October is a special month to me – my birth month. At this time of year, I always feel the pull towards self-reflection and reevaluation of my goals and purpose. It is a time in which I recommit and align my actions with my innermost desires and vision. This year I am grateful for the path I have taken with Chocology. It brings joy, connection and fun into my life. This is why I’d like to share with all of you why I do what I do.

No. 1: I love seeing people smile

Everyone LOVES chocolate! It is such a blessing to have the opportunity to work with people who are happy and enjoying themselves. I love helping our clients choose the perfect gift, dessert for a special event or wedding favors.  People are happy when they talk chocolate and this makes me happy as well. Madeline always says, “We meet the best people!” and she’s right. We are fortunate to cross paths with people in their finest moments.

No. 2: I’m good at it!

Being the Managing Director of my own company allows me to utilize all of my gifts and talents. Strong work ethic, good communication skills and a love of people are key ingredient's to running a successful business. Do what you love and you never work a day of your life! That is our philosophy and it’s worked well for us at Chocology. I love what I do every single day and am able to thrive because of this philosophy!

No. 3: I get to do it with my family!

One of the greatest gifts I feel I can give to my daughter is to show her that when you set a goal it can be achieved through hard work, a good attitude and perseverance. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to model for my daughter that your dreams can come true! Not everyone has the privilege of working with family. Recently David is able to join us more and more on our chocolate adventures! We never know what is around the corner, but together we get the job done – ALWAYS!

No. 4: Every Day is Different

I love different! It’s so easy to get stuck in the humdrum of day-to-day life. At Chocology, each day is diversified. One day we’re working with children on a Chocology Kids project and the next we’re working with the senior’s community. We might go to a corporate meeting to serve fudge and then head out to plan a wedding or work on one of the various festivals that we attend. There’s always something new and fresh to keep us motivated and excited.

No. 5: Giving Back to our World

From the very beginning it was important to me to give back. I feel so blessed to live a happy and joyful life. Giving a little of that back makes me even happier. I don’t work for a non-profit however I sure can support them. And that’s what we do, plain and simple. Not only to we glean joy from helping our non-profits with monetary donations, we love doing simple acts of kindness. I just love it when parents allow their children to come by our Farmers Market booth to make purchases by themselves. The parents have realized that we take those children under our wings and feel blessed to have them as customers too. Kids are the best at “the art of tasting” and we love seeing them take it so seriously. We love giving our money, our smiles and our compassion to everyone that we meet!

No. 6: I Get to Travel

If you’ve read our blog, you know I love to travel. I love going new places and being the owner of Chocology provides that travel outlet for me. Whether it’s driving to the East End, traveling on the ferry across the Long Island Sound to make deliveries in Connecticut or going cross-country to deliver a check to one of our non-profits, the opportunity to travel keeps life interesting and new every single day.

No 7: It provides Freedom and Autonomy

Most people think that when you own your own business, you get to set your own hours. This is not exactly true. I make myself available to my clients therefore my hours are dictated by the need. However, I do have the flexibility to use creativity to get a job done well and efficiently. People often ask, “How do you manage balance in your life?” My answer: “I don’t. I integrate.” Being with my daughter Madeline and my husband David is very important to me. We’ve learned to integrate our time together as a family while enjoying running the business. And I not only get to be with my daughter while homeschooling, I get to teach her about having a career that you love and doing it with a joyful heart.

No. 8: I can do it all!

Admittedly, I will welcome the day when our growth allows for more employees and my position will be more of a leadership role. For now, I get the opportunity to run the business both from the front and back end. Creativity, New Products, Website, Social Media, New Client visits, special events – these are the things I love. Bookkeeping – Not so much! Luckily, I love developing both sides of my brain; Analytical and Creative. There are so many facets of my personality and they serve me well in running the business. I need to switch hats quickly from planning and creative thinking to one of analytical and business-minded thinking. One day soon there will be others that can help, but for now I love the constant shifting and maneuvering that my business demands of me.

