Covering a chocolate-related assignment makes for a sweet day

I took on a tough assignment this weekend: The Fifth Annual Chelsea Chocolate Extravaganza.

Sampling chocolates and taking pictures of happy people is hard work.

Well, not really, but I digress.

We — I brought my husband and two boys along — first stopped in at Heydlauff’s Appliances where Marie Barnsdale made chocolate muffins with Chelsea-made Jiffy Chocolate Muffin Mix in a Wolf oven. I have to admit, as someone who enjoys cooking, I could have spent a good bit of time in there looking at the kitchen appliances. However, with two elementary-age boys in tow, that wasn’t happening. They did give the thumbs up to the muffins, though.

Next up, we wondered into Gigi's Flowers and Gifts, not for anything chocolate, but just because I love flower shops. Between the daddy-daughter dance and Valentine’s Day, they were enjoying a busy Saturday.

After that, we crossed through the downtown to the River Gallery. I wanted to meet owner Patti Schwarz in person since I receive press releases and emails from the gallery on a regular basis. It’s nice to put a face with the email address!

The gallery was gorgeous and my entire family enjoyed milling around, looking at the art.

My sons, Nicholas and Ethan, were captivated by the ceramic dogs created by artist Mark Chatterley. There was a large dog in the gallery’s front window and several smaller ones throughout the space. There were also some really cool ceramic crows that Chatterley made. The gallery had some displayed on the street outside and a cluster of the crows were upstairs.

Next up, was The Garden Mill where the boys made their own chocolate coins with the help of Janet Brown. There were plenty of shoppers in the store, and owner Jennifer Fairfield said the weather was helping drive traffic.

From there, we made our way to Global Marketplace, which was filled with shoppers.

Mindo Chocolate Makers of Dexter were set up inside with samples of their fine artisan chocolates and samples of a syrup made of the fruit that surround cocoa beans. Mindo General Manager Zack Crawford warned that it would not be a chocolate taste and he was right. It had a fermented, fruity taste, which was interesting.

The most delightful moment of our entire day came when a little voice near the counter at Global Marketplace caught our attention as we were buying our Mindo’s chocolate.

The voice belonged to owner Kevin Frahm’s 11-year-old daughter Kira. She wanted to tell us about the finger puppets she was modeling and the stuffed animals for sale at the store. She also offered origami art that she and her dad made. I have the origami swan she gave me on my desk.

Leaving Global Marketplace, we crossed the street and headed to a quick lunch at Seitz's Tavern. This place reminded me of a place my dad might have taken me to as a kid, when he just wanted to get a quick bite on his way from here to there. It was a good memory and made me wish my dad were there with us.

The tavern had a nice atmosphere with Michigan basketball on the TV and the food was good. There were people going in and out, and as were prepared to leave one of the staffers dropped off suckers for the boys.

Then it was off to Glee Cake and Pastry so I could get a mini-cheesecake to go. In case you’re wondering: Yum! Glee had free samples of some of their decadent bars, which were delicious. As with most of the places we went into, there were groups of people inside shopping and enjoying the day.

Our final stop was Zou Zou’s Café so I could grab a coffee to go. Of course the kids heard about their chocolate treats and wanted some: A chocolate-covered strawberry for Nick and a truffle for Ethan. My husband sampled the chocolate-covered pretzels. Everyone was happy!

Chocolate is one of my favorite things in life, so this was not a tough day for me. It was work, but fun work made all the better by beautiful weather and the really wonderful people of Chelsea.

Kathleen Murphy is the editor of The Chelsea Standard and Dexter Leader. Contact her at (734) 429-7380, kmurphy@heritage.com or on Twitter at @kathleeneditor.