Valentine's Day is fast approaching and at the Shop, we are decked out with hearts from the ceiling! Of course, we also are getting out and ordering more heart shaped boxes for our fabulous chocolates. What's Valentine's Day without a box of chocolates?
So what's new? Take a gander.
We still have some square boxes that have a Heart shaped window that hold either 16 or 32 pieces of chocolate. We've always had these boxes but we're phasing them out this year to go with only heart-shaped boxes next year. So these will be limited in supply. They are the same size as our Christmas boxes but have a different cover. For a mix of creams and clusters, a 16 pc box will sell for 8.75 and a 32 pc box will sell for 17.25.
Our large Heart shaped boxes hold 29 pieces with a tray. The tray has varying size slots so it's gonna be tough to custom make these out of the case. We are hoping to use these as our pre-packaged boxes so you get a good assortment of our flavors. These will run for 20.00 unless the box gets filled with truffles. A truffle heart will run for 34.00 and these can be picked from the case because the truffles don't fit in the tray anyway!
We have a small heart box that we ordered by mistake that will hold 6 truffles for our usual price of 6.00. Our Standard 12 and 24 pc boxes will have a special Valentine's cover and they can be packed with our Standard Assortment or custom made from the display case. Our usual prices will apply to these.
Ellen came up with an idea to do a Snack Box...sort of a His and Hers kind of thing for those who would rather have snack type sweets than a box of chocolates. It will contain a 4 pc Ori-Oh, a 2 pack pretzel, a bag of Cashews or Almonds, a Heart shaped Chocolate pop, and possibly some homemade Carmel Corn. Ellen has been experimenting with a recipe for Carmel-covered popcorn but I'm not sure we've perfected it. It tastes really good but it stays sticky rather than hardening like Cracker Jack. So after we package it, it just turns into a big mass of sticky popcorn. Ellen is going to keep experimenting and see if she can tweak the recipe so that it will harden better and have a better shelf life. So for right now, I can only take orders for the Snack Boxes. If we can't get the popcorn to work, we may substitute Jelly Bellys in the box. At the current time, we are selling them for 12.00.
So what's so special?
In February, we are hoping to start our Flavor of the Month. The Feature Flavor will change from month to month and only be available for that month. We will pre-package some boxes with only the Feature Flavor and offer a bit of a discount on the price. The Flavor will also be available in our case for the month. I hope to keep the Feature Flavor in good stock but that's just well wishes if it's a popular flavor.
February's Flavor is our Raspberry cream in white chocolate. It will be molded in our Heart shaped mold. This flavor was very popular last year and adds an extra white chocolate piece to our case. The Heart will have a splash of cocoa butter color on it as well. A very romantic piece of chocolate for your Sweetheart!
We also have our Heart shaped chocolate pops; some colored with a edible lustre spray and some foil wrapped in pink and red. I have pulled out the Rose mold as well and have those pops available in milk and dark. Our Heart shaped mold that will be used with our Flavor of the Month is currently being used to produce solid milk and dark morsels for those who don't like anything in their chocolate. These are foil wrapped and look wonderful in a candy dish or clear vase.
I'm also making a special bark for Valentine's Day called Sweetheart Bark. It's white chocolate with macadamia nuts and chunks of our 64% dark chocolate. Last year I colored it pink but this year, I've decided to drop the coloring and just leave it white.
Lastly, I've thrown together a Valentine's mix of Jelly Bellys. We've bagged them in clear bags with a red bow and they make a nice addition to any box of chocolates or gift basket. They contain Very Cherry, Bubble Gum, and Toasted Marshmallow flavors.
We're trying our best to keep in stock right up to Valentine's Day but the best selection will be early. So tell your Sweetheart not to procrastinate this year! Our chocolates are good for 3 months and our truffles are good for 3 weeks. Solid chocolate lasts for a year! The hardest part about buying early is trying to keep from eating it!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Friday, November 21, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
We have so much to be thankful for this year. We are still open and we are still making people happy with our chocolate! We have some wonderful loyal customers, and new ones finding us every day.
We hired our temp help for the season. Tina was with us last year and she has much to be thankful for after battling breast cancer this year. Angela and Ellen are both thankful for the additional two hands in the shop, which is taking on a nice holiday glow.
What's New? Well, we added a couple new flavors:
1. Ranger Truffles. Named for the Wanakena Ranger School near Cranberry Lake, this is a cranberry truffle with white chocolate encased in dark.
2. Waddington Wintergreen. This is wintergreen cream in dark chocolate. It has a pretty white snowflake pattern on the top.
3. Mendiants. These area a French-style chocolate. A patty of milk chocolate with candied fruit nestled on top. They are very eye-catching, and taste way better than fruit cake. So eat your fruits.
I plan to try my hand at homemade marshmallows this weekend. Had to find a recipe without raw egg whites... and did. Should be fun!
For the first year, we have decided to stay open for Black Friday!!! We are even having a secret sale... well not so secret. You pick a chocolate bell from the Christmas stocking... the color foil indicates your discount at the register, 10, 15, 25 or 50 percent off. And you get to keep the bell.
And on the first weekend in December, we are celebrating our 2nd Anniversary. If you are in the area, stop in for a piece of cake (chocolate of course) and help us celebrate. We are also having a few specials that weekend as well as it is Potsdam's Super Holiday Shopping Weekend. Hope to see you all this holiday season.
We hired our temp help for the season. Tina was with us last year and she has much to be thankful for after battling breast cancer this year. Angela and Ellen are both thankful for the additional two hands in the shop, which is taking on a nice holiday glow.
What's New? Well, we added a couple new flavors:
1. Ranger Truffles. Named for the Wanakena Ranger School near Cranberry Lake, this is a cranberry truffle with white chocolate encased in dark.
2. Waddington Wintergreen. This is wintergreen cream in dark chocolate. It has a pretty white snowflake pattern on the top.
3. Mendiants. These area a French-style chocolate. A patty of milk chocolate with candied fruit nestled on top. They are very eye-catching, and taste way better than fruit cake. So eat your fruits.
I plan to try my hand at homemade marshmallows this weekend. Had to find a recipe without raw egg whites... and did. Should be fun!
For the first year, we have decided to stay open for Black Friday!!! We are even having a secret sale... well not so secret. You pick a chocolate bell from the Christmas stocking... the color foil indicates your discount at the register, 10, 15, 25 or 50 percent off. And you get to keep the bell.
