and it doesn't hurt that this is one of johnny depp's favorite bands either...



Should you expect to see something that you hadn't seen
In somebody you'd known since you were sixteen;
if love is a bolt from the blue, then what is that bolt but a glorified screw?
and that doesn't hold nothing together
Far from these nonsense bars and their nowhere music it's making me sick
And I know it's making you sick
There's nothing there, it's like eating air
It's like drinking gin with nothing else in
That doesn't hold me together.

But for one crowded hour, you were the only one in the room
And I sailed around all those bumps in the night to your beacon in the gloom
I thought I had found my golden September in the middle of that purple June
But one crowded hour would lead to my wreck and ruin

Now I know you like your boys to take their medicine
From the bowl with a silver spoon
Run away with the dish and scare the fish by the silvery light of the moon
Who were taught from the womb to believe to the tune
In as far as their bleeding eyes see
Is a pleasure pen, meant for them, built for and rent for them
Not for the likes of me
Not for the like of you and me

And for one crowded hour, you were the only one in the room
And I sailed around all those bumps in the night to your beacon in the gloom
I thought I had found my golden September in the middle of that purple June
But one crowded hour would lead to my wreck and ruin

Oh but the green-eyed harpy of the songland
She takes into hers my hand
She says, "Boy I know you're lying
Oh but then, so am I,"
And to this I said "Oh well."

They put me in a cage full of lions, I learned to speak lion
In fact I know the language well
I picked it up while I was versing myself in the languages they speak in hell
That night, the silence gave birth to a baby
They took it away to her silent dismay
And they raised it to be lady
Now she can't keep her mouth shut

some things you may not know about S&B

1) How did you get the idea to start making artisan products? Celeste and Ben are the two original creators of Snake & Butterfly. When they met 4+ years ago, Ben was researching raw chocolate with all of it healthy loveliness. The timing was perfect for a chocolate company to be born, frankly if they had met a month or so earlier, we would be a sprouted nut and seed company!! One of the things that makes this business special to us and to our customers is that none of us have worked with chocolate before this. We have an unbiased outlook on chocolate and we move forward without any preconceived notions about how things are “supposed” to be done.

2) How did you get started with your business? Ben and Celeste started things slowly, researching other chocolate makers, tasting lots of different types and flavors comparing with different wines. Then they began crafting in different methods until the taste, texture and process was right. When they had something tasty, they sent samples to friends and family to get feedback and suggestions. They had late night talks about packaging and the future of the company. Celeste started handling the business side while Ben was working in product development. When Vince came on board, he kicked their butts into high gear! He helped get the business plan finished and started working out the kinks in making delicious caramels and truffles. He also started expanding the customer base and adding wholesale accounts. Jim and Mara started out as regulars at the Campbell Farmers Market and were so impressed with the product and the passion everyone had that they practically begged to be a part of the company.

3) What’s your favorite way to use your product? Besides just eating it? The single origin bars are great chopped up and mixed into baked goods, like gluten-free chocolate zucchini muffins. The jarred caramels are good with fresh fruit, over ice cream, on carrots (as our kids can attest to) or just on a spoon! We love doing wine, coffee and cigar pairings too!

4) Which product is your best seller? Our peanut butter cups are by far the most popular item we make. They are the right combination of simple organic ingredients: chocolate, peanut butter, agave and salt. That’s it!

5) What’s your friends’ and family’s favorite product you sell? The kids seem to be enjoying the peanut butter cups and the caramels, the Bacon Caramels specifically. With the adults, we find that the flavored bars like the Sea Salt & Smoked Almond and the jarred caramels, like Salted Bourbon, are increasingly favored.

6) What is your favorite part about being an artisan producer? Getting to introduce new customers to our products and seeing the enjoyment on their faces is a big highlight of our jobs. Working with quality ingredients and having a place to be creative help smooth out any of the bumps we may have along the way. Plus having a team that works easily together and seems to mainly all be on the same page about where we’re going and how we’d like to get there, really makes going to work each day a joy instead of a chore.

7) How do you get ideas for innovating with products and creating new flavors or varieties? A lot of the time, one of us will latch on to an idea and try it. Then as a group we’ll taste,test and tweak the recipe until we have found something that is unique and delicious. Our Dulce de Leche Jalapenos started out as a whole roasted and candied jalapeno, filled with the spiced dulche de leche then dipped in chocolate. In that form, it was a little messy and hard to share, so Vince (the mastermind behind that product) decided that bite size would be better. He figured out how to make them smaller. They may be little but they pack a big flavor punch!

8) What inspires your art direction and packaging? How did you come up with your style? We are all really proud of our new packaging but the credit has to go to Celeste for spearheading it’s creation and working hand in hand with the photographer - her mother, Debra - and the printer to get it just right. We wanted packaging that invoked a feeling when you looked at it, not just to tell you what you were eating but to tell you how we feel about it. For example, the peanut butter cups have bicycle tires on the package; it’s feels fun, whimsical and hearkens back to a simpler time, while the Ginger & Nib bar has a macro picture of a dahlia that feels exotic and mysterious like the taste of ginger can be at times. We went for the direction of natural and handmade with our design just like our chocolate.

