MINI EGGS!

My one weakness in straying from the dark side of chocolate is Cadbury Mini Eggs.  Of course, while making my way along the store aisle what should grab my attention amongst all the other POS dribble…MINI EGGS!  I was excited.  Yes, I get excited about mini eggs.  Even though they aren’t nearly half as good as they used to be, and despite the fact that I hear more and more that the Canadian version kicks ass, I bought ‘em.   (They are much better melted a bit in the microwave, by the way.)  There is a dark chocolate version of mini eggs, of course, and I did try them last year.  They tasted like they were from 1979.  Pretty disgusting and chalky.

There’s also a bit of nostalgia for me with mini eggs.  It was like the first sign of spring when my mom would surprise me with a peak of purple hidden amongst the other Easter goodies.  I don’t much care for anything else candy-wise (except Reese’s PB Eggs…I mean, come on, who doesn’t like those!).

Mini eggs are my comfort chocolate. 

Chocolate-covered cockroaches

Last summer I became certified as a chocolatier.  I do not, however, feel the right to really boast the fact.  For one, I don’t work with chocolate on a regular basis and two, I’ve never trained under a professional.  Training under a professional is probably the best way to move forward in the business.  It is also seemingly of upmost importance in bragging rights of the numerous chefs or chocolatiers out there.  When you look at their list of accolades, you will always find a few of the famous names circulating.  It never fails.  I often wonder: how many degrees of separation are there between that boasting chef and that famous chef?  Did he or she really train under Jacques Torres or did that chocolatier train under a friend of Jacque Torres, and by association, used the famous name?  Seriously.  Those famous chocolatiers and chefs simply don’t have the time or perhaps even the desire to train underlings!

I mentioned that I do not regularly work with chocolate.  Yet another bad habit of mine.  But consider this: my kitchen is smaller and more difficult to work around in than a typical home bathroom.  And I have cockroaches.  Yes.  That is correct.  The little bastards moved in about a year ago and have been sporadically crawling into my view from time to time.  And no, I will NEVER consider or even think it’s funny to make chocolate-covered cockroaches.  I dream for the day I can afford a nice kitchen with lots of light and no crawling critters.  Sigh.

Another thing that has been on my mind lately, and also a reason to pursue this blog, is to write a book on chocolate.  Yes, there are books out there, but relatively few for such a popular subject.  Most are recipe books, if not all.  There are ideas floating around in my head, but nothing has sparked inspiration to the point of planning the book.  I do know that I want it to be different, not focused on recipes, and filled with fabulous photography and design.  But the challenge is to create something unique but profitable.

Oooh – and I got a call from the Twin Cities Chocolate Show this week about our company exhibiting at the show.  Forget exhibiting…I’m there no matter what!

Which brings me to a random bit of listing – here is my library of chocolate books thus far:

• Chocolates & Confections: formula, theory & technique for the artisan confectioner by Peter P. Greweling, CMB – this is wayyy technical down to using metric for measurements (since I suck at math anyway, this is a huge challenge for me)
• Chocolate Obession by Michael Recchiuti & Fran Gage – beautiful book – and I highly recommend that you watch his video of making truffles in an elevator here
• Discover Chocolate by Clay Gordon – this guy has a blog and general site called Chocolate Life and this book is focused on the basics – very nice for the beginner chocolate lover
• Chocolate: A Healthy Passion by Shara Aaron & Monica Bearden – very wordy – in fact, I haven’t even read through it yet
• Deep Dark Chocolate: Decadent Recipes for the serious Chocolate Lover by Sara Perry – very nice recipes but what I love most is the design & typography in this book – they use three main typefaces, love it
• Making Artisan Chocolate by Andrew Garrison Shotts – Nice recipes offered in this book – I had the chance once to have the author sign the book but never actually went through with it – not a big deal for me anyway – I’d rather chat over drinks than gather a collection of autographs
• Chocolate: The chocolate lover’s handbook with 40 recipes by Stephan Lagorce – OK, so I totally bought this because of the faux chocolate bar look to the book, so sue me
• The Chocolate Connoisseur by Chloe Doutre-Roussel -  this was my very first chocolate book and I will always treasure it – it helped spark my passion for a career with chocolate
• Chocolate: Discovering, Exploring, Enjoying by Sara Jane Stanes – your basic chocolate 101 book
• The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition by TCB Cafe Publishing & Media – profiles of every chocolatier and shop in the western USA (or rather, those that submitted their information)
• Wild Sweets Chocolate by Dominique & Cindy Duby – the completely out-of-the-box photography and recipes are absolutely inspiring
• Chocolate by Jan Hedh & Klas Andersson – oh yeah, $10 bargain at the bookstore
• Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking & Cooking with Fine Chocolate by Robert Steinberg & John Scharffenberger – I LOVE this book.  Sadly, Robert Steinberg died last year and now Hershey, parent company, is closing their factory they worked diligently to create in San Francisco.  At least I’ll always have their story in this book – very inspiring to those who are starting their own chocolate business

