Eat Lotsa Chocolate

Sea Shell Chocolates and a Tablescape

2012-02-15T23:51:00.002-07:00

My Daughter Karin over at The Style Sisters has just put together an amazing tablescape using some of my sea shell chocolates.
You can purchase these sea shell chocolates right here on my blog. I sell them for $1.00 each!

I also sell the Sea Shells alone. Please email me for pricing joan@eatlotsachocolate.com I can do large or small orders.

Easter is coming and wouldn't it be fun to have some of these chocolates around for your guests!

These make perfect wedding favors for your guests!

I am selling these sea shell chocolates on the right side of my blog...I call them

FRUITS DE MER (BELGIAN SEA SHELL CHOCOLATE IN A SEASHELL)

If you haven't been over to my daughters blog hop over so you can see the rest of this "Under Da Sea" Tablescape!

More Chocolate recipes to come....

I am linking up to

Tablescape Thursday

Sweeter than Chocolate

2012-02-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is Ina Garten's fabulous Ganache Cake

Grandma, I don't know what I love more

You or my chocolate cake

My precious grandson Turner... I

call him my sugar plum.

Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipe:

1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temp

1 Cup sugar

4 extra large eggs- room temp

1 16 oz can Hershey's chocolate syrup

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

For the Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules or....

( I like to use 1 tablespoon cocoa powder)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cake will be tough.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake or 40 to 45 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let cool thoroughly in the pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant *coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Note: *When I use cocoa instead of the instant coffee I like to heat the cream till almost boiling, then pour over the chocolate chips and stir till creamy, then add the cocoa powder.

Place the cake upside down on a wire rack and pour the glaze evenly over the top, making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. You can tilt the rack to smooth the glaze. Decorate with candied violets, if desired or crumble the gold leaf and place it on the center of the cake. Do not refrigerate.

Sometimes I make this cake without the ganache (heaven forbid but it is lovely) and serve it with whipped cream and berries. It's wonderful either way!

Sedate this woman with Chocolate

2012-02-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

There is a skinny person inside me screaming to get out but I keep her sedated with chocolate.

These little Mendiants are so lovely. Milk or Dark Belgian Chocolate with a macadamia nut, a pistachio nut and just a hint of orange from candied orange peel. Nothing quite so delectable as dark chocolate and orange. YUM!

2012-02-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

Don't you love the gorgeous creativity of this dessert. I think I may have to try making it.

Rember this:

Money can't buy happiness.....

But it can buy chocolate

and it's kinda the same thing.

2012-02-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

These pictures tantalize me!!

I found them on hotpolkadot.com

Great blog!

OH MY, I DO LOVE CHOCOLATE!

I AM WORKING ON MY BLOG.....DO CHECK BACK

2012-01-22T07:44:00.001-07:00

Sweet Peas and Summertime

2010-06-09T10:14:00.000-06:00

It seems like we went from freezing cold to hot, hot, hot!

But that is o.k. with me because now the flowers are coming on, like

my sweet peas. They are wild things that have squeezed in everywhere.I found this darling little house at Tai Pan when they had their

tent sale for $15. I just love it.

I am finally in the mood to get our patio in shape again for the summer.
I wish I had an arboretum that looked like this wee house. I do have a
gazebo but it is way at the back of our yard and we don't use it so
I think I will have my cute hubby make it into a little green house.
It would look similar to this miniature house.

We now have one of our 14 yer old granddaughters here for the
summer and I have been helping her get ready for girls camp.
Oh my goodness, I had forgotten all the stuff you have to do
to get them ready. But it has been great fun.

I wish all of you a sensational summer!

I hope you wonderful women check out the blog listed before this one
and go the site that is listed. It is tremendous.

I am participating in Centerpiece Wednesday

RECOGNIZING OUR BEAUTY WITHIN

2010-06-08T10:03:00.000-06:00

My darling daughters and myself at my grandson's wedding last July.Two of my beautiful granddaughters
One of the Stylesisters and her daughter

Happy faces at the wedding.

Here we are again.

The crazy girls that I love to pieces

One of my daughters at The Style Sisters sent me something that I think is very worthwhile.
It is a blog that talks about how we see ourselves and how we can encourage our daughters to see their beauty within project: It is........project: In My Daughter's Eyes
Do check it out, it is inspiring.

I think sometimes we get so caught up with the things of the world that we forget that we truly are daughters of God and that we are made in his image. He must love us more than we can imagine and if in fact we are his daughters we must be pretty remarkable. I love the old statement, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." We have a great responsibility to encourage one another, to lift the weak and strengthen the weary. We are capable of great things and we need to look in the mirror with a different attitude. We need to love ourselves first and then we can love and help others. We can never be perfect in this world but we are all working to perfection and that can only come with the help of the Lord.

I have just been released from a calling (a position in our church) which was Relief Society President. As the president I was responsible for serving the women in our ward and our community. To be there when they were hurting, or needed food, or encouragement or whatever our Bishop felt they were in need of. I did not have to do it all myself. I had two councilors, a Secretary and many others such as, a Humanitarian leader, a Compassionate Service leader, an Activity Leader and many, many other women who lightened my load. I must tell you that it was three of the most difficult and glorious years of my life. Serving the Lord is what this life is all about. I have counseled with women who really struggle with their identity, who wonder how they will ever face another day with a difficult spouse, a wayward child, and sometimes loss of income and some who did not like themselves very much. I would always tell them, "Be the Best that you can be." Loving them was easy and I have seen some wonderful changes in their lives because they finally realized that they were special and had something good to offer to others. We shared our talents and had fun and exciting activities. We cooked, we sewed, we exercised, we read the scriptures, we served each other and our community, we worked together.

Women of the Blogging World......We can make a difference. I am grateful for all you wonderful bloggers that continue to offer good advice, encourage me to continue with my projects that make my home more lovely, push forward in my business and quite often bring a tear to my eye, a smile to my face and lots of laughter.
You are the best!!!!!

