#chocolateuplift

Voted a chocolate tour highlight: dark chocolate citrus cake and handrolled truffles in the kitchen at @hendrickxbakery! What kind of citrus? That depends on the inspiration of Chef Renaud each day, and this day it was orange! #valeriesoriginalchocolatetours #sweethomechicago #chocolateuplift (at Hendrickx Belgian Bread Crafter)

Lights, camera, action: at the #nwchocolatefestival in sweet Seattle, I had a blast taping an interview for a documentary being made about John Scharffenberger, who in 1997 founded what most call the first contemporary American bean-to-bar chocolate business! 📽 Scharffenberger started the practice in the US of adding cacao percentages to chocolate bar labels, and led a resurgence of artisan chocolate-making in this country. 🌎 Building on that heritage, I'm honored to work with so many innovative craft chocolate makers today from around the world, helping get their bars onto shelves across America, or into my subscription boxes (and one-and-done boxes), or onto the tasting tables at my talks! 💙 Plus, we used to sample Scharffen Berger Chocolate to Tourguests in Chicago back at the start of the old chocolate tour days, so it was fun to reminisce -- on camera! 🎥🎬 #nwchocolatefestival #seattlenovember2017 #chocolateuplift #valeriesoriginalchocolatetours (at The Northwest Chocolate Festival)

Up up and away: from Chicago to... guess where I landed! Hint: mountains of chocolate, fresh air and foliage! #chocolateuplift (at Southwest Airlines at MDW)

Morning glory: I put luxuriously smooth #cacaohunters Magdalena 71% Colombia chocolate, and brightly crunchy #xocolatlchocolate Peru cacao nibs on my organic grapefruit, and it's a beautiful day! #chocolateandgrapefruit #chocolatebroker #chocolateuplift

Morning glory: I put 2-ingredient #undonechocolate Costa Rica 74% chocolate (organic cacao + organic cane sugar), superfood #xocolatlchocolate Peru cacao nibs, and protein-rich hemp seeds on my organic grapefruit, and it's a beautiful supernova sunrise day! #chocolateandgrapefruit #chocolateandatextile #chocolateuplift

Wow! A student surprised me by drafting logos for #chocolateuplift and the #chocolatefreedomproject! How do you like them? #proudofmystudents #kendallcollege

Education meditation: where but #kendallcollege Commencement events can I not only cheer for my dear students, of whom I'm so very proud, while garbed in festive and velvety #harvardlaw regalia, but also get a tip on the best hotel in Healdsburg for my Sonoma trip from one of Kendall's board directors, chat with one of my #chocolateuplift tasters about fine points of the #marouchocolate Lam Dong 74% mini, catch up with two of my A-List students promoting the College's pledge of ethics, and hear #kevinboehmboka tell the story of his entrepreneurial restaurant journey in his lively way! #upliftthroughchocolate (at Kendall College)

Guess the 2nd bar in my June subscription box: craft chocolate × multicultural magic + pastry chef precision! 💙 #chocolateuplift #chocolatesubscriptionbox