Happy New Year. Better late than never!

Woah, it's been a little while since I was tapping away at the keyboard, giving y'all the latest blow by blow of life as a uke totin' chocolatier...

It was a crazy successful, crazy good December for us in the Alley. After a restorative week off, we're back to it. It's quiet in January, but we have so much to do in terms of preparing for Valentine's Day, it's sort of nice.

I'm not a sap, really, but there's something about Valentine's Day that cheers me. This time of year on the East Coast is dreary, dark, and gray.  A lot of the time.  I find myself welcoming the bright colors and textures of each year's Valentine's designs greedily, enraptured by the sheer over-the topness of it all.

That's just a taste, folks!  There are so many more!

Okay, maybe I am a bit of a sap.  You can't be in this business for 24 years without that happening, apparently.

To add to the February fun, our sister shop in Salem is part of the Salem's So Sweet Festival, participating in the Chocolate and Wine tasting event on the evening of the 5th.  Amy and Brandy will be representing there with some of our tastiest bits. Such a fun night!

Valentine's Day is very different from other holiday seasons; the crush is intense for about 4 days. The 10 days prior are busier than normal, sure, but the sheer volume of folks we have coming through the door is really something to be seen.  It's always a bit of a gamble, too -- the things that really sell (truffles, cherries), we have to just make as much as we can and hope stocks hold up until the 15th. Thankfully, we have a really wonderful, loyal fan base; more often than not, if we're out of something, we can point them to something else they'd like.  Of course, the goal is to not run out, but...

In the past we've had some  great write ups right around Valentine's Day, which always helps.  This year, we'll be in a sweet little spot on the news on channel 7 (NBC) throughout the day on the 5th, so that's exciting.  In the spot I show you how to temper chocolate so you can make Valentines at home, just like in my book, Turtle, Truffle, Bark!  Go ahead.  Try your hand at it.  Even a failure can be pretty delicious, and you know we are always here to make your favorites.

Always -- except that first week of January, that is.