Do take a peek: http://www.pimde.com/2010/06/style-sisters.html?showComment=1275543673683_AIe9_BFPoyC9HIdDqsk9Q5crf9nMkD-jzEB8B-UuKaZzP__uG2dgLUdOt1Ab3rGDfIsNWYHqpaov9379B3LSmWkKlKyF8B_tnUg4S_lytGlLknFJx_YOxYtqwyBskxHs844AMG6NyZOUYDdlYtELiZr_Jx18Ll6QqdHodHtfU_Dq7403Zo1wnUHjbkYPRua9wWIiRxhzxkQVBKvI3gINtnBT8OFUn5DaSw#c8142466268606847053

Fruit and Veggie Florals & The Clients Fury

2010-05-31T10:19:00.000-06:00

I had a centerpiece for this Wednesday but.....I just went to a picnic in the park

with our Relief Society (a women's group in our church) and our darling activities

people, Jeremy Bird and her mom, Edna Neighbor put together these amazing

centerpieces made from fruit and veggies. Can you believe it?

The basket in the foreground is made with fruit.

These are the vegetables and they are just sensational!

Not only are they gorgeous but they are edible, but who would
have the heart to eat anything so lovely.

My centerpiece couldn't hold a candle to these beautiful bouquets.
Wish we had taken the pictures when the sun was
shinning so you could see the wonderful colors of the edible flowers.
Jeremy had never made these before but had seen them on the
Internet and knew she could make them. This girl can do anything, and I
mean anything! Talk about talent. WOW Gets it from her Mom I am sure.

And now on with my story and ........

The Clients Fury

We were so pleased with ourselves, we had actually created 5,000 beautiful golf ball truffles that we felt any chocolatier could be proud of. It had been an excruciating experience. But I have come to learn that the the most painful experiences are where we learn the most. I felt at this time that I could produce any truffle perfectly and I could compete with the best of them.

The truffles were delivered one day before the Dinah Shore Open, a very impressive golf tournament held in Palm Springs, exactly when they had requested delivery. We had done it and done it well.

One hour after they had been delivered the phone rang. With great anticipation I answered the phone, expecting to hear cheers and great accolades. What I heard was not anything like I had dreamt about. The person on the other end of the line sounded as if he were being choked. I could hear the strain in his vocal cords as if they were being stretched to their limit. He strained to get the words out. "What in the *@#@* are these things that you have sent me?" I could barely make out what he was saying. I said, "I'm sorry, what is the problem?" He reiterated the same statement, "What in the *$#@* are these things that you have sent me?" Only this time the words were quite legible and several decibels higher. I believe we sent you exactly what you ordered, 5,000 golf ball truffles. Is that not what you ordered?" I asked.

Yes, I ordered 5,000 golf ball truffles and I expected them to look like golf balls, THESE LOOK

LIKE RANGE BALLS!" By this time his voice was probably audible without the phone from his place of business in Palm Springs to our place in Newport Beach.

I was horror stricken. "What do you mean, they look like range balls? Are they damaged?"

I knew they were in perfect condition, not a mark on them and the "seams" were barely visible, they were perfect in my estimation. I would have put them up against Joseph Schmidt or anyone else for that matter. And our ganache was exquisite.

"These #@$*# golf balls are yellow not white, they look like RANGE BALLS." At that moment I knew exactly what he meant. For those of you who are not familiar with fine white chocolate, the color is off white and has a tinge of yellow where white chocolate coating is pure white, but not nearly the quality of fine white chocolate. We had assumed that the truffles we had purchased from our fabulous chocolatier had been created with fine white chocolate, not so. I tried to soothe the savage beast by explaining that these were far more delicious (which of course they were) and worth much more than those made with white chocolate coating but he would have nothing to do with me or my explanation.

Had all of our effort been for not? Would we have to eat (not literally, that much chocolate could probably kill you at one sitting) all 5,000 truffles? I meekly asked if he wanted us to pick them up and once again his voice was like the sound of air coming out of a balloon when you stretch the sides out to make a high shrill type of sound. "NO, I have no choice but to use them, but this will be my last order from you!!!!" My hear was broken, my pride was dashed. How could I continue with this Chocolate business? Should I go back to doing manicures, selling wigs, or jewelry or providing plants for restaurants? Maybe the antique store in Laguna Beach would be the place I needed to go back to. No, no, no, I had changed my occupation for the last time, this is where I wanted to be and I would be successful. One little irate man and a few, few? mistakes was not going to deter me. I would continue with my dream.

Next Chapter............The Business Continues to grow

I am participating in Centerpiece Wednesday

Centerpiece Wednesday

2010-05-26T09:39:00.000-06:00

Getting ready for Memorial Day Celebration

I made this table cloth out of a J Crew sheetThis is my Christmas Berry Wreath that I stuck my Christmas

cake plate in and I placed the red berry napkin rings

around the base of the glass apothocary jar.

I love these oval white dishes that I found at Tai Pan several years ago

And of course, since I am in the chocolate business I had

to have some yummies in there somewhere. I filled this

apothocary jar with Holland mints and stuck a bunch

of American Flags around the mouth of the jar.

And......if you are looking for something clever to put around

a bowl or whatever you can order these wonderful napkin

rings from The Style Sisters.

I am participating in Centerpiece Wednesday

Herb Tablescape & Cat in The Refer

2010-05-19T09:32:00.000-06:00

HERBS

I have used the same centerpiece that I placed

on Centerpiece Wednesday cause I ran short on

time. Today a precious lady in our church came

by with her clippers and shovel and gloves to

inform me she was going to help me weed. How

sweet is that? She helped so much and it was so

greatly appreciated. My husband and I decided we needed to go to our Daughter-in-laws and help her with her yard, so it is now almost 10:00 p.m. and time for a little respite. Hope to do better next week.

I just can't live without my herbs. They give a simple meal a burst of flavor.

