Chocolate

This week, I got the best Christmas present ever. That's right, Christmas. Before I explain, I just have to say how great Ben is. Maybe I've been saying that a lot lately, and maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones talking, but I think it's true. He somehow knows what I want without me saying anything, and sometimes without me knowing myself. He definitely outdid himself this time.

For Christmas, Ben gave me an envelope with a piece of paper that said he had arranged for me to have a chocolate making class with our favorite local chocolatier, Pete.

He explained to me that he contacted Pete and basically talked him into teaching a class. It was held this past Monday night, and I've been thinking about it ever since.

It was a pretty simple class, two hours long, and really fun. We first learned how to make ganache, and we all had our own sample to add whatever flavors we wanted to. I chose cinnamon and allspice (which I rolled in pecans. Turned out pretty well if you ask me).

Since you have to let ganache sit for a couple of days, Pete then brought out a few flavors he had already made, and we rolled a few to take home. When I say a few, I mean 15. In addition to the ganache which makes a dozen truffles, and the two pounds of chocolate I got to make my own truffles at home. So we're pretty set chocolate-wise.

We also had a chocolate tasting, with different brands and levels of darkness. There was even a 100% and a cocoa bean to try. We talked about the different notes and complexities of each one. Yeah, we were pretty fancy.

So now I have all these plans for different flavors I want to try. Not to mention the different techniques I want to learn/improve on. Everywhere I go, I'm looking for different ideas. And the really cool laser thermometer I've decided I have to have.

This is my selfie excited face