Growing up I never was in the kitchen much. Our kitchen was small, but functional. It was primarily just used for eating dinner and sitting in a kitchen chair while on the corded phone. Yes, my phone growing up was actually tethered to the wall.
My younger sister and I were in 4-H and I loved it. This is where I took cooking projects, gardening, and many other projects over my 10 years in 4-H. I guess this is where I received my first real exposure to being in the kitchen and making things on my own. Of course, my mom baked some and I can remember going over to my Aunt and Uncle's house making cookies. At this point in my life, I had never even thought of doing anything with chocolate other than eating it.
Fast forward some years into adulthood. It wasn't until I was in my 30's that chocolate was on my radar. It started out simply enough by making some chocolate covered pretzels and strawberries for my wonderful friends baby shower. Below is one a photo of the dessert table. I proudly displayed my pretzel and strawberries on both sides of the table. Luckily for me, everyone seemed to love my desserts.
I had no clue on what was on the horizon for me from this point on....