This is a pretty simple tablescape but I am pretty simple

myself I love all kinds of bread with fresh veggies and herbs, maybe a little

olive oil and sea salt too. And don't forget the cheese.

I found this little cheese keeper at
where else.....TJ Maxx

I'm sad that it is too cold for my basil to be doing it's thing yet.

That would be the crowning glory for my herb basket.

There is a wonderful store in St George...

Urban Renewal , and that is where I found

this wonderful tray or basket. They

always seem to have just what I am looking for.

CAT IN THE REFRIGERATOR

I finally found out that the cat in the refrigerator was alive and that there was no product in the refrigerator at the time. But so what, who wants to buy anything from someone who keeps a cat in the area of food? My husband was right, we could no longer buy from this wonderful Chocolatier. And now the fun would begin.

Did I say fun? Let me tell you this was the most stressful, well almost the most stressful time in my life. As I mentioned before we had to produce about 5,000 golfball truffles for the "Dinah Shore Open" in less than two weeks and we had no commercial kitchen to work in and no experience in making truffles. What to do?

First we had to obtain an aproved kitchen, find a supplier of fine chocolate and figure out how to mold 10,000 golfballl halves. You see you have to make two seperate pieces, fill them with ganache and close them to look like a golfball....no seams.

We found the kitchen HOORAY! We found the chocolate suplier, YEAH! and now we had to learn how to temper the white chocolate quickly. STRESS PERSONIFIED!

We assumed, being the novice chocolatiers that we were, that our former supplier of truffles used fine white chocolate that had to be tempered. Well he didn't and we did.

The first batch, because the room temperature was all wrong and we had tempered the chocolate incorrectly stuck to the molds, oh yes, (we had to find molds also). When the chocolate is not tempered it can cause one or all to lose their tempers. We had to beat the chocolate out of the molds. We had to contain ourselves to not beat one another during this trial.

And then we started all over again molding the chocolate.

By the third day we had figured it out. It was now about 3 days before delivery time and we only had about 2,000 truffles to go.

By the end of the third day, day? it was way late at night, maybe

it was early day, 4:00 a.m. I literally crawled out of the kitchen

into the van. I am not kidding, I crawled. We had been working

about 18 hours a day, standing on our feet the whole time. Not

only did we have to make the truffles but we had to clean up

the place after we finished. But we had accomplished our goal,

5,000 beautiful golfball truffles and no seams.

We could hardly wait to hear from our client. We knew he would be thrilled. Guess what? You don't always get what you anticipate.

Next week: The clients fury!

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday

Herbs for Centerpiece Wednesday

2010-05-18T23:39:00.001-06:00

Since the sun doesn't want to shine

and help the posies bloom I resorted

to my little herb garden for my Centerpiece

I used all my favorite little vases and filled them with

parsley, chives, sage, purple sage,

oregano and mint and placed them in this

wonderful metal tray.

I love the scent of the fresh herbs!!!

I think I would serve sliced fresh tomatoes, cuumbers and avacados

with provolone cheese, goat cheese and an assortment

of fresh breads. Everyone could clip a little

of their favorite herb to season their veggies.

I adore this litttle bird nestled in the basket.

I found him on sale for $1.25. What a deal!

I am so excited to see all the ideas for
Centerpiece Wednesday. I think it is such a great idea.

Everything begins with the centerpiece

since it is the focal point of any table.

I am participating in Centerpiece Wednsesday

Herbs in my Centerpiece Wednesday

2010-05-18T23:22:00.001-06:00

The New Centerpiece Wednesday

2010-05-14T14:30:00.000-06:00

I am so excited for the new Centerpiece Wednesday. I like the idea of not having to come up with a whole table setting, although I do love doing that too but sometimes I seem to run out of time to do it very well. Hope every one jumps in!!

I WON THE COOKIES and ....The Trials of Developing a CHOCOLATE BUSINESS

2010-05-12T14:53:00.000-06:00

I was the very lucky lady that won
this Sweet Cheeks Bakery giveaway! on Nancy's Daily Dish.

Thank you - Thank you - Thank you!
You just can't imagine how delicious these

cookies from Sweet Cheeks Bakery are!!
They are oatmeal with almonds, cranberries and white chocolate and

Oh MY GOODNESS they are sensational. They absolutley melt in your mouth.

And they shipped beautifully too.

I can't wait to try some of the other cookies they offer.

You need to order some right away.

Just click on Sweet Cheeks Bakery and order up.

We get together on Monday nights with a group to study the
Scriptures and then we have a little snack afterwards.
Some of those that come are diabetic so we have to be
certain we provide something they can enjoy too.

So we offered fresh pears and yogurt
with berries and home made granola.

But of course I always have to provide a little chocolate from

Continental Chocolatier.

These are the Petite Tortoise (turtles in the vernacular of the public)

and Tortoise Shells - Dark or Milk Chocolate w/dried fruit and nuts.

Oh so very yummy!Check every now and then at our website http://www.eatlotsachocolate.com/ to order your favorites.

Each year I harvest enough grapes

from our yard to bottle 50 or 60 quarts of juice. Some times I add

a little Sparkling Juice for more interest. Tonight it is Sparkling Pear.

I love the beautiful pink color of the juice. It really is delcious.

Trials in Developing a Chocolate Business

We found a fabulous Chocolaier in Los Angeles and we were ready to give it a go. It seemed like there were several hotels interested in my ideas for their guests but none had ordered as yet. I had called on about 25 hotels (it seemed like thousands) but none had ordered and I was beginning to think I was mistaken about the interest I thought I had created. I came home one night ready to call it quits and look for a job selling wigs or something. (I had done that before and it was the one of the worst experiences of my life....and that is another chapter in my book)

There was a message on the answer phone from one of the upper class hotels in NewportBeach. He WANTED 500 boxes of our chocolates. I could hardly believe my ears. I met with him the next day and he gave me the order. I only had about 2 weeks to put the order together. Now this could present a serious problem. He wanted a specific box that was not readily available and I had to get it fast. I had to look for a space where we could package the product.