Overall, the message is that I am so grateful for my life as the owner and Managing Director of Chocology. I feel blessed to come across so many wonderful people out in the world. I love making people happy! The smiles I get to see are the icing on the cake! I love my life and thank all of those that have helped me live out my dream of running a family business.

Nothing says “thank you” like decadent chocolate. That’s why Chocology has prepared some exquisite choices for our corporate clients this year. Chocology realizes the importance of your business relationships and we go the extra mile to show them that you care.

Do garlic and chocolate go together? Why, yes they do, thank you very much! In fact, chocolate helps to neutralize garlic breath, believe it or not!

Chocology spent this past weekend at the annual 2-day Garlic Festival held at the Garden of Eve Organic Farm  in Riverhead, New York.  We loved it so much so, we sponsored the garlic-eating contest!  Participants lined up to see who could get the most stinky garlic breath on Long Island.

A big round of applause goes out to Elizabeth who actually judged the contest and chose the contestant with the stinkiest breath.

Linda, owner of Chocology, didn’t participate in the contest, however she did volunteer to give the winner a big hug!

When everyone heard that chocolate neutralizes garlic breath, they headed over for a sample (okay, maybe more than a sample) of chocolate at the Chocology tent. We had so much fun tasting and pairing chocolate with some of the amazing local vendor’s wares.

One of the favorite pairings was Arlotta Lemon Olive Oil drizzled over our white chocolate Fat Ass fudge to make "lemon drops". It was fun watching our taster’s eyes pop when this little delight melted in their mouths. They couldn’t believe how well these two items went together.

We also paired our 70% dark Fat Ass Fudge with the cabernet from Sannino Vineyard. What a delightful match that made! And we can’t forget the pairing with the Soda Shop Bar-B-Q sauce from the Killer Cook. It was all so much fun, pairing flavors that most of us would never dream would taste well together!

It was like walking down memory, watching the children play at the play area where Madeline played as a child. The playground, located directly behind the Chocology tent, ran along the entire backside of the farm. Games, pumpkin pickings, pony rides, face painting and hayrides were just a few of the fun things for kids to do at the Garlic Festival! Linda loved being greeted by the goats each morning when she arrived to set up. Music filled the tent all day long and food demonstrations were happening everywhere. The entire Garlic Festival was such a fun and festive place to be all weekend long.

We were so pleased to see several of our customers from the Setauket and Port Jefferson Farmers Market! And we were delighted by the two cutest Chocology fans (twins in a stroller) that insisted on stopping by for a taste of fudge!

Since this was, after all, a garlic festival, there were so many amazing and unusual garlicky foods. Everything was garden fresh! How about Garlic Soup or Garlic Ice Cream? It was lovely to meet Fred and Sue Forsburg and their daughter Jennifer of Honeyhill Organic Farm, who taught us to use the juice from the scapes (the end of the garlic) to make a dirty martini!

Roasted garlic is buttery, just like our fudge so we decided to create a dark chocolate cake with a roasted garlic hot fudge sauce. It may sound unusual but everyone thought it was delicious!  You’ll never know until you try.

Eve, from you guessed it, the Garden of Eve, said this about the festival:

“We had a great Festival this year, with over 4,000 garlic lovers attending to get garlic for their gardens and stomachs, and a new Garlic Eating Contest record set of 27 cloves in 2 minutes!”

What a whirlwind of a weekend! We had so much fun meeting new people, eating chocolate and garlic and participating in a good ole fashioned farm fun. We can’t wait for next year’s festivities!

Couverture: Chocolate containing at least 32% cocoa butter. The high cocoa butter content makes the chocolate taste better in your mouth and produce a more satiny finish for a beautiful chocolate. Couverture comes from the French word couvrir - to coat or cover and is pronounced koo-vehr-TYOOR. Sometimes referred to as fondant chocolate.

 At Chocology we pride ourselves on using only the finest ingredients in our products. So of course we use couverture chocolate in everything we craft.

