September

After a nice and well deserved rest, during the summer, I am ready to start the chocolate season with more energy, hopefully.

I have already started the production this week and I am confident that I will be able to have everything ready within a week or so.

Many of the flavors are available already at Glacier .

I will like to have the fall collection ready and aboundant before I leave for Italy this coming October. The website will be close for orders but the chocolates can be purchased at Glacier as usual.

I will have the Pumpkin pie, Stranahans, Latte and maybe a Grasshopper chocolate I am thinking of, and if anytime is left on my already busy schedule I might add the Smoked sea salt caramel.

As for the last year I am still working full time so my time is limited to what I can manage with a job, two small children and the chocolates, but I am confident that I will one day be immerse in chocolate full time. Till then I am trying to enjoy what I can do and dont get overwhelmed with what I can't.

Have a great week.

Little break.

Summer break for me, I haven't feel well lately and its mostly stress related. So I am taking a break from everything I can. I will resume production as soon as my well being improve. Hopefully soon. I apologize for the inconvenience and I wish everybody a great Summer.

Too many ideas, too little time.

Probably is the lack of energies the main problem. I am sure I could organize my time more efficiently if I had higher energies level. I feel like taking a break but I can't actually do that, because the moment I stop or try to stop, thousand more ideas and projects come to mind, I am restless! I am overwhelmed by my own thoughts, kind of silly huh!? I need to focus on one thing and get that going, see where it goes. Instead I usually get tired and sometimes bored with my projects and try to find something new and more exciting to do, that takes an enormous amount of energies and in the end I am more tired than before.

Right now I have a mental block, artist block? I don't know whatever it is, is preventing me from seen the bigger picture and it's making me tired and demotivated. I guess it is almost the end of the busy season so that could be the real reason. In any case I am in need of a change and a new project is on the way, I am not sure where I want to go with it but for now I just want to experiment and possibly have fun while doing so :-)

Meanwhile please hang in there, and bare with me, the chocolates will be back soon I promise, just need to feel the love again.

Arlecchino

Just for fun, but I am loving the pattern, might turn into something else, will see. For now blood oranges, touch of pomegranate and a layer of slightly oranged salted caramel.

Bunnies

Bunnies waiting impatiently to be picked up @GlacierLongmont. Snowing today, the day before its officially Spring, love Colorado :-)

Spring is back!

There it is our very first Spring's Hare, or Bunny if you prefer :-)

They will be soon populating the display case at Glacier Homemade ice cream & gelato in Longmont.

Catching up.

I thought it would be easier to catch up with the production after Valentine, but with the corporate order and family needs, I found myself falling behind.

So the case is crying right now, sorry about that, I will be making the white Russian and raspberry today and caffe corretto and gianduja in the next two days.

Also I want to try the double Milk stout chocolate for the display. Stranahans whiskey next :-)

Exhausted

I know I still have a lot to do and I hope I can hang in there just few more days! These past two weeks have been crazy busy, I have been cranking up chocolates like nobody's business, oh well my business: -).

I can't keep the display case full for more than half day, its funny and tragic, every morning I get there the case has been raided! So I restock, and then I go back in the afternoon, and again, raided! Ahh, can't complaint business is thriving, I am very grateful for the consensus I received from the public. THANK YOU.

It is exciting to think that maybe sometimes soon I could switch things around and go full time with my chocolates and part time at my day time job.

I am looking forward to rest a bit on Sunday afternoon and Monday, then need to start again for a big corporate order production, wow.

Lots of requests, only two hands : -)

Well I need to thanks the journalists that had done such a great job highlighting me and my chocos.

The demand is been beyond my slightest idea and perhaps overwhelming to say the least.

I am really grateful  for all the compliments and the appreciation I am getting now days from the public, it was unexpected.

The only problem now is my production time, I still have the same schedule as I did before which it means limited extra time to make extra production.

So I just want to apologize if for any reason we are going to run out of chocolates (the Hearts Collection) in the next few days. I will eventually be able to take off from work (my day time job) later if things go well, but I can't really do that now.

After all is still an artisan production, everything is made by hand, the making, the cutting, the finishing and the packaging. It is a labor of love and it takes time.

Thank you very much : -)

Hearts Collection

Since the Hearts Collection is a limited edition, and after all its still just only me making the chocolates and I still have to work during the day, I have placed a deadline for the orders.

We will accept orders for the Hearts boxes up until Sunday February the 7th. After that date, availability is until supplies last.

The Hearts Collection is available at our online store and for Longmont area and surroundings (or if more convenient in general) orders can be picked up at Glacier Ice cream & Gelato @ 1749 N Main st. Longmont, 80501.

Thank you for you appreciation. Happy Valentine's Day!

Shopping cart

I tryed to use my time wisely while recovering from some sort of flu this weekend, and worked on the website as I mentioned before.

