If you’re like most people, you wait until around now, a few days after Thanksgiving, to start planning and preparing your Christmas gift-giving.
I guess you could say I’m not like most people.
When you’re in the chocolate business, planning for the holiday season starts long before the first leaf falls. Flavors are chosen for the holiday collection back when we’re worrying about chocolate melting due to the heat versus the melting of ice and snow.
One thing that keeps me centered throughout the long hustle of the holiday season is a vision for providing something beautiful from my kitchen to your hands.
This season inspires me with memories of gathering around tables filled with meticulously prepared food and the people I love.
Some of the flavors you’ll taste are inspired by my personal holiday memories. My father was a commercial airline pilot for Delta and I’d consume large quantities of their Speculoos cookies they serve in-flight. The distinct flavor brings back many memories that I wanted to incorporate into a chocolate creation, the Speculoos Cookie Milk Chocolate Bar.
As you take to your kitchens to create meals or prepare to attend holiday gatherings, I invite you to pay attention to your own memories and moments of gathering, considering how to make each experience one to remember.
Whatever you create, I encourage you to make it:
Fresh: From the fresh-squeezed lemons in our popular Fresh Lemon bon bons to the spices we combine for the unique flavors in our holiday collection, fresh ingredients bring out an exquisite flavor experience. Sourcing fresh ingredients for your recipes, decorations and centerpieces will add quality and attention to your celebration.
With Passion: The passion you hold for the experience of gathering with others has the power to bring out the best in your guests and make the season truly meaningful. My journey from line cook to chocolatier brought out my true passion. It’s a joy to share this passion with others every day in each box of my handcrafted creations.
Personal: The notion and feeling of “I was thinking specifically of you,” enlivens even the most frantic of holiday-hustling souls. While personalizing becomes difficult sometimes when gift-giving, the good news is you can’t make a wrong choice in a selection of artisan chocolate.
To Share: From memories to gifts to gatherings, sharing is the sentiment of this season. There’s a reason we make collections of chocolates versus a box containing just one. They’re made to share with those you care about the most.
It’s an honor to share the heart behind our holiday collection directly to the heart of your home or the homes of your loved ones this holiday season.
I invite you to give the gift of chocolate, handcrafted and made with a simple, elegant and timeless touch. From a hostess gift to a box to share around the table, your guests will hopefully see why I’m proud to put my name on each one.
About Christopher Elbow
From humble beginnings as a line cook at the Lincoln Country Club to the bright lights of Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse and Jean Joho’s Eiffel Tower Restaurant on the Las Vegas strip, all the way back home to Shiraz and the American Restaurant in Kansas City, life in the kitchen has taken Christopher Elbow a lot of places.
But it is in the kitchen, producing handcrafted chocolates, bon bons and confections, where he finally feels at home.
