Smith ‘n Wesson – given it’s supposedly the year of the apocalypse, I decided that this best seller should go out in style, if the end of the world is really upon us…

Yeti Balls – the signature chocolate is back with a bit of a face lift.  I decided to toast the coconut that is in the ganache, and have to report that was an awesome idea!

Divine Lime – this chocolate also got a bit of a new look, and I feel the new look more accurately describes what’s inside, in my mind at least

Cinnamon Chipotle – looks just as delightful as it has in the past, with just as much unsuspecting heat at the finish as before

Razzle Lav – a new player to the line up of flavors, though some of you might remember that I did this same combo in a jellie flavor.  I figured what was good for the “goose” would be good for the “gander”

O Canada – It’s chocolates like these that make airbrushing with cocoa butter fun.  And the caramel inside is pretty good too!

Well, there you have it.  Hopefully these images have enticed the visual animal inside you to tell your brain “I must have some”.

Well it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for…the Valentine’s menu.  Now I know there are many of you out there who aren’t too stoked on the idea of Valentine’s day, me included.  It’s been tagged as the holiday thought up of by card and candy companies.  Whether that’s true or not, I think we should put the ill feelings about the occasion aside and focus about the real prize of the day.  One more opportunity to indulge in those luscious little gems with names like truffles, pralines, bon bons, chocolates, etc.  Most chocolate companies throw out all the stops for this holiday especially because in my mind it’s the largest chocolate holiday of the year.  Therefore, why not put the bitterness aside and fully embrace the fact that you can choose to eat probably some of the finest confections chocolatiers have to offer during this time of the year.

Now I’ve made some changes that will hopefully help you on your journey to Yeti Chocolates bliss.  I’ve altered the look and contents of the order form, hopefully for the better as I know people have struggled with it in the past.  I’m also including a way to order from here!  At the bottom you will find a form that will allow you place your order and submit it.  I will receive it and send you an email letting you know I got it and confirm the order details and total price.  That’s why it’s imperative to put your email on the form.  Don’t worry, I won’t sell you out to 3rd party companies, because honestly I don’t know how or have the time or even want to do that.

Some other important tidbits to take heed of are as follows:

1. Order deadline is February 7, 2012.  I’m holding firm on this, if you don’t get it in by the 7th, you’re outta luck.  Sorry!
2. Orders will ship via Priority Mail through the Post Service on February 10th.  So please include USPS friendly addresses!
3. Make checks or money orders out to Willow Merritt not Yeti Chocolates!  I know I keep saying this will change, and hopefully by fall of this year that will be the case.  I’ve just had some personal set backs for me moving forward on this.  Please be patient!  If you order through the form on this post I will only accept Paypal requests, thanks!
4. I now can send money requests via Paypal if you’d prefer not to fuss with cash, check or money order.  You don’t need a Paypal account to use this feature, just a valid email address.  I’ll send you the request as soon as the order ships.

To the important stuff, the menu and order form!

The link to the menu:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxJpDI-b9W49Nzc0NGFlMTItNmJmYi00YzJlLWEwOTctNjQ1NjYwNTJhMTEy&hl=en_US

The link to the order form:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxJpDI-b9W49NjNlYmViMjMtNDM2MS00YzY1LWIxNDAtMTJiYTUyNmFkNDFh&hl=en_US

Let me know what you think about the online form!

Some food for thought*

Though Valentine’s Day can be a particularly lonely day for all those single folk out there, it doesn’t have to ruin your day.  Buy a box of chocolates and enjoy the simple pleasure in treating yourself because even if you don’t have a special someone to tell you so, you deserve a nice treat.  Or if you’re not particularly chocolate inclined (which makes me question why you’re reading this blog) do something fun as an “Anti-’V’ Day” plan, such as ice skating, going on a trip (which I’m doing!), singing karaoke, trying something new…you get the idea.  Make the day yours, in a way that all those love birds cannot take away from you or tarnish.

