Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season!  I wanted to thank everyone for the compliments, inquiries and support.  

I have had a few inquiries as to why you can't order on the website. First, I have to say that I welcome all inquiries, be it by phone or email.   The answer is pretty long, so hang with me; when someone orders an assortment of chocolates, say an 8 piece box (which is $16.00) I make 8 different chocolates.  Each recipe, when cut in half makes roughly 40 chocolates each, so, if I am doing my math correctly, I end up with 320 chocolates.  I then fill the box and deliver the chocolates.  I now have 312 chocolates left over, with absolutely no guarantee that I will get another order for.  It is my intention that when someone gets a box of my chocolates that they are getting the best possible product that I can create.  When it takes me 4 days to make an assortment of chocolates, I want my customers to get them fresh, not a few weeks old, or frozen. 

I know it is frustrating, there have been a few sites that I have been to that are information only, and let's face it, we are an instant gratification type society!  I will gladly talk to anyone who has questions or would like to order some chocolates.  RIght now my chocolates can be found at Let's Talk Wine at 236 Carmichael Way Suite 308, Chesapeake, VA 23322 757.420.4720.  We are working on a schedule for chocolates to be delivered to them; such as every other Tuesday, as well as me just hanging out in the shop one Saturday a month, with an assortment of chocolates that can be sampled and boxed up.  We just did an event in mid December that worked really well like that, so hopefully there will be more of them to come.  Stay posted! 

The next common question, "why don't you just have a shop?" I am still trying to perfect my craft, for one thing and it takes a lot of time.  I also have 3 boys at home who need me, and a husband that travels a lot for work.  They are my priority.  I love making chocolate, I love the process of what I do, and selling them has come at the suggestion of others.  I just want to make the chocolate, and share what I learn and what I know, the business part is really hard for me.  I am trying to make it all work, my way.  Which means no tempering machines, or enrobing machines.  I do everything, completely by hand, by myself (sometimes my friends do help and I have plenty of tasting volunteers). 

I have looked into Etsy, which looks promising, but again it is the volume issue for me. I would have to post "coming soon", or "available now"  type banners, which when you want something now, won't really help.  I am open to suggestions, if there are any out there! 

I will update again soon, hopefully with dates for the next Let's Talk Wine event, but the site will be updated with new photos and such as well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! 

Chocolate weather!

It is finally chocolate weather here in Virginia!  The leaves are nearly all gone and we have officially had a frost (although, it is going to be 65 degrees today).

I am still recuperating from my last chocolate even

t a few weeks ago, it was a rough one.  The entire week I was making chocolate, it was mid 70s and raining, so I had all kinds of trouble and a 

lot of ugly chocolate.  My neighbors and teachers at my son's school were happy to take the seconds though.  I had a great opportunity to show some samples and to offer some boxes for sale at Let's Talk Wine, so I didn't want to throw in the towel (I was close though).  

I played around with the assortment, took out 2 flavors and replaced them with others.

I added the "Paris":  a traditional dark chocolate truffle, nothing but dark chocolate, butter and cream.  When I think of truffles from Paris, this is what I imagine.  Sometimes they are in a pave (flat square, like a paver) form or a soft truffle form that actually looks like the fungus truffle.  If you love chocolate, for chocolate's sake, it doesn't get much better than this combination.  The qualities of the chocolate shine when there are no other flavors getting involved!

I also added the "Morris".  Do you think that an odd name for a chocolate?  Let me explain.  The flavors in the "Morris" are just dark chocolate and orange.  Now this screams "English" to me.  I don't know if it is just because of my friend Nina or those chocolate orange balls you can get around the holidays that you knock on a hard surface and they magically break into orange slices, which are English.  So, I have a flavor screaming out "English, English,  English" but no town in England that makes me think of oranges.  You know, if you have read any past posts that I need a connection to name my chocolates.  Which artist is the prime example 

of Art Nouveau in England?  William Morris, of course.  Now, I am not an art historian, or an expert of any kind.  I also realize that William Morris came along before the Art Nouveau movement came along, it is my understanding that the English Arts and Crafts movement gets to claim him, but he was such an important figure during a time that the movements either overlap or that Art Nouveau is transforming from Arts and Crafts, that it makes complete sense to me.  Now, I did say that I am not an expert!

