The Team

Well, we're here to talk about the team :) 

Of course you know me, the crazy chocolatier *ha ha ha*, but a very key member of the TCS team is my husband Brad. 
Most of our customers ask for a "Brad Latte" because he makes excellent drinks, plus he's not too bad to look at it :P  This guy is also the creator of all our promotional material, logo, web site, photos, new packaging designs, basically, if its printed, or something really pretty, Brad made it happen! Brad's favorite thing at TCS is the Porker Valley toffee, which, incidentally, is named after his family's farm!



Allison is one of the originals, and we're super duper lucky enough to have had her awhile!  When she's not crazy busy with nursing school, you'll find her at TCS.  She's a hard worker and has a contagious smile.  One of her favorite products is our Marbled Cheesecake brownies, the first brownie we ever made for the store!

 Linda is on the production side of things and one of her favorite things to eat is quiche.  She is also the "quiche master," making our flaky crust and filling it with all sorts of great ingredients.  We love her funny sense of humor and lil' chuckle!



Dasha helps us out all around the store.   If you've had a tuttle, you can thank Dasha for the expertly formed caramel-pecan patties!  She loves those and loves grabbing treats for family.  She always has a story to tell and keeps our work days interesting!

If you've had the pleasure of meeting Molly, you know that she is our ray of sunshine at the store.  She works up front, but with all the treats she spoils us employees with, you'd think she'd be better suited in production!  Her favorite products are from the O Olive Oil line.  Gourmet infused vinegars and oils are her must-have when cooking at home for her hubby and 3 lil' munchkins!

*Side Note* On of my dearest employees is not pictured, and that is Carolyn, Molly's mom!  She works production and is the kindest, most hardworking woman I've ever encountered.  I could not do what I do without her. 

Stephanie is our in-house chef.  She is brand new to TCS and we couldn't be happier to have her relaxed and creative personality at the store. She is the genius behind our lunch menu and also is working on launching our catering services to the public.  She loves the savory side of things here and I'm so glad she's here to balance me out!

 Taylor is currently at the Aveda institute, but she'll be back every once and awhile after school.  Especially when I need someone to re-organize the store and make my displays look pretty, because she is pretty much an artsy genius in that department.  Her favorite goodie is our creamy cheesecake!  Not sure which flavor she loves the most, but we have quite a few to choose from!

 Kim is a culinary major in Emmetsburg and is a force to be reckoned with! Customers have a blast with this cute lil' barista and I'm so excited to see how she grows in the culinary world.  One thing I'm super proud of is introducing her to gourmet artisan cheeses, which is now her favorite area to explore!

Miranda has a knack for always finding and fixing things that have escaped me.  She's upbeat and fun as well as a great barista. I'm so excited for her new adventure at nursing school, but glad she still makes time for TCS :)  Her favorite thing is our Polar Latte, probably because they are "shaken, not stirred" producing a frothy, evenly chilled, yum-o drink!

*Side Note* Sheila is brand new to TCS and wasn't around when we were taking photos!  She has a passion for making the perfect coffee drink and loves to learn.  She is just starting, so if you see her, a friendly smile would be great!

Brad and I are so thankful to our great employees for making The Chocolate Season what it is today.  And along those lines, we are looking for more people to join our team!  We are currently hiring for a part time barista and we will be looking for a production assistant too.

If you're interested, please stop by the store for an application, or contact me through the web site or facebook and I can email you an application as well! 

Been a bit busy.... :)

Alrighty folks, going to try really really really hard to keep you up to date at The Chocolate Season...perhaps once a week blog posts?  The days just go by so fast at the shop, I feel like I wake up and make chocolate, eat a lil' chocolate, talk about making more chocolate, order bulk couverture chocolate, and then go to sleep going "hmmm, should have made more chocolate goodies today"

So, quick re-cap.  We moved.  *surprise surprise* We expanded to 16 E. State St, the Boston Block Building in Algona.  Brad has worked tirelessly on renovating the building for over 540 days *give or take a week or two* and we've had enormous help from parents, scott and sara lockard, and my best friends, who luckily, are still my friends even after hauling 2x4s, installing insulation and painting....everything.

We had some fun and crazy happenings here at TCS like Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich visiting, as well as being highlighted as an awesome small business by Google, a film crew came out and filmed us as a part of "Get IA online" (or insert your state of choice here...they will be making it around to all of them!) And the lead film maker had a small obsession over our chocolate shoes ;)

We've invented new products, created new drinks, developed new artisan chocolate flavors *like Cinco Margarita, named after my favorite mexican restaurant, Cinco de Mayo in Algona, as well as the Viola, Rosemary Merlot Caramel and the Southern Belle.
We've changed up some product packaging and offer more gift options like O Olive Oil products, mugs, tshirts and bulk coffee from The Mill.

