Making Tracks: No such thing as too much chocolate…?

Making Tracks

By Kat Bryant

My work has opened up an amazing variety of fun experiences for me, but I have to say this past weekend was the sweetest so far.

Over the past three years I’ve had the privilege of chatting with some of the Harbor’s most interesting people, from community leaders to dedicated nonprofit volunteers to talented and big-hearted artists.

I’ve gone out on whale-watching excursions, attended Outdoor School for a day and taken pictures on the field at Loggers Playday.

I have also attended more local festivals during my time here than I did in my entire life before moving to the Harbor. I’ve been to a lot of them more than once — for work, or play, or both. But there are exactly three that I haven’t missed a single time since I moved to the Harbor in March 2017: Playday, Tokeland Woodfest and Chocolate on the Beach.

During this time, I’ve become friends with “Chocolate Lady” Stephanie Allestad because her crazy matches mine, and because we both love chocolate. This year, she invited me to serve as a food judge at Chocolate on the Beach.

It was like asking Hunter Thompson to try all the LSD. I’m pretty sure my pupils became fully dilated as I said “Hell yeah!”

How could I have known what I was getting myself into?

I showed up for the judges orientation at 9:30 Saturday morning, fully prepared with my elastic-waistlined jeans and chocolate-colored top.

The nine of us donned our credentials as we introduced ourselves and received a briefing on the procedure and general rules. We were advised not to clean our plates, so to speak; just a couple of bites was enough, as there would be a lot to sample.

They were not kidding.

At first, I was bummed there was only one contender in the Professional category: Ocean Crest Resort. But as chefs Jess Owen and Ron Wisner served us nine fantastic dishes, one by one — ranging from a fairly simple but perfect dark-chocolate cream pie to elegant bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with bleu cheese and drizzled with chocolate — I became ever more thankful for it. How could I possibly eat any more?

Yet there was more to come.

After that delicious gauntlet, we judges got a 45-minute break while the public entries were organized. I used that time to go next door to check out the vendors and chat with another of my favorite peeps: Brother Bliss, the genius behind Blissful Wunders Chocolatier. I bought an assortment of his truffles to take home, as I always do.

At 11:15, we reconvened.

First, we wandered the room with our clipboards to score each entry for presentation and originality. There were five tables covered with food — mostly chocolate molds, cakes, pies and cookies, as you might expect. And then the knives came out to cut everything up for tasting.

Imagine surveying literally dozens of desserts and knowing you’re going to taste every single one of them. I felt a mixture of joy and dread as I dove in.

There were so many yummy things to try, but I carefully limited myself to one bite of each. Near the end, even that became difficult. I’ve always said there’s no such thing as too much chocolate, but that conviction was wavering precariously.

Long story short, I finished and turned in my score sheet, and then I drove home to Hoquiam. When I got there, I poured myself a glass of milk. And then another. After the third one, I felt better.

Several hours later, I unwrapped a blueberry truffle I’d bought from Brother Bliss and savored it with yet another glass of milk. It was heavenly.

And on Monday morning, Karen Barkstrom showed up at our office with the Girl Scout Thin Mints I ordered a month ago from her granddaughter.

There really is no such thing as too much chocolate. With my faith restored, I bought some more milk on my way home.

Kat Bryant is lifestyle editor of The Daily World and editor of Washington Coast Magazine. She remains an unrepentant chocoholic. Reach her at kbryant@thedailyworld.com or on Facebook at Kat Bryant-DailyWorld.