I am soooo happy to finally have a few Pre Chocolate Rabbit Party pics up! There was so much hard work and love that went into creating that space that it sent both Rhea and I into a bit of a tail spin. I need the pics to know it even happened!
So here is a bit of a call out to those of you who may have taken pictures of the actual party. WE NEED THEM!
I know I saw lots of cameras snapping pictures of the smoking caterpillar on the mushroom and hopefully the djs and dancing as well. Perhaps a few around the fire, the fire dancing, the bar and the craziness. If anyone can help us compile a bit of these memories (to replace the ones we lost) we would be very grateful!
Thanks for your support and keep checkin back for exciting updates coming soon!
-The Rabbit
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Pre-Party Pictures! FinallY!
enter the rabbit hole
the chill space
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mushroom land
the rabbit hole..
jordyn's awesome art
the chill space
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAcBSlK8KHr8Gy1nyPcX1glq3h94QQYnGpDSBOahSIeA5QuNZMYcAttNwH-SVcb7UYrDKb3H8SOU30XN92XA4_Xx0fEoaQm6gt0lNloqngMBDMD9BmBYYvc8xJ_4LLWpJRlVt-ysVBSc/s1600-h/CIMG4132.JPG">
mushroom land
the rabbit hole..
jordyn's awesome art
Monday, May 5, 2008
Kind and considerate
I am continually struck by how important kindness and communication are when running a collective and cooperative business. I think it is THE MOST important thing and one of the biggest indicators of success.
I just walked into my side job (the other one I must keep so that The Chocolate Rabbit keeps hopping) and I am greeted with moodiness and crankiness from one of my comrades. Even just a simple "I am sorry, I'm not feeling the greatest today" would make a big difference! I'm just about to start working and now wish that I wasn't. It is really sad when people exert patriarchal and unkind control over a business and hence make people feel uncomfortable. This makes it harder for me to be happy and chipper with customers and creates a culture of fear. A cooperative business is the last place fear should exist! I remember to not take it personally and to work with the same ethic and joy which I try to put in all of my endeavors.
This anecdote is merely a side note to emphasize how awesome I think that Rhea is! Even when we deal with serious or unpleasant matters there is always always kindness and understanding. I think we both know that the last thing we want to do is hurt one another and this confidence leads to much better times and much better chocolate! I am very thankful for all these learning experiences!
We have a lot of work coming up with Northwest Veg fest and I have planned my schedule around the chocolate making and booth set up work we must do. We are excited to be a part of Proper Eats booth (thank you soooooo much Piper and James!) and have pre-party jitters. :)
Thanks for your continued support and make sure to mark NW Veg Fest on your calendars!
-The Rabbit
I just walked into my side job (the other one I must keep so that The Chocolate Rabbit keeps hopping) and I am greeted with moodiness and crankiness from one of my comrades. Even just a simple "I am sorry, I'm not feeling the greatest today" would make a big difference! I'm just about to start working and now wish that I wasn't. It is really sad when people exert patriarchal and unkind control over a business and hence make people feel uncomfortable. This makes it harder for me to be happy and chipper with customers and creates a culture of fear. A cooperative business is the last place fear should exist! I remember to not take it personally and to work with the same ethic and joy which I try to put in all of my endeavors.
This anecdote is merely a side note to emphasize how awesome I think that Rhea is! Even when we deal with serious or unpleasant matters there is always always kindness and understanding. I think we both know that the last thing we want to do is hurt one another and this confidence leads to much better times and much better chocolate! I am very thankful for all these learning experiences!
We have a lot of work coming up with Northwest Veg fest and I have planned my schedule around the chocolate making and booth set up work we must do. We are excited to be a part of Proper Eats booth (thank you soooooo much Piper and James!) and have pre-party jitters. :)
Thanks for your continued support and make sure to mark NW Veg Fest on your calendars!
