tea?

emily just suggested earl grey tea for our new milk chocolate - it was an old favourite in our fresh dark truffles at limerick farmer's market. it also sold brilliantly at sheridan's cheesemonger's in galway in our small bars with star confetti days. it has been done before by other chocolate companies but is still quite rare in a solid bar and so good to eat. another contender?

and while on the subject of tea, i learnt this week that you should make fresh mint tea in a teapot or cover the cup for a few minutes with a saucer or small plate. this keeps the oils from escaping and makes the infusion even better. i love it. i also love mojito's. and loads of mint chopped in a salad of fresh leaves, grated lemon zest and king prawns fried in chilli, butter and garlic. how come my mint never takes over the garden as warned on the packet?

come to the wilds of kerry....

our factory is open again to visitors after our spring rennovations - fresher and happier than ever before! come and taste samples of cocoa bean and skelligs chocolates and if you visit us during the week, you can see our chocolatiers at work!

helen, one of our original chocolatiers, will be in mortons of galway this saturday (22nd may) giving samples of our chocolates. she would love to see any of you and has many tales to tell of setting out on dark mornings to farmers markets in cork and dingle and the highs and lows of early cocoa bean adventures!

pollenca

it seems such a long time ago but it was only last week that we were in this lovely town, glad of the sunshine after wild storms and floods.

this cafe sold cakes in its nearby bakery. On the corner of our table is one of their ensaïmada, a delicious spiral shaped pastry, eaten at breakfast.

our camera gave up after this photo so i don't have pictures to record our liver enlightenment, braised so perfectly in tapas sized robust stews.

having spent all yesterday grinding star anise for experiments with our christmas stars, i added star anise to braised steak and it was a great sucess! I also loved the cinnamon stick in with the chorizo and chick pea casserole i made yesterday. i always associate these flavours with chocolate since our early cocoa bean days, so think i am a bit beind in experimenting with spices in savoury dishes beyond curries.

and to mise - i added some yeast to chocolate and it was not unpleasant but it was dried yeast in solid chocolate. i imagine live yeast in a fresh , soft, dark truffle is more what you were dreaming up. it's now on my list of things to try. let me know if you have a go at it!

cinnamon sausage chocolate

i know. it sounds gross but i can't get it out of my mind! i am in the middle of reviewing our whole range: experimenting, inventing and dreaming. i am looking for something to go with a milk chocolate, maybe on the dark side of milk. i am also just back from a crazy, stormy, lovely spanish holiday where i tasted cinnamon salami amongst other delicious tapas dishes and it somehow shifted my soul. it won't work with chocolate so i should just leave it but it is nagging away there. what if i just use all the other ingredients and leave out the pork? i don't have the recipe so i need to do a lot of testing and tasting. watch this space...