Photo credit Winky Lewis Karen Watterson, the editor of the iconic 'Eat Drink Lucky' daily posts, also writes a blog dedicated to her favorite food group, dessert! Sweet on Maine covers the delicious possibilities of our great state, and we are proud to announce that its latest entry focuses on our French Mendiants. Karen first goes back to the origins of the meaning in medieval France before delving into our modern take on one of our favorite offerings. She spent much time with Sarah and me as we took her through our intricate production process. Please click on this link...
September 12 will mark our third anniversary at 189 Brackett! We have seen the demand for our ever expanding offerings explode over those 34 months, creating shortages at every chocolate holiday. Yet, our little team really needs a break so we can enter the busy fall/winter season with renewed energy. By closing the shop for three weeks, we will be able to both take a break and to do intensive production to build our stocks. From July 26 to August 1, the shop will be closed and orders will not ship/ will not be available for pickup. Everyone on...
We wish to extend our warm thanks to those of you who nominated us in the first round of Downeast Magazine's 2021 Best of Maine survey. We are so thrilled to now be a finalist in the "Maine-Made Chocolate" category! The final round is happening now, and we would be so honored to get your vote! We are in good company with folks representing over 50 categories from all walks of Maine life. To access the survey, click on the Downeast/Survey Monkey link. Our team thanks you for your kind support, and looks forward to sharing new chocolate creations with...
A month ago, my darling neighbor Desi van Til gifted a box of our chocolates to Erin French of the iconic Lost Kitchen. Not long after, TLK approached us to see if we would be willing to have our Chocolats in their next online market, slated for today at 11 AM. It took our team a nanosecond to decide, of course, because who doesn't want to be in the company of fabulous Maine women artisans of all stripes? After a gorgeous ride to Freedom from Portland to deliver our beautiful boxes, Catherine and Fred had a grand time chatting with...
Pack up the heart molds, polish the eggs! Thematically, the switch from Valentine production to Easter is swift. This year, the early Easter date (April 4) makes speed even more necessary. But not stressful, because each of us loves the creativity of making each batch of eggs vividly different from the last. We love to imagine a festive Easter table adorned by our eggs, each unique. The French Bunnies are more exacting, and Darcy is the ultimate bunny maker with her precise, sheer yet fanciful painting. Jacques (above) is done in brown tones with a little pink nose and white...
Photo credit Sarah Levine The time span between the holidays and Valentine day is the shortest of all the major chocolate holidays, and as such imposes absolute production discipline on our team! We use the past year's numbers to guide our output, but also add a hefty increase to deal with last season's shortages. Among our most popular Valentine offerings are our Big Valentine Heart and our "Love you to the Moon and Stars" boxes, so we are hard at work to make more. The other challenge is that Valentine season is our favorite time of year to introduce...