And on the first weekend in December, we are celebrating our 2nd Anniversary. If you are in the area, stop in for a piece of cake (chocolate of course) and help us celebrate. We are also having a few specials that weekend as well as it is Potsdam's Super Holiday Shopping Weekend. Hope to see you all this holiday season.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Featured on Food Blog
Hi All...
Realize it has been awhile. Angela has given me a new crash course in blogging, so I will endeavor to post a little more often.
The latest scoop is that St. Lawrence Chocolates was featured on a great food blog. We've added the link at the right... for Grumpy Honeybunch. She is giving away a box of St. Lawrence Chocolate Truffles to a random person she will select from anyone leaving a comment about her blog... so check it out. She has a lot of great recipes on there as well.
We made our annual trek to the Philadelphia Candy Show, which is now conveniently held in Atlantic City instead of Philly. Had a great time and ordered some cool stuff for the holidays, including blood orange and pomegranate cordials. They taste great together and we will package in a clear cube box. These go great with Win's Brew (java jazz and creme brulee) cordials, and the New York Espresso mix chocolate covered espresso beans... And of course the will all make great stocking stuffers.
For Holloween, we currently have hollow skull heads in clear cube boxes, as well as skull pops and jack-o-lantern pops. We have colored leaves in sold shapes, with cocoa butter spray...very shiny. And of course a cornucopia basket filled with fall colors and LOTS-O'-CHOCOLATE.
Thanks for checking us out... and check back soon. Make sure to take our poll on the right... what's your favorite chocolate.
Realize it has been awhile. Angela has given me a new crash course in blogging, so I will endeavor to post a little more often.
The latest scoop is that St. Lawrence Chocolates was featured on a great food blog. We've added the link at the right... for Grumpy Honeybunch. She is giving away a box of St. Lawrence Chocolate Truffles to a random person she will select from anyone leaving a comment about her blog... so check it out. She has a lot of great recipes on there as well.
We made our annual trek to the Philadelphia Candy Show, which is now conveniently held in Atlantic City instead of Philly. Had a great time and ordered some cool stuff for the holidays, including blood orange and pomegranate cordials. They taste great together and we will package in a clear cube box. These go great with Win's Brew (java jazz and creme brulee) cordials, and the New York Espresso mix chocolate covered espresso beans... And of course the will all make great stocking stuffers.
For Holloween, we currently have hollow skull heads in clear cube boxes, as well as skull pops and jack-o-lantern pops. We have colored leaves in sold shapes, with cocoa butter spray...very shiny. And of course a cornucopia basket filled with fall colors and LOTS-O'-CHOCOLATE.
Thanks for checking us out... and check back soon. Make sure to take our poll on the right... what's your favorite chocolate.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
New Flavors for Fall
So September snuck right up on me! Who said the summer was gonna be slow?
So here's the update for our newest products and the return of some Fall Favorites.
NEW FLAVORS
We have added some new flavors to the case recently and they will probably be available right through to Christmas. Our new Lisbon Lime is a dark chocolate lime flavored ganache coated with our X Dark (70%). It is molded in the same square as the Sugar Shack with a different transfer sheet. If you're a lover of dark chocolate, this is a dream.
We also now offer our Cornwall Turtles in the display case to be added to a custom box! These were only available in a box of 8 but we've added them to the case as another showcase of our wonderful butter caramel. The Cornwall Turtle consists of our homemade butter caramel with chopped walnuts rolled into it then dipped in milk chocolate. They are small, rich and they melt in your mouth! A perfect addition with the cooler weather on the way!
Ellen has also added a caramel made with that energy drink that "gives you wings". Our new Madrid Bull Caramel will certainly be a hit. Do you get it? Mad-red...madrid bull? Fun and funky for our expanding college crowd!
For clusters, we added the X Dark Almond clusters and Red Gunner Bites. The Red Gunner Bites are just like the bark. Red Gunner is the name of a friend's chocolate lab who just loves to eat pretzels. So Red Gunner Bark is a slab of milk chocolate with crushed pretzels in it. Now Red Gunner Bites are a cluster available in our display case. Chunky pretzels are globbed with milk or dark chocolate. So how do you eat your pretzels? Bark or Bite?
I've also experimented with Chunky Monkeys. We have a good sized Monkey mold that doesn't seem to be too popular. So I took a bunch of leftover chunks from various barks (those that don't include dried fruits anyway) and mixed them into a batch of milk chocolate. I, then, molded this mixture with the Monkey mold we have. Thus, we now have Chunky Monkeys. This is a good way to us to recycle those little bits that break apart when we cut up our other barks without having to throw it away. If I ate all those little bits, I wouldn't fit through the kitchen door! Talk about Chunky! So the chunks include a lot of different things from nuts to oreos to pretzels! Every bite is different.
RETURNING FAVORITES
Autumn and Thanksgiving signals the return of a popular Truffle: The Pumpkin Truffle. Our fresh pumpkin ganache is the filling for a white chocolate shell. We have customers that have been waiting patiently all summer for it. We'll start making this flavor in Early October if not sooner!
Our Halloween Goblin Eyes will make a return. I called them Krispie Eyes last year but figure I'll upgrade the name since they were very popular. Goblin Eyes are a sphere of rice krispie marshmallow treat dunked in white chocolate then painted with cocoa butter to look like an eye ball. They are a fun touch to a custom box! Imagine your friend opening the box of chocolates you picked out for them to see an eyeball staring back at them! I'll start these in early October as well and they will disappear after Halloween.
Our chocolate pops will now take on various shapes for the Autumn holidays. We will have our pumpkin/jack o'lanterns wrapped in orange foil. Our Skull pops will be ready to go soon and various little solid shapes of Halloween figures like ghosts and cats and tombstones. Our foil wrapped Autumn Leaves will be bagged with a ribbon to make great favor bags for a dinner party or to scatter around on a platter. They look so festive and taste even better! Let's not forget our wonderful 3-D Skulls as well. These hollow chocolate skulls look too real to eat! Sorry, these hollow skulls just can't be shipped as they are too fragile.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
I'm going to list some new flavors we are thinking of adding. They may be only seasonal or they may be permanent. We haven't decided yet.
Hopefully, for Autumn we will have figured out a chocolate chip cookie dough flavor. I was originally thinking of putting an actual cookie dough together and adding it to our Creams and Clusters. But Ellen suggested making it a truffle that tasted of brown sugar, vanilla, and butter with flecks of dark chocolate. I'm not so certain of the truffle. Our fondant fillings may be more of the base with which to work since it is based in sugar. Using brown sugar instead of white and adding a vanilla and butter flavor may make the right taste for a "cookie dough". I would really like to add this flavor to the line but I'm not sure if we will have the time to "make it work" before our Holiday Rush begins.
