by Elizabeth
on February 8, 2013
February is Chocolate Month at CMB, which is why we’re hosting chocolate-centric events, sampling a different chocolate every day in the store, and
celebrating Valentine’s Day with the best chocolate gifts! Â Personally, every month is Chocolate Month in my world- the majority of the recipes I bake involve cocoa powder/chocolate chips/baking chocolate- so I was looking for something extra special for our February recipe post when inspiration struck two ways!
At the end of last month, we had a visit from Sophie, the executive chef/chocolate maker of the Grown Up Chocolate Company, to the store and the Fancy Food Show. During our staff meeting, she shared about the process of taking an existing candy bar, preferably a childhood favorite, and updating it for an adult palate; the challenge is to keep the flavor profile the same while elevating the ingredients (increasing the couverture, removing the chemical stabilizers, etc).  I like the Glorious Coconut Hocus Pocus which is similar to a Mounds Bar, but might eat it with a handful of almonds since my favorite candy bar is an Almond Joy (inspiration #1).
Around the same time, Vincent, the owner of Dang Fine Foods, who we met at last summer’s Fancy Food Show, emailed that his brothers would be in town and would like to come demo their toasted coconut chips. Â People love
DANG! Coconut Chips ($5.95, 90g) because of the texture, light sweetness, healthy snacking option, and versatility in baking. We scheduled a demo, and I knew that I wanted to incorporate the coconut chips in the recipe for February (
inspiration #2).
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by andy
on February 1, 2013
Pair Off, a Valentine’s Day tasting event for Lovers of Beer, Chocolate and Cheese
Chelsea Market Baskets is hosting a private tasting of craft beer, cheese, and chocolate on February 7, 2013 with Union Beer and S.K.I. Beer from 5pm- 7pm in the store.
Well-known for a carefully curated assortment of chocolate and cheese, Chelsea Market Baskets has recently begun to carry craft beer of the same high standard. Pair Off will feature ten beers poured in tandem with five cheeses and five chocolates.
The pairings will be created, explained and discussed by Union Beer’s Andrew Jorge, S.K.I. Beer’s Seth Giurato and Chelsea Market Baskets Owner David Porat.
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by David
on January 29, 2013
I just got back from SF were it was sunny and I enjoyed sharing my family (my twin brother and sister live in the east bay with 3 nephews so I was also “Uncle†a bit) with two people whom had never been there before, Alberto and Ana, who worked in our booth at the show. The fancy Food shows are always very busy, but I did get a chance to be a tourist, on Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market located around the Ferry Building. It was great to see and taste all the fresh California fruits and vegetables especially the winter citrus.
Alberto (CMB Store Manager) and I stopped to talk to June Taylor (June Taylor Jams) about her products, which have done very well in our store and we are reordering. While she makes everything by hand, she told me the real secret was starting with good produce. A few booths away there was farmer Torrie who supplies some fruit to June, and he shared some great varietal citrus to taste. When I told that I should not eat grapefruits or pummelos because of taking Lipitor, he told me the secret to a long life is eating good food and … well I cannot really say what else he said, but he and his wife seem pretty happy and healthy! Overall, it was great a California experience.
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