Thank You, Guittard Chocolate Company!

I've just returned to the office after having my hair cut, (for the second time in two weeks, because I am apparently addicted to my stylist, Mark at Cheveux) to find this amazing package from The Guittard Chocolate Company waiting for me!

I am just simply without words... One of the sweet, (pun intended) people at Guittard knows I cannot create chocolate chip cookies without them, so he's sent me a sampling of their artisan chocolate baking products to use any way I'd like! And, do let me tell you, the ideas swimming around in my head right now make me wish that I was at home in my kitchen!

You know I'm a Monterey girl. You know I die for the Central Coast, and San Francisco too. So honestly... This package feels much like a care package from home!

The truth is, I cannot find Guittard at grocery stores in North Carolina. However, I did recently lobby management at The Fresh Market to begin stocking it. And, if you live in this area, you can thank me for the Nielsen-Massey vanilla paste they now sell, (for only $7.99 a jar - Hurry and stock up because it's $16.99 at Dean and Deluca!) All that being said, Guittard is difficult for me to find here - Which is why I stock up at Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table, where they each hold a 1-pound box hostage for $12. Not that I am complaining. I don't mind hunting down or paying top dollar for the Best chocolate on the planet... It's just convenience I'm missing. Also, I know the adorable man I love would appreciate it if I could come home just once without dropping $200 at Williams-Sonoma or Sur la Table just because he was in the mood for cookies, and I was out of my Guittard wafers.

Trust me when I tell you... If you haven't baked chocolate goodies using Guittard artisan chocolate... Well, then you haven't baked chocolate goodies! And, the history of Guittard is truly as sweet as the chocolate they produce - Only in America could a Frenchman come to mine gold in San Francisco and find a gold mine in chocolate! Seriously, read all about Etienne Guittard for yourself, here! It might just surprise you to learn there's no, H in the name of the Oldest family owned and operated chocolate company in the United States!

I am busy decorating engagement ring sugar cookies tonight but you have no idea how badly I want to create with this chocolate! This is also day #4 of my 21-day CLEAN detox cleanse, so you also don't know how badly I just want to rip into a bag of Guittard chocolate chips right now!

I would like to thank The Guittard Chocolate Company for their overwhelming generosity and care. I plan to make the best use of their gifts, which is always to delight the people I love.

*FTC-required disclosure: The Guittard Chocolate Company provided me with the baking chocolate you see in the above photo at no cost. Until today, all of the Guittard baking chocolate I've used forever has been purchased at full retail cost. Guittard has not compensated me in any other way, and all opinions about their fabulous artisan chocolate products are absolutely my own.