Can you believe I would start a business and not have a work place? Well I did, and it caused me great tribulation. To the rescue came my daughter Karin, (The Style Sisters,) and her boss offered us space in his building. Yeah! Of course we had no employees at this time so what does one do in that event, call on family. My darling children Tiffany, (The Childrens Nest), my darling son Tim and his wife Liz, all came to my rescue.

We ordered the chocolate from our chocolatier and received the boxes one day before we had to deliver them. Our chocolatier had shorted us on the chocolates and we had to buy 1/4 pound from Sees to finish the boxes. That was great. After I had convinced our client that European chocolate was extremely superior to American chocolate (which it is) I added Sees?

Don't get me wrong, I like Sees product a lot, but I love and adore European chocolate. There is no comparison. Fortunately for us they never noticed and reordered many times after that. We never had to resort to our former subtrufuge.

We were now getting serious about this chocolate business and knew we needed a space where we could have a legitimate kitchen with refrigerators, sinks and stainless steel tables , etc., and an office. We were really uptown now.

We were offering an assortment of bon-bons and truffles that were exquite and we could hardly keep up with the orders. I should say our Chocolatier could hardly keep up. We really needed a space of our own. He made them, we sold and delivered them. Pretty slick.

One day as my husband was waiting at the Chocolatier's place of business to place an order he happend to notice that inside one of the large commercial refrigerators that had a glass door, a live cat sitting inside on one of the shelves. He left without ordering and returned to our place of business to inform me that from now on we would be making our own products.
WHAT?!!!!! We had an order for about 5,000 golfball truffles for the Dinah Shore Open in Palm Springs.

What in the world was he thinking?

We had taken a course in chocolate making but we had not done anything with it, as of yet. I had always loved to cook and experiment with chocolate but..........

Stay tuned for the next frightening episode.

I am participating in Thursday Tablescape

Hands dripping in chocolate and Lost Phone

2010-05-06T12:13:00.000-06:00

No time to take pics this week, lots of orders to fill and much to do, but thought I would share a little humor with you.

Do any of you ever lose something? As the years go by it seems to happen to me all too often. Yesterday was the ultimate challenge. Our chocolate factory is in a building behind our house which most times is very convenient because it allows me to to do what we women do best and that is multi-tasking. I was in the middle of working with a new tempering machine and it was giving me fits when my husband arrived home in the middle of the day with either the flu or food poisoning or perhaps maybe just eating too much of a good thing. Anyhow he went to bed.

After a short time after his arrival I thought perhaps I should check on him but in the meantime his boss called and asked if he might talk with him if he were able. Men do commiserate with one another. I left the chocolate shop to give him the message and check on him and found him sound (really sound and making sounds) asleep. I started back to the chocolate factory and realized I didn't have the phone with me so back I went to find the missing instrument. I searched the entire house but it was no where to be found. Back to the chocolate shop to search for the silly thing. After looking in every nook and corner and even in the bowls of chocolate I was certain an alien had entered the building while I was away and stole my phone.

But then, being the wise woman that I am, a thought came to me. Call the missing phone from the company phone. I was in the office at the time (a very small office that needs a little TLC) when I heard the phone ring. It sounded as if it were behind me, I turned and looked for it but no phone, and then when it rang again it was behind me, again. Each time it rang it came from behind. How could this be, it was ringing so it had to be in the office somewhere but never could I find from whence the ringing came. I was literally moving from one end of the office to the other. This little dance I was doing continued for some time until the answer phone came on. So, I dialed me up again and again it rang from behind me and so the dance continued.

The Lord watches over fools and idiots. The realization finally hit. When I am working in the yard, the house or the chocolate factory I clip the phone on my back pocket because of the many phone calls that come in from those in need. You Got it! It was right there all the time. So now it all made sense; of course when it rang it would be behind me, and each time I turned around to find it, it continued to ring behind me. You might say I have a numb behind, didn't feel a thing. Too bad someone wasn't taking pics for the show "Funniest Home Movies".

Now don't you feel good about yourselves knowing you have it all together and that there are some really challenged women out there living and breathing and convincing the world that they are all right. Most days go much better for me, how about you? It's good to laugh at oneself. I laugh a lot!!

And The Winner IS.....

2010-05-01T11:35:00.001-06:00

The winner of the 1 lb box of Continental Chocolatiers Chocolates is Yvonne at Stone Gable! Congratulations! Have a happy Chocolate day. Please email me at joan@eatlotsachocolate.com with your address so I can ship them off to you the first of next week.

Chocolate in Brazil

2010-04-13T13:51:00.000-06:00

Blue, white and yellow always capture my eye.

I found this dome at a garage sale in Colorado

It was one of three that were part of a table base.

Go figure.

I found these wonderful French looking napkins
at a store in Durango, CO. Dietz Market
The napkins remind me of Piere Deux fabric.

These little dishes for baking apples were my moms.

You just cut off the ends of the apples fill them with

brown sugar, or syrup, cinnamon and a little butter

and stick them in the oven to bake. Delicious.

I love these dishes that my daughters found for me
at Target in St. George, UT. They gave me a set of four and I loved
them so much I had my daughter-in-law look in California
to see if she could find more......long story short, between
my daughters and daughter-in-law I now have 24!

My daughter, The Style Sisters, gave me these plates "Cafe du Soleil"

and I adore them. They are so summery and I am so ready

for summer. It is freezing here in Utah.

Where has all the Sunshine gone?

I thought this would be a great setting for a little brunch of
baked apples, Swedish pancakes and eggs.

Each place setting has their own pitcher of syrup

and I think the other pitchers would be great for

powdered sugar, and other flavors of syrup.

One of our granddaughters gave us these cute

rooster salt and pepper shakers.

I found these glasses at a thrift shop for .50 ea.

And under the dome sits my wee little pot of tiny

lemons on top of a gorgeous blue bowl my daughter gave me.

Lemon juice is also great on those Swedish pancakes.

