{"id":2454518,"date":"2020-02-13T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=320811"},"modified":"2020-02-13T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T19:00:00","slug":"love-fest-artful-chocolate-and-other-treasures-pop-up-at-aam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/love-fest-artful-chocolate-and-other-treasures-pop-up-at-aam\/","title":{"rendered":"LOVE FEST Artful chocolate (and other treasures) pop up at AAM"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.6417322834646\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-320811-218\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-668x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"C2 PHOTOGRAPHY | \" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>C2 PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-668x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"C2 PHOTOGRAPHY | \" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>C2 PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-2-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"C2 PHOTOGRAPHY | Visitors to the Aspen Art Museum on Thursday, Feb. 13, may sample Cocoa Tree Chocolates and build a personalized bouquet in the AAM Shop, then catch a documentary screening of \u201cThis Is Love,\u201d about hidden pioneer musician Rudy Love.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Visitors to the Aspen Art Museum on Thursday, Feb. 13, may sample Cocoa Tree Chocolates and build a personalized bouquet in the AAM Shop, then catch a documentary screening of \u201cThis Is Love,\u201d about hidden pioneer musician Rudy Love.<\/strong><br \/>C2 PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-2-683x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Visitors to the Aspen Art Museum on Thursday, Feb. 13, may sample Cocoa Tree Chocolates and build a personalized bouquet in the AAM Shop, then catch a documentary screening of \u201cThis Is Love,\u201d about hidden pioneer musician Rudy Love.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-3-1024x576.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy photo | Documentary \" this is love about soul musician rudy will screen at the aspen art museum on thursday night. class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Documentary &#8220;This is Love,&#8221; about soul musician Rudy Love, will screen at the Aspen Art Museum on Thursday night.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-3-1024x576.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Documentary \" this is love about soul musician rudy will screen at the aspen art museum on thursday night.><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-4-709x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"COURTESY OF ASPEN ART MUSEUM | \" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>COURTESY OF ASPEN ART MUSEUM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-4-709x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-5-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy of Aspen Art Musuem | \" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>Courtesy of Aspen Art Musuem<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-5-683x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-6-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-6-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"C2 PHOTOGRAPHY | \" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>C2 PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/food-atw-021320-1-6-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/love-fest-artful-chocolate-and-other-treasures-pop-up-at-aam\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/love-fest-artful-chocolate-and-other-treasures-pop-up-at-aam\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Life is like a box of chocolates: Meant to spark appreciation for its unique elements yet above all be experienced. Life isn\u2019t meant to sit on a shelf for admiring from afar, and fine cocoa confections aren\u2019t, either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">This philosophy guides Abby Mandel, who launched Cocoa Tree Chocolates from her home in Carbondale in September. Mandel sources the highest-quality ingredients she can find, such as French Valrhona and Belgian Callebaut chocolate, much of it single-origin, plus organic spices and dairy. In summertime she picks garden herbs and fruit from trees dotting her property to create custom infusions and jams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">After blending these components and layering mixtures into molds with a scientist\u2019s precision, Mandel hand-paints each smooth-surface truffle with brightly colored cocoa butter using tools ranging from a tiny paintbrush to an airbrush spray gun. As a one-woman operation, Mandel turns out about 1,500 chocolate truffles per week. Now, having converted her family\u2019s home basement into a full-blown commercial kitchen just weeks ago, she is scouting a production assistant to take Cocoa Tree to the next level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">\u201cI feel like we\u2019re going through a chocolate revolution now as we did with coffee,\u201d says Mandel, whose goal is to change the way locals perceive chocolate. \u201cSome people expect that chocolate can sit there for months and months and months. These are fresh products good for three weeks, and you should eat them in that time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Mandel\u2019s dedication to the craft of chocolate is driven by a lifelong love of baking desserts as well as extensive training in the fields of taste perception, food science and neurobiology. After earning a PhD in nutrition science from Cornell University, Mandel entered the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, one of the most renowned taste research institutes in the world. There she studied how proteins in saliva affect taste and texture perception.