Wanakena Rangers have been put to the back burner since we opened. This chocolate was one of Ellen's signature chocolates at the onset but we never had a mold to make them in and never got around to buying new. Now that we have a couple molds that are versatile, it may finally be time to break out this unique flavor. This milk or dark chocolate (we haven't decided which!) will be filled with a cranberry/orange fondant. Ellen uses cranberry juice instead of water to make the fondant and adds finely chopped dried cranberries to it. A splash of orange flavor takes away some of the tart flavor and mellows it out a touch. They are named for the Forest Ranger School in Wanakena which is located out toward Cranberry Lake in St. Lawrence County. These pieces will probably use the Raquette Raspberry mold with different coloring, green perhaps to symbolize the forest that the Rangers preserve.
Our other new flavor in development will be introduced for the Holiday season this year, around early November. We will again use the Sugar Shack mold but with a snowflake design transfer sheet. The white snowflakes will show up wonderfully against our dark chocolate shell. We shall fill them with Wintergreen filling and they shall be called Waddington Wintergreen. And it will be good!
Also joining our Bark line-up for Christmas will be the Peppermint Bark. We use white chocolate and throw in crushed candy canes for a silky holiday treat.
One other flavor I'm considering is along these Peppermint Bark lines. I'd like to use the Bear Paw mold for a piece of white chocolate that is sprinkled with crushed mint candy, maybe spearmint. I'd love to call them Polar Bears but am not certain if the candy would mold well. I suppose I'd have to crush the hard candies to a very fine consistency and if crushed so well, would they even be noticeable! Of course we do have a Bear Pop mold that might work just as well. This idea needs more development.
We have new ideas and flavors to try out all the time. We still make our Wine Truffles but they are hit and miss in the display case. We don't make them consistently but once in awhile you can find the PJ's (merlot) and the Brandybrook Blueberry Truffles. Our Wine truffles are made with Rivermyst Wine, a local winery located near Ogdensburg. All are done in dark chocolate as milk chocolate makes a terrible pairing with wine unless the wine is a sweet dessert wine. But if anyone has a request for these truffles (which we make by special order for Rivermyst), we can whip up a batch in no time! Or you can try your luck at the Winery itself which sells them in 6 piece boxes. Then, you can pick up the matching Wine as well!
I could go on and on about all our Christmas plans but that makes for another later posting!
Here's to cooler weather, back to school, and the changing of the seasons!
So here's the update for our newest products and the return of some Fall Favorites.
NEW FLAVORS
We have added some new flavors to the case recently and they will probably be available right through to Christmas. Our new Lisbon Lime is a dark chocolate lime flavored ganache coated with our X Dark (70%). It is molded in the same square as the Sugar Shack with a different transfer sheet. If you're a lover of dark chocolate, this is a dream.
We also now offer our Cornwall Turtles in the display case to be added to a custom box! These were only available in a box of 8 but we've added them to the case as another showcase of our wonderful butter caramel. The Cornwall Turtle consists of our homemade butter caramel with chopped walnuts rolled into it then dipped in milk chocolate. They are small, rich and they melt in your mouth! A perfect addition with the cooler weather on the way!
Ellen has also added a caramel made with that energy drink that "gives you wings". Our new Madrid Bull Caramel will certainly be a hit. Do you get it? Mad-red...madrid bull? Fun and funky for our expanding college crowd!
For clusters, we added the X Dark Almond clusters and Red Gunner Bites. The Red Gunner Bites are just like the bark. Red Gunner is the name of a friend's chocolate lab who just loves to eat pretzels. So Red Gunner Bark is a slab of milk chocolate with crushed pretzels in it. Now Red Gunner Bites are a cluster available in our display case. Chunky pretzels are globbed with milk or dark chocolate. So how do you eat your pretzels? Bark or Bite?
I've also experimented with Chunky Monkeys. We have a good sized Monkey mold that doesn't seem to be too popular. So I took a bunch of leftover chunks from various barks (those that don't include dried fruits anyway) and mixed them into a batch of milk chocolate. I, then, molded this mixture with the Monkey mold we have. Thus, we now have Chunky Monkeys. This is a good way to us to recycle those little bits that break apart when we cut up our other barks without having to throw it away. If I ate all those little bits, I wouldn't fit through the kitchen door! Talk about Chunky! So the chunks include a lot of different things from nuts to oreos to pretzels! Every bite is different.
RETURNING FAVORITES
Autumn and Thanksgiving signals the return of a popular Truffle: The Pumpkin Truffle. Our fresh pumpkin ganache is the filling for a white chocolate shell. We have customers that have been waiting patiently all summer for it. We'll start making this flavor in Early October if not sooner!
Our Halloween Goblin Eyes will make a return. I called them Krispie Eyes last year but figure I'll upgrade the name since they were very popular. Goblin Eyes are a sphere of rice krispie marshmallow treat dunked in white chocolate then painted with cocoa butter to look like an eye ball. They are a fun touch to a custom box! Imagine your friend opening the box of chocolates you picked out for them to see an eyeball staring back at them! I'll start these in early October as well and they will disappear after Halloween.
Our chocolate pops will now take on various shapes for the Autumn holidays. We will have our pumpkin/jack o'lanterns wrapped in orange foil. Our Skull pops will be ready to go soon and various little solid shapes of Halloween figures like ghosts and cats and tombstones. Our foil wrapped Autumn Leaves will be bagged with a ribbon to make great favor bags for a dinner party or to scatter around on a platter. They look so festive and taste even better! Let's not forget our wonderful 3-D Skulls as well. These hollow chocolate skulls look too real to eat! Sorry, these hollow skulls just can't be shipped as they are too fragile.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
I'm going to list some new flavors we are thinking of adding. They may be only seasonal or they may be permanent. We haven't decided yet.
Hopefully, for Autumn we will have figured out a chocolate chip cookie dough flavor. I was originally thinking of putting an actual cookie dough together and adding it to our Creams and Clusters. But Ellen suggested making it a truffle that tasted of brown sugar, vanilla, and butter with flecks of dark chocolate. I'm not so certain of the truffle. Our fondant fillings may be more of the base with which to work since it is based in sugar. Using brown sugar instead of white and adding a vanilla and butter flavor may make the right taste for a "cookie dough". I would really like to add this flavor to the line but I'm not sure if we will have the time to "make it work" before our Holiday Rush begins.