NOW .....On to Brazil

One morning, or should I say early afternoon, after my husband left to work with the Brazilians I decided that I would like very much to have breakfast brought to my room. I called down to the front desk and ordered what I thought was croissants, fruit and one of their silver pots of hot chocolate. To my dismay that is not what I got. Since it has been eons ago I can't really remember exactly what I received but it was not what I had envisioned. I called them again and carefully told them my desire. Again, it was not what I had ordered. By the third time I was not sure that they would even consider sending me anything let alone what my taste buds were relishing. So, I just got myself together and went down to dine alone with all the scrumptious goodies. It was lovely but I truly had wanted to lounge in my own room reveling in my delicious breakfast.

We did meet some lovely people, several who showed us where to buy semi-precious stones, a number of great places to dine and some of the local shops that were similar to our outdoor art shows. One evening while dining I thought I would like to try their national dish, Feijoada. One gentleman came to my rescue by informing me that the dish would make me quite ill. When I questioned him about it he said they put everything into this recipe, the pigs snout, his feet (that part didn't bother me because as a child I loved pickled pigs feet...now I would tell you yuck!) hair, entrails, the entire creature. It's good to be watched over. He did tell me however, that he would make it for me and it would be made with only the finest of meat and whatever else goes into it. Never did get to try his dish.

We were there in their spring time and when the trees blossomed it was magnificent! One thing that really impressed me was the upkeep of their cars. Even if their cars were old they were clean and well cared for. Amazing feat because they did not stop at intersections they just honked and went on through. They had lovely shops in large malls and their prices were very reasonable, I might even say cheap. The area that we were to live in was gated and their were armed men, armed? they carried bazookas. They provided a wee bit of concern on my part.
We would have had the luxury of a maid and chauffeur, but BAZOOKAS? NO! NO!

When we finally determined that Brazil was not the place for us, for a myriad of reasons, we returned to the states, kissed the ground and I began my quest for a new and exciting business.

I was inspired to investigate the chocolate industry. I spent one entire year researching the hotel chains and their needs. If you ever endeavor to start a business I would highly recommend this approach. You really need to know what your customer bank needs or wants. Some of us, just go out into the world of alligators thinking we know what everyone is seeking and assume they all need what we have to offer. Get it straight from the horses mouth, best to know first hand what is needed.

Those that I called on were delighted to tell me their concerns, wants and needs. Now saying that, you need to know that some of them took off on other roads that had nothing to do with what I was selling. I do believe that at one point I was more of a councilor than a saleswoman.

But all in all it gave me a wider spectrum of products and services that I should consider. I had a business consultant that told me once, "Joan you need to take someone that is highly successful in their business, buy them a very expensive dinner and pick their brain." I didn't have to do that though because he was a "quasi" friend and he was free and did not expect me to wine and dine him and besides his wife was my dearest friend in the world. That was a stroke of luck.

After one year of researching I was ready to hit the street selling. But what would I sell?
I went to the offices of the European Consulates in Los Angeles hoping to find a great company that wanted to export their chocolates. I found an exceptional one in Belgium.
The French Consulate also gave me several companies in France to contact.
All of a sudden I had samples arriving daily. They were all very generous and I ate

every little or large sample they sent. I think perhaps that could be why I gained 45 pounds.
Fortunately I have lost most of my chocolate fat.

It is now time to place this chapter on my blog.

P.S. Don't forget to enter our give-away.
You have two more days to enter.

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday

Chocolate, the continuing saga and yummy giveaway

2010-04-13T12:45:00.001-06:00

Wouldn't you just LOVE one pound of these gorgeous delectible things?

Well this is our giveaway....One pound of Continental Chocolatier's Desert Tortoises.

1 Entry- Leave a comment

2 Entries -blog about it and use my pictures

3 Entries- Facebook or twitter about this

Winner will be announced May 1st!

They come packaged in this box and wouldn't they make

a great gift? Gift my foot, I think every blogger deserves

at least one chocolate tortoise a day, don't you? I have to

have my daily dose.

All this past talk about lovely breakfasts in Brazil has me wanting
omelets. I adore setting things up where everyone can

choose what they want in their omelet.

My kitchen is full of silly chef items, most given to me from
my dear and wonderful family and friends. Do you see my beautiful

eggs in their chicken basket? They come from my very own dear little

chickens, but my favorite are the pastel colored ones from

the Aracana chickens.

I'm hoping my tomatoes, peppers an onions will look this

good. They are from Costco and they are as good as they look.

I love my Bon Appetit sign and I utilize in lots
of different ways. It added a little "French" feel

to this buffet.

I used 3 tea towels that have wonderful

colors for a table cover. I just wanted something

simple with bright colors and casual

Love this fat little chef, he just tickles me every time I look at him
The cheeses are a Wensleydale with apricots
and Goat cheese with fig. Yumalicious!

And now .....the continuing saga

This marriage was my second and I came into it with great hopes for a happy life for me and for my 12 year old daughter. My other two children , a daughter 24 and a son 22 had married at the same time I did, all within 3 months of each other. Three marriages in a row! Was I insane or what? Yes I was and maybe still am, but just a little.

So just 6 months or so after I married, off we went to Brazil.

We were forwarned by our Brazilian tutor before we arrived in Brazil that the only difficult thing he thought we would encounter would be the smell. They burn fuel for their cars and homes that is produced from corn or something like that. Our tutor was so right, it was breath taking for it took my breath away and not in a good way, but the time spent there was exciting.

Their Chocolate is so very different from ours but I loved it! Each morning I would rush to the hotels lovely breakfast buffet that was at least 75 feet long and loaded with delectible pastries, eggs, meat and fresh fruit and always a beautiful silver pot of hot chocolate. Oh Heaven!!

My husband was there to nationalize their computer security systems. He was to meet with these people each morning (we thought morning) but it always seemed to be early afternoon before they arrived to pick him up. (You see when you have a two or three hour siesta in the middle of the day then you must work till all hours of the night to accomplish anything and so therefore morning does not come early for them.) Sometimes I was included. Note: Neither of us spoke Portugese and they spoke very little English. Interesting meetings. They were trying to develop a catalog and my husband thought that I could help them with the wording.

