The Chocolate Fudge Cafe

valentine’s day simplify your holiday (from New Dream.org)

Do you sometimes feel that traditional displays of love and caring for the planet just aren’t in harmony?  This Valentine’s Day, you don’t need to buy expensive jewelry or chocolate to show someone how much you care.  New Dream’s new Simplify Your Valentine’s Day Guide, an expansion of our perennially popular Simplify the Holiday’s guide, will show you how to celebrate a simpler and less consumption-oriented Valentine’s Day this year.  The guide is filled with concrete advice on how to find environmentally and socially-responsible alternatives to traditional Valentine’s Day gifts, as well as recommendations on how to organize a memorable, non-material oriented holiday.  New Dream also extends a very special thank you to everyone who submitted their personal stories for inclusion in the guide!

Change the Way We Celebrate Valentine’s Day:     

Every year, do you think to yourself, “I really want to get ny loved ones something special for Valentine’s Day, but I’m tired of the same old consumer junk?”   Why not treat your loved ones to really special gifts this year?  Give Valentines from the heart.  Choose something that makes you feel good inside.  For example, why not plant a tree in your loved one’s honor?  Visit the Arbor Day Foundation for the gift of a tree.  Or, perhaps you could give a donation in your loved one’s name to one of the many Haiti relief efforts, like Mercy Corps, my personal favorite.  If you feel like you want to put something more tangible into your loved one’s hands, try fair trade, organic chocolates and/or flowers.  Earth’s Sweet Pleasures makes delicious organic, fair trade fudge.  Visit It’s Only Natural Gifts and Kate’s Caring Gifts for all natural, fair trade gift baskets.  Try Organic Bouquet for delivered flowers, or Google a local organic flower grower.  You can also visit websites such as TransFair, Rainforest Alliance and New Dream for more ideas.  These sites will lead you to ever more information on sustainable gift giving and continue to open your horizons to a new way of being. 

Happy New Year to loyal fans of the Chocolate Fudge Cafe!

(This is an iStockphoto.  Isn’t she adorable?)

         Let me take this opportunity to say “thanks” to all my readers.  I’ve maintained this blog for about two years now and it is a gratifying experience (well…mostly).  The best part of writing a blog is that one gets to (hopefully) reach others who might be inspired by something you write.  The worst part about it is the “SPAM”.  I just wish Wordpress could filter out the hundreds of ridiculous e-mails I get throughout a week; most of them relating to Viagra, Poker, Jokes or Porn.  (Hey, sounds like a great name for a band…or maybe these guys should all get together, take viagra for their porn while they play poker and tell jokes!)

         I hope to continue the blog with more interesting articles forthcoming on the history of chocolate, fair trade information, books and recipes.  Please write to me if there is anything you would like to see regarding chocolate, organics, or fair trade issues.  I love reporting on these things.

        As far as an update on Earth’s Sweet Pleasures, our organic fudge company, we continue to grow, albeit slowly…but that’s mostly because it’s just me and the my hubby, the Fudgemeister “Hawk”.  We have a new webmaster and host for our website www.earthssweetpleasures.com.  His name is Jason and we are very happy with him.  If you would like to contact him, send me an e-mail.  His company is small, but I’m sure he would like to grow.  Our Rich Rainforest Gourmet Fudge Bar is now in 30 locations nationwide.  Sounds small, but that’s a lot of fudge folks! 

       On that note, I would like to thank some customers who supported us (and fair trade) by ordering lots of fudge for the holidays: It’s Only Natural Gifts (all natural gift baskets), Benziger Winery (a biodynamic winery in Sonoma, CA), Kate’s Caring Gifts (fair trade & organic gift baskets), Artisan Sweets (all natural candy store online), Lifesource Foods in Salem, OR, the Briar Patch Co-op, Natural Valley Foods and Mother Trucker’s in Nevada City, CA (our home town), Whole Foods Market in Roseville, CA and Santa Rosa Community Market.  There are many more, but I can’t list them all here.  Visit our website for a complete list of all of our stores, both physical and online. 

       Our plans for 2010 are to continue to grow and expand the business.  We would like to forge a relationship with a distributor who cares about organics and fair trade and also purchase the necessary equipment to go AUTOMATED!  (Yes…I am ready to stop wrapping hundreds of fudge bars by hand!)  We will continue to cut and wrap by hand until we can find the financing to go automated.  Any leads in that department, by the way, are always appreciated!

       Finally, I would like to say that I absolutely LOVE the authentic comments, so keep them coming.  For those of you out there who just want to mess around with us “poor ole bloggers”, PLEASE STOP…and smell the roses for a change!

        Blessings to all for a prosperous and chocolately-filled New Year!

 Choco Mama