It is really slow going, and decidedly not a great time to start a business.  The sampling goes great, everyone loves the chocolates; but no one wants to buy.  Or, they want to buy, but they don't want an assortment, just one flavor.  When did people stop wanting an assortment of chocolates??  Has everyone forgotten Forrest Gump?   So, to see if my packing assortments only is a hinderance or not, I will be hanging out at another sample event at Let's Talk Wine on 12/13 all day, with trays of chocolates to package to order.

Now it is time to start thinking about "winter" flavors.  There isn't much locally fresh right now that would taste great in a chocolate.  There are still pomegranates in the store and pumpkins, but I am thinking about cranberries, champagne, peppermint and ginger (not all together).  I have also been experimenting with wine truffles, let me just say, there are more failures than you would imagine!

Happy December!  Go support your local farmers and businesses!  

After the storm!

  It has been awhile since I have been able to update this, but thankfully it is because I was actually making chocolate!  I am not just a slacker!  I had a great opportunity thanks to Linda Gerloff at Let's Talk Wine (www.letstalkwine.net).  I can't thank her enough for believing in what I do enough to schlepp my wares to a few people to taste.  I also took the opportunity

 to experiment with shipping the chocolates as 

well. 

  I have received a few questions, so I will try to answer them here, in addition to explaining what it is exactly  I did for this sample run.

  This fall sample run included 6 flavors: hazelnut, pumpkin, chai, pomegranate, espresso and the ever popular marshmallow. Naming the chocolates was the most difficult process of this entire job.  I wanted the names to reflect my love of Art Nouveau (which led to either cities with major Art Nouveau influence or artists), seems simple, but I wanted there also to be a connection between the flavor and the name.  My many advisers kept saying that I was making the job too complicated, not everyone was going to make  the same connection to the places or flavors that I did.   To me though, if there was no connection, I didn't need to name them (which may have been 

the easier road to take all along).  So, here is my explanation for each of the flavors.  The fall for me, is like plumping up your pillows and getting cozy, settling in for a nice nap. Aside from any signature chocolates, the flavors in these truffles are brought to us in the fall.

Espresso/Milan:  The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Italy (flavor wise) is Espresso.

 This flavor is a signature flavor, meaning it is really popular and not really seasonal.

Turin/Hazelnut: Again, this is

 a flavor I came across frequently in Italy, whether it was Nutella, 

or gelato hazelnuts are very common.

Tiffany/Pumkin:  This I must admit, was a stretch.  Pumpkins come from 

all over, are used in sweet and savory foods across the globe.  I live in Virginia and recently saw some pumpkins from upstate New York.    L.C. Tiffany was one of a handful of artists that were important in the Art Nouveau movement here in the states, make sense??

Istanbul/Chai: I didn't realize that Art Nouveau made it quite this far east,

 I love to learn these things.  The chai flavor has been one of my most popular, so I knew  I needed to include it.  There are various traditional Turkish teas, and this tea  included the warm flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, pepper and cloves. 

Pomegranate/Rossetti: It was really difficult to link pomegranate to Art Nouveau for me! While I was doing some research, I came acrosse Dante Rossetti , an Englishman, he was a London born son of Italian immigrants and was among the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which the Art Nouveau movement favored.  He has a painting called Poserpine, in which a woman is holding a pomegranate.

Last but definitely not  least, Lyon/Marshmallow: It may be a slight exaggeration, but it seemed every cafe or patisserie that I was lucky enough to run into in France had

a marshmallow concoction of some kind.  I once saw this beautiful glass jar with  a long rope of marshmallow in it, and when it was served, it was cut with beautiful tongs and snippers, marshmallows are very french to me.  

This is my third draft of this update, and it has been a few weeks since my samples were sent around.  It is very discouraging to say that while the chocolates were very well received, I still have no orders. This might not be the best time, economically to be starting a business. . . we'll see!

