18 Months since my last post...

Can you believe it has been 18 months - 18 months. I finished my tour - came home - went back to work - finished the school year and now baseball is over. And to top it all off I am looking at back to school. WOW! Time is moving so fast....

Ok I had to make a quick post so I can get back in the swing of things. We are going on vacation soon - like tomorrow - so I will take some photos and post an update.

The Chocolate Academy Day 2

DAY 2

Today was even better than yesterday. We spent a few hours in the classroom going over different products and then we were off to the kitchen.

We made different molds and then we made truffles – they are great – great looking and great tasting.

We got to de-mol-le our creations from day 1. That is French for de-mold. The only French I know but it is so cool to say. Oh and they were shiny and beautiful.

Then this afternoon we ‘messed’ with molds again, but this time it was painting different colors to make and image jump out. Again – holy cow! I can’t say it enough.

It was so amazing. The instructor is great and funny. We ended the day by going over problems you can run into while making chocolate. This was so helpful. Oh yeah, and how to avoid making them again.

Did I mention they are opening a school in Chicago this Fall. I am going to talk to ‘the family’ about attending as a group. I think we all need to go to learn the theory together. I know everyone will have a great time and learn a lot.

Ok it is late and I am very tired. I have to pack and then drive home tomorrow after touring the plant. Tomorrow I get to enter the world of willy wonka and see it firsthand. Can’t wait.

I feel bad for my Aunt Lucy, Uncle Bill, Mom, Dad and Vince. The information was sooooo good. But I got a book so I will send it home with my parents in a few weeks.

Chow.

The Chocolate Academy

Good Morning and greetings from Belgium. Yes I am back in Belgium for a few days. In fact, I am here to attend a chocolate academy. I took three days off to attend an Introduction to Chocolate through the Barry Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Lebbeke Belgium. The first day as ended and all I can say is WOW!! HOLY COW! IT WAS GREAT!!

I was so excited when I was accepted 2 months ago, but as this weekend drew nearer I was not so thrilled. I think it was because I was worried about my level of knowledge and if I would be in over my head. There are 10 people in my class and I think I am only one who has worked with chocolate to the degree that I have. Some people have never touched the stuff and others only messed around in their kitchen for a year or two. There is one guy, from France, who is coming to America to manage the Barry Callebaut School in Chicago – we were partners so I was out of his league but oh well.

Let me tell you a little about my day. The Academy sent a bus to the hotel to pick us up, so I got on the bus and went to the plant. When we arrived and exited the bus all you could smell was chocolate. The plant is huge – the largest chocolate plant in the world. They make 100,000 tons of chocolate per day or 260,000 tons per year at this factory alone. The company makes 1 Million tons of chocolate a year world wide – not that’s a lot of chocolate. Anyway, I had perma-grin all morning. It was so hard not to break out in the biggest cheesiest grin ever. I looked around and I honestly felt like I had just entered my own Willy Wonka Movie.

The first half of the day was in class listening to food safety and how chocolate is made. The food safety is important I know in fact I did not know there is a high risk of Salmonellla poisoning with chocolate – who knew. But it was boring. The chocolate cycle from pod to nib to bar was very interesting.

But then we went to the kitchen. It was great. My head is swimming with information. Some things we are doing well and others we might need to change but I will talk with the crew when I get home. Anyway, I was so excited I made a huge mess of my station. And I hate when my chocolate station is a mess. So tomorrow I will get my chocolate head on straight and get back in the kitchen. I cannot wait. Look out Altoona and world wide web – there’s a new chocolate store in town. (But we still don’t have a name.)

For now I am going to dinner with two ladies from the class. I’ll write more later.

Chow Chow

Brugge Belgium

http://picasaweb.google.com/ltvandzura/0803Brugge?authkey=8mVdHOazXeY

Here is the link to the photos from Brugge, Belgium. I spent the day walking around Belgium with my room mate. The weather was nice, mid 50's, and no rain - cloudy but no rain.

The first photos are of the Channels that outline the city. The white buildings and church photos are from the Convent. The convent is a retirement home for the nuns, it is very pretty. There are a few photos from another church in town. The statue is The Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. Read the sign, I took a photo so I would not forget what it was.