I did find a pretty good shopping cart and although it's easy to use it will require some tweaking to customize the colors. The item description caption is a bit too dark for my background, so I will try to change that as soon as possible.

Other than that I think its a pretty sleek looking cart.

Also I found some yummy social network icons that were just too perfect! Overall I am happy with the way it looks, I just need to get new pictures to work with.

Times-Call article

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Times Call reporter Magdalena Wegrzyn. It was something I never done, the pictures, talking about my passion, how it started and all.

I have to admit I was very very nervous, I am an emotional creative person and I do much better than talk.

Well I just got a copy of the article, in the food section,  and it look amazing. They took their time for the pictures and the interview and it shows.

I am thrilled and the butterflies in my stomach don't want to go away.

I am silly I know, but this is me!

You can check the article online at:

 www.timescall.com/food/food_story.asp?id=20494 

More pics of the chocolates display case at Glacier.

From left to right, Orange, Blueberry, Sea Salt and Asia.

In the reflection Chai, Gianduja, Imperial Stout and Maple.

Slowing down!?

I am glad I started the production with plenty of time. I was forced to slow down by a major tooth/head ache due to an infection, that is making me miserable. Going to take care of it this week, hopefully it will fix the problem.

So now I do need to focus on the production for the Left Hand Brewery order. They are having a Beer/Chocolates pairing events, on the 1st, 14th and15th of February. Three different type of chocolates to pair with three beers.

I should have all the Hearts done by this week, White Russian, Passion Fruit and Amaretto are already done, the first batch at least, I hope I am going to need more!! :-).

I also feel the need to slow down a bit to try to enjoy my two little boys, sometimes we run run run and forget to stop and smell the flowers. I miss them, I miss the luxury I had with my first son, of working part time (I just got here from Italy) and it felt like we did lots of things together. I used to go on a stroll every day with baby Mason and enjoy it so much. With William unfortunately I dont have that luxury and honestly I dont have the energies, or I do but they come and go. I think this is something that every parents have to go thru, especially if both have to work full time and opposite shifts!

Better not complain though at least we have a job, a roof on our heads and food, there is much much worse out there, and we are after all very blessed indeed.

New web site

I am having some fun, with the help of Joomla, building my web site. I spent the weekend modifying pictures and inserting articles in the page.

Right now I am also busy getting all the paperwork done for the new year and I am starting to feel like that lady in the E-Myth, a very useful and fun book for small entrepeneurs very enjoyble to read, especially when you know you have been there before and what it feels like it!

Anyway, the thing is that running  a small business all by your sefl when you actually have to physically make the products, can be little bit owervhelming.

But I do feel positive right now and I am exited to do my new Valentine's production. It will be similar to the one I did last year, with hearts decorated in different ways for each flavor. I will have White Russian, Sea Salt Caramel, Raspberry, Passion Fruit (if I can get the puree'), Gianduja, Amaretto and something maybe one more flavor, like a surprise one.
My friend Cinzia at the Left Hand Brewery here in Longmont, asked me to make some chocolates for Valentine's Day, we did this last year and was a success. Also she mentioned two night in Febraury as well, were they are organizing a beer and chocolates tasting, something that they do often, I might attend to these two events to present myself and the chocolates as well as little bit of information on the chocolate itself.
This would be a very good chance to make new contacts and get back on the horse.

I will post the dates and details on the website as soon as possible.

Meanwhile I am gathering some recipes I will like to post here soon.

Next I think will be my Chai cake.

Ciao.

New year resolution.

I usually dont set any new year resolutions, I dont think I should wait for the end of the year to decide to do something to improve my life same as I usually dont like to wait for Mondays to start a diet, or more appropriate, healthy regimen.

This year went so fast, but it feels like the past 20 years went like the blink of an eye anyway.

If I was to set a goal for the 2010, it would be to be healthier and spend more quality time with my family. Travel would be also very nice, I just dont see that happen soon.

I guess I should set a goal for my business, after the slow bump I had during these holidays and the catching up I have to do, there is alot to be done and planned, but honestly right now I am just dreading it.

I thought taking time off would do the trick and help me reset, but I was wrong. Instead I came back to a lots of work and not much energies to actually do the job.

Also beginning of the year means fees! Money lots of money to keep this thing going and at this point I am not too sure is still worth it.

I wish I felt exited and full of new ideas to start the new year with DesiderioChocolates in full gear, but I dont and the only thing that makes me feel at ease is the thought of letting it go.

Maybe a year off?

But then I dont want to disappoint all the family and friends that always supported and believed in me, the customers that never stopped appreaciating my work and for whom I feel extremely grateful.

Well still a year off would be better than just completely give up on the past 6 years of work, hopes and sacrifices.

Today is the 30th of December I need to make a decision.

What to do?