Couverture chocolate is real chocolate. Compound chocolates or chocolate melts contain vegetable oil rather than cocoa butter, making it less expensive and easier to work with, however the taste is significantly compromised. Couverture chocolate gives fine chocolate it’s snap, is easier to pour and contains true chocolate ingredients, derived from the cacao tree.

Couverture chocolate requires the use of cocoa butter, making the process of chocolate making a little more time consuming. In order to re-establish the cocoa butter crystals into the chocolate, a special procedure called tempering is called for. During this process the chocolate and cocoa butter are melted together producing the proper sheen, snap and taste to the finished product. Tempering also prevents bloom, the separating of the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids resulting in a whitish or grayish coating on the outside of the chocolate. Couverture chocolate can be stored longer without the danger of bloom since it must be tempered. The more cocoa butter that is added, the more fluid the chocolate becomes.

The chocolate solids are also ground to a finer texture for couverture chocolate, resulting in a superior texture, flavor and taste. Couverture is perfect for enrobing truffles, bonbons and other fine candies.

Is couverture chocolate worth the extra time and expense? We sure think so! And we believe that once you taste it, you will too. Our mission is to bring the very best to our chocolate loving family. Fine ingredients, careful preparation and love is always at the top our priority list. Try Chocology truffles or Fat Ass Fudge and see for yourself.

At Chocology, we love to learn as well as teach. That’s why when children’s author, Stephanie Sorkin, agreed to read all three of her books to our Chocology Kids at Yogo Delish in Port Jefferson this past Sunday, we were thrilled. The kids were delighted to meet the author and enjoyed hearing some of their favorite stories read to them.

Stephanie is the award-winning author of 3 children’s books, Frenemy Jane, the Sometimes Friend, Nutley and Chocolate Shoes with Licorice Laces. She recently won both the Indie award for Chocolate Shoes. She also won the  Mom’s Choice award for Nutley and Chocolate Shoes.

Like Chocology, Stephanie shares our love for giving back to the community. A percentage of the profits from Chocolate Shoes goest to Soles 4 Soles and 100% of the proceeds from Nutley goes to F.A.R.E., an organization dedicated to food allergy research and education.

It is always so exciting to meet the author of our favorite books.  After the readings, Stephanie shared with us a bit about how she developed her character for Chocolate Shoes. While visiting schools and doing readings for Nutley, Stephanie created a sort of "focus group" with the kids by placing her draft of Chocolate Shoes on an big piece of oak tag. She would carry this along with her to her readings of Nutley and ask the kids questions about who they thought the character should be. A girl? A boy? Five years old? Ten? She explained to the kids that when she tallied up the results, she would have her character. The kids loved the fact that they had some input on her next book. When all the results were in, Stephanie had her eight year old boy with red hair, the main character in Chocolate Shoes. As Stephanie told this story, all of our Chocology Kids eyes lit up with excitement.

Stephanie's love for children was apparent. After the reading, Stephanie autographed books for the kids. We gave out licorice laces to everyone, to go with this with "Chocolate Shoes", of course! We can't wait to read what she writes next.

For more about Stephanie and her books and to learn more about her charity work, please visit www.stephaniesorkin.com.

Owning a chocolate business is such a joy. This summer we have been busy with summer weddings, farmers markets, festivals and private events. Madeline is participating in a camp counselor program that she loves. With all of this activity, though, there hasn’t been time for a much needed spa treatment.

Since I couldn’t find a place in our schedule for a trip to the spa, I decided to create a little TLC treatment of my own. How better to do that than to incorporate chocolate into the mix?

While Madeline was in camp one day, I decided I would surprise her when she got home. I found a delightful chocolate milk bath recipe here that I hoped would relax and rejuvenate her mind, body and soul. The great thing about this recipe is that you can do it ahead. It would make a great gift for that busy person in your life or for yourself after a hard day at work. And to sweeten this recipe even more, cocoa power provides much needed antioxidants to help repair the skin! Not only is chocolate good to eat, it’s good for your skin as well.

Chocolate Milk Bath

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of powdered milk
• 2-tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-tablespoon cornstarch.

