{"id":3716,"date":"2016-02-02T10:48:18","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T15:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=3716"},"modified":"2016-02-02T10:48:18","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T15:48:18","slug":"3716","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ashley Ruzich<\/p>\n

\"Ashley<\/a>When it comes to sweets, chocolates are irresistible. Just thinking about their silky texture and delicious taste can bring a smile to our faces\u2014and even a craving! From the bitter tang of dark chocolate to the creamy taste of milk chocolate with its cocoa butter and milk fat, chocolate is a versatile treat with a range of flavors.<\/p>\n

Combine chocolate with peanut butter, raspberry, or caramel and you have matches made in heaven. Chocolate\u2019s many varieties and pairing potential are just two reasons why it\u2019s a perfect Valentine\u2019s Day dessert to share with your sweetie.<\/p>\n

Here in Western North Carolina, we are fortunate to have several talented chocolatiers who make unique truffles and treats.<\/p>\n

\"Ashley<\/a>Jael Rattigan, co-owner of French Broad Chocolates with husband Dan, says, \u201cTheobroma cacao<\/i>, the Latin name for the tree from which chocolate is made, translates to \u2018food of the gods,\u2019 which speaks to its sacred nature. It seems to have come from the universe just for us lucky humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some chocolates also go well with wine. The Biltmore Estate is one spot in town that offers a chocolate and wine pairing\u2014how romantic! Since Asheville is also known as a beer city, there are more than a few stouts out there to enjoy a side-by-side tasting with a variety of fabulous dark chocolates.<\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t already know, another reason why we associate Valentine\u2019s Day with chocolates lies in the chemical makeup of chocolate. Many believe chocolate (a stimulant) also has aphrodisiac qualities with its chemicals, tryptophan and phenylethylamine.<\/p>\n

\"French<\/a>

French Broad Chocolates<\/p><\/div>\n

Jael says, \u201cChocolate melts at our body temperature, which is what makes it such a sensual food to consume. Its chemical properties create the same experience in our brains as love does. Love! That\u2019s some powerful witchy science, chocolate! We are blessed to be intimately involved in bringing this magic to people, from the post-harvest processing to the alchemy of transforming the seeds into chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Klepzig, of The Chocolate Lab of Asheville, says \u201cChocolate, no matter the circumstance, always makes a wonderful, delicious gift. Worldwide, Valentine\u2019s Day is known as the holiday in which you show your love to others by giving gifts of chocolate and flowers.<\/p>\n

At the Chocolate Lab of Asheville, we combine these two ideas by making chocolate flower bouquets as well as chocolate hearts. We also have a selection of gift boxes that have assorted chocolates and truffles that make lovely Valentine\u2019s Day gifts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ashley<\/a>Sue Chisholm, owner of Chocolate Gems with husband Andrew, puts it simply: \u201cEveryone loves chocolate!\u201d She and Andrew create chocolates with caramel selections, walnut ganache, and the very best ingredients including fine Belgian chocolate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ashley Ruzich When it comes to sweets, chocolates are irresistible. Just thinking about their silky texture and delicious taste can bring a smile to our faces\u2014and even a craving! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,57,89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-lifestyle","category-locally-made"],"yoast_head":"\nChocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day By Ashley Ruzich\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day - The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day By Ashley Ruzich\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-02T15:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"417\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Hove\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Hove\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Hove\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1\"},\"headline\":\"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine’s Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-02T15:48:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":465,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Archives\",\"Lifestyle\",\"Locally Made\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day - The Laurel of Asheville\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-02T15:48:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1\"},\"description\":\"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day By Ashley Ruzich\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":417,\"caption\":\"Ashley Ruzich Asheville Product photographer\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/archives\\\/3716\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine’s Day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Laurel of Asheville\",\"description\":\"The Arts and Culture of Communities Across the Mountains\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1\",\"name\":\"Scott Hove\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Scott Hove\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day - The Laurel of Asheville","description":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day By Ashley Ruzich\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day - The Laurel of Asheville","og_description":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day By Ashley Ruzich\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/","og_site_name":"The Laurel of Asheville","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville","article_published_time":"2016-02-02T15:48:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":417,"url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Scott Hove","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AshevilleLaurel","twitter_site":"@AshevilleLaurel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Hove","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/"},"author":{"name":"Scott Hove","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1"},"headline":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine’s Day","datePublished":"2016-02-02T15:48:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/"},"wordCount":465,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg","articleSection":["Archives","Lifestyle","Locally Made"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/","name":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day - The Laurel of Asheville","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-02T15:48:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1"},"description":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine's Day By Ashley Ruzich\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Love_Local-Chocolates-Chocolate_Lab-1a-copy_Feat.jpg","width":800,"height":417,"caption":"Ashley Ruzich Asheville Product photographer"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/3716\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chocolates Made with Love for Valentine’s Day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/","name":"The Laurel of Asheville","description":"The Arts and Culture of Communities Across the Mountains","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/b37b2746447c008af939261612c750d1","name":"Scott Hove","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4e485daa80344d256f4e4fa770a43ea670f28aaa50cf35315282d3065faa1c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Scott Hove"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3717,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3716\/revisions\/3717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}