This year, like every year, we had the pure pleasure of hosting Mrs. Housey-Johnson's fifth grade class on their community day here in Hamtramck! And now, Ms. Lou (a.k.a. security, "the dog", HR) and I are sitting up front, mail just delivered, poring over letter after letter that are equally adorable as they are inquisitive.
We've been meaning to start a blog. For the most part to keep track of all of the goodness (or should we say Bon-ness) that happens around here as a family. But also to keep in touch with some of our favorite customers who have moved very far away. They feel like very extended family. We miss them! Or, if you're a certain mom and two daughters in Texas or a handsome man in Colorado or NYC, or a comedian who left us for Cali, or maybe you're a makeup artist turned nurse who just got married and you're close by but just busy, then what we mean is we miss YOU!
(Briefly, I'd like to add a shout out here to the Hamtramck City Fire Department who just drove by and gave us a terrifying toot toot. Toot toot to you too, boys!)
Anyway, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to start. Admittedly, there will be no consistency to this. But there's nothing like a pile of questions to get you going!
So here goes, in no particular order...
RESPONSES TO MRS. HOUSEY-JOHNSON'S FIFTH GRADE CLASS
The most important answer, which we would like to get out of the way right away is: YES, WE WOULD LOVE TO COME READ TO YOUR CLASS FOR MARCH COMMUNITY READERS DAY!
Shati - We thought of how to open Bon Bon Bon with a lot of help from friends. The original idea came about 10 years ago while Alex was eating chocolate and living in Scandinavia and it continues to evolve over time as we make it different and better and have fun with it!
Tarquin - We do get to eat chocolate on our lunch break. In fact, we get to eat chocolate all day long! We are encouraged to eat as much chocolate as possible during the day for quality control, no joke! Also, we have not made a turkey Bon, yet! We did make a "Thanksgiving Dinner" Bon with candied cranberry and orange, crunchy stuffing chocolate crunch and sweet potato ganache, though!
Shaira - We do like making a lot of chocolate but we prefer to make a medium amount of chocolate. Sometimes it is overwhelming making a lot of chocolate because we are a little company in a little shop! In fifth grade our favorite books were: The Phantom Tollbooth, The adventures of Little Tree, Hedgehog Bakes a Cake, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, a Russian book that we cant remember the title of about a girl named Masha. Margie says she never liked to read but she did like to play a lot of sports. And yes, our job is very fun!
Halima - We all have different favorite parts of our job, mine is the people who I would with. Actually, it turns our all of our favorite parts are "the people we work with"! We love each other very much and it's a pleasure to work together! Our ideas come from everywhere - even from a visit from you guys! The best part about making chocolates in Hamtramck is that there are so many different people from so many different places that bring their food traditions with them and are willing to share!
Nafisa - We are so happy to hear that you are interested in working as a chocolate lady that sells chocolate! Working with chocolate is so rewarding - it is artistic, scientific and there is even a certain zen flow that you can find in production that we like. Not to mention, we get to talk to a lot of good people who are supportive and excited to work with us!
Mustakeem - You are also very sweet!
Ali & Mohammed & Mohammed - We all have a different favorite. As a staff, together we would probably pick the Mustachio! It has pistachio and white chocolate gianduja (kind of like nutella?) and muscato caramel (think: grape-y caramel). We get our chocolate from Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Hope you have a good day, too!
Liza - We like to eat a wide variety of things! Our most favorite foods in Hamtramck are Amar Mediterranean Pizza with fried eggplant and one ranch dressing per person. We also like chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, steak, fruit, sushi, Nellie's mom's beef stew and sparkling water. Also, our neighbor makes really good salsa.
Nilla - Yes! We did like chocolate when we were small! Some of our favorite chocolates from when we were little are Snickers, Twix, Reese's and Reese's Pieces. Awditi is the only exception, she did not like chocolate very much when she was little!
Knowledge - Thank you!
Walaa - You can come to Bon Bon Bon on weekends! Check our hours here, we would love to see you! In case the person working is not one of the people who were here during your class visit, please do introduce yourself!
Ruthie & Ibrahim - We get all of our chocolate to us from Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela shipped, sometimes by boat and truck and sometimes by air. It depends!
Labinot - Things here at the chocolate factory have been very busy! With the holidays coming up, we are busy filling orders that seem to be flying out the door! Thank you for asking.
Ghaida - We decided to make chocolate for people because it's fun! Also because we get to eat chocolate! Also, it let's us be a "Jack of all trades" in a sense.
Faudra - We love making caramel! When we make our caramel, we heat sugar until it's very dark. While you are heating the sugar, it is very important to brush the sides of the pot down with a wet pastry brush to keep the whole pot from turning into crystals! Be very careful with hot sugar - it can burn you, and quick! Then, we add heavy cream slowly and cocoa butter. We let it simmer and reduce until it becomes the right consistency and then we add salt! Sometimes we will do things a little bit differently depending on what kind of a caramel it is!
T'Audra - We do not currently have any open positions but we are always collecting resumes! Your sister can submit an application at any time here!
Tariq - The chocolate we sells the most of is probably Better Butter Crunch with Better Made Potato Chips, milk chocolate and French grey sea salt.
Adam - We would like to make a new chocolate! Right now we are working on our Valentine's Day Collection! Which is a lot of fun! We tend to repeat items on our Valentine's Day Collection because it is such a silly and delicious combination of chocolates but we want to spice things up even more this time!
Mamoon - Thank you! Looking forward to having you back to taste more chocolate!
