Minkchocolates

This Easter, Mink for Everybunny

Four years ago, a woman called me from out of country, wanting to buy Easter chocolate for her daughter who was in first year university here. We chatted briefly, and agreed on a nice representation of seasonal novelties for the basket. I learned this was the daughter’s first time away from home, and that the mother was a touch anxious. The university wasn’t that far out of my way, so I offered to personally deliver it.

Without giving away too much of the surprise, I made arrangements to meet the daughter in the lobby of her student residence. It was a gorgeous spring day and I remember the cherry blossoms being in full bloom as I walked across the campus parking lot. I don’t remember too much else about that meeting save for her being a little wary of a stranger bearing gifts.

The next year, her mother called me again a few days before Easter, and told me how thrilled the daughter was to get the treats the year before, and would I mind personally delivering them again. I said it would be my pleasure and we put together a nice arrangement of rabbits and eggs and assorted other chocolates. I texted the daughter and we made arrangements to meet at a popular bakery café not too far from the university where she’d be cramming for exams.

I arrived at the prescribed time to find about 50 or 60 kids, noses buried in their laptops, coffees and diet cokes strewn about, music blaring, and not a clue as to what she looked like. I held the Easter basket aloft and yelled out her name. She came from across the room, shyly and just a bit embarrassed. I wished her a happy Easter, good luck on her exams, and took my leave.

Last year, her mom called me again. By now we were old friends. She remarked how happy she was that we had this little thing going on, a tradition of sorts, a way for her to be close to her daughter while being very far away. She commented on how important it was to build memories, and asked about my family.

Now the daughter was living in a shared rental house, again not too far out of my way. We made arrangements by text, and I showed up that morning on time, yet it was a full ten minutes before she opened the front door. I venture to say she had been asleep all of an hour. Her mascara was streaked, obviously hung-over, perhaps still drunk, a sea of beer cans and empty pizza boxes and overflowing ashtrays giving testament to the goings-on the night before.

The sun was too bright for her to look at me directly, so with head down and hand shielding her eyes the exchange took place, this time with an embarrassment not borne of being singled out in front of strangers, but doing what college kids do after exams, hoping it doesn’t get back to the parental units.

Well, the tradition continues and this year the mother asked me to include a Mermaid’s Choice chocolate bar with the rest of the Easter treats. She told me that her daughter had worked a forestry internship in Quesnel, BC, last summer, and while riding in the back of a pickup truck with another intern, was offered a bite of what she said was the most amazing thing she’d ever had. She of course recognized the brand from three years worth of Easter treats, but never had she fallen so in love with any chocolate as that particular one after just one small shared piece. The mother squirreled away this little tidbit and was giddy at the thought she’d be able to really surprise her daughter this year.

Sidebar: Mink chocolate is sold exclusively at the two Mink cafes in the Lower Mainland, and online, but periodically carried by Bella Flora Studio, a wonderful florist in Nelson, BC, and by my dear friend Shecky at Bo Peep Boutique in Quesnel.

I’m guessing this unidentified intern walked into my friend’s store and bought that chocolate and then shared it the next day with the daughter in the back of a pickup truck on a logging road in the bush, far from school and even farther from home. I got a kick out of the coincidence and called Shecky immediately. I told her the story beginning to end. We had a good laugh, and hung up. Five minutes later she texted me that her husband Mike, who works for West Fraser Timber, the company that the daughter was interning for, not only knew her, but that she was a great gal and likely coming back this summer.

I emailed the mom later that evening, and told her in spite of our geographic difference, the world was indeed a small place. I’m scheduled to make a fourth Easter delivery to the daughter this week. The exchange will take mere moments, and the small talk will still be small, but this time long enough to drop West Fraser Timber and Mike’s name and let her know the chocolate guy is keeping tabs on her.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop:   www.minkchocolates.com
Tweet:  www.twitter.com/minkchocolates
Watch: www.youtube.com search mink chocolates

I’m on Vacation. Pass the Chocolate.

Saturday: I’m determined to use my annual seven day summer vacation at the lake as a catalyst for changing my diet and returning to the city with a new, healthful eating regimen. For inspiration, I’ve picked up the hardcover version of Drop Dead Healthy by A. J. Jacobs. I’m thinking it will take me the full week to break some bad habits, and define some new, healthy ones.

