photo by brian dewey [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Seattle is burning. On a cake. Who can say why. Obvs. the commenters, but who has the time? [seattle.lj]
• Skillet’s wandering days are over. (sort of &/or making the 12th ave microhood even better!) [voracious]
• Three ways to spend six dollars eating on Broadway, none of them Dick’s. [chtriangle]
• In addition to opening to the public, McLeod Residence will now host quiet music on the first Wednesday of the month. [threeimaginarygirls]
• Does this make you feel even slightly better about Vivace and Piroshky being torn down for light rail? The station will be decorated by Ellen Forney. [citizenrain]
• Starbucks gobbles up Clover. [myballard (btw, let's just go ahead and call this one the prohibitive favorite for 2009 tournament of blogs top seed)]

We’re back! Yes, that’s right. Meet Your Farmers Market Vendors is back! This week’s interview is Anne from Trevani Truffles.

I’ve been enjoying Anne’s truffles for several months now. She has interesting flavors like Grand Marnier, Pear Ginger, Blackberry, an Espresso Mocha, and of course, rich, decadent chocolate (among others).

I contacted Anne the other day and I’ll let her tell you about her business in her own words.

Here’s my story:  My little Trevani Truffles business began only last summer at the urging of my children.
 For several years the family and close friends were the sole recipients of these chocolates.  But my son, especially, kept bugging me to “DO something with these!”.  The opportunity came when, seeing that my sweet old momie was going to be living with us and needed some serious care, and that I couldn’t take care of her and work outside of the home, too.  I needed to scramble and get SOMETHING going.
I made a phone call to the Renton Farmer’s Market people to get info on how to start at the outdoor markets.  After an initial rejection because I don’t GROW the truffles and the market is an agricultural one, I was informed that 5% of the vendors could be not farmers as long as they were local.  I live in Renton so I was IN!
Now I have two year-round markets, University District on Saturdays and West Seattle on Sundays.  I’m looking to get into the Ballard Market and have Broadway and Renton this summer.

I use Venezuelan chocolate, 58% cocoa mass for the ganache and 73% for the shell.  Only DARK chocolates here!   I like the earthy quality of the Venezuelan chocolate.  It seems more raw.  I use local ingredients when I can.  Like the “CreamyDreamy Pear Ginger”,  the pear is from the Booth Orchards in Twisp. They sell at the Seattle farmer’s markets.  And the hazelnuts, too, are local market vendors. Chili peppers, local. Also organic ingredients when possible.  So ,yes, some of the flavor combinations are seasonal.  Local sweet wines and Whidbey’s Port are ingredients also used. I made a porter beer truffle last week.  And of course coffee!

As for how do I choose and decide what favors?  It  is a constant and  quite unscientific experimentation.  Just think of a thing delicious to you and if it sounds good dipped in chocolate!  Well, there you are.  A new experiment!  And a possible HIT!
My favorite part of the market scene is meeting the people and chatting with them.. Folks have a way of inspiring me to continue with this venture.  When their faces light up from (surprise?) tasting their 1st bite…OH! I want to take their pictures!  And the little kids who favor dark- not- sweet- chocolate!  who knew !?
Right now the outdoor markets are my “store”.  It has been a cold wet winter!  One day soon I’ll find a perfect little shop, like in the movie, CHOCOLAT.    ‘Til then, pray for beautiful cool sunshine!

–

Till next time, shop local, cook local, and if you find a new vendor because of this series, please tell them that you read about them on Seattle Metroblogging!

Note: Thank you for your patience during the 3 week break in this series. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

The sun is shining, it’s time to switch from hot to iced coffee drinks, and the University District Farmer’s Market was hopping this morning at 9 am. The line for Skagit River Ranch’s eggs was 6 people deep, but Woodring Orchards was still relatively quiet. When I asked Dale Nelson of Woodring about this, he revealed that it’s always slow for the first half an hour or so. People tend to grab their meat and veggies and then wander over to check out his wares.

Luckily for me, the brief lull in customers gave me a wonderful opportunity to interview Dale and find out a little about Woodring Orchards.
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Although I complained about it last night, the highlights reel episode of Grey’s Anatomy reminded me that some of you might be new to Seattle or new readers of this site. In the spirit of getting everyone caught up and reminiscing about the year that was, you’ll find a month-by-month rundown of 2005 after the jump. It’s a mix of a Seattle timeline and a few posts that might even make your 2006 a little better.

I think this officially concludes the site’s “looking back” portion of the program (even we have a limit to the amount of history we want to learn in order not to repeat it).

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Starbucks has been mentioned a few times on the Seatlte Metblog. Who are we kidding, Josh is obviously obsessed. But then again, this is Seattle.

Over the years, I’ve actually grown to accept and even welcome the presence of Starbucks in our fair city. Here are a few reasons why:
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The metroblogging mind is willing, but the caffeine-seeking flesh is weak. Yes, I’m supposed to be working my way down Broadway, one coffee shop at a time. But the next scheduled stop was the Starbucks in the new QFC (le grand sigh) and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
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This slow-mo caf