Quiet Sunday Morning

It's a quiet Sunday morning here at the Chocolate Shop...that's perhaps because we're not open yet. I came in early to start tempering the dark chocolate that I will need to make Saints, Golden Knights, White Caps, Northstars, and Dark Hazelnut Truffles. I'd make Massena Mints but we don't have enough Creme de Menthe to make a batch. I'm trying to get enough creams done to make the display case look respectable as well as do up 15 boxes of 24 candies for an order due this week. Another 8 single layer boxes is also due...so a little backup supply is called for. But for now, all that's happening is the hum of the tempering machine as I wait for that familiar beep that tells me to take out the seed chocolate.

Despite being very busy making chocolate, I do like this new job and still like chocolate. Though my cravings for M&M's and Hershey's Kisses have definately decreased, I still like to sample the occassional mishap out of the mold. The molded creams are beginning to wear on me...simply becoming routine but the bark, pretzels, and oreos still are fun to make.

The hardest cream to make is the Bear Paw. It is a deep mold so it takes a lot of chocolate to cover it well. Then you have to add two fillings; a strawberry jell and peanut butter fondant. The strawberry jell is sticky and only cotton gloves keeps it from sticking to everything it touches. Our new recipe has greatly improved the work involved in this aspect of making it. The peanut butter fondant, if not used within a few days of creation, becomes very dry and crumbly so is very hard to put into the mold as one piece. This causes little bits of peanut butter to infuse with the bottom layer of chocolate that is used to seal the filling. But the flavor is very popular and many people have commented that it is their favorite.

The easiest to make is, yes, the Massena Mint. This is just a little piece of dark chocolate with creme de menthe flavoring added to it while it's warm. It's a solid piece of chocolate with no filling and the mold used is shallow and not very large. It is by far the fastest thing to make in the case...when we have the flavoring...

My favorite to make? That has to be one of the truffles. Though we have not been making these consistently yet, the great use of colored cocoa butter in the mold makes them one of the prettiest things in the case (next to the sugar shacks). Colored cocoa butter is swirled into the mold before the chocolate is added and when the chocolate cools, the swirl sticks to the top of the candy. It's hard to describe. The fillings are a little hard to work with but the finished product is so pretty, it's just satisfying to see it all done. Maybe, I'll just hoard these little gems and not sell them, they're so cute.

Well, more later...on another quiet morning, no doubt. I have to go as the tempering is calling for me to make up those dark flavors. And my truffle mold is ready to be filled.

The Buzz of Christmas

We had our ribbon cutting ceremony on Dec. 8... were open for a few hours after that, and then Saturday hit. By 7 p.m., we were pretty much cleaned out of product that we made. It was great to see so many people who wanted our product, not to mention the people who came in and thought we'd been in Potsdam forever, and they just didn't know we were here.

We have been working until almost midnight each night to restock for the next day. We realize that we are still working off the Buzz of opening. That coupled with the fact that so many want to give Chocolate as gifts...we are having a great opening. On the downside, we don't want to disappoint anyone by not having enough product.

We've had quite a few large orders. Again just trying to keep up is fun and exciting. Have no idea when I will do my Christmas shopping, and I think I will be sending out New Year's Cards instead of Christmas ones.

There are just so many great ideas that we have and will start to implement for the new year. Hope everyone has a joyous Christmas.

Counting Down

Angela's photo was in the Watertown Daily times with a photo that was about 4 inches by 9 inches....pretty amazing. I couldn't even fit it on the scanner, but you get the idea...

We are counting...chocolates that is...93 sandstones, 96 sugar shacks, etc. More, more, more. Everyone I know, and many more that I don't have sworn they are going to be at the grand opening next Saturday, Dec. 9.

My fear is that Main Street Potsdam is going to look like it did the first night Star Wars was being shown at the theater many moons ago. My other fear is we have crappy weather and no one shows. Somewhere in the middle will be idea. I just don't want to be like the bakery that closes, once all the bread is sold.

We are vey excited. The chocolate is flowing, the cases are getting out of New Jersey this weekend...we hope. Of course old man winter decided to show up this weekend. Of course if they cases hadn't been delayed, I wouldn't have to have been worrying about the weather. But we are being very positive...we will get opened on Dec. 9, come hell or high chocolate.

My boss is going to give me a couple of days off next week, just so I don't drop from an anxiety attack. Tom has even been in the kitchen helping, and was very proud to say he tempered chocolate for the Massena Mints. (That's right John...none for you). I'll keep those out of your box, along with the Pep-o-mints.