Not so. We had several confrontations or should I say differences of oppinion. The gentleman I worked with was certain that his description of the security system made sense but he was way wrong. He used terms and descriptions of products that did not compute. I would ask " Is this what you want to tell them?" and he would agree, "yes, that is what I want it to say" soooooo .......I would write it the way we Americans can understand it. NO that was not what he wanted and that's how the days went. Of course many times throughout the day they would bring demitasse cups of the strongest coffee brew ever imagined, that would get them going, WOW, did it ever. That brew really put them on a nervous, tense plateau. Maybe if we would have joined in and had a few cups we could have better delt with their explosive personalities. After several of these meeting I elected to remain in the hotel, much safer there I might add, no confrontations.

During my alone time I had much opportunity to contemplate what else I wanted to do with my life. I had had several businesses throughout the years, I was a manicurist, had a plant business, jewelry business, an antique store in Laguna Beach, CA to name a few and even though I loved being a wife and a mother more than anything, I so desired to have a really successful business.

Oh, oh it's time to cook again and erase the chocolate from around my mouth before my true love arrives. We will meet again in Brazil so please stay tuned.

Don't forget to enter our CHOCOLATE giveaway !

P.S. Did you know that chocolate makes your breath sweet? Really, it does.

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday

Tea Party Table Scape

2010-04-13T11:18:00.001-06:00

I will have to seriously consider the time it takes

to post table scapes in the future. I love doing them

but I am not too sure that is where I need to spend

my time. However, I will continue to offer giveaways

in the coming days so stay tuned.

It's time for a teeny tiny tea party with my grandchildren

This is one of my collection of tiny

tea sets that I have had for many years

I don't know if you can tell how small the

silverware is but it is only about 4 inches long.

My grandchildren love the colored sugar to put in
their "pretend" tea.

The paper napkins were a gift from a friend
cause she knows how I love tea parties.

I have just finished watching the movie -"Julie and Julia" for the third time, and "Chocolat" for the 20th time. Both movies get me moving and striving to just DO IT!

First: Julia Child did not receive her claim to fame till she was nearly past her prime. What hope that gives me.

Second: She continued with strong determination, though it took 8 years, to accomplish
her dream; to publish her cook book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

Third: She capitalized on what she loved to do.......Cook!

In "Chocolat", our heroine overcomes difficult situations, nasty people who would throw her out of their town and through perseverance does finally realize her dream.

I, at the marvelous age of 70, will continue to develop my love for CHOCOLATE by developing my business "Continental Chocolatier" regardless of the many set backs I have experienced.

I hope that through this blog I might encourage those in the autumn of their years to work at those things that they really love, and develop the business they've dreamed about. What is there to lose? A few bucks, and maybe a few hair pulling days, but it will be worth it, guaranteed.

To begin my story.......

I married in Oct. of 1984 and a few months later was whisked off to Brazil where I thought I was going to live for several years, make gazillions of dollars and come home to just relax, cook, garden and live happily ever after. HA! So much for foolish dreams.

However, being in Brazil for a few short weeks I had the opportunity to try lots of wonderful types of food, most especially CHOCOLATE. And there my friends is where my story begins.

But today I must return to the requirements of the day....housework, taking care of my responsibilites in my church calling (which I might add are gigantic) and of course food for the king of the house, my true love.

Story to be continued.................

I am participating in Tea Party Tuesday

Table scape Thursday

CHOCOLATE Giveaway

2010-03-31T07:14:00.000-06:00

Win a half pound box of our delicious

CHOCOLATE "Desert Tortoise"

Roasted Almonds, Cashews and Pecans (lightly salted)

a creamy melt in your mouth caramel

and the most delectible European Chocolate you've ever tasted

Just for us Girls

2010-03-25T14:03:00.000-06:00

It's always fun to prepare a little lite lunch

for just the girls. My husband doesn't care for

scones and they are one of my favorite things.

Love serving a salad in a large seashell.

Fresh spinach with strawberries and avacado

plus candied nuts. Yummmy

I made chocolate chip and apricot scones and served them

with lemon curd

I found these blue goblets in New Jersey
at a garage sale 40 years ago and I still love them.
I think I paid about $3 for each one. I do love a bargain.

I wish the weather would clear up and give us a little sunshine
I think my pictures would be a bit brighter if I had the right light.

These are some of our seashells that we sell at
Continental Chocolatier. You can check out
our web site at: eatlotsachocolate.com
It is still under construction but you can still view it.

I am a nut for yellow and blue. Love French Country stuff.
I added a bit of color with some of the material I had left
over from the table cloth so I just cut a short piece and
tied it around the napkin. Added a little ranuculus and there ya go

If you are interested in any of the seashell candies we
can offer you the wholesale prices if you can order
in the quantities listed on our website at - eatlotsachocolate.com

I am participating in the Tablescape Thursday

And The Winner IS.....

2010-03-23T19:36:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Shelley@shellysswag.blogspot.com
You have won the cute little "Just Dessert Plates".

Super Easter Sale

2010-03-23T13:38:00.001-06:00

It's a deal! You can get ALL THREE

of these adorable bunnies for only

$22.50

And this includes shipping costs

These little bunnies would make an adorable gift for someone special,

A great Easter Basket treat,

and Decorations for your Easter Table.

You will get a set of three...The Pink Bunny has 6 petite tortoise (Milk chocolate pecan turtles), The Yellow Bunny has 10 chocolate tortoise shells (assorted milk and semi sweet french chocolate discs topped with macadamia nuts and orange peel) and The green bunny is filled with pastel Holland mints (chocolate mints covered with a thin candy shell)

Order by Monday March 29th to receive in time for EASTER!!

