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Day 1 - October 9, 2009It's 6:00pm and I am finally in the air en-route to London via Toronto. I left for the airport earlier than I normally would have because it's the Friday of a holiday weekend (Columbus Day here in the US; the connection to chocolate is that Columbus was the first known European to see cacao off the coast of the island of Guanaja on his third voyage to the New World in 1503 it's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada) and I expected traffic out to La Guardia airport to be heavier than normal and I expected the crowds at the airport getting away for the long weekend to be larger than normal.Of course, there wasn't any traffic and there were no crowds at the check-in and no line at security. I don't know if this is a good omen or not. I am glad that there is no stress actually making the flight but at the same time I am very short of sleep and it was really tough staying awake during the long wait - even in the hubbub of the airline terminal. The main terminal at La Guardia is Terminal B and the Air Canada gates are at the far end of Concourse A. I wait among passengers disgruntled at the delays on their flights, among the shopworn seats and walls, wastebaskets overflowing with crinkled cellophane sandwich wrappings, empty water bottles, and paper hot cups in many sizes once filled with coffee; some lipstick-stained, a furtive-bright flash of color escaping an otherwise drab Denali of trash.Surprisingly, the inbound plane I am catching to Toronto Pearson International en route to London Heathrow arrives close on time. After a short delay to clean the most obvious evidence of occupation by the incoming passengers my flightmates and I impatiently queue up to reaffirm our identities to the gate agent and provide evidence that we are, in fact, entitled t board the plane. Although the plane is nearly full, the middle seat next to me is empty; an unanticipated but very welcome state of affairs. Another very welcome amenity awaits on the seat back. I am not talking about the interactive entertainment system no, the geek in me is truly impressed that every seat on the plane has both a USB charging outlet and a standard household mains outlet. No worrying about batteries dying in mid-flight, I instead worry if this is an amenity of all Air Canada planes or just Airbus planes as my flight from Pearson to Heathrow is courtesy of Boeing.

The flight takes off more than thirty minutes after we push back from the gate,this is after all LaGuardia so there is nothing unusual except that those of us on the left-hand side of the aircraft are treated to a dramatic sky.

By the time we arrive in Toronto the clouds have begun to shed moisture at a rate that can only be described as torrential with water sluicing down the windows. I have ninety minutes until the flight to London takes off and I am not looking forward to passing through customs and immigration until I discover that because I am in transit and my bags were checked through from New York to London I fit into a special category which normally is a bad thing when it comes to air transportation these days. In this case however it means I get to jump to the front of a very short line by being escorted through a special door to an area containing exactly two people one immigration and customs agent and me. I present my boarding pass for my London flight and I am on my way to my gate in under three minutes.It takes me longer to reach my gate.In a marvel of transportation efficiency Flight 848 from Toronto to London starts boarding on time and we end up pushing back on time. I say a silent thank you to the transport gods when I discover both the USB charger and the AC outlet in my seat back. With my next breath I curse those same gods when I find out that the seat next to me is occupied by a five-month old. I can only think that the odds are good that this is going to be a very, very, very long night.That turns out not to be the case as the young lady demonstrated exemplary behavior by quickly falling asleep and only waking up once during the flight to cry. Morning comes much sooner than I have any right to expect.Although the public transportation system in the NY area is one of the best in the country, it pales in comparison to the London Tube. As I arrive at 8:30 am and I can't check into my hotel until at least 2:00 I decide to go straight to the event kicking off UK Chocolate Week, a trade-show-style exhibit called Chocolate Unwrapped in the May Fair Hotel just a scones throw from the Ritz. It turns out that I can get on the Piccadilly line at Terminal 3 at Heathrow and take it all the way to Green Park tube station, the tube stop closest to the hotel where I check my bags at the bell desk before heading downstairs to the Crystal Ballroom the home of Chocolate Unwrapped .

There is a Chocolate Festival Event today in Belmont on Alameda de las Pulgas - north of Ralston - looking forward to hearing reports about it!

It took me a whole week to find the time to get to this blog and I'm still waiting for Tom to email me the pictures (he's in Indonesia again) but our tour of Tcho last week was so special that I want to share it. John Kehoe is Tcho's sourcing director. He and Tom met about 5 years at a Fair Trade conference, and in the year and a half that he's been with Tcho, we've been meaning to go up and visit him. Last Saturday, after a long day of handing out samples at a trade show for green builders, we joined John for a late afternoon tour of the amazing facilities at Tcho.The name Tcho is a combination of "tech" and "chocolate" and that's what exactly what Tcho is . From the elegant computeresque design of the packaging to the marvelously creative lab to the slick factory, Tcho is about combining the best of technology with the best of chocolate. Their bars are even shaped like small CDs and come in a case.John's job is to travel around the world connecting with growers and working with them, setting up and using mini-labs that include all the equipment needed to assess growing conditions, test beans, and make chocolate, in order to have not only the best possible beans, but also to create balanced, respectful relationships with the growers. It's direct trade at its best.Tcho is on Pier 17 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. There are plans for a much bigger retail area, but right now, there's a tiny shop at the front, off to the side of the main building. When we arrived at 4 PM, it was packed. John got me a great cup of mocha and Tom an espresso. We'd been by before to taste - they run taste tests based on their four basic tastes (and bars), nutty, fruity, citrus and chocolatey, all the time - so this time John took us back through the office to the lab, and how cool was that!Beans are processed, cut into microscopic slivers and sorted by different criteria. Elaborate databases store, and compare and contrast the data in different ways. Amazingly, the cacao farmers John visits in the remotest regions have access to the same database via satellite. Their labs are mini-versions of the one at Tcho.But it's too nice a day to finish this story now. I guess I'll have to tell it in parts - and maybe Tom's pictures will show up by the next time I have a minute to sit down.