-The Rabbit
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
continual.motion
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Things have been moving smooth as chocolate with the rabbit. The beginning of Spring has proved to be filled with inspiration and creativity, and we continue to have new ideas and new tasty treats! We are still in the process of navigating the creation of our website as we are on a quest to have our vision come alive and have found that sometimes things take longer than planned-something we seem to find out often. =) But, things are coming along and we finally have some new pictures for the website and potentially a new designer. We are also busy getting ready for the NW Veg Fest, and have a new flavor that will be making its sweet debut this Thursday at Proper Eats and Peoples!!-- Crunchy Cacao, a crunchy chocolate with himalayan salt, like every new chocolate, it is my new favorite! And yes, we are still working on that lovely packaging, I will be sooo very happy once we have something beautiful and sustainable, if only uniting with "green" functional boxes was as easy as making chocolate. It will happen! And I think it is happening...
Hope to see you at Veg Fest next weekend! Be sure to check out Howard Lyman on Friday...he is an incredible person with an amaZing story and such a wonderful presence and a powerful powerful speaker!! We will see you there!
xoxo
rhea
Friday, April 25, 2008
Molding a new era in chocolate
I was doing deliveries yesterday. Deliveries as usual all over Portland. Sometimes I really wish that the places we sell were closer together, but at least the chocolate is available in every neighborhood.
I stopped into Proper Eats as usual and looked in their case at something that hasn't been there before. Two boxes of Wingnut Truffles (a really awesome local vegan chocolatier) with truffles sold individually, like we have been doing. I have never noticed Wingnut selling their truffles like that before. I also realized it's been a while since I have had any other truffles other than our own. Wingnut truffles are vegan and beautiful. They are not raw and this is what sets us apart, but they are beautiful nonetheless. It suddenly dawned on me that Wingnut Truffles look beautiful and perfect because they are molded. I went online and looked at molds and sure enough I saw the exact designs reflected in the molds. The Chocolate rabbit presently doesn not use molds. We have looked at molds in the past, but none have really suited our style and so we have passed, but I'm starting to think it may be time to try again.
To Mold or not to Mould
So here are the pros and cons to molding our Radical Raw Chocolate Rabbit Truffles
Pros:
takes less time
looks "perfect"
total consistency in size and shape (people seem to like this a lot)
competitive on a "professional" chocolate level
Cons:
Less work and time, means less intention and energy put into each chocolate. I believe part of the reason our chocolates heal and taste so good is because we hold healthy and loving intention which is put into each truffle by both Rhea and I. It's pretty intense actually.....
Every chocolate looks the same. (sometimes I like the individual variation)
Looking like every other truffle out there because all the molds look similar.
I think I may try to get some molds and give it a shot. We can see what we think and, maybe, you will see molded Chocolate Rabbit Truffles in the future. Or maybe we will continue to make each one meticulously by hand.
We will have to find away to give that same intention and energy, even if we liked the look of the molds.
Thanks for everyone's support!
- The Chocolate Rabbit
I stopped into Proper Eats as usual and looked in their case at something that hasn't been there before. Two boxes of Wingnut Truffles (a really awesome local vegan chocolatier) with truffles sold individually, like we have been doing. I have never noticed Wingnut selling their truffles like that before. I also realized it's been a while since I have had any other truffles other than our own. Wingnut truffles are vegan and beautiful. They are not raw and this is what sets us apart, but they are beautiful nonetheless. It suddenly dawned on me that Wingnut Truffles look beautiful and perfect because they are molded. I went online and looked at molds and sure enough I saw the exact designs reflected in the molds. The Chocolate rabbit presently doesn not use molds. We have looked at molds in the past, but none have really suited our style and so we have passed, but I'm starting to think it may be time to try again.
To Mold or not to Mould
So here are the pros and cons to molding our Radical Raw Chocolate Rabbit Truffles
Pros:
takes less time
looks "perfect"
total consistency in size and shape (people seem to like this a lot)
competitive on a "professional" chocolate level
Cons:
Less work and time, means less intention and energy put into each chocolate. I believe part of the reason our chocolates heal and taste so good is because we hold healthy and loving intention which is put into each truffle by both Rhea and I. It's pretty intense actually.....
Every chocolate looks the same. (sometimes I like the individual variation)
Looking like every other truffle out there because all the molds look similar.