I am participating in

Toot Your Horn Tuesday

Boxed Chocolate Turtles (Desert Tortoise) for Easter

2010-03-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Easter by the Sea Shore

2010-03-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

These real sea shells take on a new look for Easter.

Don't they look so darling nestled in the grass

The are 3 of the delicious Holland Mints in each shell

If you are looking for a unique gift for Easter

try a box of the real seashells filled with the Holland Mints.

They come packaged in a lovely white box with

beautiful ribbon, tiny flowers and a small seashell

This wonderful white seashell is filled

with the Holland Mints and is finished off with a

delicate turquoise ribbon, raffia and seashell. Great hostess gift.

This wonderful shell is packed with 3 assorted shapes

of seashells that are created from Belgian chocolate

and a hazelnut filling. Tied with raffia, and tiny flowers.

Incorporate seashells into your Easter Baskets

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER OUR GIVE-AWAY

2010-03-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Enter the giveaway HERE The winner will receive a set of six "Just Desserts" Plates.

There are 3 different dessert designs

And.....there are two of each design making a set of six plates

I am participating in
DIY DAYS
Toot your Horn Tuesdays
Tea Party Tuesdays

EASTER BUNNIES FILLED WITH DELECTIBLES

2010-03-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Order by March 22nd to be sure your goodies arrive by Easter.

These precious little dishes are 4" x 4" x 5", filled with different types of CHOCOLATE from CONTINENTAL CHOCOLATIER and come with bright ribbon and flowers

The pink bunny has 6 Petite Tortoise....

(French - Milk OR Semi-Sweet Chocolate, dreamy caramel

and lightly salted & roasted pecans)

The yellow bunny is filled with 10 Tortoise Shells

(Milk or Semi Sweet French Chocolate,

a Macadamia Nut and Orange Peel)

The Green Bunny is filled with lovely Holland Mints

(CHOCOLATE Mints covered in a thin candy shell)

I am participating in

Foodie Fridays

Tabelscape Thursdays

A great give-away

2010-03-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

Just found another great blog that is hosing a wonderful giveaway
Just wanted to let you know about this fun blog..
Head on over to this delightful give-away.

JUST DESSERTS AND A GIVEAWAY!!

2010-03-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

At the end of this blog will be directions for the giveaway.

Don't you just love a dessert table? I always try to offer several different desserts, cake, pastry and chocolates ....of course. I love the hot pink and black together. I made this table cloth for my grandaughters baby shower last year, for her baby girl. She wanted black and pink and a French theme. I think we captured that pretty well and we had a fabulous time.I'm not certain you can see it but
I think the black eifel tower adds a great touch .

When my darling daughters were here during the holiday we all went shopping, of course, and we found this darling clock at one of our favorite shops in St. George. We asked each other, "would you like that for a Christmas gift?"? OH YES! So there you are, we each have one. It's wonderful shopping together because we all like the same things and love being together.
My husband and I arise about 5:45 each day and exercise for half an hour We have a "little" breakfast, because he, not me, (but should be), is on a diet and when he leaves for work I go out to feed the chickens. I love my chickens, but not necessarily my Chantecler (the rooster). Today he seemed to be a wee bit agressive and so I left without providing any treats. He had better shape up!! No more goodies for him.

Any way, I decided I need to make a cake for my table scape. (Oh I must tell you it is fabulous if you like chocolate, butter and pecans) I wanted it to fit on one of my pedestal cake plates so I had to put it in a smaller pan than what it called for, which left me with enough batter to make a 5" cake also.

I had a little problem with the lock on the springform pan but finally got it locked.......I thought.

As I was hustling about I heard this little click and thought, no it can't be, Pooh, it was. The lock had undone itself and there was cake all over the oven burning and smoking. I dang neer burned up a wooden spoon while trying to hold up the heating element and clean up the mess and still allow the larger cake to continue cooking. But I will tell you this........it was worth the mess. I will provide the recipe later. Yumalicious!! P.S. I like decorating the cake simply, just a CHOCOLATE Tortoise Shell for each slice.

The apple cake obove is also one our favorites. Simple but wonderful.
I just love these plates for serving desserts. They are just plain white with "Just Desserts" written on them and a simple picture of a cupcake, a cake and a layered cake. There are two of each plate making a nice set of 6.

Every dessert table should have a tart of some type and of course CHOCOLATE.
And I also like to offer a little CHOCOLATE sauce which you can add hot milk and have a little hot chocolate. I love this little chocolate pot I found at Tai Pan for a whopping $4.
This plate has 3 of our Tortoise Shells, 1 of our Petite Tortoise and a choocolate cup with ganach and a cherry which we don't ship because it is so fragile.

This cake recipe calls for a lovely icing but I like it plain so that I can

offer chocolate syrup (homemade of course) to pour over the top and a little creme fresh on the side

These are the plates I am offering for our GIVEAWAY. They are so darling.

Sometimes you just want a simple little dessert and here it is.

One PETITE TORTOISE

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday

Strut your stuff Thursday

How to enter:

One entry: Leave a comment

Two entries: Blog about my giveaway

Three entries: Facebook about the giveaway

Random drawing will be on March 20, 2010

I will notify the winner March 23, 2010

ST. PATTY'S DAY IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

2010-03-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

I just love the cute table cloth my dear friend

Mary brought me today. (She brings me one for each

HOLIDAY).

I have had these dishes for eons....at least 50 years!
They seem to work with almost any theme. I think it adds a little special touch when you can place a little goodie (chocolate of course) at each place setting.

SOON our shopping cart should be available.....Sorry it has taken so long.

The green GOBLETS were my moms and the BELLS were gifts, long ago, from dear friends andprecious children and I absolutely adore my white porcelain. Can't get enough of it.

