Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I can say that with genuine happiness now. Back in my chocolate days, holidays were not quite so happy for me. Holidays meant lots of chocolate, which translates to lots of work for a chocolate confectioner. Often I found myself working through the night so that I could fill all the orders. Therefore, I would be exhausted and have no energy left for riding. Valentine's Day and Easter were the worst.

Those days are over for me. Valentine's treats now require just a few days work for me, because only a select chosen few will be the lucky recipients of my special chocolate truffles. Of course, Raja is on the top of that list. Chocolate is how I got him to fall head over heels in love with me. Making some truffles is something I can knock out in 6 hours over the course of 2 days. That meant I was able to enjoy Tuesday's warm weather and get in a good workout at Kennesaw Mountain.

A few weeks ago, I put in a call to Luc of Douceur de France. He fixed me up with the 10 lbs of chocolate needed to make the truffles. But the rest of it would be up to me. The two batches of ganache I whipped up were left to cool, and not to be messed with until tomorrow. Day 2 is the time consuming part. First, shape the ganache into little balls.
Milk chocolate for some, dark chocolate for others.

Then it's time to dip them in the melted chocolate.

Cyclesmith would never be a happy chocolate confectioner. It's a messy, messy job!

It's my art therapy.

My work is over and done, and now I can enjoy my chocolate AND my cycling! Have a Happy Valentine's Day! I know I will!