So far Raspberry Jells have been the most requested...of course one of the toughest to make as well. But they tasted pretty good out of the box of seconds we've started. These will be what we use for samples. Just a little knicked up.

Well, I'd better get to the shop and whip up a batch of coconut, and strawberry jells for the PB&J Bear Paws. Angela did Sugar Shacks today...they look as amazing as they taste....hey, quit drooling on the key board...you're worse than Nezzy.

The Inspector Cometh

With a call on Wednesday before Thanksgiving from the inspector from Ag and Markets, I was expecting to set a date for this week for our inspection. Instead he said he was in Massena and was willing and able to stop by and do the inspection the day before Thanksgiving.

I was definitely grateful for that. We passed with no problems. We got our notice and posted in the window. The check for the food processing license wen in the mail on Friday and we satrted making chocolates on Saturday. Wwwwoooooo Whoooooo.

We are still waiting on the display cases, but at least we will have product to put in them when they arrive...hopefully this week.

We are planning a ribbon cutting with the Potsdam Chamber on Friday, Dec. 8 and our grand opening on Dec. 9. Needless to say, the village is a buzz and we better have a lot of chocolates and candy on hand. Everyone wants some for Christmas.

The Tide is Rising

The buzz is still buzzing and we are still plugging away at the holes in the boat, hoping to get this ship sailing. I saw a sign today..."I hope by ship comes in before the dock rots." Boy did that hit home.

The new water heater should be installed on Sunday. Hey, the installer suggested that, not me. I told him, "If you don't mind working on Sunday, that works for me."
I hope to close on the second loan on Tuesday, if the lawyers tell me that they are finally happy with the endless paperwork they have heaped into the river. Shouldn't there be a law against that?

And the display cases were delayed yet again. It seems that they finally got the glass, only to find out that the lamanent that I picked was being discontinued. I was then able to pick the exact match for the custom cabinets that were installed this week...From the Heart. They look fabulous!

The large temperer and the cooling cabinet that had been on back order were also delivered today. Now we have a "fancy" cupboard to put in trays of chocolate to cook within 10-15 minutes.

We are to meet with some Clarkson students on Monday and their investors. They will sell a selection of SLC on the hill. For those of you who are not familiar with Clarkson, it is a fine engineering and busienss school, located in Potsdam, and known for its NCAA Division I hockey (same league with Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, Cornell, etc.) Craig Conroy and Eric Cole are alums. But I digress.

So our new date to reach is Dec. 2. Hopefully we can start producing very soon, and get the place stocked.

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving, everyone.
Ellen

Water Calming

So the latest on the water saga is that it was only a 6 gallon tank in the ceiling!!! No wonder we only got two inches in a 10 gallon sink (and that is just one basin). So we have on order a tankless, inline unit that will deliver hot water on demand. (All the rage in Europe, I'm told.) Hopefully we can also get someone who is skilled to put it in. I'm not really confident about that one. The two local guys I talked to hadn't installed any. Since I ordered from Lowe's...they said they could install too. Here's hoping the plumber isn't a special order too!

Hopefully will have this special order by the end of the week. Nov. 17. Then we still need an inspection, hopefully before Thanksgiving.

On a positive note the stove was delivered Friday and I believe the other cabinets are not too far behind.

And more good news, we have the signature Bear Paws ready. This is a peanut butter and jelly flavor in milk chocolate. Very, very yummy. You won't find that flavor just anywhere.

What's In the Shop?

I was happy to join this blog to keep it updated but I wish the news were better. As noted in Troubled Water...things right now are not going great. I opened the door for the "fix-it" guy...hopefully, to fix the hot water heater but alas, I don't think he really fixed anything. He put in a new heating element...and then, can't figure out why the damn thing doesn't work! His only other option (after his sage "wait and see if it resets" advice) was to get a new water heater. Oh, and did I mention the water heater is in the ceiling?!

But on a better note, all of our orders and deliveries are showing up. We now have a gazillion pounds of chocolate (just no where to temper it yet) in milk, white, dark, and an extreme dark. We have colored cocoa butters to make the chocolate look "pretty". We have Jelly Bellies in about 12 flavors and some of their other stuff, like lemon drops, sour trout, and swedish fish. We have Jelly Bellies in soda pop flavors...these are soooo cute. They come in a small soda bottle shaped container and are filled with Jelly Bellies in the flavor of the soda pop. We have 7-Up, Grape and Orange Crush, A&W Root Beer, and Dr. Pepper. Yes...Dr. Pepper...minus the caffeine!