When I worked in the industry one of the pastry chefs I worked under keyed me into where you should really purchase vanilla beans if you want to buy in bulk, which of course I do…ebay.  I know, it sounds crazy, but ebay is the place for reasonably priced vanilla beans in bulk.  I recently purchased 1lb. of Tahitian vanilla beans for $30 and got an extra 1/8lb. bag of Madagascar vanilla beans for free.

Now most of you are probably thinking, “What would I do with that many vanilla beans?”  Well, you could give them as gifts to your loved ones for various gift giving holidays, use them in pretty much anything dessert like, cinnamon roll dough, pie crusts, pie fillings, custards, mousses, in your coffee, the list goes on.  You can split them and throw them in sugar to make vanilla sugar.  Or, you can make your own vanilla extract, which is what I plan on doing with part of mine.

Why buy imitation vanilla extract, when you can make the real deal with little effort?  Beats me, but nothing beats real vanilla extract.  And with ¼ lb. of beans you can make a quart of extract!  That’s a whole lot of extract, which you could then give away as a gift as well, or covet it like its liquid gold, whatever floats your boat.

How does the whole process work you’re now wondering?

Well here’s the nitty gritty:

Get yourself ¼ lb. of vanilla beans (remember, ebay!)

You’ll need a dark glass container, which I just remembered I have a growler I got from a friend that didn’t want it.  Sure, filling it with beer is a good option, but some sacrifices must be made

You want to purchase an inexpensive name brand vodka.  Now I know what you’re thinking, because I thought the same thing, that inexpensive and name brand don’t really go together.  However, after asking a colleague about it, it means that you want to buy the cheapest name brand vodka there is, such as Smirnoff or Absolut, something like that.  Not flavored either, just plan ol’ vodka.

Cut your beans into ½” pieces and toss into the dark glass container.  You don’t need to split them either; it’s just a wasted step.

Pour in your vodka.

Tip upside down and shake slightly every day to stir up the beans in the vodka for one month.

Strain out the beans after a month and enjoy your homemade vanilla extract.

Yes it’s really that simple.  I would say they need to make a “How to make vanilla extract for Dummies” but there isn’t even enough content to make a book.  Why more people don’t do this, I’ll never know.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and are settling into 2012 nicely.  I would say that for me, it wasn’t too bad.  I spent time with family and friends, only one mild hangover to nurse on New Years, but nothing too exciting to report, on that front that it.

One exciting thing that I do need to report is the best-seller “crown” has been stolen from the beloved Smith ‘n Wesson.  This was the first time since I’ve started making chocolates that the title of “best-seller” has gone to another chocolate.

The new title holder you ask?  

Here she be, the Huckleberry Creme.  Who could blame this delicious little morsel from wanting to steal the lime light?  Smith ‘n Wesson had been too cozy in it’s ranks that it was almost becoming tyrannical.  It was time for a fresh new face to hit the scene and dazzle chocolate lovers everywhere.  And the Huckleberry Creme is a beauty.

So what’s next for Yeti Chocolates you might be wondering.  Well in the lull between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, I will be on the hunt for that elusive commercial kitchen, working on my business plan, and getting ready for the largest chocolate holiday of the year, because honestly what says “I Love You” more than a box of delicious chocolate confections?  Diamonds supposedly, but who has the moola for diamonds these days, it seems a bit impractical to me, just sayin’.

In the meantime, I was hoping to get a little feedback for you!

And as always, to those who ordered chocolates over the Christmas holidays, any feedback on what you liked, didn’t, think could be improved would be greatly appreciated.

Here’s to hoping that 2012 is all that we wish for and more!

Whether you’re naughty or nice, we don’t care, come on down to chocolate town!

I recently got asked the question when responding to a contest for the some schwag from Colette Paperie http://www.etsy.com/shop/colettepaperie, check them out they make the funniest cards, they asked on their contest form on their blog what you wanted from Santa for Christmas. I replied that I wanted a commercial kitchen so I could get Yeti Chocolates up and running for real.  If you gotta dream, dream big right?