***As an optional treat you could add about ⅓ cup of unscented bubble bath to your warm running bath before adding in the other ingredients

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl (not including the bubble bath, if using).
2. Transfer the contents to a cellophane bag with a tie or a small container with a lid.
3. Add ½ cup to warm bath water. Swirl it around the water to mix it in.
4. If you’re using the bubble bath, add it first to a warm running bath before adding in the other ingredients.

Before Madeline got home, I mixed up the ingredients and then lit a chocolate candle to get the room smelling extra nice. I placed the chocolate soap bar that I’d purchased from the Southampton Soap Company and a small plate of Fat Ass Fudge on the tubs edge. Voilà! A much needed spa treatment that fit into our busy schedules. This recipe makes enough for two baths, so we were set.

While Madeline was relaxing in the bath, I enjoyed a Chocolate Fat Ass Martini on the porch. When Madeline emerged she was glowing. Her escape to tranquility had restored her inner and outer well-being. What a fantastic way to take a breath and find that inner peace. This inexpensive spa treatment is one that we will incorporate into our busy schedules more often!

Have you ever taken a chocolate milk bath? If so, we’d love to hear about it. If not, try this recipe and give yourself a much-deserved break. What a sweet ending to a long and busy day.

Thanks goes out to helloglow.co for the wonderful recipe and other great DIY ideas.

Have you ever wondered what makes Fat Ass Fudge so creamy and delicious? Here at Chocology we take pride in handpicking the freshest and highest quality ingredients for our recipes. Our Fat Ass Fudge is chock full of nutritious and delicious ingredients that make our fudge a top shelf indulgence.

We start with Meyenberg goat milk products. Why use goat rather than cow products? It’s simple really. Here are a few reasons we use goat products rather than cow.

• Goat’s milk is naturally homogenized.
• Goat’s milk is easier to digest.
• Goat’s milk rarely causes lactose intolerance.
• Goat’s milk matches up to the human body better than cow’s milk.
• Goat’s milk is less allergenic. —The allergic reaction can be blamed on a protein allergen known as Alpha s1 Casein found in high levels in cow's milk. The levels of Alpha s1 Casein in goat's milk are about 89% less than cow's milk providing a far less allergenic food.

Most fudge products on the market use dairy in their recipes, making it difficult for those with lactose intolerance to enjoy them. Goat products are much easier to digest, making it a pleasure to eat, even with lactose intolerance. We’ve chosen Meyenberg goat products for the creamy, melt in your mouth texture. Plus we find that it is more nutritious for everyone and naturally gluten free. Who ever thought that fudge could taste so good while at the same time being so good for you?

Genuine Belgian chocolate comes next. We are proud to say that we import the highest quality chocolate for our Fat Ass Fudge recipes. From white to dark, rest assured the finest chocolate available is carefully incorporated into the various Fat Ass flavors showcased on our shelves. Now how’s that for quality?

We consider love and care one of our top most ingredients. Chocolate is our passion and careful attention to detail is what makes every bite of our Fat Ass Fudge an exquisite melt in your mouth experience every time. We finish with a last stir of love and hand package each and every slice with meticulous detail. To extend the love even further, Chocology donates to the #ChocologyCares Campaign of your choice, when you choose your charity at checkout. NO extra cost to you; BIG help to those in need. It’s our commitment to spreading the love.

Chocology is devoted to using simple, yet extravagant ingredients in our products. We know that you detect quality when you taste it and we are dedicated to bringing our best~ ALL of the time. From our kitchen to you, rest easy knowing that Chocology always extends distinct quality ingredients and loving care in everything we create. Guaranteed!

Want to do something fun, tasty and educational with the kids this summer? Well, grab these simple supplies and get outside for a science project that will have your kids coming back for s’more!

DIY SUN S’MORES

In this Chocology Kids Project you will learn about:

Energy, Solar Power, Sun, Heat/Melting Point, Cooking

 INGREDIENTS: 

Graham crackers, mini-marshmallows and a chocolate bar or (Fat Ass Fudge!).

