How cool is this?

BDC Ribbon-o-matic, by Richardson/Wallstrom

In my last post I think I waxed poetic for a while about Thanksgiving. What I forgot to tell you is that one of the other reasons why I love T-Day so much is that my birthday falls just after it. It’s one of those awkward birth dates, like ones near Christmas (but not quite as bad), that sort of gets swallowed up by the holiday. But what a great excuse to have a party without really having a party that’s all about you. Instead, what I do, is invite my friends over “for Thanksgiving dinner,” and then secretly revel in their company all day long, and quietly celebrate my birthday.

The Thanksgiving holiday is also a very welcome break from holiday chocolate production, which Steve and I have been knee deep in since mid-October. Our friend Amy will be moving in with us for the month of December to help us out, packaging, cleaning moulds, wrapping chocolate fish and shells in foil and cutting ribbon. Last week, after a full day of cutting ribbon for boxes, Amy left the house inspired. Last night, she and her family presented me with one of the most innovative birthday gifts I’ve ever received: the Black Dinah Chocolatiers Ribbon-o-matic. Check it out in the photos above. It’s GENIUS!

On other fronts and for elaboration in future posts:

• I’ve revived my sourdough starter, which has been languishing in the back of the refrigerator for a year. It’s lookin’ lively and smelling great, so I’ll be posting some new recipes soon.
• I’ll be teaching a class at the Hartstone Inn in Camden next weekend. Check out the BDC Calendar for details.
• We’ll be traipsing around the coast of Maine, attending Holiday fairs and sales, so look for us in your neighborhood soon! Purchasing our chocolates at these kinds of events saves you on shipping! I’ll update the BDC Calendar soon.

Autumn updates

Well, it’s the beginning of a new month on the island–and not just any month, but the BEST month. Why is it the best month? Well, pretty much everyone knows that November celebrates some of the best food known to mankind. I mean, I love all kinds of food–from mac and cheese to Ethiopian–but, in my opinion, you can’t get much better than roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no traditionalist. I love all the wacky takes on these homiest of comfort foods. I guess that’s part of what makes this food so great–there’s not much you can do to ruin it. It’s practically bullet proof.

Here on the island, we celebrate Thanksgiving by clearing out the cafe, setting up one big long table fit for a medieval feast, and inviting our friends and family to come clink glasses with us and bring a dish to share. This year, Denise and I will get together and plan a menu that suits all the varied tastes of our motley crew of guests–from her brined and smoked turkey, to my sister-in-law’s vegetarian nutloaf. I’ll dust off my grandmother’s china, Steve and I will quibble about whether or not this is the year to finally pull out the atrocious pumpkin-shaped mugs he fell in love with at a yard sale 10 years ago, and we’ll get the guest rooms ready for friends arriving from out of town.

After the whirlwind of the summer season, it’s wonderful to have time again to visit with friends and cook just for the sheer joy of it. After we closed up the cafe at the end of September, Steve and I actually managed to attend a few events off-island, together. A Sunday in mid-October found us at the Blue Hill Foliage Food and Wine Festival. It was there that we premiered our newest assortment of truffles: The Farm Market Collection. We offered samples of the new varieties (which include featured ingredients produced on Blue Hill Peninsula farms), served up steaming cups of our spicy drinking chocolate topped with my home-made honey and cinnamon marshmallows, and visited with the over 500 folks that came through the tents that day.

The next weekend we attended a full roster of events at Portland’s Harvest on the Harbor–3 full days of wine tasting and knoshing on morsels prepared by some of Maine’s best chefs and artisan food producers. Steve and I manned our own table at the Culinary Marketplace on Saturday. We met lots of great foodies, and, again, had the opportunity to meet Maine cooks, distillers and vintners at the top of their game. We returned to the island replete and bursting with new ideas and energy for our own business.

The first days of November also represent that tenuous place between the end of one busy season, and the beginning of the busiest season for chocolate producers–the winter holidays. I’ve ordered hundreds of pounds of chocolate, gallons upon gallons of cream, and tubs of pale yellow, creamy Maine butter. My new moulds have arrived and I’m working on some truly beautiful chocolate Santas that will be available at retail stores on the mainland. After Thanksgiving dinner is cleaned up, the cafe will be transformed to our shipping office, and we’ll be working long days until our last orders are filled on December 23rd. Make sure you check our website in the coming weeks for holiday shipping deadlines.

In the mean time, I’ll be updating you on Thanksgiving dinner plans, sharing recipes and–oh yeah, those elusive captains logs! Ah, well…next time!