Wanakena Rangers have been put to the back burner since we opened. This chocolate was one of Ellen's signature chocolates at the onset but we never had a mold to make them in and never got around to buying new. Now that we have a couple molds that are versatile, it may finally be time to break out this unique flavor. This milk or dark chocolate (we haven't decided which!) will be filled with a cranberry/orange fondant. Ellen uses cranberry juice instead of water to make the fondant and adds finely chopped dried cranberries to it. A splash of orange flavor takes away some of the tart flavor and mellows it out a touch. They are named for the Forest Ranger School in Wanakena which is located out toward Cranberry Lake in St. Lawrence County. These pieces will probably use the Raquette Raspberry mold with different coloring, green perhaps to symbolize the forest that the Rangers preserve.
Our other new flavor in development will be introduced for the Holiday season this year, around early November. We will again use the Sugar Shack mold but with a snowflake design transfer sheet. The white snowflakes will show up wonderfully against our dark chocolate shell. We shall fill them with Wintergreen filling and they shall be called Waddington Wintergreen. And it will be good!
Also joining our Bark line-up for Christmas will be the Peppermint Bark. We use white chocolate and throw in crushed candy canes for a silky holiday treat.
One other flavor I'm considering is along these Peppermint Bark lines. I'd like to use the Bear Paw mold for a piece of white chocolate that is sprinkled with crushed mint candy, maybe spearmint. I'd love to call them Polar Bears but am not certain if the candy would mold well. I suppose I'd have to crush the hard candies to a very fine consistency and if crushed so well, would they even be noticeable! Of course we do have a Bear Pop mold that might work just as well. This idea needs more development.
We have new ideas and flavors to try out all the time. We still make our Wine Truffles but they are hit and miss in the display case. We don't make them consistently but once in awhile you can find the PJ's (merlot) and the Brandybrook Blueberry Truffles. Our Wine truffles are made with Rivermyst Wine, a local winery located near Ogdensburg. All are done in dark chocolate as milk chocolate makes a terrible pairing with wine unless the wine is a sweet dessert wine. But if anyone has a request for these truffles (which we make by special order for Rivermyst), we can whip up a batch in no time! Or you can try your luck at the Winery itself which sells them in 6 piece boxes. Then, you can pick up the matching Wine as well!
I could go on and on about all our Christmas plans but that makes for another later posting!
Here's to cooler weather, back to school, and the changing of the seasons!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The Unofficial Start to Summer
Yup, it's here...the unofficial start to summer, Memorial Day weekend. While we are taking a couple of days off, and the shop will be closed Monday 26th, as well as June 2-3. We have some great party products in the shop including the very popular Warmer S'more Pops (two marshmellows on a stick, dipped in milk chocolate and rolled in graham cracker crumbs.) It tastes like the delicious fire-side treat, but with out the gooey mess...just delicious.
We also have bagged solids in flower shapes, as well as flower pops... great for a backyard picnic.
We are going to do a special for Potsdam Summer Festival. Chocolate dipped strawberries. Dunked fresh each day, (if we can get some nice berries). We did a trial run on a recent Saturday and the customers said they were absolutely amazing. They have a very short shelf life, so we have to do a limited time run on these. Be sure to check in the shop on July 10-12 during the festival.
And just in case you are counting, we now have 12 flavors of truffles!! Love those merlot, and Bailey's Irish cream ones.
Hope everyone has a wonderful summer, and remember we are worth the trip and the price of gas.
We also have bagged solids in flower shapes, as well as flower pops... great for a backyard picnic.
We are going to do a special for Potsdam Summer Festival. Chocolate dipped strawberries. Dunked fresh each day, (if we can get some nice berries). We did a trial run on a recent Saturday and the customers said they were absolutely amazing. They have a very short shelf life, so we have to do a limited time run on these. Be sure to check in the shop on July 10-12 during the festival.
And just in case you are counting, we now have 12 flavors of truffles!! Love those merlot, and Bailey's Irish cream ones.
Hope everyone has a wonderful summer, and remember we are worth the trip and the price of gas.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Cinco de Maio
It's hard to believe it's May already. The shop has been bustling with activity. Wedding orders here, rehearsal dinner orders there. Valentine's Day in February was very busy, as was the early Easter in March. We have just caught our breath and now we are gearing up for a big Food and Wine Show in Clayton, NY.
The Great New York State Food and Wine Show is held June 20-22 at the Clayton Recreation Park. Wineries, cheese makers and foodies from all over check this one out. Great Finger Lakes wines, local 1000 Islands wineries are all on had with tastings and sales. We checked it out last year and decided we wanted to share St. Lawrence Chocolates with everyone there as well.
We are currently using wines from River Myst Winery in Ogdensburg, NY to make a few special truffles for them including: Black Lake Berry Wine Truffles, Barnhardt Black Cherry, and Red Mills Red Merlot Truffles. These all have a very rich flavor with the hint of their wine.
We are also experimenting with some special summer flavors: key lime, margarita, and iced tea. If you're in the area check in the shop to see what's new.
We are also waiting for local strawberry season to offer chocolate dipped strawberries. We've had a lot of requests, and want to do offer them when local berries are ready and plentiful.
Do you have an idea for a flavor? Drop us an email to ellen@stlawrencechocolates.com.
The Great New York State Food and Wine Show is held June 20-22 at the Clayton Recreation Park. Wineries, cheese makers and foodies from all over check this one out. Great Finger Lakes wines, local 1000 Islands wineries are all on had with tastings and sales. We checked it out last year and decided we wanted to share St. Lawrence Chocolates with everyone there as well.
We are currently using wines from River Myst Winery in Ogdensburg, NY to make a few special truffles for them including: Black Lake Berry Wine Truffles, Barnhardt Black Cherry, and Red Mills Red Merlot Truffles. These all have a very rich flavor with the hint of their wine.
We are also experimenting with some special summer flavors: key lime, margarita, and iced tea. If you're in the area check in the shop to see what's new.
We are also waiting for local strawberry season to offer chocolate dipped strawberries. We've had a lot of requests, and want to do offer them when local berries are ready and plentiful.
Do you have an idea for a flavor? Drop us an email to ellen@stlawrencechocolates.com.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Another New Year
So here I am sitting at the Chocolate Shop computer at 6:15 on a Friday Night. Ellen has been out of town for a few days so I'm slacking off!
Actually, I've been working hard to get some orders done this week and add some Valentine decor to the shop. After Christmas, we were scant on a few things so now we are back in stock on almost everything. Our chocolate covered cherries will have to wait as our distributor didn't have any when we wanted them. We don't dunk the cherries, we order them. They are really just too labor intensive to make any money on.