My wife packed the car the night before, so on the morning of departure all that’s left to do is close the windows and blinds, cancel the newspapers, and turn on enough lights throughout the house to give any potential burglars pause.

She yells out from the curb that the kids and the dog are locked and loaded, and reminds me we have a ferry reservation, and that we need to get going. I finish my second and final security sweep of the house in the kitchen, and run my checklist again. Stove, off. Dishwasher, off. Garbage and compost, emptied. Stove, still off.

I look in the fridge for perishables that won’t make it until we return. I find a couple of two week-old blueberry pancakes and half a small tub of cottage cheese. I use each hardened pancake as a scoop for the cottage cheese, finish them both, rinse the now empty container and throw it in the recycling blue bin.

Even though I had a somewhat nutritious breakfast of chia seed toast with organic peanut butter and unsweetened black tea a mere hour earlier, I now rationalize that my new diet doesn’t have to officially start until we get to the lake. I declare the house secure, set the alarm and go.

We arrive at the ferry terminal five minutes after our reservation expires, and miss the boat. With time to kill until the next departure, I pee the dog, then head into the terminal for a snack.

Sunday: I’m in charge of French toast for six adults and four kids. I start with two loaves of fresh challah bread, cut semi-thick and soaked in a mixture of egg, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. The table is set with blueberry syrup, butter, and Mink salted caramel sauce and both milk and dark chocolate ganache that I brought from the store as my contribution to the communal pantry. The coffee machine is working to capacity, and I pound back three cups, black, in a very leisurely-by-big-city-standard 20 minutes.

With breakfast over, my sixteen month old daughter goes down for a nap, and I settle on the couch with a snack to watch the Olympics. There’s nothing quite so life and diet affirming as drinking coffee and eating banana bread while watching women’s beach volleyball.

Monday: After a lunch of Polish sausage, cheese and bread, Jared and my wife take the kids kayaking. I take my book, sunscreen and sunglasses down to the dock, and settle in for an afternoon of uninterrupted reading. Trixie brings me a tall gin and tonic, and it dawns on me that to get a full seven days of reformed eating, I’ll have to include both the travel day at the end of the trip and the first day back.

The opening chapter of the book suggests a healthful diet can consist of chocolate, coffee and wine in moderation. I like where this is going, so I put the book down, close my eyes, and take a nap.

I wake with dinner on the immediate horizon, and smell steaks being readied for the barbecue. We’re out of tonic water, so I switch to beer. This vacation is supposed to be a relaxing week of board games, nature walks, lake swimming and campfires. It’s only day three and already I’ve got close to 24 hours of total sleep under my belt, as well as a dozen choreographed meal breaks.

The forecast for tomorrow is rain. I interpret that as a sign of renewal, and an apt day to start my quest for eating perfection, albeit a four day abridged version.

Tuesday: I finish the book, I have a ravenous appetite, and it’s looking more and more like I’ve squandered the opportunity on this trip to effect real dietary change. There is so much more to perfecting a healthful existence than diet alone, that on my way to the kitchen I resolve to make a comprehensive list of all the things I need to incorporate into my routines to achieve that end. I still firmly believe the idea of setting aside a block of time to implement these sweeping changes makes the most sense, so I commit to doing so at the next available opportunity, namely, Christmas holidays.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

863 West Hastings Street

Vancouver, BC CANADA

V6C 3N9

Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop:   www.minkchocolates.com
Tweet:  www.twitter.com/minkchocolates
Read:   blog.minkchocolates.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/minkchocolates
Watch: www.youtube.com search mink chocolates

Call the Vancouver store: 604.633.2451

The Best Laid Plans

Due in large part to the success we experienced in the inaugural event, we committed to participate in the 2nd Annual CityFood Magazine Hot Chocolate Festival, January 14 – February 14, 2012. The plan was to introduce hot chocolate flavours that mimic some of our most popular chocolate bars.

For all the preparation and planning however, things quickly went sideways, and we teetered on the precipice of disaster. It’s a wonder no one lost an eye. Here, this is what I mean. Take a look:

Mink Chocolates Hot Chocolate Festival Secret Recipes

No Minks were hurt in the production of this cinematic endeavour.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call the store: 604.633.2451
Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop: minkchocolates.com
Tweet: twitter.com/minkchocolates
Join: facebook.com/minkchocolates.van
Read: blog.minkchocolates.com
Watch: youtube.com/user/minkchocolates
In Person: 863 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N9