[Food in Books] Melt My Heart, Cowboy (Love at the Chocolate Shop #1) - C.J. Carmichael

• Ch. 1
• Cocoa peanut melts

Instead she pointed out one of the delicate and dreamy confections her boss, Sage Carrigan, had handcrafted just that morning. “Rich dark chocolate, swirled with creamy peanut goodness… what’s not to love?”

• Pink Himalayan Salted Chocolate Caramels (a box of twelve)
(both from Copper Mountain Chocolate)

• Ch. 2
• Veggie pizza
• Colas
(both from Pizza Parlor)

• Ch. 3
• Dark chocolate truffles (made by Sage)

• Ch. 4
• Skinny latte
• Black coffee
(both from Java Café)

• Ch. 5
• Oatmeal with blueberries

• Ch. 6
• Snacks Rosie brought for the hike

“I didn’t bring much, just some cheese and crackers and trail mix. It’s a special blend Sage makes at the chocolate shop with flakes of coconut, hazelnuts, and chocolate covered dried cherries.”

• Wine

• Ch. 7
• Taco salads

Rosie pointed to the drawer next to the oven. While Portia prepared the beef, Rosie chopped lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, and crunched some corn chips. Fifteen minutes later, their taco salads were ready. And they were delicious.

• Ch. 8
• Sara Maria's pie ingredients

“Flour, a bit of vinegar, and some vegetable shortening,” Sara Maria said. “Plus fruit for the filling.”

“I have several bags of rhubarb and raspberries in my freezer.” Her next door neighbor had a huge garden and was always bringing Rosie produce she had no idea what to do with. “Would that work?”

“Yes. Do you have the other things?”

“Not the vegetable shortening. But are you sure you want to make the crust from scratch? We could buy one of those frozen crusts.”

Sara Maria shook her head vigorously, her expression appalled.

“Okay. No frozen crusts.”

• Sara Maria's pie

Then she prepared the filling.

Rosie pulled out her bags of frozen rhubarb and raspberries. “Are you going to make some of each flavor?”

“No. I’ll mix them together, along with some corn starch, sugar, and orange zest.” Sara Maria snagged one of the oranges from the fruit bowl on the counter, then pulled out another kitchen utensil Rosie hadn’t seen in a long time.

Apparently it was an orange zester, because soon tiny slivers of orange peel had accumulated in a pile on the counter and a sweet citrus aroma was teasing Rosie’s nose and taste buds.

• Ch. 9
• Dinner cooked by Rosie

He insisted on letting her go first, then took a generous serving of the chunks of beef, potato, onion and carrot bathed in a caramelized gravy that smelled heavenly.

• Ch. 10
• Fresh cherry hazelnut bark

When she finally slipped back into the kitchen, Rosie found Sage pouring a vat of melted dark chocolate over a huge tray of dried, tart cherries, grated coconut, and chopped hazelnuts. Yum, Sage was making one of Rosie’s favorites.

Rosie set the pie down on a free corner by the sink, then watched as Sage layered the velvety chocolate over the fruit and nut mixture. After scraping the pot clean Sage then used a pastry spatula to smooth the chocolate evenly over the entire tray.

• Ch. 12
• Sage's chocolates

Very few chocolatiers made their chocolate from fermented and dried beans the way Sage did. In her place, Rosie wouldn’t have bothered. But Sage was a purist and nothing made her happier than working through the complicated steps of roasting, cracking, grinding and conching the beans.

Artistic black and white photos, showing each step of the process, were framed on the wall behind the cash register. Of all the steps, Rosie was proficient only with the last one, that of tempering the chocolate so the fats achieved a chemical bond. The resulting product could then be used in any of their many chocolate products.

Working all day surrounded by the heady aromas of cocoa, vanilla, caramel, and a multitude of other delicious flavors never got old for her.

• Chocolate mint melt away
(both from Copper Mountain Chocolate)

• Ch. 13
• Burgers
• Fries
• Milkshakes
(all from Main Street Diner)

• Ch. 14
• Beer
• Chicken wings
(both from Grey’s Saloon)
• Peanut butter on toast (made by Rosie)

• Ch. 15
• What Sage was working on

Sage was filling pumpkin-shaped molds with creamy milk chocolate, a delicate operation Rosie knew better than to interrupt.

(below is the tasting list of "Dark Magic Chocolate and Wine Event")
(wine from Two Old Goats)
(chocolates from Copper Mountain Chocolate)
• California merlot paired with Sage’s single origin dark chocolate
• The zinfandel paired with dark chocolate dreams truffle
• The vintage port paired with dried cherry and hazelnut dark chocolate bark
• The rasteau paired with the salted milk chocolate caramels
• The fruity chardonnay paired with the macadamia nut white chocolate truffles

• Ch. 16
• What Brant and Rosie had

They dressed, and then Brant went outside to fire up the barbecue, while she pulled the seasoned steaks from the fridge and prepared the veggies, nuking the potatoes which could then be finished in the barbecue.

When Brant came back inside, he had a bottle of red wine, which he opened and then filled two glasses.

• Ch. 18
• A bowl of cereal (Rosie's dinner)
• Apple cinnamon muffins (baked by Rosie, using Portia’s recipe)

• Ch. 19
• Smoked rib
• Coleslaw
(both from Graff Hotel)