minstrlmummr | Nov. 12th, 2011

The sweets have names like
"Chocolate Doom", "The OMG";
Tis chocolate, not beer,
That is "proof that God loves us
And wants us to be happy".

~~Expect to see this heavily edited in the morning~~    8)

ETA:

I did not see any of the cooking / tasting demonstrations up close this year, although the ones I've seen in the past have always been worthwhile.       The crowd when I attended was...impressive   8P

Some of my favorite forms of chocolate on offer this year were:

http://www.jers.com/ I saw Jer's Gourmet Chocolates from California for the third year in a row, specializing in chocolate / peanut butter configurations, alone and mixed with things like toffee, pretzels and caramel.  The Incredibars are.

http://www.payard.com/ Glad to see Payard NYC had their flourless dark chocolate walnut cookies again; I can't always get in to the Plaza Hotel when a craving hits (probably a good self-limitation, as they're not cheap...).

http://www.fretzels.com/   Fretzels is a small company under the umbrella of 5th Avenue Chocolate with hand-dipped pretzels of various flavors (I bought the Eggnog;   Flavor of the Month is Pumpkin Spice).

http://www.liddabitsweets.com/    Liddabit from Brooklyn has no store but supplies candies to a number of upscale cheese, coffee and gourmet food shops.      I was taken by the name "Chocolate Doom" which they were selling at the show but not supplying online since they normally make it February to May.

http://fikanyc.com/      Fika Choklad brought back their limited-edition theme chocolates from the last two years, the Four Elements (fleur de sal caramel for Water, chilies for Fire, like that)  and The Seven Deadly Sins (The Envy chocolates looked like bright green stones, they gave you double the amount of Gluttony chocolates, like that   8).     Unfortunately, they were only selling them as boxes of 12 (Elements) and 24 (Deadlies) for $30 and $60.     :::::::pats chocolatier on the head:::::::    Good luck with that... (I might have snapped up a single set of Deadlies even at $20 a pop, but not three sets)

http://saltoftheearthbakery.com/    Salt of the Earth marries their baked goods with different varieties of salt and then sells them through selected other shops (like Garden of Eden 14th Street).    They were giving samples of a salted chocolate chip cookie which I liked a lot, and selling a caramel brownie with one kind of salt in the caramel and another on top, which they call "The O.M.G."

http://www.lagazelledor-patisserie.com/ There was a French company there selling Moroccan confections which I was never able to get close to long enough to ask questions, and the offerings had no labels. Also, the website's not loading on this computer and presumably would be all in French if it did load.   I wanted to know more about the things that looked like pot stickers   8)

Several vendors like No Chewing Allowed (with their silky truffles), NibMor (with their vegan chocolate), Ronnie-Sue's (home of the Pig Candy) and Pure Dark were back as well, which in this economy I'm always glad to see.    Chocolate Gecko (home of the Tropical Tree Frogs) is still operating according to their website, but hasn't exhibited the past two years   8(

The Chocolate Fashion Show theme this year was "Chocolate On Broadway" with dresses inspired by "Mame", "Wicked", "Follies", "The Lion King", "Chinglish" and "The Addams Family".     Pics after breakfast.
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Walked to the south of Union Square to meet la_peregrina for an early showing of "Puss In Boots" (totally NOT the original fairy tale).    I fancy that Antonio Banderas has a fondness for his cute / fuzzy Zorro-like character ("The Geenger Hit Man") similar to what Johnny Depp feels for Captain Jack Sparrow.     The story's a bit thin, but the actors plunge in con mucho gusto and it's both fun and funny.   The music has a good beat and it's fun to dance to.     A confectionary cinematic end to a confectionary day.