It's January and I've already had my first request for chocolate covered strawberries. I suppose it's a popular thing for Valentine's Day, too. I'm pretty sure we could dunk them but not so sure they'd be profitable. It would be a definite special order item provided I can get the strawberries. I have no super secret source for produce like strawberries, bananas, apples...all that stuff comes from the P&C grocery store up the street. If they haven't got it, I don't got it.
But what I do have is some Valentine's Pops. Hearts shapes in dark and milk, some painted with red cocoa butter. The white chocolate ones are tinted pink (also with red cocoa butter). We'll see if people like them. They don't have any flavoring added; its just white chocolate but the color is somewhere between bubble gum and mauve. They look better than they sound!
I've made some large solid hearts as well and figured I'd write "Love" on them with a contrasting color of chocolate. They worked out okay. Except that I had a customer want one customized to say "Thank you"...ummm, I don't know if that will fit on there...but as long as I have some time, I might be able to customize them. It would be a special order with plenty of advance notice. Nothing like trying to spell something right while the chocolate becomes a big lump in the piping bottle!
Ellen ordered some small heart shaped boxes for the holiday. So I'm making lots of filled cremes to go in them. Our special flavor for Valentines is already a hit among white chocolate lovers. I'm making a heart shaped raspberry creme in white chocolate. As a finishing touch, the heart has a swipe of red cocoa butter on the top. It's the same filling as our new Raquette Raspberry that is done in dark chocolate. We also added solid hearts, in milk and dark, to the case foil wrapped in pink and red respectively.
We have our Valentine Jelly Bellies. The 10 and 20 flavor boxes have a pretty little sleeve on them. We also have something new. We have Sunkist Fruit Gems also made by Jelly Belly. They are like a smooshed gum drop or a round fruit slice. They come in a bag and we sell them for $5.25. If you like gumdrops, these are right up your alley!
Of course, I'm trying to push the Valentines boxes. We have a 16 pc box(red square with cut-out heart) for $8.50, and a 32 pc box for $16.95. Not sure what the little heart boxes will sell for yet as they are new this year. We also have our little 6 pc pink boxes that don't take a tray but hold 6 candy cups with chocolate. Those are the same as our regular 6 pc boxes at $3.95.
I also found from last year these little gold heart boxes. They will hold one piece of chocolate and the truffles are too big to fit! But a nice red or pink wrapped solid heart looks really cool in one of them. They are only a buck...add 50 cents for the chocolate...and it's a nice little thing to put in someone's Valentine's basket. These gold heart boxes can easily be reused for just about any special occasion!
That's Valentine's Day!
Actually, I've been working hard to get some orders done this week and add some Valentine decor to the shop. After Christmas, we were scant on a few things so now we are back in stock on almost everything. Our chocolate covered cherries will have to wait as our distributor didn't have any when we wanted them. We don't dunk the cherries, we order them. They are really just too labor intensive to make any money on.
It's January and I've already had my first request for chocolate covered strawberries. I suppose it's a popular thing for Valentine's Day, too. I'm pretty sure we could dunk them but not so sure they'd be profitable. It would be a definite special order item provided I can get the strawberries. I have no super secret source for produce like strawberries, bananas, apples...all that stuff comes from the P&C grocery store up the street. If they haven't got it, I don't got it.
But what I do have is some Valentine's Pops. Hearts shapes in dark and milk, some painted with red cocoa butter. The white chocolate ones are tinted pink (also with red cocoa butter). We'll see if people like them. They don't have any flavoring added; its just white chocolate but the color is somewhere between bubble gum and mauve. They look better than they sound!
I've made some large solid hearts as well and figured I'd write "Love" on them with a contrasting color of chocolate. They worked out okay. Except that I had a customer want one customized to say "Thank you"...ummm, I don't know if that will fit on there...but as long as I have some time, I might be able to customize them. It would be a special order with plenty of advance notice. Nothing like trying to spell something right while the chocolate becomes a big lump in the piping bottle!
Ellen ordered some small heart shaped boxes for the holiday. So I'm making lots of filled cremes to go in them. Our special flavor for Valentines is already a hit among white chocolate lovers. I'm making a heart shaped raspberry creme in white chocolate. As a finishing touch, the heart has a swipe of red cocoa butter on the top. It's the same filling as our new Raquette Raspberry that is done in dark chocolate. We also added solid hearts, in milk and dark, to the case foil wrapped in pink and red respectively.
We have our Valentine Jelly Bellies. The 10 and 20 flavor boxes have a pretty little sleeve on them. We also have something new. We have Sunkist Fruit Gems also made by Jelly Belly. They are like a smooshed gum drop or a round fruit slice. They come in a bag and we sell them for $5.25. If you like gumdrops, these are right up your alley!
Of course, I'm trying to push the Valentines boxes. We have a 16 pc box(red square with cut-out heart) for $8.50, and a 32 pc box for $16.95. Not sure what the little heart boxes will sell for yet as they are new this year. We also have our little 6 pc pink boxes that don't take a tray but hold 6 candy cups with chocolate. Those are the same as our regular 6 pc boxes at $3.95.
I also found from last year these little gold heart boxes. They will hold one piece of chocolate and the truffles are too big to fit! But a nice red or pink wrapped solid heart looks really cool in one of them. They are only a buck...add 50 cents for the chocolate...and it's a nice little thing to put in someone's Valentine's basket. These gold heart boxes can easily be reused for just about any special occasion!
That's Valentine's Day!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Fright Night
Thank you to the hundreds of families that stopped by the shop on Oct. 25 as part of Fright Night in Potsdam. The line was out the door and down the street solid from 5:30 until 7:50, when we got a break. It was great to see some familiar faces, as well as so many who said "I've never been in here before and I will definitely be back."
Angela dressed as a pirate assisted the youth to caste line over the Jolly Roger flag to fish for a treat. Some got Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, others a chocolate fish. Angela even had some of her gold hooked. If a youth received the black spot card, they got to chose a special combo treat from Pirate Angela's Treasure Chest.
We have one new limited edition flavor in the case...milk coconut truffle. Kind of an oops, but also some people had been looking for them as well. We will be trying out the pumpkin truffle recipe this weekend as well. Pumpkin pie puree with white chocolate in a white chocolate shell.
Also recently we participated in the St. Lawrence County Chamber's Business-to-Business and Consumer Expo. Not a lot of traffic, but some good corporate connections. We're donating a basked to the Chamber's silent auction this week, and will start putting the push on people to think about their holiday orders. We don't want anyone to be disappointed.