About Home Chocolate Party (tm): Founded in 2005/2006At every Home Chocolate Party (tm) we begin by discussing where cacao grows. We will discuss how heirloom cacao trees are protected and how the location of the trees and its fruit effect flavor. We answer questions such as: Who grows the cacao? Who harvests it? What is the process from bean to bar?Once we've located the origins of cacao for our guests, we move on to the players who magically transform beans into luxurious chocolate. Here we answer questions such as: What type of equipment is needed? How is it made? How long does it take? How does it get to stores?We also answer questions such as: What happened in the past? Who discovered cacao and chocolate? Our guests listen to fascinating century old stories of chocolate while tasting samples.When background and questions are answered, we move into our demonstration. Guests are invited to participate in a hands-on workshop based on the Home Chocolate Party (tm) theme. Everyone has time to visit, shop and place orders. The happy group munches and marvels over chocolate, while the HCP Specialist politely exits to leave a very satisfied gathering of choco-partiers!

The Chocolate and Wine Festival takes place on October 10th and 11th in Oakhurst CA. The festival will feature Chocolatiers from all over the state, Madera and Mariposa Wine Companies and seven local restaurants including the five star, Erna's Elderberry House.Pre Sale Tickets are only $30.00 and Include 2 Adult Admissions, 2 Souvenir Wine Glasses and 20 Tasting Tickets - Good for Wine, Food and Chocolate Tasting. You save $8.00 by purchasing your tickets prior to the show dates. To purchase your tickets call: 559-683-7766.

PremRoseEdibles chocolates are now available not only from the Eugene Oregon Farmers Markets and special events, but through the following Oregon markets:Eugene:Capella MarketImagine GallerySundance Natural Foods- mid October 09Friendly Street MarketCoffee for CaninesBookmine - (Cottage Grove, Oregon)Coming this fall:Corvallis Holiday Artisans Market - downtown CorvallisEugene Holiday Market - Lane County Fairgrounds in Holiday Hall- december onlyon line store coming in mid October:premrosedibles.com or possible change to PremRoseEdibles.comstore will feature:Organic Rose Petal Jam from our rose farmboxed chocolate sets- Organic and Fair trade chocolatesBoxed sets: Box of rosesraspberry rose - 65% darksaffron rose dulce de lechemerlot rose 70% dark with overtones of hibiscus and merlotrose milk - milk chocolate with organic rose petals for flavor(all ingredients organic whenever possible)News: Our company will be celebrating our first year of business at the Lane County Farmer's Market in October of 2009. Thank you Eugene for your support and patience in my Learning how to transition from a Kitchen Chemist to a "real" chocolatier and sellar of our lovely organic Rose Petal Jam......it has been quite a first year.....lots of tough business building lessons and tons of wonderful new customers that have come into our lives.To all of our customers: our committment to you in the coming years...We have spent 30 years in perfecting our recipes for rose petal jam and chocolates. Our committment to you now, is to perfect our means of distribution and do our best to learn how to serve you in the most efficient and enjoyable way. We put the "Prem" (love in the Sanskrit language) in every bite....now we want to improve our ways of getting the "Prem" out to you!.our "Prem" kitchen became licensed with the O.D.A. in April of this year....just in time for the the big season of jamming! Prior to that, we were just a little restaurant operation......now, we are for real!Now we're not only truffled ..... we're jammin!

I have found that my chocolate sauce is stable. I am not adding dairy products but am actually flavoring the chocolates and wrapping them to look like a butter block. The instructions on the wrapper tell how to properly add the butter/cream.This packaging works well because many people around here use soy based products and this allows them the opportunity make the sauce to their needs (without totally altering the taste).

This afternoon I surprised my guests with a pot full of drinking chocolate . It was fun to watch the reactions as they slowly sipped their cups.Chocolate is one of my favorite things to treat people with. I used to walk around with a little chocolate confection in my bag to treat at least one person with a day. But this winter I will carry a little drinking chocolate mix with me!Harvest spice is our flavor for this fall!What are some of your autumn chocolate favorites?

How much are we willing to pay to enjoy the perfect pralines and chocolates that we soooo love?How do we set limits? Luxury things should cost more, but how much more before we say - no thank you?How much do we need and at what price are we willing to pay to fulfill our chocolate desires?How are pralines / filled chocolates sold on average: per piece, per gram, per pound...QUESTIONS, questions filling my head...I am working on a project together with a chocolate artist and we are trying to determine where price and product match the consumers needs/wants...Any ideas, tips or other are welcome!Have a delicious day!

Does anyone know how to make fruit puree to make ganache fillings with? Or is it better to buy them in the grocery store? Do grocery stores carry quality fruit purees? Thanks a bunch!