Then there are two photos of a wooden statue. This is Lady Wisdom, it is the base of the pulpit.

The next photos were taken in one of the city centers. I love the buildings in Belgium. And last but not least chocolate. There are a ton of chocolate shops all over the city. We checked out a few and I bought some for Easter. I gave up chocolate, sweets and coke for lent. I can not wait until next weekend. I want some chocolate in the worst way. The waffles looked fantastic but again I must wait another week.

These chocolate eggs were in a case in one of the chocolate shops. Looking at all this candy made we very homesick. I can't wait to get home and make chocolate.

Not much is going on. The office is steady, but it will get very busy next week. We have a four day Holiday for Easter so I will have a short week. Nothing planned yet. I may venture into France for a flea market. But next Sunday is the half way point, if we leave on schedule.

Have a great week.

Marcia

Photos from Spain

I am hoping this links you to photos from Vince and I in Spain.


http://picasaweb.google.com/ltvandzura/SpainWithVince?authkey=rJ37uliOXao


Let me know if it works.


Marcia

Wow - it's been 2 weeks

since my last posting. Time flies when your busy. Vince was here last weekend for the four day holiday. We decided to fly down to Spain and check out the sites. I did feel bad for him, he got off the plane Thursday morning and then hopped on another Friday morning. We ran around Spain for 3 days, then we flew back to Germany on Monday and he left for the states on Tuesday.

I don't know if he had time for jet lag.

Since then I have been busy at work. Nothing new, but the same stuff. I saw and heard you guys had some bad weather. We have had very nice weather. Today it is close to 60 degrees and the sun is out. The sky is never clear here, it is always grey, but there is no rain and the sun is 'shining'.

I decided to spend the weekend at home on the sofa. I should be outside running around, but I just did not feel like leaving home. I rented a bunch of movies and even went to see two. My room mate and I saw The Golden Compass and Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Golden Compass was very good. Alvin was cute, but I bet we looked funny walking into the kids movie without any kids.

Oh well.

National Treasure 2 is playing next Friday so I plan to catch it if I can. I have a hair appointment at 3:30 and then to the movies at 7 pm. Those are my BIG plans for the week, I know very exciting. Don't be to jealous.

My cousin Joel leaves for the Peace Corps soon, in fact I think it is this week. I will call home later today. I already talked to Vince this morning. He has mass, hockey and then baseball. Busy day, these are the days I wish I was home. I hope someone reminds me how much I missed all the running when I am home this time next year and complaining. :-)

My scrapbook supplies arrived. I did four pages this weekend, but I feel out of my element. I think I will stick to digital until I get home.

I may look into a couple of different web pages so I can 'share' all the photos I've taken. If it works I'll post the link here.

Ok.

Got to go. Talk to you soon.

Marcia
PS. I watched all three X-Men movies this weekend and they are pretty good. I also started the HBO ROME series. I rented the first 2 episodes from the base rental store. When I went back to get the rest DISC 2 was missing. Someone rented the video 2 months ago and never returned it. So I am waiting to hear what happened... I know I could just pick up a history book, but the videos are so much better.

Getting Ready for ANother Week

Well the weekend is wrapping up and I am getting ready for another week. Nothing exciting to write about the last few days.

Friday we commissioned one of our Enlisted folks. This means she is now an Officer, which was very exciting. She had a simple ceremony in the Chapel with fellow service members present. She is from Arizona so she called her husband and family so they could listen. It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon our time but 4 am their time. Afterwards we went to dinner at the club and then hung out for a while. Saturday morning I did some errands around town and then took a nap Saturday afternoon. Yes, I was a bum. Then Sunday I got up early and went to the second largest Flea Market in Europe, it was in Belgium. I was looking for chocolate molds, but no luck. They had a few but they were rusty so I passed. I did pick up a gift for my mom's birthday, a tea set, linens and egg holders. The market was very neat, next time I will take pictures.

So I am home now. I called my mom and wished her a happy birthday so now I am going to get get ready for bed. This in another busy week so I need to get to sleep soon.

Have a great week. Talk to you soon.
Me