Well the break is over...hope everyone has a fabulous Halloween.
Angela dressed as a pirate assisted the youth to caste line over the Jolly Roger flag to fish for a treat. Some got Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, others a chocolate fish. Angela even had some of her gold hooked. If a youth received the black spot card, they got to chose a special combo treat from Pirate Angela's Treasure Chest.
We have one new limited edition flavor in the case...milk coconut truffle. Kind of an oops, but also some people had been looking for them as well. We will be trying out the pumpkin truffle recipe this weekend as well. Pumpkin pie puree with white chocolate in a white chocolate shell.
Also recently we participated in the St. Lawrence County Chamber's Business-to-Business and Consumer Expo. Not a lot of traffic, but some good corporate connections. We're donating a basked to the Chamber's silent auction this week, and will start putting the push on people to think about their holiday orders. We don't want anyone to be disappointed.
Well the break is over...hope everyone has a fabulous Halloween.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Summer Flew By
I can't believe we are in October already and I haven't written a thing since July 4. Well we are definitely gearing up for Halloween. Chocolate skulls, skull and pumpkin pops, black and orange cats, gooey ghouls, carmel filled chocolate apples, crispy eyes (rice crispy treats covered in white chocolate and painted like an eye), Laura's Treats (rice crispy treats on a stick, dunked in milk chocolate and large enough for two people).
And I have to rave about the raspberry dark truffles, the new peanut butter cups, and coming very soon, Raquette Raspberry cremes.
Fright Night in Potsdam is October 25. Many of the merchants offer special activities for the children, trick or treating, and maybe a sale or two for mom and dad. We are doing Pirate Fishing. Toss the line over the Pirate Flag and see what you hook. AARRRgggg maybe some pirate gold!!!
We will also be doing the Business Expo in the Massena, NY mall and showing off our holiday packaging and taking orders for the holidays. Help us meet all your gift giving, but letting us know early.
More soon. Thanks for checking back with us.
And I have to rave about the raspberry dark truffles, the new peanut butter cups, and coming very soon, Raquette Raspberry cremes.
Fright Night in Potsdam is October 25. Many of the merchants offer special activities for the children, trick or treating, and maybe a sale or two for mom and dad. We are doing Pirate Fishing. Toss the line over the Pirate Flag and see what you hook. AARRRgggg maybe some pirate gold!!!
We will also be doing the Business Expo in the Massena, NY mall and showing off our holiday packaging and taking orders for the holidays. Help us meet all your gift giving, but letting us know early.
More soon. Thanks for checking back with us.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Happy Fourth of July
We hope everyone is having a great July 4. We closed the shop for the day, however, I had to catch up on filings. The summer season has been busier than expected. So we are very pleased to see that people still want to eat their St. Lawrence Chocolates in the summer as well as ice cream.
Potsdam Summer Festival is next weekend, July 12-15. We are looking forward to a busy week, and I've even taken a couple days off to help in the shop. We have a special of a free 2 pack pretzel with $5 purchase. We will also have Jelly Belly samples, and some in store sales on Popcorn Suite popcorn.
And don't forget the Warmer S'more Pops and our new River Bars.
Well back to the kitchen. More later.
Potsdam Summer Festival is next weekend, July 12-15. We are looking forward to a busy week, and I've even taken a couple days off to help in the shop. We have a special of a free 2 pack pretzel with $5 purchase. We will also have Jelly Belly samples, and some in store sales on Popcorn Suite popcorn.
And don't forget the Warmer S'more Pops and our new River Bars.
Well back to the kitchen. More later.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Summer is here, unofficially
Well, the colleges have seen off all the students for the summer, and with the last graduation on May 21, the 22nd was one of the slowest days in the shop. We know that the summer is generally a slow season for the chocolate industry, but we had to laugh.
So we are now gearing up for the tourists, the campers and the welcome home parties. Not to mention the high school graduations, weddings and summer get-togethers. The new Warmer S'more pops are just amazing. The great taste of the cook out favorite without all the mess. We are going to advertise them big for the Potsdam Summer Festival, July 12-14.
We are looking forward to some fall weddings, as well as supplying the colleges with chocolate, and not to mention a the 1844 House. We celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary with dinner there. Wow...we found it absolutely amazing. Brian and Jenny Walker have been open for about a year, and do an absolutely fablous job. Who would have thought that I would like pan seared tuna, or fiddle head ferns. They contacted us about doing some special chocolates for the end of meal offering. We are looking forward to creating something special to complement such a special meal.
Our other new creation for the summer is the addition of our 7th new truffle flavor....The Purple Cow. It is a grape flavored truffle in white chocolate with a purple swirl on top. At first I wasn't sure if it was grape enough...a few taste testers said it was really good. So we keep it as a truffle rather than turning it into a cream flavor. Why a "purple cow"? Two reasons: 1. a purple cow is a drink dad made for me as kid...grape soda with a scoop of vanilla ice cream...a grape float. 2. I used to recite the little poem over and over...
"I've never seen a purple cow
And I never hope to see one;
But I would rather see one that to be one."
And one summer day, my mother found a swizzle stick for my extensive collection with a purple cow head on the top.
And just recently a friend gave me a birthday card...she found a graphic from an old Nesbitt soda ad for with recipe for a "purple cow". She loves cows, and was looking for Nesbitt soda items for me....Just amazing.
So if you are in Potsdam, stop in and check out the new flavors: KaramelRoos (caramel in milk or dark); purple cows, Hop'kickin'ton bark (it does have a kick of cayenne and black pepper); Winthrop White (made by Tom during my 40th surprise birthday party that he completely missed), Waddington Wasbi pea clusters, and the Warmer S'more pops.
So we are now gearing up for the tourists, the campers and the welcome home parties. Not to mention the high school graduations, weddings and summer get-togethers. The new Warmer S'more pops are just amazing. The great taste of the cook out favorite without all the mess. We are going to advertise them big for the Potsdam Summer Festival, July 12-14.
We are looking forward to some fall weddings, as well as supplying the colleges with chocolate, and not to mention a the 1844 House. We celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary with dinner there. Wow...we found it absolutely amazing. Brian and Jenny Walker have been open for about a year, and do an absolutely fablous job. Who would have thought that I would like pan seared tuna, or fiddle head ferns. They contacted us about doing some special chocolates for the end of meal offering. We are looking forward to creating something special to complement such a special meal.