9) Who inspires you in the kitchen? Who taught you to cook/produce? The raw ingredients are inspiring to work with. It’s kind of like a treasure hunt to find the best, most sustainable products we can. Then to work with them, coaxing out their richness, their subtle flavors often leaves us in awe. Some of us have traditional training in the kitchen, while the rest of us are self-taught, there’s not one chocolate “expert” in the group. We continue to learn through research, trial and error and remembering to have fun playing with our food. We inspire each other!

yes, i think this background is working AND thursday 13: week 16

whatever the hell i feel like edition, namely

celeste is

1) celeste is leaving for seattle/port townsend in six days and is totally unprepared for the trip. we are flying. it's for our family reunion. ready for a break. deargodletitbesunny. yeahright. it'sneverfuckingsunnyinseattle.

2) celeste is letting her children eat potato chips and (bad) chocolate for lunch today and doesn't. even. care.

3) celeste is (still) in love it's been almost four years. wtf, man? where does time go? also, danny is going to school again, to be a firefighter/sar/paramedic/orsomething. he's already a successful contractor. but ya know, he's a huge underachiever.

4) celeste is very tempted to go public with the blog again. is there a way to BLOCK specific emails/ip addys?

5) celeste is really in quite in love with this song...and the random video too.

6) celeste is on her way out the door to the kitchen and will continue from there

7) celeste is apparently forgetful. hullo? it's sunday and here i am finishing this...

8) celeste is totally impressed with this download: TuneUp. if you are an itunes user, this is for you!

9) celeste is walking three days a week with mara and colleen and gonna get in shape (and make colleen cry while i'm at it). have i mentioned how important it is to have mom friends when you're a parent? WHY DIDN'T I LISTEN SEVEN YEARS AGO? this is seriously my sanity.

10) celeste is SO OVER summer. please, it is bad for mama's mental health to listen to fighting all day. also, chocolate business + summer heat in california = WAY TOO HARD.

11) celeste is so sure (tonight) that she doesn't want more babies. yes, i get a little achy around the ovaries every once in a while but all in all this freedom + awesome kid-ages thing makes me want to keep. moving. forward. have i mentioned that i love 7.5 year olds?

12) celeste is terrifically fascinated with the raising of honey bees and very lucky to have a regular at my farmers' market who brings me fresh honey ON THE FRAMES for our s&b honey caramels. :D

13) celeste is gonna go watch tv with dandan now that the kids have stopped their squealing.

maybe a new background will help, that other one is soooo 2005

so, yeah, i thought today was my ten year wedding anniversary but when i sent a text message to bk demanding presents he informed me that my math skills are (still) terrible. apparently we were married in 2002, not 2001. we're celebrating by me being a bitch and not having sex with him, ya know, for old time's sake.

"mom, this is our family jumping out of a plane. those white blobs over our heads are parachutes. we're supposed to land on the x. daddy has no parachute. that's why he's frowning. oops." from left: rory, dandan, lorenzo, parker, mama. so yeah, parker has the same sense of humor. :D

i am seriously failing in the blogging department

because i am EXCELLING in the life department.

snake & butterfly is doing things i never dreamed it would do. we got into williams effing sonoma ya'll. new packaging is in full effect (thanks to me, mom, and that printer guy up the hill). we've just put in an application to an adorable little place in downtown campbell to open a mother-loving STORE. pictures and an updated website to follow.

oh oh oh, i can share this here because dan dan doesn't read this blog! i'm taking him to germany (bremen) and the netherlands (amsterdam) for his 30th birthday and it's a surprise. he's never been to europe. shhhhh. ideas? i've been to amsterdam but not germany. we have family in both places so won't be needing anywhere to stay. eeeee! going after christmas (28th?) for a week to ten days.

the kids? the kids are lovely and terrible all rolled into one. i am SO ready for school to start, not because they're bothering me particularly but because they are driving each other crazy. they play SO well together until suddenly: they don't. *i'm interrupting my own post to tell you that i hate baby's breath (the flower). there, i said it.* someone please inform me if there is a year round school near here. also, what the hell is with the GIANT list of supplies the kids need this year? 45 boxes of kleenex? 700 pencils? 68 boxes of crayons? i'm going to need to take out a loan. lorenzo turned five and yes, i'm a terrible mom for not making some special post. but anyway, he's having experiencing some "growing pains" but is still totally the love of my life. which reminds me. have i mentioned how much i love 7 year olds? while i find them exhausting, grade schoolers are SO much easier than their younger selves. they read! they use their words (mostly)! they HELP! they understand consequences! they play ridiculously complex soap-opera-ish games with their barbies (also, how lucky is miss p to have a little brother that LOVES barbies???). they take an interest in music! they turn their noses up at crappy chocolate! i'm so proud. :D


tired of tired

i'm so exhausted and feel like i have been forever. some days i can barely keep my eyes open i'm so groggy. after all that testing i've had done since november i think i've gotten nowhere. meds have all been jumbled up...additional thyroid drug, a new antidepressant after 10 years. i have stuff i want to be doing. ugh. more later. when i'm not so tired. *yawn*