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Thursday, December 13, 2012

It’s National Hot Chocolate Day!

Today is National Hot Chocolate Day! To celebrate, we are demonstrating how easy it is to make our signature hot chocolate in your own home! Don’t get us wrong, we love to make this for you when you stop in the shop, but we sell our chocolate shavings so you can enjoy this luxurious and smooth hot chocolate even when we are closed!

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We sell milk and dark chocolate shavings as well as our Xocolatl which is a Mayan inspired hot chocolate. The hot chocolates are popular gifts to give and it’s been a challenge to keep them stocked this time of year! We also have gifts sets available complete with a small hot chocolate and Stella Leona mug!

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To make your own hot chocolate follow these three easy steps. Heat 8 oz. of milk,

120912-13 120912-14 add 3/4c. of shavings and stir vigorously with a whisk until completely dissolved.

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Don’t forget to save just a little bit of the shavings to sprinkle on top of the whip cream for a gourmet presentation. We like to top the Xocolatl with cinnamon!

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If you want to add a little something extra to your hot chocolate we suggest you try a Caramel Sea Salt Milk Hot Chocolate or a Peppermint Dark Hot Chocolate!

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To make a Caramel Sea Salt Milk hot chocolate just add a little caramel sauce to your heated hot chocolate! Top with whip cream and add a little more caramel sauce for good measure. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and sea salt for the perfect sweet and salty treat!

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To make a Peppermint Dark Hot Chocolate simply swirl a Spangler Peppermint Candy Cane in your heated hot chocolate! Break a candy cane in small pieces to garnish the whip cream for an extra festive look! Top it off with a whole Spangler Candy Cane!

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What’s hot chocolate without some chocolates to nibble too? We recommend you pair these hot chocolates with Stella Leona Vanilla with Sea Salt Caramels or Dark Chocolate Truffles!  Happy National Hot Chocolate Day! 

Monday, December 3, 2012

Customer Spotlight: Perry Runs in Hot Chocolate 15K!

Perry and Friends

Perry

We were very excited when Perry came in the shop to purchase a t-shirt because it was for a very specific reason! He completed the Columbus Hot Chocolate 15k on November 18th and wore his Stella Leona T-Shirt for the race! Micah, Ariel and Erin joined him for the 5k portion of the Hot Chocolate Race. Proceeds benefited the Ronald McDonald House!

Congratulations to you and your team for participating in this event! Thanks for wearing our t-shirt and promoting Stella Leona! We appreciate your support!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Pinning All About the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show

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We’ve joined Pinterest and are having fun pinning away. We couldn’t wait to see who would be at the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show this weekend so we did some research and pinned many of the show exhibitors to our “CFC Exhibitor” board.  Check out this board to get a glimpse of what you could see and taste at the show! You can follow us by clicking the Pinterest button at the bottom of our home page right here!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Sneak Peeks Revealed!

Thank You for making our Open House such a success! We always say we have THE BEST customers! It was fun to see so many of you! If you weren’t able to make it to open house we wanted to be sure that we revealed our sneak peeks for you!

T-shirts are available in the Stella Leona Shop for purchase!

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We’ve been told our new mugs are the best travel mugs ever! They keep drinks hot for several hours and our customers are loving the spill proof lids!  Buy a mug and save .20 cents each time you get it refilled in the shop!

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We offered samples of our new 2012 Limited Edition Starry Night Artisan Ornament and they were a hit! This ornament starts with a hand painted dark chocolate shell filled with a Stella Leona Signature sweet cream layer, luscious honey cinnamon ganache and dark chocolate crunch!

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It was fun to see and hear your reactions to this new creation! We are currently taking orders for these ornaments and will not be making extras so be sure to get your orders placed! They make a perfect gift for that special teacher, neighbor or friend!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Starry Night Artisan Ornament Debut

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Open House begins tomorrow and we have one last sneak peek for you! The Limited Edition 2012 Starry Night Artisan Ornament will makes its debut in less than 24hrs! 

We’ve revealed the gorgeous exterior which makes this artisan chocolate ornament a visually stunning gift to give! It even comes wrapped in a clear gift box with a Stella Leona TO and FROM tag making gift giving for that special someone in your life all too simple! 

Want to know what new flavors make up this ornament’s interior? You’ll have to come by the Holiday Open House for a nibble of the delectable combination of our finest ingredients that make this the perfect holiday dessert to share! 