However, I digress.  Today is the last day that you can safely order your hearts desire in chocolate without the worry that there won’t be anything in stock.  After today I’ll still allow orders, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll have what you want.

The menu:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxJpDI-b9W49MWI4NTg3YzUtMTBmYS00ZmMwLWFjZTMtODFiZTJiZDVjOTli&hl=en_US

The order form:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxJpDI-b9W49YTEyYTcxMzQtOTdmMS00OGZjLWFlODUtYTAyMjdjZDU4ZDhm&hl=en_US

To all my dedicated patrons who’ve already sent in their orders, I thank you all for your continued faith in my services, and I hope you all have a fantastic holiday season.

And to everyone else, I also hope you season is merry and bright and full of love, because we all could always use more love in our lives!

Happy Holidays and here’s to hoping that the New Year is bountiful, full of joy and prosperity.  Here here!!!

Now that the Holiday Bazaar is almost a week past, I’m finally getting around to writing about it.  I’ve been knitting up a storm, trying to get a bundle of knitted goods done before Christmas before I need to start major chocolate production. That compounded with a recent bout of a head cold has made me a little behind the blogging times.

However, I didn’t want to keep you all in the dark on how the Holiday Bazaar in Troy, America went.

Overall, it went really well.  This being my first show, there were quite a few things I was over-prepared for, and quite a few more things I was under-prepared for.  I had plenty of samples, and when I mean plenty, a plethora doesn’t even quite accurately describe the over-abundance of samples I had left over at then end of the day.  That being said, one thing I didn’t count on was how many people were interested in buying boxes of chocolates that day, and not ordering them.  There were many who appreciated that I wanted to get them the freshest product possible, but most I think felt it was inconvenient that they had to order and pay for the $6 shipping fee.

Most were taken aback when they found out I lived in Wenatchee, I got the “Whoa, you’re a long way from home.” Which I then had to explain that I grew up in the area and my sister was the one who told me about it.

Some other things I was not quite prepared for was the amount of people who wanted to take business cards (this idiot didn’t bring any) or the small menus I had brought along (which I ran out of quite early in the day).  I did end up with 2 order forms at the end of the day.

Probably the best quote of the day was:

“These look so pretty that I don’t want to eat them!”

As for the barks and sweet spicy nuts (available only at the bazaar) they sold fairly well, with the sweet spicy nuts being the big seller of the day.

Another interesting thing was that at first I didn’t have a sign that said there were free samples, the samples were just on a tray in little paper cups.  However, people just kept walking by and passing up the samples, which I don’t know, who passes up free samples, especially when it’s chocolate?  I finally put up a sign that said “Free Samples” and then people started coming over and sampling them.  It was like they didn’t understand that little cut up chocolates were to sample, not to sell.  Most people were pretty courteous and only took 1 or 2 samples. Though there were definitely the kids who ran by taking probably 20 samples when it was all said and done, but fortunately I grossly overestimated my samples, and it all worked out. And interestingly enough, the Nutty Fluff was the most sampled item of the bunch.  The one chocolate I wasn’t sure of it’s popularity, blew me out of the water in the amount of people reaching for it right off the bat.  Goes to show you never can tell which one is going to be the favorite.

All in all, it was a really fun day, getting to talk about my chocolates with people, sampling them out and getting feedback, whether good or bad, which most of the negative feedback was because someone didn’t like a particular flavor they tried before I got a chance to explain them, that and people not knowing what molasses is…

So I’ve been hard at work all weekend making chocolates to get ready for the holiday bazaar I will be attending this next weekend in Troy, MT (come check it out if you’re gonna be in town!)

Whilst working on chocolates, I finally nailed down the menu and got pictures of all the chocolates so you have a visual aid to drool at while you make your selections.

The menu can be found and available for download at:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxJpDI-b9W49MWI4NTg3YzUtMTBmYS00ZmMwLWFjZTMtODFiZTJiZDVjOTli&hl=en_US

The order form can be found and available for download at:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxJpDI-b9W49YTEyYTcxMzQtOTdmMS00OGZjLWFlODUtYTAyMjdjZDU4ZDhm&hl=en_US

Let me know if you have trouble accessing either document.  I made the word doc 97-03 compatible for those who don’t have access to office 7.

