Somos Fiesta

Yahoo! What fun the fiesta was! The auction items were classic Vancouver; beautiful First Nations mask, drum & box, handknit socks, refurbished 70's peugot bike, massage and spa days, framed photo of a cool leaf and a BIG box of chocolates, among other things. Heather & Greg were marvelous hosts! Chocolate hearts were handed to each guest upon arrival, thanking them for coming. Lots of chatting, making bids on the live and silent auction items interspersed with slide shows of Guatemala, the plans and site overview from the architect and some wonderful music. I kept the desserts flowing which were all donated and kept arriving throughout the night. I had some leftover honeycomb from the box filling so I sprinkled that around the cream puffs, bars and cookies. People loved the honeycomb. It was a wonderful evening and those kids in Guatemala are that much closer to having a home.

almost there

Ahh...what a busy day. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as 10 of the 12 chocolates for the chocolate boxes are done. Two of the houses are done, just the chocolate with cocoa nibs left to do tomorrow. Tempering is going well... today all the chocolates are in temper with shiny dark shells. YEAH! It feels really good to be working with chocolate again. I do love it. Just a few things left to do and then packaging them up in their boxes which should arrive Monday. I met with Heather from Somos yesterday, what a dear sweet woman she is. I am looking forward to the party on Wednesday and meeting all the people that support this project. I feel so lucky to have come across Somos and to be helping the Guatemalan children.

marshmallows & poppies

Tuesday was veterans day. Robert took little miss to Science World so I spent the day listening to the CBC and working on the Somos project. Veterans day is not a day that has ever really been part of my life even though my grandfather was a doctor and pilot for the Navy in World War II. I have such a disdain for the whole idea of war as a way to settle conflict.  I often say to my toddler when she is frustrated, "Use Your Words!"... this seems to be a much better, healthier way to deal with conflict in my opinion.  In Canada veterans are remembered and helped through the sale of little red poppy pins. They begin to appear everywhere in November...news broadcasters, teenagers, I have even seen them on dogs! I asked my husband about the poppies and he told me that it is a way to honor those that have served but also as a way to remember  why they served so we can as a culture do not let it happen again...to reinforce the lesson we have hopefully learned. So the poppy is a blend of pride and reflection and peace...an endearing symbol of what makes us human.  As I made marshmallow & honeycomb and dipped various treasures in chocolate on Tuesday, the radio was full of stories from and about Veterans, sometimes tragic, sometimes hopeful interlaced with a fantastic collection of music. (mostly canadian content of course!) I thought about my grandfather flying his plane along the Oregon Coast looking for Japanese Submarines. I am ready to purchase and wear a red poppy.

pulling things together

The boxes from Cacoa Camino arrived today! I now have my chocolate and cocoa to begin my production next week. I have been working on the food cost of all the recipes...ahh math. It feels really good to wrap my brain around something so tangible and straight forward as numbers. Toddler world is soooo topsy turvy. 

SOMOS

I feel like the luckiest person ever...I have been a stay at home mom for 2 1/2 years and have been wondering how I would enter the work force again. My husband met Tia from Cocoa Camino who mentioned they might be in need of some chocolatier work. I sent her my resume and she introduced me to Heather and her project SOMOS.  An amazing project helping orphaned children in Guatemala. Heather is an incredible woman and I feel honored to be helping her with this project. This is the first set of chocolates that were made for the SOMOS project. I had a tasting with Heather and her husband Greg to make sure they liked the flavors and the rustic look of my chocolates.  What a wonderful time I had pulling this together. My two and a half year old assistant was wonderful. She loves to stir. The third time tempering was like a dream ... the working of the molten chocolate on the granite, the tap tap of the palate knife and the bench scraper.  Madeleine laughed at mommy making such a big mess when i poured the melted chocolate onto the granite. Ahhh, it feels really good to be back.