What is Valentine’s Day?

I like Valentine’s Day because it is a holiday about love and a day when everyone can express their love. In some relationships it is expected (or hoped) that you would express yourself. Of course, most of us wish the other in our lives would take more than one day a year to express or be receptive to a celebration of love; no need to limit it to just one day. But it is great to have a day to remind us.

I am reminded of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” at this time. His composition and delivery are so clear and enjoyable on the level of a song that we might miss the actual message. I have read that he was a prolific writer. When you look at the song’s lyrics from a writer’s perspective and see things from his time and place, the message reads more like a Valentine: what he is really saying is ‘I love you’. The poetic grace of the message of “What a Wonderful World” is fitting for Valentine’s Day: a sort of universal or higher love. Music was his delivery of his wish for more happier people and he succeeded.

This time of year I also spend more time pondering, calculating, and imagining the number of people that are happier each day through Chocolove. I see people sharing Chocolove, and as they do, what they are really saying is, ‘I love you’.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Happy New Year

The start of a new year is a great time to reflect and also look forward. We at Chocolove made great strides in 2019. I say we, because it was a team effort.  We take our work seriously and we are more self-critical than self-promoting. So many of our good works are built into the integrity of the product and the services we provide. If you look you will find them or taste them.

We are looking ahead to 2020 and 2021: We are striving for more improvement, and we are creating and offering more innovative products that will help you see who we are as a brand and as people. We envision these new products providing something to look forward to and a way to help you enjoy life more.

We are passionate about chocolate and we look forward to serving you great taste in 2020 that has everyone involved, happy.

Happy New Year!

Chocolove Gives

For many years, Chocolove has given funds around this time of year to many organizations in the state of Colorado. It is easy to give chocolate, but to give cash takes some work.

I first have to personally get to know the organization. I feel fortunate to have found an organization in Colorado that not only seemed to be doing great things, but allowed me in-depth access to see for myself, and personally get to know them. Being a bit of a researcher and a business manager, I felt I could evaluate the work and operations. Wow, I was impressed. The Morgan Adams Foundation, based in Denver, Colorado, does original research on cures for kids’ cancers.

Take a minute to collect yourself; kids get cancer. And why kids get cancer is a bit of mystery. They don’t have any lifestyle choices, they don’t know any better, their parents watch out for them, and yet, some get cancer through no fault of their own.

The Morgan Adams Foundation believes not only should kids beat cancer, but they do so in a way that preserves their vitality to enjoy a long life. Every year, Chocolove gives donations in-kind and cash to The Morgan Adams Foundation. This year the amount we give will be 10% of gross revenue for consumer website orders placed from December 1 through the 10th. Yes, 10% off the top.

So any gifts you buy for yourself, friends, or loved ones will have the added benefit of helping kids. And at no additional charge to you. Think of it as me giving you the opportunity to donate my money.

I wish you a happy season of giving.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. That there is a day (a whole day!) for giving thanks gives me pause for thought and is comforting, even days before the holiday. Giving thanks is a great way to start the holiday season and hopefully carry those feelings of gratitude through to the next year.

At Chocolove, we celebrate life and the changing of seasons with food and dining together. This year we continue this tradition with a company-wide catered lunch with a classic menu. Also, we can give thanks to have on staff a world class maître chocolatier who prepares treats for our desert. So in addition to lunch’s pumpkin and pecan pie, we have chocolate truffles.

This year, Chef Patrick (as we call him internally) has made up a couple of truffle collections for us and for sale exclusively on the Chocolove website. One gourmet gift box set is inspired by pies and has four flavors: pumpkin, pecan, mincemeat, and apple. There is also Chef Patrick’s classic round dusted truffle collection offered in a long box. Mendiants and Sacher Tortes will be back again this season and gold-dusted caramels round out the collection of our seasonal offerings.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

I missed writing about Thanksgiving this year as I got busy with feeding folks and family and I just couldn’t get everything done. But I have not missed writing about Tuesday, December 4th: Colorado Cares Day. And apparently the same day every year—the first Tuesday in December—is a day of giving for many in the United States. I can and do make it a point to give.

By giving I am referring to charitable giving. One of my favorite organizations is The Morgan Adams Foundation (MAF). MAF does research and clinical trials on novel ways to treat cancer in kids. I have personally visited the various Morgan Adams facilities in and around the Children’s Hospital in Denver. I feel obligated to get to know who I am giving to. After a visit 2 years ago, I wrote a nice-sized check and immediately asked what more can we do. I also asked MAF for reports of all upcoming research projects that needed funding.

I decided to adopt and fund some research MAF was doing with gold nanoparticle drug therapy. This therapy uses gold nanoparticles to deliver chemotherapy in a targeted way to cancer cells, thus improving effectiveness and reducing side effects so that not only does the child survive but they have enough vitality to thrive and live a normal life.

Chocolove’s effort at giving is 100%, so again this year we offer a gift box of 12 decadent dark chocolates filled with liquid caramel and dusted with real gold flakes. The 23-karat gold dust is real and so is the chocolate/liquid caramel experience. Chocolove will donate 100% of the proceeds for this item to The Morgan Adams Foundation.

This is a true labor of love and it’s wonderful to watch everyone here pull out all stops to see these are created. I feel fortunate to be a part of the effort and I am happy to say that we make giving easy for you. Please order up our Gold Dusted Caramel Filled Gift Box for your further gifting and get one or two for yourself while you are at it.

Chocolove: it is the gift that keeps giving.