As it says on the order form, please have your order in no later than December 12th.  I always have extras usually, but don’t count on it!  If you place an order after the 12th there’s no guarantee that I will have all the chocolates in stock.

Order after the 12th at your own risk!

I’m also offering a new pay option to those interested.  Instead of dealing with cash or check, I can send you a money request via PayPal to your email address once I ship your product, then you can access it and pay via credit/debit.  The best part is you don’t need a PayPal account to use it!

There’s also milk, white, and dark peppermint bark available for purchase, I just couldn’t fit it on the menu, but there is a space on the order form where you can purchase it if you so desire.  Perfect “stocking stuffer” for those Christmas celebrating folk

If you have any questions, please let me know, and I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday season!

Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of my mother in a car accident almost 2 years ago, and the family complications that arose from the incident, the holidays don’t exactly have that same “warm, fuzzy feeling” that they used to.  In all honesty, these days I cannot wait for them to slip away so I can get my life back to its normal routine.

Therefore, this year, when people have asked me what my plans are for Turkey day, I’ve said, “I’m making chocolates.”  That’s right, while everyone is settling down to a monster turkey feast, I will be up to my elbows in chocolate, getting ready for the holiday season.

Shockingly enough, for those of you who know me well, I’m not even planning on eating turkey for Thanksgiving.  Yep, I’m being sacrilegious on turkey day and making a red curry stew in the crock pot.  Honestly, is there really a turkey out there small enough for one?  Yeah, didn’t think so.  I know, I know, leftover heaven is waiting in a turkey, but roasting a turkey is a pain, and time is of the essence, and the essence is chocolate.

The holiday bazaar in Troy is rapidly approaching, and I need to get samples, barks, nuts, pictures, order forms, menu, tags, bows, and boxes prepared.  Needless to say it’s going to be a busy weekend…

I’ve also taken on a small chocolate tasting the night before I leave with a small group of lovely ladies who I’ve met up here in Wenatchee.  It will be a fun filled evening of chocolates and wine, then off to Montana the next day to get ready for the bazaar.

So get ready, the holiday menu will be available on your browser or in your email in t-minus 4 days.

I spoke with a friend of mine last weekend while I was in Oregon about blogging and different blogs and what not, and she suggested that I make the move to WordPress from Blogger, because to put it in her words,

“WordPress is the Mac of blogs, where Blogger is the PC…”

She also told me that I can buy the domain name for the blog for $17 a year, and if I wanted use it as my website.  I thought about it, and though I’m sure you can do similar things with Blogger, I have to say that the usability of Blogger is something to be desired. So I took the plunge and made the switch.  And though importing my posts from Blogger to WordPress wasn’t exactly seamless (there was definitely a lot of cussing while fixing pictures and spacing of paragraphs) I am optimistic that I made the right decision.

So all you Yeti Chocolate fans, bookmark this as the new blog web address for Yeti Chocolates!  And I’m sure we can all agree that yetichocolates.wordpress.com is much easier to remember than theyetichocolatephenom.blogspot.com.

I mean really, what was I thinking!

One of the thingsthat Wenatchee is famous for is all the apple orchards in the area.  Wenatchee has even been dubbed the “AppleCapital of the World”.  Quite a strongstatement, but having seen all the apple orchards and fruit stands sellingapples this fall, I would have to believe it.

When I made the caramel apple base, the flavor was prettyamazing, caramel apple goodness. However, when I added the white chocolate tothe mix, the apple flavor was masked a bit by the sweetness of the white chocolate.

I recently purchased some new colored cocoa butters andmolds for this chocolate season to experiment with some different molding andfinishing techniques, so I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to tryit out.  I took the opal and green cocoabutters and swirled them inside the mold with my finger to create a swirled effect.