 We started offering a superb lunch menu, thanks to the help of Chef Stephanie, a recent addition who relocated from Minneapolis.
The menu will change seasonally, with produce and goods being bought locally where available, thanks to our lovely neighbor Fresh Connections *Algona's food co-op and health food store*












I'm always continuing my education with conferences like the one I just went to in Maryland, where i get to spend some quality time with fellow foodies, talk about recipe development, bounce flavor ideas of each other, and just have some fun bonding time over modeling chocolate roses, toooooo much food, and pate de fruit :)
 
I will blog next about some of my other favorite people, my employees.  Customers are always remarking how they love the atmosphere of the store, and a lot of that atmosphere is due to the wonderful, wonderful people i have working for me.
I'll showcase some photos of my favs with their favorite thing at the store..so it'll be a great way to meet them and see some of the popular products we have in store for you!

Chi-O Cuties

Just wanted to do a quick blog post about how awesome my sorority family is! As you all know, i relocated from omaha to algona and left some of my closest friends there. All is not lost though, my friends are not just friends...they are family. My sorority sisters from Chi Omega are amazing and just thinking of them always brings a smile to my face.In fact, all 5 of them drove to Algona to help at the shop for a weekend (they worked NON-STOP), and even surprised me with the first ever Chocolate Season t-shirt (they are so creative!)Each girl in my family is completely different, but somehow, we all share a common bond and explode with happiness or laughter whenever we're around each other.The first in my family is Julie, she is my little sis. With a heart for those in her neighborhood and for those around the world, she never stops giving and with a listening ear, gives amusing but insightful advice. Julie was the first Chocolate Season employee and i count her as one of my most cherished friends.Next in the lineage is Felicia, Julie's lil' sis. When Julie left for Africa, Felicia stepped in as Chocolate Season employee number two. Felicia is candid and witty. She has many attributes, including an insane amount of intelligence and drive, but also an odd sense of humor and uncanny ability to knit :)After Felicia comes Hannah. I looooove how blunt and honest Hannah is. She and I can laugh about anything and she is quite the fashionista, (i love it when she lets me borrow her stylish threads!) I truly believe she is going to be the world's best mother, or the first multi-millionaire global real estate queen. Hannah's lil' is Jena. And Jena is a lil' lil' :) She is my perfect pocket-sized sister and her smile is nothing but contagious. Jena's gutsy and daring, and i couldn't imagine my perfect Saturday night without her and her many stories. Hannah and Jena both have stepped on multiple occasions at a moment's notice to help with the biz and I'm so grateful for their support and hard work.and last but certainly not least, would be our newest lil', Molly. Since the move happened right when she joined the family, i have not had a ton of time with her, so i relish any opportunities i get to talk with her.
She is very sweet and genuine, and as i found out when she came to algona, quite the aspiring chef (she could make a yogurt sauce that would knock your socks off...and her mudball pre-coating ability is inspiring) and i can't wait for her to come back to the shop!

love you girls :) and thank you for all your support, encouragement and time, and for always laughing (or attempting a small chuckle) at all my bad jokes :P

one month wrap up

It's been a month! We opened the day of a blizzard and still had excited chocolate-enthusiasts braving the weather to come check us out. It's been a blur of chocolate dipping, coffee making, cleaning, accounting, baking and so much more :)
I can't tell you how fun its been and what a continued learning experience it is for us to figure out what our customers crave, how to train employees, learning how to use the cash register and change the tape in our pricing gun and besides all the daily chores, i still get to bake, create, and educate customers on our products and about chocolate in general. (which, by far, is my FAVORITE part)
We had a lovely grand opening with around 70 people showing up. Algona's response and support overwhelms and humbles us, we couldn't ask for a better community to live and work in. We had a variety of treats and those in attendance got to see a glimpse of what we do. But since you all couldn't be there, i'll describe some of the "yums" at the store.

The imported cheeses (and always one domestic!) as well as native Jasper wines are very popular and people love the fact that they have gourmet food options right in their back yard. The mornings always feature one or two breakfast items that are, yes, made THAT MORNING!

People are in shock when they realize they are not purchasing items baked from frozen Sysco or Sam's club and when they taste it, they just about fall over from disbelief because homemade items are just not something you find in retail stores anymore.

