Now that Mother's Day is over, we are officially in the chocolate off-season.  It is a good thing, because higher temperatures and humidity are the enemies of chocolate making.  New England chocolatiers are so fortunate that our winters, with cool and bone dry houses, are perfect for creating chocolates with a beautiful shine.  Chocolate High Season coincides perfectly with high production season!

But it doesn't mean I will be just tending my little vegetable garden, drinking Kirs while lazing on the terrace, and doing nothing chocolate-wise.  Quite the contrary.  This is creative time, when I plan to come up with several dozen recipes in small batches.  Small being the operative word:  I learned my lesson this past fall when I made a batch of 500 really bad black currant chocolates!  That effort was due of course to too much confidence in my skills as a chocolatier.  My hubris was punished, and I had to throw them all out!

My goal is to start the fall with two new flavors.  To get there, I will offer in late October a special 16 Bites box with my top contenders.  The box will be available at a low price to anyone who is willing to vote for their top two flavors.  My existing chocolate line-up has been shaped, in a most beneficial way, by a number of tasting friends over the years.  And as such I just love the idea of the democratic process applied to my confections!