Lavender Design + Cuisine: December 2019

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Holiday Artisan Chocolate & Wine Pairing Class Beautiful Pictures!

Beautifully packaged box of

chocolates by students!

Chocolate Class Materials

Beautiful Flowers by LocaLife Flowers

in Bonny Doon

Persimmon Chocolate Lavender Tart

Class Materials

Magical Venue in Santa Cruz Mountains

Wine: Truvee Red Blend Central Coast 2013

Organic dried fruits & herbs

Organic dried fruits & nuts

Jean is having fun zesting orange!

Orange zest makes chocolate even

more delicious!

Melting chocolate & infusing it with

culinary lavender & orange zest is an art,

which my fabulous students perfectly did!

John & Jean having fun creating chocolate arts!

Jason loves chocolate, can you tell?

Lisa is creating chocolate arts!

Chocolate arts collaboration!

Chocolate arts made by students!

Demonstrating how to make a colorful,

beautiful & decadent chocolate barks

Chocolate barks completed pic

Chocolate arts collaboration

Herbed vegan beetroot & butter beans paté with

French & watermelon radishes,

rainbow carrots, apples, pears

Herbed vegan beetroot & butter beans paté with

French & watermelon radishes,

rainbow carrots, apples, pears and

Za'atar Moroccan spiced crackers.

Students enjoying coffee & tart before the class

Students & their beautifully packaged

chocolate arts, so proud of them!

Toque Blanche Discount on these items and

everything in their store and web site.

My students are awesome!

They rocked my Holiday Artisan Chocolate and Wine Pairing Class on Saturday, December 7th at the beautiful FlipJack Ranch nestled in the magical Santa Cruz Mountains.

Upon their arrival, in the beautiful, cozy, warm and festive settings of the FlipJack ranch, they enjoyed a delicious French roast coffee infused with Provence culinary lavender, a delightful red rooibos tea and a decadent vegan persimmon chocolate lavender tart.

Then, they each took a set of class materials displayed on a perfect long table and beautifully complemented with gorgeous flowers by Localife Flowers, which is the local flowers source (Bonny Doon) for my culinary classes and catering events, thank you Cristina!

Next, they joyfully put on their eclectic aprons and beautifully collaborated with each other to make exquisite chocolate arts with Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate (infused with orange zest & Provence culinary lavender) and incredible selections of organic ingredients such as herbs, flowers, chocolate covered cocoa nibs, freeze dried raspberries, candied orange, dried fruits, nuts & fleur de sel.

While waiting for their beautiful chocolates to set, they enjoyed a delicious herbed vegan beetroot & butter beans paté with French & watermelon radishes, rainbow carrots, apples, pears and Za'atar Moroccan spiced crackers.

They also enjoyed sampling their beautiful chocolates with a delicious wine, the Truvee Red Blend Central Coast 2013 by McBride Sisters. They took home a bottle of this delicious wine, a box of their beautifully packaged chocolate arts and a small bag of Provence culinary lavender!

Plus, they'll enjoy one-time 10% discount offer on all items available in the Toque Blanche kitchen store in downtown Santa Cruz and on their website.

Thank you, my fabulous students for your presence in my class and your beautiful testimonials. You are the center of my culinary world and a great inspiration!

At last, but not the least, a special thanks to Robin & David, the owners of the FlipJack Ranch for the most beautiful venue for my class, everyone loved it.

Chef Ellie Lavender
Vegan Mediterranean Personal Chef
Culinary & Wine Pairing Instructor
Lavender Design + Cuisine

Join my network on Facebook & Instagram to receive recipes and information

on upcoming chocolate, culinary & wine pairing classes and special events!

Holiday Artisan Chocolate & Wine Pairing Class Beautiful Testimonials!

Delicious and fun time with awesome students in my Holiday Artisan Chocolate & Wine Pairing Class on Saturday December 7th at the beautiful FlipJack Ranch, in the Santa Cruz mountains and would love to share their beautiful testimonials:

Ernie, Walnut Creek – 'Love the energy Chef Ellie brings to her class! This is my third and most favorite. Thank you Chef Ellie.'

Jason, Watsonville– ‘Anyone who likes chocolate, will love this class. Chef Ellie makes chocolate making fun and enjoyable as eating it!'

Teri, Brookdale – 'Today's class was so fun, educational & so full of love for food. Thank you Chef Ellie for your positive goodness & heartfelt joy in teaching!'

Vikki, Aptos – 'Ellie's classes are the best! What better way to spend the Saturday than learning to cook nutritious, Mediterranean vegan food. She is such a pleasure to spend the day with. Thank you!'

Amy, Ben Lomond - 'Ellie is the hostess with the mostest. She creates the most artistic, flavorful, healthy food I've ever experienced. Her classes are uniquely orchestrated and everyone participates. So fun, great people/foodies.'

Linda, Santa Cruz – 'I learned so much today. It was the first time for me to make confections. I enjoyed the people and wonderful food. Thanks for a lovely day.'

Lisa & John, San Jose – ‘Chef Ellie's class was so wonderful. So creative and fun. She was warm and welcoming, the venue was rustic and perfect, and the lesson was engaging. Look forward to taking another class. Thank you.'

Jean, Santa Cruz– 'So fun! Chef Ellie is warm & sweet and includes everyone so we all learn, make & taste lovely chocolates, artisanal style. Thank you.'

To view the Holiday Artisan Chocolate & Wine Pairing Class Beautiful, please click here.

Thank you so much my awesome students for your beautiful testimonials! You are the center of my culinary world and a great inspiration!

Chef Ellie Lavender

Vegan Mediterranean Personal Chef

Culinary & Wine Pairing Instructor

Lavender Design + Cuisine

Join my network on Facebook & Instagram to receive recipes and information

on upcoming chocolate, culinary & wine pairing classes and special events!