A few weeks of work

I have been hard at chocolate work lately! Some days have been rougher than others, let me tell you.
One afternoon was spent at Let's Talk Wine (www.letstalkwine.net) with Linda trying to pair dessert wines with chocolate, I know, I picked an awful job didn't I? I spent more than a few afternoons trying to figure out how to do an excel spreadsheet. I read the book, tried the templates, everything to no avail. Luckily I have some great friends. For the small price of a homecooked dinner, dessert and a glass of wine, my friend Sam came over and had it all done in less than 5 minutes. No exaggeration there at all.
There have been many, many hours online trying to figure out packaging, and let me just say, when you start talking ribbon and tissue paper and candy cups, especially when there isn't just one place to order these things, it is frustrating (time to go back and try to pair wine and chocolate!) to say the least.
Then comes the cool chef jacket, Crooked Brook (www.crookedbrook.com) has beautiful jackets. Unfortunately, I am not a person who can envision the finished project before it has been started. So, I need as few choices as possible, too many options makes me very nervous. I am sure it will be gorgeous when finished, then I won't want to wear it and get it all messy. I was thinking though and had it made in chocolate brown.
It is generally known amongst my friends and family that I tend to make things far more complicated then they need to be. Naming the chocolates is a perfect example. I wanted everything with the chocolates to relate to the name, Cocoa Nouveau, so I thought it would be pretty easy to name everything for the cities or artists that were important to the Art Nouveau movement. Finding the information wasn't difficult, but making logical connections as to why the flavors connect to the cities is another thing entirely, then add that I am starting with a fall line with fall flavours. I can't make a connection to any Art Nouveau person or place and pumpkins! Does the connection really need to be logical? As I am finding out, logical is relative, every person I have asked (thank you Sharon, Mollie, Lisa and Marilu) has a different perspective on each person or place. I am getting very close to drawing names out of a hat.
It is finally getting cool enough here to consider playing with some chocolate. I probably shouldn't have said that out loud, or typed it even. Watch it be 95 degrees again with 90% humidity tomorrow!
I am so thankful for all the women that are helping me out with this endeavor in so many ways, so thank you again and again to Brenda, Joanne, Mollie, Lisa, Linda, Sue and Samantha!

Back to work

Today was the first day of school, so back to work for me. I am pleased with the feedback I have gotten on the website. I am getting inquiries already, just from the photos, which is encouraging. It is hard for me to say that I am not really up and running yet, as I have been at this since the spring. It will all come together when it is time.

So, what's new with Cocoa Nouveau? At this moment, nothing at all. I am getting some box samples (hopefully this week), and naming my chocolate; which I must say is far more difficult than I had anticipated. Most places that I have been to just have flavors as the names, but a colleague of mine, Daniel of Chocolat by Daniel at www.chocolatbydaniel.com, has these really wonderful names and descriptions. So, I borrowed his idea. I think he has a second career as a romance writer.

I have been busy making birthday cakes, and as proof that you can paint with chocolate, you know who you are: (These were not all made recently!)

Who Knew?

I just want to make chocolate, really. I had this quaint little shop, just like in the Joann Harris book, "Chocolat" in my head, of course. Starting a business must be easier in France (or the Hollywood version there of) than in the Commonwealth of Virginia! I have no visions of grandeur, I just want to make chocolate, so I thought starting small; in my Department of Agriculture inspected house would be the easier route, and maybe it is, but who knew all that would go into this? Graphic design and web design and packaging, oh my!

I have had some questions as to the name Cocoa Nouveau. I have to say coming up with the name was the toughest bit. I had been thinking about it for months, first I was thinking something literary based (to combine chocolate and books, that is my idea of heaven) I was visiting Glastonbury, England and I went into the Abbey bookshop and saw these cards with replicas of Art Nouveau tiles from a museum and it hit me, right there. I love all things Art Nouveau or Arts and Crafts style, Pre-Raphaelite artists of the time as well as the textiles, furniture , jewelry and art. I am drawn not only to the beauty associated with the time, the organic lines, feminine forms, and all the floral motifs, but to the idea as well; now this is my take on it, that it was basically a complete departure from and disgust in the industrial revolution, mass production. The emphasis was on high levels of craftsmanship as well as the idea that there is beauty in everyday life that should be admired. I agree fully.

Cocoa Nouveau (and myself really) are a work in progress, I will be updating as info becomes available. I have a few places in the area waiting patiently to carry my chocolates thankfully, but for right now creating chocolates is a labor of love, I am drawn to the creative process, so I want everything to be my shade of perfect before I launch them on the area.

I will be checking back in here for discussions on what I do, the chocolates that I use and any other pertinent information.