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Her main takeaway: everyone experiences food differently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">\u201cIt is totally individual,\u201d Mandell marvels. \u201cWhen we talk about taste it just applies to a person\u2019s perception of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami \u2014 and possibly fat and starch (two other possible tastes being researched). When we talk about flavor, that\u2019s taste and smell together. All of these things can be influenced by a person\u2019s diet, age, if they\u2019re taking any medication, how healthy they are (disease and medicine can both obliterate a sense of taste or smell), genetics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Such disparity is why Mandel calls on a panel of trusted confidants in honing Cocoa Tree\u2019s textural flavors, which range from coconut-passion fruit with toothsome bits of shredded coconut to toasted sesame with a layer of crystalized ginger. Sachertorte replicates flavors of the classic Austrian dessert with homemade almond marzipan, raspberry jam and dark chocolate ganache. Five-Spice Hazelnut Crunch includes feuilletine cookies embedded in a wonderfully crunchy base layer. Mandel\u2019s personal pick, A Light in the Dark, blends brown-sugar, brown-butter caramel with 72% single-origin dark chocolate ganache. Grasshopper, meanwhile, is a silky, sweet, herbal bomb: white chocolate ganache steeped with fresh garden mint and coated in dark chocolate spiked with coconut oil for the ultimate \u201cmelty\u201d effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Aspenites can sample Cocoa Tree Chocolates during a special truffle tasting hosted by Mandel on Feb. 13 from 3 to 5 p.m., part of her company\u2019s weeklong rendezvous at the Aspen Art Museum Shop. (The engagement follows a successful Cocoa Tree pop-up at The Launchpad in Carbondale.) Boxes of handcrafted truffles will be available for purchase all week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Mandel\u2019s chocolate tasting joins a vibrant list of programing at AAM from Feb. 11 to 16, \u201ca weeklong celebration of love in honor of Valentine\u2019s Day,\u201d says newly appointed communications director KristinAnn Janishefski. Thursday, Feb. 13, is packed with treats for visitors: a build-your-own flower bouquet service at the Shop beginning at 10 a.m. (where a curated selection of gifts including ceramics, jewelry and handmade greeting cards also are available for purchase); a performance by one-man-band Mark Nussmeier at 5:30 p.m.; and a 6:30 p.m. screening of \u201cThis Is Love,\u201d a music documentary exploring the life of \u201cunseen guru\u201d and \u201cunsung hero of soul\u201d Rudy Love, followed by a Q&amp;A with director John Alexander and producer JC Crew.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Janishefski calls the Valentine\u2019s Day week programming, \u201cinteractive, accessible and inclusive for all,\u201d whether partnered up or flying solo. All of it pairs perfectly with AAM\u2019s current exhibition by Yayoi Kusama, \u201cWhere the Lights in My Heart Go,\u201d showcasing one of the artist\u2019s iconic infinity mirror rooms (through May 10), as well as a new exhibition opening in three AAM galleries on Sunday, Feb. 16. \u201cWilderness\u201d features nearly 50 lush works by renowned American painter Lisa Yuskavage in collaboration with the Baltimore Museum of Art.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">Just as AAM curators urge viewers to consider art with an open mind and ponder themes beneath the surface, Mandel hopes that tasters will slow down and savor Cocoa Tree Chocolates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Body_Serif\">\u201cFocus on the crunch from the chocolate, the creaminess of the ganache, and how it all interplays together \u2014 the experience of eating it, more than just popping it into your mouth,\u201d Mandel urges. \u201cIt\u2019s such a decadent, delicious thing \u2026 to give to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Special Sections-ATW-ATW_Shirttail\"><em><a href=\"mailto:amandaraewashere@gmail.com\">amandaraewashere@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/love-fest-artful-chocolate-and-other-treasures-pop-up-at-aam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>C2 PHOTOGRAPHY C2 PHOTOGRAPHY Visitors to the Aspen Art Museum on Thursday, Feb. 13, may sample Cocoa Tree Chocolates and build a personalized bouquet in the AAM Shop, then catch a documentary screening of \u201cThis Is Love,\u201d about hidden pioneer musician Rudy Love.C2 PHOTOGRAPHY Documentary &#8220;This is Love,&#8221; about soul musician Rudy Love, will screen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 15:52:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}