Pumpkin chocolate from Christopher Elbow Chocolates. This is one of the more delicious holiday treats I will eat this year. If Elbow could ship me one of these the size of a pumpkin pie, I wouldn’t have to do any baking this week for Thanksgiving.

I discovered Christopher Elbow on a trip to Kansas City and liked their chocolate so much that I placed a sizable order during the holidays last year. A few months ago Dean and Deluca started carrying a small assortment which was very welcome. Unfortunately they don’t stock the turtles, but still, I’ll take what I can get.

Christmas chocolate bounty. Right now I’ve got my Flannery prime rib in the oven, so I’m trying to keep out of this collection of my favorite artisan chocolates. In there we’ve got Spicy Maya and Firecracker from Chuao, reminders of my San Diego days. Then there are salt caramel chocolates and honey chocolates from Nunu (see a video about Nunu on Food Curated), a new but happy discovery. Finally, my favorite chocolate creations, Fleur de Sel Dark Chocolate Turtles from Christopher Elbow (see my earlier post about Elbow).

Glacé Artisan Ice Cream shop in Kansas City. This place is operated by Christopher Elbow, whose chocolates I posted about yesterday. There wasn’t quite the same wow factor as his chocolates, but this is really good ice cream! Elbow seems to have a knack for caramel, as the fleur de sel caramel flavor was my favorite despite being one of the less adventurous selections. The spiced chocolate was really nice. The mint chocolate chip and lavender were excellent, both really aromatic and tasting of fresh herbs. Unfortunately there are limits to how much ice cream one can taste in a sitting, so I just sampled what I assumed would be my favorites.

Christopher Elbow chocolates. I don’t think I can praise this place enough—it might be the best chocolate shop/ confectioner I’ve been to in the US. Pictured is a fleur de sel turtle, which I thought was the best of the best. Also, the Venezuelan Spice “liquid chocolate” is the best cup of hot chocolate I’ve ever had, down to the homemade vanilla marshmallows. My previous favorite had been Chuao’s Spicy Maya hot chocolate, but this was a whole new level. Thanks to Hrönn and David for the tip!