Chocolate Alchemy is about getting unstuck and breaking away from the sugar and high fructose corn syrup laden store bought chocolate.100%% of the Chocolate Alchemy proceeds will go toward funds that benefit those directly impacted by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School on 12/14/12 as well as common sense solutions to reduce gun violence.Make the promise to honor the victims today at www.SandyHookPromise.org

"Through easy-to-understand recipes, Chocolate Alchemy makes creating your own chocolate at home accessible to everyone, whether you are an avid cook or simply a chocolate lover. Called a ?female pioneer of bean-to-bar chocolate, Kristen Hard shares her philosophy and secrets to making chocolate, with clear instructions on minimal-processing techniques without additives."--Amazon.

Chocolate is nearly always with us—when celebrating or mourning, in love or alone, healthy or sick, happy or sad. This book offers a comprehensive look at how an exotic food grew to play such a central role in our lives. No food in the world can offer as storied a history as chocolate. Chocolate: A Cultural Encyclopedia focuses on cocoa's history from ancient Mesoamerican beginnings as a symbol of ritual, life, and death, to its omnipresence in Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. In 10 thematic chapters covering chocolate in society and culture, 80 shorter entries, recipes, and a comprehensive timeline, this new book takes a closer look at how chocolate has served as a medicine, an indulgence, a symbol of decadence, a door to romance, a tempting taboo, a means of survival, and a snack for children and adults alike. Why did popes and kings so fear their chocolate? Who invented milk chocolate, and why was its formula kept secret? Why did soldiers in World War II despise their chocolate rations? Who makes the most chocolate today? Find out the answers to these questions and more as this book tells you everything you wanted to know—and a lot you didn't even know existed—about the seed from the world’s favorite fruit tree.

From nationally-lauded San Francisco chocolate maker, Dandelion Chocolate, comes the first ever complete guide to making chocolate from scratch. From the simplest techniques and technology—like hair dryers to rolling pins—to the science and mechanics of making chocolate from bean to bar, Making Chocolate holds everything the founders and makers behind San Francisco’s beloved chocolate factory have learned since the day they first cracked open a cocoa bean. Best known for their single origin chocolate made with only two ingredients—cocoa beans and cane sugar—Dandelion Chocolate shares all their tips and tricks to working with cocoa beans from different regions around the world. There are kitchen hacks for making chocolate at home, a deep look into the nuts, bolts, and ethics of sourcing beans and building relationships with producers along the supply chain, and for ambitious makers, tips for scaling up. Complete with 30 recipes from the chocolate factory's much-loved pastry kitchen, Making Chocolate is a resource for hobbyists and more ambitious makers alike, as well as anyone looking for maybe the very best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world.

Author Megan Giller invites fellow chocoholics on a fascinating journey through America’s craft chocolate revolution. Learn what to look for in a craft chocolate bar and how to successfully pair chocolate with coffee, beer, spirits, cheese, or bread. This comprehensive celebration of chocolate busts some popular myths (like “white chocolate isn’t chocolate”) and introduces you to more than a dozen of the hottest artisanal chocolate makers in the US today. You’ll get a taste for the chocolate-making process and understand how chocolate’s flavor depends on where the cacao was grown — then discover how to turn your artisanal bars into unexpected treats with 22 recipes from master chefs.

With the mission to “lay naked before the world the true meaning of chocolate,” David Wolfe and Shazzie present a spirited and unconventional history, materia medica, and recipe book for the world’s most pleasurable food: chocolate. This book describes the wonders of cacao–where it comes from, how it is processed, its three varieties, and its origins and role in pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas. It explains the scientific properties and health benefits of chocolate, and elaborates how you will lose weight, soothe your heart, double your joy, increase your sensuality, nourish your intellect, and attract prosperity by eating it!In contrast to most books about chocolate, this one focuses on the raw cacao bean, or “naked” chocolate. Of course, this chocolate manual wouldn’t be complete without a step-by-step guide on what to do with the cacao beans, and over sixty original and mouthwatering chocolate recipes guaranteed to enhance your life.

Maddie gets rattled by a candy-coated murder. It's Wine and Chocolate Days in San Benedetto, and paranormal museum owner Maddie Kosloski has sweet dreams about her new Magic of Chocolate exhibit. Her latest attraction is a haunted Mexican whisk called a molinillo that rattles if someone lies. When Maddie visits the town's new boutique chocolate shop, she finds one of the owners dead and covered in melted cocoa. Maddie's determined to catch the killer, and she soon uncovers deadly dealings in the world of artisan chocolate. But the deception surrounding those dealings are enough to make the molinillo rattle all night. Will Maddie have to temper her passion for sleuthing before a killer makes her fate a bittersweet one? If you love laugh-out-loud mysteries, witty heroines and wacky friends and family, and a touch of the paranormal, you’ll love Chocolate a'la Murder, book 4 in the Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum series of novels. Get cozy and read this puzzling mystery today! Praise for the Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mysteries: "Weiss' many quirky ongoing characters add charm and humor."—Kirkus Reviews "Well-drawn characters and tantalizing wine talk help balance the quirky aspects of this paranormal mystery."—Publishers Weekly "A delightful new series."—Library Journal (starred review) "A quirky murder mystery with plenty of small town charm."—ForeWord Reviews "Humor, hints of romance, and twists and turns galore elevate this cozy."—Publishers Weekly "A clever combination of characters."—Kirkus Reviews