I think I may try to get some molds and give it a shot. We can see what we think and, maybe, you will see molded Chocolate Rabbit Truffles in the future. Or maybe we will continue to make each one meticulously by hand.
We will have to find away to give that same intention and energy, even if we liked the look of the molds.
Thanks for everyone's support!
- The Chocolate Rabbit
Friday, April 18, 2008
Development
What have we been doing???
After the party, Rhea and I were so tired. We were tired of working in addition to other work. We were tired of having the house turned upside downwards and inside outwards with Wonderland, and we were tired of being together all our waking minutes and talking every 5 seconds when we were apart. The Chocolate Rabbit has slumbered a bit as we have recovered. It is at times like this though that I think we both do some of our best thinking and figuring out exactly what it is we want.
A lot has developed on my end. Jacob and I are back together and our relationship is better than ever before, I am workin a few days a week at a radical collective cafe "The Red and Black" and nannying for an adorable 7 month old girl one other day a week. I haven't stopped cooking (although I did take a 2 week hiatus right right after the party... I have never eaten out so frequently in my life.)
My latest challenge is a vegan passover feast for a group Jake knows through work. It is quite a challenge coming up with vegan kosher for passover stuff because most of the traditional dishes call for eggs. Tofu and Ener-G is not kosher for passover. We are compromising on one dish with tofu and two with Ener-g. Many of the other dishes are raw (including an amazing chocolate mousse!) It's funny that raw stuff is the only type of food which is almost always kosher, vegan, and kosher for passover. Kosher for passover is so complicated, so using raw recipes made things easier.
The Chocolate Rabbit is now looking to develop our raw caramel and sell it in stores. Look for that soon soon! I hope everyone sticks with us. We need your support (and love of chocolate) so much!!!
Love always,
Jo
After the party, Rhea and I were so tired. We were tired of working in addition to other work. We were tired of having the house turned upside downwards and inside outwards with Wonderland, and we were tired of being together all our waking minutes and talking every 5 seconds when we were apart. The Chocolate Rabbit has slumbered a bit as we have recovered. It is at times like this though that I think we both do some of our best thinking and figuring out exactly what it is we want.
A lot has developed on my end. Jacob and I are back together and our relationship is better than ever before, I am workin a few days a week at a radical collective cafe "The Red and Black" and nannying for an adorable 7 month old girl one other day a week. I haven't stopped cooking (although I did take a 2 week hiatus right right after the party... I have never eaten out so frequently in my life.)
My latest challenge is a vegan passover feast for a group Jake knows through work. It is quite a challenge coming up with vegan kosher for passover stuff because most of the traditional dishes call for eggs. Tofu and Ener-G is not kosher for passover. We are compromising on one dish with tofu and two with Ener-g. Many of the other dishes are raw (including an amazing chocolate mousse!) It's funny that raw stuff is the only type of food which is almost always kosher, vegan, and kosher for passover. Kosher for passover is so complicated, so using raw recipes made things easier.
The Chocolate Rabbit is now looking to develop our raw caramel and sell it in stores. Look for that soon soon! I hope everyone sticks with us. We need your support (and love of chocolate) so much!!!
Love always,
Jo
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The First Interview!
Hip! Hip! Hooray!
NW Veg has interviewed us and you can check it out here!
http://nwveg.org/E-bits_0408.htm#11
And did you hear we have a new flavor?! "Chocolate Caliente"- a spicy cayenne truffle filled with goodness indeed...and vanilla bean, nutmeg, mase, topped off with macademia nuts....mmmmm mmmmm good!
Hope you are well!
From the rabbit hole...
Rhea xoxoxoxo
NW Veg has interviewed us and you can check it out here!
http://nwveg.org/E-bits_0408.htm#11
And did you hear we have a new flavor?! "Chocolate Caliente"- a spicy cayenne truffle filled with goodness indeed...and vanilla bean, nutmeg, mase, topped off with macademia nuts....mmmmm mmmmm good!
Hope you are well!
From the rabbit hole...
Rhea xoxoxoxo
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