Our other new creation for the summer is the addition of our 7th new truffle flavor....The Purple Cow. It is a grape flavored truffle in white chocolate with a purple swirl on top. At first I wasn't sure if it was grape enough...a few taste testers said it was really good. So we keep it as a truffle rather than turning it into a cream flavor. Why a "purple cow"? Two reasons: 1. a purple cow is a drink dad made for me as kid...grape soda with a scoop of vanilla ice cream...a grape float. 2. I used to recite the little poem over and over...
"I've never seen a purple cow
And I never hope to see one;
But I would rather see one that to be one."
And one summer day, my mother found a swizzle stick for my extensive collection with a purple cow head on the top.
And just recently a friend gave me a birthday card...she found a graphic from an old Nesbitt soda ad for with recipe for a "purple cow". She loves cows, and was looking for Nesbitt soda items for me....Just amazing.
So if you are in Potsdam, stop in and check out the new flavors: KaramelRoos (caramel in milk or dark); purple cows, Hop'kickin'ton bark (it does have a kick of cayenne and black pepper); Winthrop White (made by Tom during my 40th surprise birthday party that he completely missed), Waddington Wasbi pea clusters, and the Warmer S'more pops.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
ChocoHoliday
I've never really noticed this before...but chocolate cycles with the holidays. And it seems any old holiday will do. I mean, I never would have predicted that Office Assistants Day would be a crazy week in the shop for gift baskets and chocolates. Every boss in Potsdam wanted a box of chocolates for their office! I'm not complaining, mind you, but I just never foresaw that.
But businesses can't survive on holiday sales alone. You can't just do good business at Christmas and expect to be open in July. So all these little holidays are important to a healthy chocolate business. I mean, think of all the little holidays there are. Not just Office Assistants Day...what about Talk Like a Pirate Day, or Boss's Day, or Speak Pig Latin Day, or Opening Day, or Closing Day, or Run Around the Park Naked Day...okay, so I made some of those up...
My point is that every day should be a chocoholiday. Every day, some one is born: That's a birthday! Doesn't every day deserve to be celebrated...and celebrations demand chocolate! Why should people only treat themselves on Federal Holidays?
But businesses can't survive on holiday sales alone. You can't just do good business at Christmas and expect to be open in July. So all these little holidays are important to a healthy chocolate business. I mean, think of all the little holidays there are. Not just Office Assistants Day...what about Talk Like a Pirate Day, or Boss's Day, or Speak Pig Latin Day, or Opening Day, or Closing Day, or Run Around the Park Naked Day...okay, so I made some of those up...
My point is that every day should be a chocoholiday. Every day, some one is born: That's a birthday! Doesn't every day deserve to be celebrated...and celebrations demand chocolate! Why should people only treat themselves on Federal Holidays?
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Don't Give Up Chocolate
As youngsters, our father would suggest that in observance of Lent, we give up chocolate. And most often we would. We also knew that at Easter, we would get a nice reward of a great Easter egg hunt in the back yard, plus lots of chocolate bunnies and eggs.
Now that we are owners of a chocolate shop, which our father enjoys right along with us, he proudly announced in his Church that while the season of Lent was coming, he suggested that no one give up chocolate. He suggested giving up bread or potatoes. Way to go Dad!!!
We have some great plans for Easter... Another childhood memory was of a chocolate filled egg that was sold at an Easter bazaar in Potsdam. The older woman who sold the eggs could personalize them by writing your name in frosting on the top. The egg when cut into was filled with a rich, dense, creamy filling. A slice in a sitting was enough.
St. Lawrence Chocolates is adopting the tradition. We will have milk chocolate eggs, filled with a milk chocolate truffle; white filled with a raspberry flavor; milk with peanut butter; and dark with coconut. Although we will not be able to personalize, we will had some decroative icing flowers to the eggs. (Get your orders in now)
We of course will have traditional chocolate bunnies, foil wrapped eggs (half eggs), and some chocolate pops.
So until Easter, have a great St. Patrick's Day (hopefully you didn't give up beer). Maybe next year we will have perfected the stout truffle.
Now that we are owners of a chocolate shop, which our father enjoys right along with us, he proudly announced in his Church that while the season of Lent was coming, he suggested that no one give up chocolate. He suggested giving up bread or potatoes. Way to go Dad!!!
We have some great plans for Easter... Another childhood memory was of a chocolate filled egg that was sold at an Easter bazaar in Potsdam. The older woman who sold the eggs could personalize them by writing your name in frosting on the top. The egg when cut into was filled with a rich, dense, creamy filling. A slice in a sitting was enough.
St. Lawrence Chocolates is adopting the tradition. We will have milk chocolate eggs, filled with a milk chocolate truffle; white filled with a raspberry flavor; milk with peanut butter; and dark with coconut. Although we will not be able to personalize, we will had some decroative icing flowers to the eggs. (Get your orders in now)
We of course will have traditional chocolate bunnies, foil wrapped eggs (half eggs), and some chocolate pops.
So until Easter, have a great St. Patrick's Day (hopefully you didn't give up beer). Maybe next year we will have perfected the stout truffle.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Be My Valentine
With things calmed down after Christmas, it was nice to actually be able to keep the display case full and have some backstock for making boxes. But now the push of Valentine's Day is approaching and I'm back to my old cycle of making those standard 12 flavors in quantity. But it now seems much less hectic, since I have some stock piled already. This time I can afford to do three molds of a flavor...before I was only doing a couple since I was trying to get all 12 flavors done in a day! Now, I can concentrate my efforts on only a few flavors per day.
We've got some great little things for Valentine's Day in the shop. I'm making chocolate pops, heart shaped. They are pretty popular. One is a plain heart on a 6 inch stick that is foil wrapped. Another is on a 4 inch stick but is a little heavier and has small hearts indented into the chocolate. I then try to paint these little hearts with the pink quartz cocoa butter we have. They look very classic. Pink seems to be the best color to paint as the white is too dull and the red is too dark (on white chocolate it looked like I accidentally cut my finger open...). Ellen also got a few molds with double hearts that I haven't yet tried but will get to this week probably as I'm already bored with the simple foil wrapped heart pops even though I have another million to do! :)
We're also making simple solid chocolates in heart shapes. They are similiar to our jingle bells that we made at Christmas (for the lucky few who actually saw them before they flew out the door!) They are a solid peice of chocolate, foil wrapped in red, pink, silver, and gold foils. We bag them up in a Valentine's Day bag and sell them. I have made them in milk, dark, white, and have made a few peanut butter filled ones. These solids will also make up the 4 center peices in our heart boxes.