You can't, simply can't, celebrate St. Patty's day without Corned Beef and Cabbage

I love to baste cooked Corned Beef with a paste of honey, syrup, mustard, and nutmeg

wrap it in foil and put it in an oven of about 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so. YUMMY

and......

you must have Colcannon along with the Corned Beef

Recipe for Colcannon

6 medium Potatoes, peeled and quartered

4 Cups shredded Cabbage

1 Cup chopped onion

1/4 Cup butter

1/2 to 3/4 Cups milk

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 Tbl. snipped parsley

Cook potatoes in large amount of boiling salted water till tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile cook cabbage and onion together in small amount of boiling salted water for 15 minutes; drain. Mash potatoes using electric mixer. Beat in butter and as much milk as necessary to make fluffy. (however chunky is great too) Add salt and pepper. Stir in cabbage and onion. Top with parsley. Serves 6

My most favorite thing "Dilly Bread"

The aroma while it is baking calls to me.

Just took it out of the oven and I think I have to have a slice....RIGHT NOW!

Love my little butter bell ..it keeps the butter

at the perfect temperature. Got it at TJ Maxx for $3

And of course I must have my chocolate, Irish or not,

here I come.

Enter our 6 dessert plate giveaway!

I am participating in

Cuisine Kathleen the Sharin in the Green

Tablescape Thursday

2010-02-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

I love this gorgeous blue with the sea shells. It helps me think about summer even though there is still snow on the ground. My darling daughter Karin at The Style Sisters gave me these blue dishes that she bought at Walmart! These authentic sea shells are filled with delicious

Belgian CHOCOLATES. If you would like to see more Sea Shells filled with other chocolates please go to my Website http://www.eatlotsachocolate.com/ (It is under construction) Here is my footed glass compote dish filled with apporx. 30 Petite Tortoises.
In this picture you can also see the Sea Fruits (chocolate sea shells) nestled on the left side of the compote dish that I also sell.

I am participating in Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday This is my first Tablescape!

I am participating in Foodie Friday

2010-02-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

CHOCOLATE

FRESH STRAWBERRIES!

Is there anything better?

How about MORE CHOCOLATE, LOTS OF NUTS AND THE

WORLDS GREATEST CREAMY CARAMEL

But wait................I can help!

PROMOTIONAL OFFER

delightful CHOCOLATE Petite Desert Tortoise

bulk (approximately 30 pieces per pound)

$16.00/lb

These tiny Desert Tortoise are made from delectable, European CHOCOLATE and HEAVENLY CREAMY CARAMEL that does not stick to your teeth but melts in your mouth.

One pound could sustain life, deliciously, for several hours or perhaps one entire day.

To order you can e-mail us at info@eatlotsachocolate.com

Perfect little TREATLETS because they are just bite size and you can eat dozens of them without feeling any guilt. "I do it all the time and there really is no guilt."

Other packaging options

8 Petite Desert Tortoise in cello bag tied with rafia $5.95

8 Petite Desert Tortoise Packaged in

Terracotta Linen Gift Box $6.95

24 Petite Desert Tortoise Packaged in

Large Terracotta Linen Gift Box $17.95

DESERT TORTOISE

Keep watching for our giveaway -

It could be you

What's Chocolate?

2010-02-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

What's Chocolate you say?

Well most people would answer, it is a candy, or

for the academics, they would say, "It is a confection made by grinding up

cocoa beans and mixing them with various other ingredients." Toddlers
moms would say "It is something their children wear on their mouths and shirts."
I would have said some time ago it is a substance when eaten imparts great
bursts of energy thereby allowing me to do hard work" (yea - right!)

Chocolate is of course

all of those things and more, but what it really is, is a state of mind. Chocolate can soothe rattled nerves, can allow the mother of the toddler a moment of blissful self indulgence and give her the strength to again face her world of chaos and dirty clothes. So, Guys, when you hear a woman say "I need chocolate!!!"

trust me, they do.

Chocolate Giveaway!!!

2009-12-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

My daughter at The Style Sisters is hosting a

Chocolate Giveaway for me.

Stop on by her blog and leave a comment to enter into the giveaway!!!

To win either some of my Belgian Chocolate Turtles

1/2 pound gift box.

1/4 pound of these amazing Belgian Chocolate Nut Discs in a Cello bag tied with a beautiful Christmas ribbon perfect for gift giving.

Good Luck to all who enter the giveaway!

Eat Lotsa Chocolate

2009-12-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

My love for chocolate began about 30 years ago. I was living in Newport Beach, CA but thought I was going to live in Brazil, so I traveled there to check things out. While there I found that chocolate in any country is fabulous and I determined that I would like to learn how to make simply delicious chocolate morsels. And so I did! (Never did move to Brazil)

To make this very long story somewhat shorter.......

After much research and many classes I started a business in California called

Jonathan's of Newport

My specialty was truffles and turtles and an assortment of many other types of candy. I also imported marvelous chocolates from Belgium. I supplied many of the finer dept stores, Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms, Sacks Fifth Avenue, to name a few and many of the major hotels, Marriotts, Hiltons, Ritz Carltons, etc. It was and is a "sweet business". Changes in my life brought about many moves and new options.

Now many years later I am starting up a smaller version of Jonathan's....."Continental Chocolatier"

In the southern part of Utah the environmentalists determined that the Desert Tortoise was becoming extinct and needed protection so they built a very expensive fence, miles long, to keep the little tortoises from crossing the road. So we have included a wee short, fun story in each box of the Desert Tortoises as follows.

The Desert Tortoise

(Gopherus Agassizii)

A hard shelled reptilian creature that the Federal Government and Washington County spent a bazillion dollars to build a fence (a very short fence) to keep the little beasties from crossing the East Red Hills Parkway and presumably overrunning St. George.

Continental Chocolatier's

Desert Tortoise

(Chocolatus deliciousus)

Continental Chocolatier's Desert Turtles are an exquisite blend of lightly salted, oven roasted nuts with just the right amount of the most heavenly creamy caramel covered in a decadent Belgian or French chocolate.

What to do when you encounter either of the above. The first group, you protect them and do not harm them in any way as they are heading toward extinction. The second group, you grab them up and eat them with great joy. Go ahead eat lots of them, they are reproduced hundreds of times every day.