Chocolate Tastings and Pairings

The Chocolate Experience with Chocolatier Melanie Boudar
Sweet Paradise Chocolatier is happy to announce the first series of Chocolate workshops. These workshops are a fun way to learn more about fine chocolate and meet fellow chocoholics!

Intro to Fine Chocolate Tues Dec 18th 7:00- 9:00 Pm
From Mayan and Aztec uses of cacao seeds for currency to our present passion for infinite flavors of gourmet confections, chocolate has played an important role in many world cultures over the centuries. Instructor Melanie Boudar will take you on a chocolate journey through the ages, exploring its intriguing origins, history and uses, including the current chocolate health craze. Learn how chocolate is produced and enjoyed.
We will do an extensive tasting of some of the worlds finest single origin chocolates, where you will learn to distinguish and appreciate their subtle flavors and textures. Join me for an evening of Chocolate immersion. Tuition: $40. Limited to 12 participants.

A New Years Chocolate Eve- Dec 31st 7:00-10:00PM

Try a little something different this New Years Eve. In addition to our intro to fine chocolate and tasting of chocolate from some of the finest chocolate producers from Italy, Venezuela, Madagascar, France and Hawaii, we will learn how to pair chocolates and chocolate desserts with wine, spirits and champagne.A fun evening of chocolate and spirited conversation is on the menu. Tuition: $60.00 Limited to 12 participants.

Introduction to Chocolate Making- Saturday Feb 9th, 2008 10:00am to 3:00PM

Further your knowledge of chocolate in this lecture/demonstration and hands on class where we learn about the unusual chemistry of chocolate. Participants will prepare a classic ganache and prepare hand-dipped and hand decorated truffles just in time for Valentines Day. Proper serving and storing techniques will be discussed. Everyone will take home a decadent Valentines box of their gourmet creations.
A light deli style lunch will be served. Tuition $ 125 Limited to 12 participants.

Chocolate Eco Adventure in Belize Mid May 2008
Join Chocolatier Melanie Boudar for a fun and adventure filled week in Belize, a Central American country that grows cacao for Green & Blacks Organics. Participants will tour a working chocolate farm, chocolate co-op, and learn hands on how chocolate is processed from Bean to Bar. In addition, we will learn to prepare authentic Mole . Lodging is in the comfortable and unique Eco resort, Cotton Tree Lodge, accessible by a 45 min boat ride up a river in southern Belize. Included are day trips to ancient Mayan ruins, and an ocean snorkelling trip to a nature preserve. Please email for rates and further info.

email to hawaiichocolate@gmail.com to register or call Melanie 557-5358. Classes will be taught at her home in Volcano.
Melanie is the 2007 winner of the Kona Chocolate Festival Judges Choice Award, and a graduate of Ecole Chocolat in Canada and the Culinary Institute of America Artisan Confections program. She is a founding member of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association www.finechocolateindustry.org

Green Building in Hawaii

In honor of Al Gore's Nobel peace prize for attention to global warming I am going to talk a little about Green Building in Hawaii. The fact is-there's not enough of it!! Hawaii has an opportunity to be a leader in alternate technologies- solar, photovoltaics, water treatment etc but is not putting its best foot forward. I live in Volcano, a rainforest community and gateway to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. As in all areas there are pressures for growth. The current community underserves the 1.5 million visitors to the park and is very proactive in protecting the rainforest. There needs to be balance in the two arena. Growth is inevitable. People need sustainable lifestyles. Hawaii needs to develop more mixed use concepts that allow people to live and work in their community without having to waste fuel on lengthy commutes. Green building techniques help preserve the rainforest by conciously removing only what needs to be taken and not polluting the environment.
At the Craters Edge www.VisitTheVolcano.com was built as a great example of integrating a house with its environment. It was built by MahanaHomes www.vervedesignbuild.com who is now creating luxury kit homes based on their pod designs that can be adapted for the site.
GO GREEN!!!

Volcano Spa

Visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park now can spend an afternoon at the spa after a long day's hike. Hale Ho'ola Spa located in Mauna Loa Estates offers a menu of spa treatments that rival any resort hotel. It is conventiently located near some of Volcano's nicer B&B's and vacation rentals such as At the Craters Edge, Volcano Mist Cottage and the Volcano Rainforest Retreat.
LomiLomi, Hot Stone and special massages for pregant women are available as well as host of rejuvenation packages featuring massage, steam baths, facials, foot massage and exfoliating body scrubs. Products used are all natural and feature ginger, sugar cane, Tumeric,pikake, lilikoi and other indigenous herbs and plants. Visit www halehoola.net to learn more and drool over their menu of services. Another reason to stay several days in Volcano, enjoying the rainforest, hikes, great restaurants and art galleries.!

At the Craters Edge

At the Craters Edge, www.visitthevolcano.com is a new luxury vacation rental/B&B in Volcano. The home is all cedar , big timbers and glass set into the fern forest. It is scheduled to open in Sept and has beautifully appointed rooms and bathrooms with jacuzzi tubs and vessel sinks. The grounds have wild orchids, anthuriums and fountains. Check it out and book the holidays soon!

Kona Chocolate Festival

Last Saturday was the annual Kona Chocolate festival. This years event was a huge success with a giant turnout, a great salsa band , free flowing champagne and more chocolate than you can imagine. Melanie boudar, Chocolatier of Sweet Paradise Chocolatier Ltd took home the coveted Judges Choice Award for her World Flavor Bon Bon collection. visit Sweet Paradise at www.sweetparadisechocolate.com

At the Craters Edge

Visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park now have a choice in luxury lodging available. Located just outside the Park in a quiet , forested subdivision in Volcano , the newly built vacation home, At the Craters Edge will delight travelers with its contemporary style, impressive timbers and integration of indoor and outdoor spaces.The house is a collaboration between Melanie Boudar of Volcano, Hawaii and Peter Fluker of Verve Design Build of Whistler, British Columbia Canada.called Mahana Homes.

The home, currently under construction and due to open as a vacation rental in April 2007 welcomes you with elegant tropical hardwood doors carved with a subtle banana leaf motif, and lava stone bowls with colorful art glass floats and sculptual plantings . Huge window walls throughout the house open to wrap around cedar decks providing an elevated birds eye view into a magical rainforest world of giant tree ferns and native Ohia Lehua trees with their brilliant red blossoms.

The interior features stylish Valor Bolero radiant fireplaces finished with lava rock and tile surrounds, exotic Brazilian teak and cork flooring, a gourmet kitchen with Wolf range, stainless steel and granite counters , elegant baths with whirlpool tubs plus seperate travertine and glass tile showers.The master bedroom has a huge built in window seat, perfect for lounging around next to the fire or reading. The dining area with its natural Mango slab dining table and Ingo Mauer Zettel lighting is a complimentary blend of high tech and organic materials, creating a cozy, inviting space to entertain friends.
For more info on At the Craters Edge contact Melanie at (808) 557-5358