What can I say? I'm a terrible blogger. Hopefully, people who know me think I'm a better person than I am a blogger, because if not, I'm totally failing at life. Suffice it to say, it's been a rollercoaster of an autumn. Things happened, tears were shed, dogs were adopted, ponies were rescued. I've been busy.
But I've also been hard at work in the chocolate kitchen, and things are moving right along, and back on track! Or should I say, bac-on track? (Oh Leslie, please no puns) Chocolate covered bacon continues to be a big hit - I'm hoping the hog farms of NC can keep up with the demand. The very cool guys over at Cool Hunting have added me to their holiday gift guide. Thanks to them, and go check out all their other offerings if you want to be the cool gift giver this year.
It's not all bacon and bourbon truffles here, though. The winter flavors are especially delicious - Peppermint Truffles are back by popular demand. This year, they're joined by Coconut Cardamom Creams - a buttercream blended with toasted coconut and warm cardamom (it's one of those spices that you'll find yourself craving), Blood Orange Creams - tangy blood oranges and candied ginger mingling together in a festive pink buttercream, and Rum Raisin Creams - it's looking like A Very Buttercream Christmas this year, but rum raisin was a big hit in the fall, and I had to keep it running - this bonbon is a toasty marriage of Jamaican rum and golden raisins.
Also new for the long dark nights are Winter Spice Marshmallows. There's just something about a homemade marshmallow, it's addictive. These are especially addictive, because I start with a chocolate spice marshmallow, top it with ginger ganache, and top that with a toasted sweet and salty pecan. The whole business is dropped head-first into milk or dark chocolate. There really isn't any stopping with one, so be forewarned.
My last tidbit of news concerns the Weaver Street Market. If you're a shopper in the area, you may have noticed a decided lack of LUCA lately. We're re-vamping for a new line. Tentatively called LUCA signature, it will be all the best of the basics, in a windowed box, priced for snacking. Look for it on the shelves in the next week.
So that's all the news I've got to share right now. I promise not to be so delinquent in my posting of news and information in the future. Now go buy chocolate!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
programming note
Just a quick note, the chocolate kitchen will be closed this week, so any orders you place will go out next Monday. Thanks for your patience, and I'll be posting photos of chocolate tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
On nuts and allergies..
"May contain traces of nuts", "processed in a facility that processes wheat"...chances are, you've seen this warning on at least one or two packages of processed food. If you look on the back of my boxes, you'll see a similar warning. But a recent report on Marketplace made me consider the implications of my labeling.
I actually don't constantly work with nuts. There are a handful of recipes that contain them, and I don't make them every week. But I've never had a potentially hazardous food allergy. We've all heard some six o'clock news story about a child whose life hangs in the balance because of a chance encounter with the remnant of a peanut. So how much nut is too much nut? (or dairy, or wheat, or soy?)
The purpose of the story was to illustrate the wide variations in these allergy warnings, and to report that the FDA is considering regulating such warnings in order to provide consumer confidence and greater uniformity in the wording. Personally, I'd welcome such regulation, because it's all such a gray zone to me. If I chop some walnuts for a ganache, is the cutting board free of walnut traces after a good wash? Two washes? What if I wash my hands and dry them on a towel. Is there nut oil on the towel?
You can see where this is going. The last thing I want is to make someone sick by unintentionally feeding them nuts or dairy or soy or wheat. Having one's throat swell up is not the way to best savor a sea salt caramel or a bourbon truffle. So, until the FDA gives me a better cheat sheet - you should know that when I warn you that my chocolates have been produced in a facility that also handles nuts, soy, wheat and dairy, that's exactly what I mean. And if you ever have any questions about a specific product, don't hesitate to call. As always, if you have special needs or allergies, make sure you call or email, and I'll do my best to accomodate you.
There's a code on every box sold in retail that tells me exactly when I made the product and when it should be consumed for best flavor. It's eight digits - the first four are the date it was made, the last four are the date it expires. I should qualify that by saying, it doesn't really "expire", it just won't taste as good. Of course, if it's several months past, you probably don't want to eat it anyway!
With that, I'll tell you that I'll be posting new flavors next week, and changing the website offerings. Stay tuned.
I actually don't constantly work with nuts. There are a handful of recipes that contain them, and I don't make them every week. But I've never had a potentially hazardous food allergy. We've all heard some six o'clock news story about a child whose life hangs in the balance because of a chance encounter with the remnant of a peanut. So how much nut is too much nut? (or dairy, or wheat, or soy?)
The purpose of the story was to illustrate the wide variations in these allergy warnings, and to report that the FDA is considering regulating such warnings in order to provide consumer confidence and greater uniformity in the wording. Personally, I'd welcome such regulation, because it's all such a gray zone to me. If I chop some walnuts for a ganache, is the cutting board free of walnut traces after a good wash? Two washes? What if I wash my hands and dry them on a towel. Is there nut oil on the towel?
You can see where this is going. The last thing I want is to make someone sick by unintentionally feeding them nuts or dairy or soy or wheat. Having one's throat swell up is not the way to best savor a sea salt caramel or a bourbon truffle. So, until the FDA gives me a better cheat sheet - you should know that when I warn you that my chocolates have been produced in a facility that also handles nuts, soy, wheat and dairy, that's exactly what I mean. And if you ever have any questions about a specific product, don't hesitate to call. As always, if you have special needs or allergies, make sure you call or email, and I'll do my best to accomodate you.
There's a code on every box sold in retail that tells me exactly when I made the product and when it should be consumed for best flavor. It's eight digits - the first four are the date it was made, the last four are the date it expires. I should qualify that by saying, it doesn't really "expire", it just won't taste as good. Of course, if it's several months past, you probably don't want to eat it anyway!
With that, I'll tell you that I'll be posting new flavors next week, and changing the website offerings. Stay tuned.
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