TOOLS NEEDED:

Scissors, Ruler, Glue Stick, Plastic wrap, Tape, A Sheet of black paper, A wooden skewer or pencil, Utility knife, Aluminum foil, 2 thermometers

A Warm, sunny day—preferably 85 degrees or warmer 

 PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Please read ALL of the steps carefully before cutting. Adult assistance is recommended for the use of utility knife. Also, use caution when cooking with the solar oven. It can get quite hot (sometimes up to 200 degrees)

BUILDING THE OVEN

Step 1
Clean out the pizza box.

Step 2
Use your ruler to draw a rectangle on the top of the lid, about 1 inch from the sides.

Step 3
Ask an adult to help using the utility knife (and the ruler as a straight edge) to carefully cut along 3 sides of the square, leaving the side that runs along the hinge of the box uncut. Cut all the way through the cardboard on those three sides. Once your 3 sides are cut, fold the flap (near the hinge of the box) back slightly along the attached side. Prop the flap open with tape. Lastly, cover the inside of the flap with foil,(leaving the shiny side of the foil facing out) securing with glue or tape.

Step 4
Cover the opening made by the flap (in the lid) with a layer of plastic wrap. Attach the plastic wrap to the opening's edges using shipping tape or duck tape. Make sure there are no holes in the plastic wrap and that all of its edges are completely attached to the lid. No openings please!

STEP 5
Line the inside of the box with aluminum foil (shiny side out) so that when you shut the box the entire interior is coated with foil. It is easiest to do this by covering the bottom of the box with foil first and then covering the inside part of the lid (don’t cover the plastic wrap!) with foil. Glue the foil in place.

STEP 6
Glue or tape a sheet of black paper to the bottom-center of the pizza box, on top of the foil. This will act as your solar oven's heat sink. How do you think it will help cook your food?

Step 7
Lastly, use a wooden skewer or pencil (and some tape) to prop the solar oven's lid up, at about a 90-degree angle from the rest of the box.

Think about this:

• Why do you think you should coat the inside of the box with foil like this? What is the purpose of the foil?

• Why do you think it's important to make sure the plastic wrap completely seals the lid's opening?

• Why do you think we use the black paper inside of the box? How will this help us cook our food?

Let’s Make S’mores!

 Before you begin, go check your weather app to see what the temperature is outside. Is it over 85 degrees? Then let’s get cooking!

STEP 1
Place your chocolate and mini marshmallows between two graham crackers.

STEP 2
Place your S’mores inside of your solar oven

STEP 3
Take your oven outside. Be sure to place your oven in a place in a sunny place, taking care to position it to where the sunshine will refect from the foil on the flap into your box.

STEP 4
Check your box every 15 minutes to see if the chocolate and marshmallows have melted. BE CAREFUL! It might just be a pizza box, but you’ve made this into an oven! IT’S HOT!

STEP 5
Bon Appétit! Enjoy your Sun S’mores!

Think about this:

•  How long did it take to melt the chocolate? Did the temperature outside have anything to do with the length of time it took to melt the chocolate?
• How did the foil help to melt the chocolate?
• What do you think the black paper did to help the process along?
• Did the size of the pizza box make a difference in the cooking time?
• Do you think preheating the solar oven would make a difference? If so, have you tested your theory?
• Do you think the S’mores would cook on an overcast day? What about on a cold day?

What Is Going On?

Solar Ovens convert sunlight to energy. That energy is retained for cooking food. Although there are all kinds of solar cookers, they all have similarities. For instance, many solar ovens have at least one dark surface to attract sunlight. If you’ve ever worn a black shirt on a hot summer day, you’ve probably noticed that dark colors get very hot in the sunlight. This is because dark colors hold more solar radiation than light colors. The heat absorbed by your dark paper is transferred to the food, which speeds up the process. Most solar cookers also have reflectors, which direct sunlight toward the dark cooking surface and transparent tops that let in sunlight, trapping the heat inside the cooker. Try cooking hot dogs inside of your solar oven and see what happens!

