Chocolate

Mom always made chocolate candies for as long as I can remember. Her favorite sweet was white chocolate clusters which is raisins, peanuts, and marshmallows mixed in with chocolate. She played around with molds when I was younger, making turkeys for thanksgiving or pumpkins for Halloween. She even made a milk chocolate gingerbread house a few times and placed in contests. Over the years she never lost her desire to make chocolate, she just lost a desire to do a lot of the time consuming work that was involved. It hurt her back to stand in the kitchen and fill molds, holding them up to the light and checking for holes. So she moved on to dipping pretzels, cookies, and potato chips in chocolate. She loved presenting these sweets as gifts.

As she lay on her death bed(sad but true), my sister came up with a business her family could do at home, "Grandma's Sweet Shoppe." I fell in love and jumped right in, figuring she could do business by her and I could do business by me. So with the death of my mom came the birth of a business dedicated to her memory.

I love making these chocolate sweets. It takes me back in time. I can picture her in the kitchen, working over her double boiler, held in place by a paper towel, filling molds, holding them up to the light, and filling in holes with tooth picks. Every time I make something new, I want to call her and tell her all about it and I wish that she was here to sample it or to see the legacy that she has left for her family.

Last night I made Inside Out S'MORES! My taste testers/very good friends had the grueling task of trying them out. Success! I feel a surge of pride run through my veins when I make something that comes out that yummy, but I don't feel like it's my own, I feel like it comes from her.