This is almost always the first question I get when someone finds out that I do all sorts of things with chocolate. It is closely followed by do you make chocolate? And, where can I buy your chocolate? Because everyone loves chocolate!
So today I am going to answer those questions for you, because I imagine you too might be wondering these same things!
How much chocolate do you eat?
Honestly, I don’t eat a lot of chocolate. I start each day with a drinking chocolate, which has a few squares of chocolate in it or a bit of a drinking chocolate mix. I savour each mug and switch up the chocolate daily to keep my taste buds on top of chocolate tasting. I really enjoy the warmup my morning mug of chocolate brings me. And by mug, I mean more like half a cup most days. Sometimes before my breakfast I will choose to taste a piece of a chocolate bar, usually about a one-inch square piece. When tasting chocolate I take notes on all aspects of the piece of chocolate, I search for flavours, I let it melt slowly. Occasionally this is multiple pieces of chocolate if I am comparing chocolate for some reason or doing side by side tasting of the same cacao origin. I do this before breakfast, sometimes even skipping the drinking chocolate, so my palate is clear, for me, this is my ideal tasting time.
Usually, I wait until just before my lunch to have a piece of chocolate, again maybe an inch by an inch, and then I savour it on a somewhat clear palate and just enjoy the moment.
Sometimes I have a bite of chocolate later in the day, more often than not, I don’t.
Occasionally I will eat one of my favourite bars of chocolate, which usually means eating half of a 60gram bar at once. Really, chocolate is like any other food in my life, a bit of it often but not often in excess. It’s perfect to enjoy everyday, it is a food after all.
I especially love trying Canadian chocolate creations. Bean to bar chocolate, bonbons or confections, anything made in Canada, I try my best to seek out and try.
Do you make chocolate?
I do not make chocolate. I have made very small batches in my kitchen with household appliances, I also worked as a chocolatier for a while in a chocolate shop. Making chocolate is not what I do, and that answer often disappoints people, because who doesn’t want chocolate? I do play with chocolate in my baking, and often make chocolate covered strawberries. I however have no plans of being a chocolate maker or chocolatier.
Where can I buy your chocolate?
Well, since I don’t make chocolate, you can’t buy my chocolate (I don’t have any).
So, what do you do?
I share my love of chocolate with others. I design and make a line of sterling silver and bronze jewellery inspired by chocolate – cacao beans and cacao pods, both of which I find fascinating. I have a large selection of paper products – notebooks, journals, The Chocolate Notebook, screen printed items, printed items, and cut items. You can see all these items in my shop, Canadian Chocoholic, on Shopify. Plus, each month I create a subscription envelope and digital items for Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers that has a bunch of handmade, unique, chocolate themed items in an envelope that travels to subscribers around the world – no need to worry about any chocolate melting. I also blog, because I like it, blogging does not make me any income, but it allows me to share my love of chocolate with others.
