Dear customers and enthusiasts, l hope this finds you well and l even apologise for all the silence over the past few weeks.(Being French, l don't normally bother apologising) l have been busy enjoying the warm weather when it was there (now unfortunately disappeared but the rain was needed, it is England after all) and getting back to work in the last few weeks. Who wants chocolate when it is hot? You? Oh, all right then. It wasn't the answer l was expecting! After having enjoyed the last few weeks making back stock, and having had a relaxing birthday this week-end, l am now excited to present you with my latest work. Why wait till tomorrow when it can be done now? Yes, you have seen it in the title, some old favourites are back. The Moor heather honey, pollen and apple, all local ingredients, has come back in both milk and dark, as well as all dark, chocolate tablettes. All local ingredients, and a very unusual bar you won't find anywhere else.
The salted caramel and nuts bars are also back, and how fast they went before! l love them, so l understand why many others would: organic nuts, organic butter, non homogenised cream (sometimes organic) and organic chocolate... what else do we need?
And ... here are les mascagnées, the tablettes with défauts, the imperfect bars, which l have been saving to get a certain amount in your favourite flavours , like caramel, honey, and even lavender. Those are at a special price of £5 each or £5.50 for the soft centre caramel and honey. First orders get the heaviest tablettes. (the weights are colour coded, the purple are the heaviest in this case)
l am keeping the best* news till the end... Look who has arrived: the new CAROB bars!
They are available in the shop in small amount, and they are available as a dark, unsweetened bar or a light, slightly sweetened with date sugar and coconut powder.
Carob is naturally sweet so the dark bar is plenty sweet, even for me who likes sweeter products sometimes. The light bar is also wonderful in my opinion.
What else have l been up to, you may ask? Well, a drawing commission which was ordered last November has been completed this month at last - the copy of my Pot-Luck number 1, Saint Michael and the wagtail, which was originally drawn as a 7x 7cm piece, to be expanded to a 30x30 cm piece. It was tricky as it is a big difference in size, and the colours do come out slightly different to the original. It was a bit stressful at times as (l am an amateur) l was doing my best to make it identical, but it ended up being slightly different. l have never drawn a copy of any of my drawings, so l didn't know if it should be exactly the same or it was possible and acceptable to make it slightly different. Liz didn't mind either and she was very happy and pleased to see it at last. It will get framed and she will enjoy it on her wall, which makes me very joyful, now it is finished. How nice to know my artwork is appreciated! Of course, many of you have told me you do appreciate the artwork and some have even sent me photos! Thank you!
This is about it for the chocolatier, other than making a few new aprons and hats with posh Doughties fabric (rather than using second-hand curtains which always make me laugh) for my very popular youtube chocolate video channel (is it a joke? hum...) . l enjoy sewing very much and have nearly finished the Victorian style coat (not at all Victorian, but it has lace and it is pale yellow which seems Victorianly acceptable) l had started it for the Leominster outdoor Christmas market, and now have made it reversible. Only a few touches left to do! Pfew! My next project, which l will not enjoy doing so early as l prefer to do those things at the last minute so l can be very stressed then, is making a start on the Christmas Apostles Adventures drawing for this year 2023. l may even get it professionally printed this year so spots of water or dampness would not affect the colours, for those who are collecting them (ah, but to print them on labels, or on card? difficult choice...printed on card they will not fold as easily in certain boxes). This is why l have been working very intensely in the last month making back stock (Fig pistachio cardamom in milk has nearly sold out, oops) so l can enjoy looking ahead and see what the exciting end of year chocolates will be, and what work l can get ahead on. (it has only taken me 10 years to start getting organised?!!) l have also been doing a couple of chocolate demonstrations in front of local friendly groups, and when they were told l used to make sprouted sunflower seeds chocolate bars, a dark chocolate with roasted garlic and herbs, and a milk with curried seeds and raisins, they cried out and of course asked if it was available, which it isn't as l haven't made it for years. Exciting feedback! l will consider to do a batch of both in the coming months for those who enjoy adventurous tastes, (great Christmas gifts you would not get ANYWHERE else! ) as it was pretty wonderful in both flavours. However, not in reversed flavours as garlic didn't work with milk chocolate, and nor did the curried seeds in dark chocolate: both customers and l thought so.) l feel at last l can breathe, l have caught my tail so l can relax now and have a good night sleep. l wish you the same, with plenty of exciting and relaxing dreams! Thank you for reading, and for being there enjoying the Continuum Conceits chocolate.
With eternal blessings, Alexandra * the best: the most exciting for me! New stock! and lovely fabric which is one l used for my new reversible apron! (sorry there is no photo, maybe l will take one tomorrow if l remember and add it to the blog, people at the demonstration asked if l would sell aprons if they looked like this one! maybe in the future...)
Let's see if l can write a comment. It has been on and off, this comment option, since the blog was created.