But that makes my job all the more rewarding and I love exciting customers with new items or flavors they wouldn't normally pair (hmmm, banana nutella bread and chocolate chip amaretto bread pudding and *gasp* muffins with a complimentary yogurt/fruit sauce)

We have fresh brewed drip coffee (no over-roasting here!), sensational lattes (with real chocolate and caramel) and hot chocolate or sipping chocolate (made from chocolate. not syrup. and not powders)

The afternoon is enticing with artisan chocolates and fudge from the case, any of our worldly chocolate bars, dipped apricots or fresh cookies, gourmet popcorns, or a "snack of the day" which you will find at least one or two, if not several options like decadence cake, vanilla-cardamon mousse cake with raspberries, cupcakes, cheesecakes, brownies or whatever inspires us that afternoon.

What people are loving about the shop is our relaxed atmosphere, free WiFi, friendly customer service, and the fact that everything you find is natural, no preservatives. Everything you eat you can pronounce ;) and we make our chocolates and other sweet treats daily right in the store. Everything but the cheese, wine and chocolate bars are made from scratch in-house, and even when you order on-line, you are still getting your treats made just for you :)

Besides the yum-yums, we have lavender products, purses, vintage hair accessories and super cool and flattering aprons!

Lastly, I want to thank you all for being loyal friends and customers, and for making our dream, The Chocolate Season, come true. We hope to continue to thrill and inspire you with our creations and hope that our life's passion will become sweet moments in yours.

Can you believe it?

We're open. Yes, we are open :) The Chocolate Season Confiserie and Dessert Cafe just finished our first week in Algona, IA, our new home (we hope they'll keep us around for a looooong time)
We opened during a blizzard but we still had loyal friends brave the snow, ice and wind to sample a latte or some chocolate and after that, the next 6 days were all a blur of training of employees (lissa and rachel) baking, chocolate-making, ribbon tying, reports, coffee grounds and foam.
Algona has been nothing but wonderful in their welcome and interest in the store and we've already had repeat customers. (we haven't even advertised yet...but we are recording a radio ad tomorrow...wish us luck!)
We open 7 to 5:30 Tuesday thru Friday and 8 to 2 on Saturday and even though its only been a week, it seems like we've been doing this at the store forever. We also opened up the on-line shopping cart Tuesday night and already had some orders! (yes, we need to update the web site to match the theme of the store and to showcase lavender, aprons, hair clips, purses and our new luxury gift boxes that are replacing the baskets (which i looooooove the new gift boxes!) but you can always call our new number if you have any questions or need to special order something (515-395-2462)

Our day starts early in the morning when we bake something fresh for the AM crowd, be it scones, banana bread, granola, brioche etc and then in the afternoon we try to bring out new cookies, brownies, tart, cake by the slice or this week i hope to get some chocolate custards or mousse out. Throughout the day we help pick chocolates out for people, make lattes, and our classic hot chocolate and European sipping chocolate has been extremely popular, and to sweeten your morning or afternoon, every drink comes with a little piece of milk or dark chocolate!

So how do we serve all our great customers and keep up with inventory? (which we ran out of continuously this week! i had to try to split time with training, being out front with customers, and in the kitchen making chocolates all week, and brad and i stayed at the store every night till 10-10:30 just trying to keep up!) But that's ok, because i have a secret weapon. :0)


My weapon is called.....Brad. and Mom. oh, and Dad. Yes, they have not left my side this entire week...i even get customers in requesting Brad's lattes, and no one greets customers quite like mom, she warms up the entire store with her charm and could sell a winter coat to a polar bear :) and dad's been wonderful with helping get the accounting books started and saving us with a drip coffee pot...long story....

One morning mom and dad even got to the store before us to start the coffee, put away some surprise groceries and sweep the floor. how lucky are we? i would have crashed and burned without mom, dad and brad's love, support, encouragement and all the time they spent helping with the store.Hope you enjoy some pictures of the store, and i'll try to update again soon (once i find an ounce of time!) But please come visit us to try some luxurious imported cheeses (which have been selling like crazy!) some wine from Jasper winery, chocolates, gourmet apples and treats, our fine solid chocolate bars, desserts or shop around for vintage hair clips, aprons or purses :)
If you have any questions, or suggestions, or requests, email us at contact@thechocolateseason.com, call 515-395-2462 or order online at thechocolateseason.com :)

PS- if you can find the time, try to stop by 114 N. Dodge St Algona, IA, for our ribbon cutting on 2/12 at 9:30 for samples and fun times and then Bradley's Photography, which opens in a couple weeks (and is suuuuuuuuuuuch a cool gallery and meeting place) has his grand opening on 3/5 at 9:30!