The heart boxes are a 16 peice square box. The lid is red with a cut out heart in the center with plastic see-through. We have our standard 12 flavors around the outside and in the 4 center spots we have either the solids mentioned above or we place 4 truffles for extra charge. They are really nice looking boxes and I'm sure they'll sell like hot cakes.
At the chocolate show, Ellen and I purchased some heart shaped boxes...a little thicker and heavier than simple cardboard, they are sturdy and hold a pound of chocolate. It's hard to describe what they look like but they are definately a step up from that Russell Stover heart shaped box you see in every department store. We don't have a lot of them but they will also retail for a higher price due to the box.
Naturally, we also have smaller boxes. One is heart shaped, red-felted, and says "Happy Valentine's Day" in gold lettering on it. And then, we have a small pink box with hearts all over it for just a few peices of chocolate. These pink boxes will house our Valentine's Mix, two raspberry jells, two coconuts, and two Burg Berries.
And of course, what would Valentine's Day be without sprinkled oreos and chocolate covered pretzels! We've got them with the red, pink, and white heart sprinkles to make them festive for any kind of gift basket. We are making gift baskets for whatever budget, too. Cut-off date for special orders is Feb 5th!
Have a happy Valentine's Day!
We've got some great little things for Valentine's Day in the shop. I'm making chocolate pops, heart shaped. They are pretty popular. One is a plain heart on a 6 inch stick that is foil wrapped. Another is on a 4 inch stick but is a little heavier and has small hearts indented into the chocolate. I then try to paint these little hearts with the pink quartz cocoa butter we have. They look very classic. Pink seems to be the best color to paint as the white is too dull and the red is too dark (on white chocolate it looked like I accidentally cut my finger open...). Ellen also got a few molds with double hearts that I haven't yet tried but will get to this week probably as I'm already bored with the simple foil wrapped heart pops even though I have another million to do! :)
We're also making simple solid chocolates in heart shapes. They are similiar to our jingle bells that we made at Christmas (for the lucky few who actually saw them before they flew out the door!) They are a solid peice of chocolate, foil wrapped in red, pink, silver, and gold foils. We bag them up in a Valentine's Day bag and sell them. I have made them in milk, dark, white, and have made a few peanut butter filled ones. These solids will also make up the 4 center peices in our heart boxes.
The heart boxes are a 16 peice square box. The lid is red with a cut out heart in the center with plastic see-through. We have our standard 12 flavors around the outside and in the 4 center spots we have either the solids mentioned above or we place 4 truffles for extra charge. They are really nice looking boxes and I'm sure they'll sell like hot cakes.
At the chocolate show, Ellen and I purchased some heart shaped boxes...a little thicker and heavier than simple cardboard, they are sturdy and hold a pound of chocolate. It's hard to describe what they look like but they are definately a step up from that Russell Stover heart shaped box you see in every department store. We don't have a lot of them but they will also retail for a higher price due to the box.
Naturally, we also have smaller boxes. One is heart shaped, red-felted, and says "Happy Valentine's Day" in gold lettering on it. And then, we have a small pink box with hearts all over it for just a few peices of chocolate. These pink boxes will house our Valentine's Mix, two raspberry jells, two coconuts, and two Burg Berries.
And of course, what would Valentine's Day be without sprinkled oreos and chocolate covered pretzels! We've got them with the red, pink, and white heart sprinkles to make them festive for any kind of gift basket. We are making gift baskets for whatever budget, too. Cut-off date for special orders is Feb 5th!
Have a happy Valentine's Day!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
The New Year
We knew things would slow down...way down. With only a few customers a day, it has allowed us time to really restock. Angela has been going great guns to get new product out as well as the favorites. We know have Power Rods (yellow and red sprinkles) and Aluminum Rods (silver cocoa butter ends) in the store. Snowy Roads Bark (cookies and cream) and our newly named Chocolate covered Oreo Cookies....the Ori-OHs.
Our good friend Jon Ori, who lives in Massena, is quite the chocolate lover. His wife, and marketing specialist, bought some of our chocolate covered cookies for her husband for Christmas. He loved them.... as she told me the story, it clicked. We should call them the Oris, she suggested adding the OH to the end as the play on words....voi la. They come in milk and dark covered.
We also offered chocolate for the newspapers promo for the first baby born in the new year. The ad rep needs to pick up the chocolate. Pretzels with pink and blue bears, Ori-OHs, and a 12 piece assorted.
We are headed to Atlantic City on Januyar 6-8. It is the Philiadelphia Candy Show (yes, we know it is a different state. They moved it for more excitment. We have had a great time in the past, learn a lot in the workshops, and Tom has fun at the Casinos. (Have to reward him somehow for doing all the driving.) Angela is making the trip with us, as Marylee will watch the shop and the Nezzy.
So with Valentine's Day only 21 days away...have you been thinking about a sweet gift for the sweetie. We have some cool 15 piece square boxes with a cut-out heart on the front, as well as some small, pink boxes for a little taste. We will also be looking for some cool stuff at the show. We also hope to have a new line of nuts in the shop. A local woman in Colton operates her own business, Nut Shop International. They are very yummy; a nice addition to our shop.
Our good friend Jon Ori, who lives in Massena, is quite the chocolate lover. His wife, and marketing specialist, bought some of our chocolate covered cookies for her husband for Christmas. He loved them.... as she told me the story, it clicked. We should call them the Oris, she suggested adding the OH to the end as the play on words....voi la. They come in milk and dark covered.
We also offered chocolate for the newspapers promo for the first baby born in the new year. The ad rep needs to pick up the chocolate. Pretzels with pink and blue bears, Ori-OHs, and a 12 piece assorted.
We are headed to Atlantic City on Januyar 6-8. It is the Philiadelphia Candy Show (yes, we know it is a different state. They moved it for more excitment. We have had a great time in the past, learn a lot in the workshops, and Tom has fun at the Casinos. (Have to reward him somehow for doing all the driving.) Angela is making the trip with us, as Marylee will watch the shop and the Nezzy.
So with Valentine's Day only 21 days away...have you been thinking about a sweet gift for the sweetie. We have some cool 15 piece square boxes with a cut-out heart on the front, as well as some small, pink boxes for a little taste. We will also be looking for some cool stuff at the show. We also hope to have a new line of nuts in the shop. A local woman in Colton operates her own business, Nut Shop International. They are very yummy; a nice addition to our shop.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
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.
Friday, December 01, 2006
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.
Monday, November 27, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, November 17, 2006
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
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