The past two weeks have been filled with delicious chocolate and fun conversations as I travel the country on my book tour.
Over the weekend I partied with Fruition Chocolate in upstate New York at their sixth anniversary party and ate more than my fair share of their special ice cream sandwiches: Think single-origin Marañon milk chocolate ice cream sandwiched between two house-made chocolate chip cookies (made with their brown butter milk chocolate and Hispaniola).
Then it was off to the 92Y for a chocolate talk and tasting with Michael Laiskonis, who brought bean-to-bar samples from the Chocolate Lab at the Institute of Culinary Education.
We also indulged in recipes from the book, plus some: triple chocolate chip cookies and double fudge cookies from Miro Uskokovic at Gramercy Tavern and white chocolate hazelnut mousse in pineapple cups and hazelnut-praline + honey caramel candy bars from pastry chef and chocolatier Kristofer Kalas.
Also this week, Chocolopolis premiered two bundles featuring my book: The Assorted Chocolate Bundle comes with a copy of my book and six chocolate bars:
- Fresco Madagascar 100% Dark Chocolate
- Askinosie Tanzanie 70% Dark Chocolate
- Dandelion Mantuano, Venezuela 70% Dark Chocolate
- Madre Triple Cacao (Guatemala) 70% Dark Chocolate with Cacao Fruit Pulp and Cacao Nibs
- Fruition Brown Butter 43% Milk Chocolate
- Patric Habenero Sea Salt (Madagascar) 67% Dark Chocolate
And the Serious Dark Chocolate Bundle comes with my book and six intense dark chocolates:
- Grenada 100% Dark Chocolate
- Soma Crazy 88 (Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru) 88% Dark Chocolate
- Amano Dos Rios (Dominican Republic) 70% Dark Chocolate
- Askinosie San Jose del Tambo, Ecuador 70% Dark Chocolate
- Madre Nine Fine Mynah Estates (Wailua, Oahu, Hawaii) 70% Dark Chocolate
- Patric Madagascar 75% Dark Chocolate
And now for an unexpected trend: People are sending me photos of their babies reading my book!
That cutie in the middle is actually Zoey Graham, the latest addition to Fruition Chocolate!
Last but not least, I’m traveling to the South and have some fun events coming up in the next week or so.
Upcoming Events
Sunday, Oct. 29: Three-Course Chocolate Dinner (Richmond, VA)
Monday, Oct. 30: Spirits and Chocolate Pairing With Black Mountain Chocolate (Winston-Salem, NC)
Thursday, Nov. 2: Open House at French Broad Chocolates (Asheville, NC)
Thursday, Nov. 2: Beer and Chocolate Pairing With French Broad Chocolates (Asheville, NC)
Sunday, Nov. 5: Four-Course Chocolate Sunday Supper at Rhubarb (Asheville, NC)
See you there!