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Liz’s Mom threw a back-to-school BBQ out at her place in Tabor.  It was a combination party for everyone (college, elementary, pre-k, middle school).  We even had an inflatable jump pad (i.e. auto-nanny) for the kids.  Photos are up in the Random Images tab.

Since it was all about school, for some reason the topic of school mascots was brought up.  I graduated from New Braunfels High School (in New Braunfels, Texas) and our mascot was a Unicorn.  Now, apparently, outside of the bubble around New Braunfels, this isn’t as mighty a mascot as I had been led to believe throughout my high school career.  In fact, most people laugh uncontrollably when I tell them.  I now give you exhibit A.  All I can say is, “Unicorn Pride is justified!”.

Yesterday evening, Liz and I took the kids out to Calvert to hunt down Cocoamoda.  I had read about the store in the June issue of Texas Highways magazine.  My co-workers and I (I get the issue free and delivered at work as I am a State of Texas employee) were actually quite shocked to find out that a high-end confectionery such as this was in Calvert, a mere 30 minutes drive from Bryan/College Station.  Honestly, we were also shocked to as to why it was in Calvert.  About the only reason I’ve ever stopped in Calvert was because the traffic signal was red.

Borrowing from the Texas Highway article, I like Chef Wilkinson’s reason,

He just knew that he wanted to open a chocolate boutique, using recipes and techniques he had learned in Europe, and that his present hometown of Houston wouldn’t support the scenario he envisioned. Real estate cost too much, for one, but he also thought that city-dwellers might be too distracted to linger and wax rhapsodic over the textural experience of an enrobed key-lime ganache or the painterly dusting of raspberry essence on a perfectly spherical truffle.

Long story short (get the full details after the jump), the chocolates are absolutely wonderful.  The chocolate is not overly sweet, nor is it so dark that it becomes bitter.  Flavor pairings are almost perfect in my opinion and the service at the counter is exceptional.  We were allowed, actually, we were encouraged to sample the truffles and couldn’t resist, but bought a 24-count box.  It was like when Liz and I bought our Mustang Convertible a few years ago, if I hadn’t test driven the car, I would have been able to walk away.  These chocolates and confections are exactly the same.  You can of course get smaller boxes but that just wouldn’t be fair to your taste buds.  We chose the Raspberry (dusted with powdered sugar), Blackberry, Key Lime, Hazelnut, and the Praline.  We also got a little surprise and had some pieces of Chocolate covered Orange Rind and Chocolate covered Candied Ginger in the box.
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