperament, but also the temper of my chocolate.

Chocolate is sensitive to heat. Consequently, during summer in Canada, shipping chocolate becomes more complicated, requiring more expensive two-day shipping and the inclusion of ice packs to ensure it doesn't melt. While chocolate that has melted is still perfectly edible, when it re-solidifies, it is no longer in the ideal crystal structure and so is no longer "in temper." It will likely lose its snap and develop bloom. To avoid the additional shipping expenses, I tend to order my chocolate for the year in February before shipping restrictions come into play. While I don't keep a massive supply of chocolate on hand, it wouldn't be uncommon for me to have between 15 and 20 pounds at any given time.  

Now, in previous years, this wasn't an issue. The building I live in doesn't have central air conditioning. To cool my apartment, I have developed a system of opening windows at night to cool off my apartment and then closing them during the day to try to keep the heat and humidity out. I have three fans that I prop in the windows to facilitate air flow. And using this method, I have generally been able to keep the temperature in a safe zone for chocolate and my temper. That is, until last year.

Last summer, I struggled to manage the heat in my apartment and for the first time ever, the temperature rose above 26 degrees Celcius. In fact, I installed a portable air conditioner and MacGyvered a way to connect it to my bedroom window, which cranks open at the bottom. It's not practical, however, to run one of these units night and day throughout summer, so it couldn't solve the issue of chocolate storage. Finally I gave in and did the thing you shouldn't do: I put the chocolate in my fridge. 

A fridge is not an ideal storage location for chocolate. First, it is too cold. Chocolate is best stored between 16 and 18 degrees, and it tastes best between 12 and 20 degrees -- which is why you should always let it come to room temperature before eating it if you have refrigerated it. Second, there is too much humidity in a fridge, which can lead to bloom. Chocolate with bloom is still edible, but not particularly attractive. And third, chocolate stored in a fridge could lose its flavour and/or pick up smells from other items. When you store your chocolate in the fridge, then, you flirt with danger! But, for me, its better to wrap it properly and store it in the fridge than to leave it out and potentially have it come out of temper. (The chocolate, of course, could be re-tempered, but for small production without a tempering machine, it's easier to start with tempered chocolate that can be used for seeding. The chocolate could also be used in other applications, like ganache truffles.)

I don't anticipate that the summers will get any cooler; rather, I expect that they will only get hotter as time goes on. And so as I shut down chocolate production for the summer and prepare to go on vacation, preparing my chocolate for storage is mission critical. If the chocolate were still in an unopened Callebaut bag, then I would put that inside an airtight container or bag and put it directly in the fridge. But because my chocolate has already been opened, I emptied the bags into airtight containers (Carlisle 6 quart) and then, as a backup, wrapped that in a plastic bag. Then I put them in the very back of the fridge, on the bottom shelf. It takes up a lot of real estate in there, but it's a necessary evil.

[The other option, of course, would be to purchase a wine fridge and set it to 16 degrees. Believe me, I've thought about it! But I'm already running short on space in my apartment, so I'm not sure exactly where I could put it.]

And with the installation of the chocolate in my fridge, the chocolate factory is closed until September. But the chocolate adventures will continue, for while I may not be able to work with chocolate, I certainly can taste it and study it.