And that’s it (I think), for now!

Blahbitty blah blah: Valentine’s Day

Can you tell how much I enjoy Valentine’s Day?  It’s nothing special.  And we all know why it’s hyped up so much.  It makes some of us money.  Unfortunately for the chocolate company I work for, that isn’t so.  Why?  We don’t have an actual retail location for starters, and two, no one wants to pay for shipping when they buy stuff online.  Paying for shipping is like paying parking tickets – totally unnecessary.

I’m a little off today so forgive me for my lack of enthusiasm.  Or rather, that is pretty much the norm for me.

I keep up pretty regularly (almost obsessively) with any kind of news pertaining to chocolate.  Yesterday msnbc.com had a photo essay regarding cacao farming and what not in the Ivory Coast.  I am highly aware of the ethical issues with cacao farming, but to see them in pictures is another thing all together.  It’s appalling really, to see a Cargill warehouse separated only by barbed wire fencing from a sea of trash and poverty.  Or children holding cacao pods in their hands, their machettes at the ready.  How many children, I wonder, are roaming that trash with scars or perhaps even missing limbs?

I’m refrain from going any further into the subject for now, as again, I’m not up to par today.

Chocolate consumed this week: Cholives, Chruffles, and Scharffenberger 70% dark

I never normally crave chocolate, but when I do, it seems to be for the sweeter, creamier truffle variety than a simple bar.  Cholives really hit the spot, I must say!

Hoarding chocolate

I hoard chocolate.  It’s a sin really, and I don’t eat much of it, which makes it an even bigger sin.  Apart from my obsession with chocolate, I am attracted to nice packaging & graphics – it’s sort of a weakness for us graphic designers out there…you know who you are and you totally know what I’m talking about.  I thought I’d share a little peak into what I have hiding around the place.

Chocolate currently in my arsenal:
Theo Nib Brittle
Charles Chocolates 65% Salty-Sweet Hazelnut Bar from their Emeryville Collection
Kallari 85%
Ethel’s  Mocha Cappuccino bar & Dark Chocolate bar
ScharffenBerger Limited Series #9 Antilles Bar 75%
Dove Roasted Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Bar
Sweetriot tin flavor 70
Godiva Chocoiste Dark Chocolate Pearls tin

Now, I could review all these and tell you what I think about them.  But didn’t you read the first part of my post?! ;P  I did start reviewing them but then realized I wasn’t very good at the reviewing part.  I just said I liked or didn’t like – not why.  That’s going to take some mulling over.  I’ll get back to you on that….

Time to drink, I think

Welcome!

I figured it was time to start a blog.  I don’t really like to talk much (it gets me in trouble).  But I do like to lounge, and I do love chocolate.

Chocolate has not always been an obsession or passion for me.  I actually sort of fell into it through a personal crisis, a senior thesis, and a new project at work (all coinciding).  Now I work for a chocolate company and I’m a certified chocolatier.  I do not make chocolate for that company, but I do act as an advisor.

Over the years I have studied chocolate, read nearly every book on the subject, collected articles, bought pounds and pounds of chocolate…and mused about how I can utilize all that knowledge.

I’m still working on it.

In the meantime, I am writing this blog to share my knowledge and hopefully discuss the various wonders of the chocolate world with you.

Thanks for reading!