We also have several flavors of gourmet popcorn, including Chocolate Rain. We also have the Linda Lollies...a whole assortment of flavors including their dessert flavors. And I just received yesterday, and they're still out in the garage (mostly because each box weighs about 35 pounds!) Asher's organic and sugar-free chocolate bars. These are regular old prepackaged chocolate bars and not for melting down. Apparently, college kids requested organic chocolate which I suppose is better than them requesting "free-range" chocolate. Ha!

We also have a partial order of our gift baskets and containers. We will be making gift baskets by request, special-order, as well as having some already made and ready to go. Some of our ideas for gift basket themes include, The North Country Basket: including maple syrup and local products probably placed in an Amish basket. The College Basket: which may include a college themed item (a mug or keychain) as well as a Potsdam gift certificate. The Wedding/Anniversary Basket: to include champagne glasses filled with chocolate. The Magical Basket: to include special "magic wands" (pretzel rods dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with moons and stars), chocolate frogs, and jelly bellies. The Wild Center Basket: to include Adirondack Bark, and chocolate otters.

We've got lots of ideas and these are only a few. Naturally, all baskets will include an assortment of Saint Lawrence Chocolates. Our line is looking to have 12 flavors of creams in milk and dark, and a few white. Pretzel rods will be popular as will the chocolate covered Oreos which we experimented with this weekend. Yummy! Bark will always be ready to go...Cranberry Lake Bark already is popular with some of our "test" subject. Cranberry Lake Bark is a wash of dark chocolate dotted with cranberries and pine nuts. Frozen Cranberry Lake Bark is the same using white chocolate.

We're also working on a gumdrop recipe to make chocolate covered jellies and on a hot cocoa recipe. I'm working on a powdered hot cocoa mix but we have discovered a "sipping" chocolate that requires you to melt the chocolate and add your milk to that...while whisking...that's the very important part. Me, I'm the lazy cocoa maker and prefer the pop-it-in-the-microwave version, but Ellen assures me that the "sipping" chocolate is simply divine..."like chocolate pudding before it thickens".

So I hope this little temptation answers a few more questions about what we'll be carrying...when we finally get some hot water and some cabinets. When the kitchen is inspected...and I can start making the inventory. And don't be shy about sending some ideas our way...they won't get made right away, since I have about 2,000 pretzel rods ahead of you, but we can file them away for our first "expansion" to the flavor line.

I'm soooo excited.....can you tell???
Ange

Troubled Water

So, as I checked our the new sink this weekend, I made a discovery that my hot water was not staying hot. Can't pass inspection without hot water. Thus, first thing this morning, I called the contractor. He checked...circuit breaker it seemed. As we talked, he ran the water...hmmm same problem, only two inches of hot water before it goes cold.

I call the landlord. He says that the neighbors reported not having hotwater on Friday, and someone was working on. It might be a related problem. I certainly hope so, I 've told the inspector, I'm ready to have him visit.

Needed Update

We are getting very close to opening. We are pushing to be open by Thanksgiving!

The chocolate has been delivered, along with the Jelly Bellies, containers, Linda's Lollies, and we have a lot of packaging.

The shoppe looks wonderful. Light green walls, aqua colored tile. We added fleur d'lea hangers for the coats, and Angela put together the computer desk and chair.

We have our refrigerator and sink in place. Hope to have our inspection this week (Nov. 6) with NYS Dept. of Ag and Markets. We are waiting on the custom cabinets with the stove. As soon as the inspection is done and the stove is hooked up, we'll start making our inventory. Then will all else is in place we will open our doors.

Will try to keep everyone posted. Angela, the GM, will also be able to post now...she'll be much better at getting you up to speed.

Welcome

I thought I'd give blogging a try. So welcome to the Chocolate River, also know as St. Lawrence Chocolates.

In the summer of 2005, driving along the St. Lawrence River in New York, I thought about bringing chocolates back to my office mates. However, there wasn't a chocolate shop anywhere in the County....hmmm, there isn't a chocolate shop anywhere in the county. Why not start one. What to call it? St. Lawrence Chocolates. Well that was easy. Then the work began.

Since they I've been working on getting a shop open. I think I am getting very close. In fact, I hope to have it open by the end of August 2006. So I will be posting my summer progresss here. Stay tuned and welcome to the Choclate River!