Open House is Thursday and Friday from 9-5 and Saturday from 9-12! Hope to see you all there!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

New Stella Leona T-Shirts and Travel Coffee Mugs

We have another sneak peek for you today! Stop by our Open House (Thurs, Fri and Sat) to see the brand new Stella Leona T-Shirts and Travel Coffee Mugs! The shirts come in two colors and have a new gorgeous design on the front and back.

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The 16 oz. travel coffee mugs are dishwasher safe and keep hot drinks warm for hours! Buy a mug and save 20 cents each time you get it refilled at Stella Leona!

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Come by Stella Leona for the Holiday Open House to see the full t-shirt designs and spill proof mug tops! Don’t miss your opportunity to enter the giveaway and you just might win one of these mugs or t-shirts! 

Open house is just 2 days away! Stay tuned for one more sneak peak tomorrow!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes!

We just realized that we called this our “Behind the Scenes” blog, but we haven’t shown you any pictures of what is going on “behind the scenes”! It’s a busy time of year in the Stella Leona Kitchen! We have recently expanded, rearranged and added a new tempering machine!

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Did you know that we give our customers a real sneak peek in to the Stella Leona kitchen at our Open House? Stop by Stella Leona this week on November 1st and 2nd from 9-5 or Saturday Nov. 3rd from 9-12 and you just might get to see our tempering machine in action!

Stay tuned for more Holiday Open House sneak peeks on the blog this week!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

2012 Holiday Open House

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It’s almost hard to believe, but our Holiday Open House is less than two weeks away! We would love for you to join us! Stop in for a taste of the Limited Edition 2012 Starry Night Artisan Ornament and order yours for a holiday dessert or a stunning gift.

Sign up for the drawing, and you might be the winner of a chocolate gift or one of our new Stella Leona travel mugs or t-shirts.

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While you're here, place an order
for our hand painted Dessert Pumpkin available by special order only during
the month of November, or try one of
our new truffles.



Open House is the perfect time to plan ahead for the gift giving season.

We look forward to seeing you and your friends and sharing what's new from the Stella Leona kitchen!

Open House Hours:
Thursday and Friday, November 1 & 2 9am-5pm
Saturday, November 3 9am-12pm

New Holiday Hours:
November 6 –December 22, Tues. - Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-12

Closed December 24 - January 2

www.stellaleona.com

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Chicago Fine Chocolate Festival

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It is officially fall!  At Stella Leona that means that we are scurrying around finalizing preparations for new holiday chocolates and gifts for you.  We have some big events coming up in the next six weeks that we are quite excited about and that you should know about.

There will be more to come about each event, but in this post I’d like to highlight just one of them—the Chicago Fine Chocolate Festival.  Stella Leona Artisan Chocolates will be exhibiting at the 3-day show November 16, 17 & 18 at Navy Pier, Chicago.  We are sooooooo excited!!!

Some highlights of the show:

Educational sessions will be offered by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA), ranging from small batch chocolate making from bean to bar, sustainability in chocolate, the lifecycle of chocolate from the farm to table and more.

The Fine Chocolate area will feature products from FCIA members and other top artisan chocolatiers from the US and around the world (including Stella Leona!!!).

Pairings Pavilion:  Guest will learn how to pair and taste the nuances of fine chocolate with not only wine, but with beer, coffee, tea and more.

The Story of Chocolate will be presented by the National Confectioners Association’s Chocolate Council.  The French Pastry School will be putting their art on display with exquisite sculptures made exclusively of chocolate for all to enjoy.

These are only a few of the opportunities you can find at the show.  To learn more about the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show click here.  You can also find it on Facebook or Twitter.  We hope to see you there!!!

Monday, June 11, 2012

What I appreciate about my Dad….

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He not only says he loves me, he shows it with his actions.  He loves my kids.  He is sincere.  He is kind.  He is generous.  He genuinely cares about people.  He is a great thinker.  He can fix anything, even chocolate making equipment that wasn’t engineered properly by the “professional” manufacturer.  He has taught me how to learn to figure things out for myself.  He is hilarious!  He is honest.  He is still an awesome water skier!  He considers others before himself.  He loves God by loving people.

Even if he wasn’t all these things, I would love him anyway because he is my Dad and because he has been present in my life.  Thanks Dad, for all of the above and for being a father who has always been interested in me.  Some sweet stuff is coming your way on Sunday!