What Else?

Did you have fun with this activity? We hope so. We encourage you to try it again with different variables. Here’s some to try:

• Experiment with different sized boxes. Does size make a difference in how long it takes to cook your food?
• Try insulating your cooker. Add newspaper or other safe material to trap more sunlight. Does it make your food cook faster?

• Experiment with other foods, such as hot dogs, baked beans or cookies.
• Most of all – HAVE FUN! Cooking with solar saves energy and helps us learn more about how solar power works.

Be sure to check our blog for more fun chocolate activities to do with the kids! Learning should be fun!

Did you know that we don’t taste things solely with our taste buds? We actually taste everything with our brain.

So how does this work? From about the age of 3, people have evolved to use more than their taste buds to know whether something is okay to eat or not. Sight, smell, texture (touch) and even hearing all contribute to why we prefer certain foods over others.

Linda is taking another Ecole Chocolat class and is currently studying the taste buds. This week’s assignment is to consciously taste four different chocolates. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it! We love tasting, reading and exploring more about chocolate. Educating ourselves about how taste and flavor work and how we experience the things we eat helps the Chocology team to understand the flavors in our products and make them better.

The class is entitled, Mastering Chocolate Flavor, something we strive to do every day. Our mission is to create flavors that please the senses, not just the taste buds, so that our products are more of an experience rather than just another dessert. Read on to learn more about how all of the senses are engaged when we participate in the act of eating.

Flavor is ALL in your head! Did you know that? All of the senses work together, providing information to your brain. Your brain then determines if something taste good or not. We generally believe that tastes happen on our taste buds. But much more is going on, most of it in the brain.

The Eyes

The eyes have it! If it doesn’t look good, the likelihood of you eating it is very low. Even if an unsightly food IS eaten, the overall taste is affected. Tasting starts with the eyes.

One study by Jeff Shrank was particularly intriguing to us. For instance, when tomato juice was poured into a container marked “blood”, participants were no longer willing to even taste it. Why? Because the eyes saw the word blood and the association of blood and tasting were triggered in the brain. Participants weren’t willing to try it, even though they usually liked tomato juice.

The Nose

Have you ever heard the term “Follow your Nose?” Well, according to Kids Health, “Olfactory (ahl-FAK-tuh-ree) receptors inside the uppermost part of the nose contain special cells that help you smell. They send messages to the brain.”

When we put a piece of food into our mouths, chemicals are released into the olfactory receptors and tell the brain all about what we are eating. Taste and smell work together to tell a story about the flavor that is happening inside of your mouth! Then your brain decides if you like it or not.

Touch

Are peppers really hot? According to Jeff Shrank they are not!

The texture of our foods make a difference in what we taste too! Ever had a limp potato chip? The taste of our potato chips and French fries are definitely affected by their texture. People tend to judge a potato chip as “fresh” if it is light and crispy. That’s a judgment call based on our brain’s past experiences and judgments. The crunch makes all the difference!

Sound

Chocolate needs the correct amount of snap for most people to believe it has quality.

Even the packaging on potato chips or crackers suggests a certain amount of crunchiness! In a test by Jeff Shrank, people that wanted crunchy chips chose the noisier bags over the softer paper bags of chips.

Taste

Humans have around ten thousand taste buds and even those are replaced every couple of weeks. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory are the major receptors that allow you to experience taste. Children have more and adults tend to lose some over time. And as we build experience and memories about tastes, our taste preferences are influence by those as well.

We taste our beliefs and expectations and our senses help us along the way. Chocolate covered ants are a delicacy in some places around the world, but for most Americans, just the thought of eating an ant is repulsive, even if it is enrobed in our favorite chocolate. Working together, the senses, along with our perceptions of what is good or not so good, communicate a story to our brain about the foods we are attracted to. Our tastes really are all in our heads! Be sure to check out Jeff Shrank’s slideshow entitled, “Taste: Your Brain on Food”.