Aloha and welcome to my blog/profile/page.I am the owner of Sweet Paradise Chocolatier- I am "artisan" chocolate maker in Hawaii and have a small bohemian confection shop with a full grown replica of a cacao tree inside. Its in the windward town of Kailua on Oahu. ( the town Barack Obama and family vacation in ) All my chocolates are made fresh in small batches using my own recipes and focus on tropical fruit, nut and spice flavors since thats what is most readily available here. I love to embellish my creations with a variety of decoration tecniques from cocoa butters to texture sheets, natural fruit or spice pieces and edible flowers. The perfect chocolate box for me is a visual treat of color, texture form and aroma, afull sensory experience inviting one to step inside and discover the flavors within.I enjoy making chocolate recipes that reflect the cultural diversity found in Hawaii- primarily a fusion of Asian and Polynesian cultures, hence you will find fruits like Yuzu in my creations, Japanese Plum, ( Ume) firey Hawaiian Chili Pepper or various local harvested sea salts. We grow coffee, macadamia nuts, bananas, vanilla, cloves, nutmeg,lemongrass, ginger, kafir lime, jabong, rambutan, mangosteen, wasabe, poha, surinam cherry , green tea, and ohelo berry...the list of fun ingredients to work with here is endless!! A fun afternoon is heading out on a drive across the southern part of the Big Island and picking wild strawberry guavas.They are so fragrant and sweet you can't even ride in the car with them!In addition to my passion for chocolate I own a small lodging property ( www.visitthevolcano.com) outside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and build timber "kit" homes from cedar I bring down from British Columbia (www.mahanahomes.com) . leisure activities (is there such a thing or did I dream about them?)include walking on the beach with my golden retriever, checking out the farmers markets, riding horses, hiking Hawaii Volcanoes National Park or one of Oahu;s spectacular ridges,reading,internet surfing and listening to jazz and sipping some Red Zinfandel.Thanks for stopping by,Melanie Boudarwww.sweetparadisechocolate.com