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Have a question on chocolate or sugar? I'm happy to help out with any information. With years of experience in edible artistry, I can help with chocolate tempering and sculpture, sugar pulling and blowing, and lots more. Post or ask a question on this blog, or visit www.pastrypieces.com , home of edible artistry including chocolate, sugar, custom cakes, marzipan and gumpaste to contact me or sign up for classes.

Oregon Chocolate Festival Oh So Sweet!

My first visit to Ashland, and what an introduction. The Ashland Springs Hotel, the tallest building in the downtown, was also the sweetest. Friendly fabulous vendors and customers created an environment accented with Rogue beers and local wineries.

Friday evening, March 7, I arrived and after checking in at the Stratford Inn decided to go over to the hotel and see if I could unload some of my chocolate specialties and table dressing. Although vendors weren't supposed to set up until Saturday morning, I knew I didn't want to get up THAT early after travelling from Portland via Florence the day before.

Super staff accomodated my request. I was unloading pounds of modeling chocolate when the cutest white blond four year old came by to check out the fun. Turns out she was Fiona, daughter of Shane and Tiffany from Kekau Chocolatiers in Eugene www.kekau.com. They were in need of some modeling chocolate for finishing up their chocolate Aztec sculpture, which was good news for me since I was able to help them out, use their heat gun for finishing up my chocolate sculpture of lilies, and make some new friends.

Three of us had sculptures. Jeff, LillieBelle Farms www.lilliebellefarms.com owner and chocolate artist, had his displayed in the hotel lobby. His facility is only a few miles from Ashland, so transport was a bit simpler for him. His celestial sculpture of curves, lines, and balls was the tallest of the three. I was the only one who didn't have all the "boy toys" of chocolate sprayers, molds, etc, so I relied on handwork for my composition. The Aztec sculpture definitely weighed the most!

Here are a few pictures from the event. If you are able to get to the fifth festival in 2009, I highly recommend it. There was nothing but good times.

Going to the Oregon Chocolate Festival in Ashland

I made a small chocolate showpiece in two parts to take from Portland to Ashland. Here are pictures of the mise en place (components), piece in my kitchen sort of put together, and then beginning to be packed up for transport.

There were a lot of considerations; being able to take it apart and transport it makes a lot of creative ideas too risky.

We'll see how well it makes the trip and sets up!