Chocolate Chocolate Tablescape - Food for Thought

Chocolate Chocolate

The True Story of Two Sisters,

 Tons of Treats

and The Little Shop That Could

Now if there is a book that gets your chocolate

tastebuds flaring (and how appropriate right after

Valentine's Day) it is this charming story of 

broken dreams in life in Korea followed by

 the American dream come true.

Chocolate Chocolate is written by

Frances Park and Ginger Park and tells 

their true story of their dream of owning

a chocolate shop.

Remember the movie Chocolat how you felt

like they should have handed out fine chocolates

at the door of the theater for you to nibble on

while you watch?  Well, this book is the same!

You had better surround yourself with chocolates

as you eat, I mean read, your way through this

book.  You cannot imagine the sumptuous 

descriptions of chocolates that these women

give in this book.  Your mouth will be watering

from beginning to end.

If I had to pick one image from the book that is burned

into my mind it would be that of their mother munching on

Hershey bars and their father returning from a trip with a

suitcase filled with Lindt candy bars.  I decided to combine

the two images for my table with a centerpiece of a

stylized suitcase filled with Hershey bars.

Their mother was a woman of wealth in Korea

before war broke out there.  Here was a woman

who was used to having servants and now she

was on the streets alone trying to survive.  

"Even with money in her pocket and a floor to

sleep on, Mom was no better off than a beggar....One

day she passed a small market,

  its shelves nearly empty except for...Was she hallucinating

from hunger:  Before her was a tantalizing mirage, a

barrel filled with the biggest chocolate bars she

had ever seen.  Brown wrappers,  English lettering.

....Black-market chocolate.  What could possibly be more

delicious?  Mom emptied her pockets without a second thought.

That night, as American B-52s dropped bombs over Seoul, 

...Mom hid under a thick burlap blanket with her

Hershey bars.  She comforted herself with a vow: "If I 

must die, I will die with chocolate on my lips!"

"During our childhoods, Mom always wore a brave face.  

Sometimes we would hear her quietly weeping behind walls, 

or see her face contorting with emotion....

As kids, we had no idea that the sudden

yank from her idyllic childhood had set a  reclusive tone for

the rest of her life, or that she worried every day over the fate of her

mother, or that her Third Brother, her most beloved and most

doting, was killed the night she nibbled on an American

chocolate bar to the echoing sounds of bombs close by.

We understood only that she stashed family -sized Hersey

bars in our big egg-yolk-colored fridge, deep inside...the

chocolate bars in the brown wrappers were forbidden to us -

they were hers and hers alone."

I believe in having an emergency supply of food

and we have always joked that we will barter our

chocolate for valuables!  Reading this book made

me realize how much I would want a supply of

chocolate on hand just as Mom did.

The girls dream of owning their own chocolate

shop and the book takes you through their

trials and tribulations of trying to work with

contractors in Washington DC where they

opened shop.  

"Chocolate was our comfort food, and we spent our days

munching away on Hershey Kisses wondering whether

we should go into business together, invest in a new life with the

small inheritance Dad left us."

You come to know their customers, their quirkiness,

their tastes, their lives and the influence they had 

on these struggling entrepreneurs.

Frances Park is on the left and Ginger Park is

on the right.  They have also written many other

books but this one focuses on their story.

You can check them out on their official website

 Park Sisters

(Both of the above photos come from their website.)

My tablescape today is Chocolate Chocolate

in honor of their book.

Let me begin by listing some of the chapters of their

mouthwatering book:

Baci Kiss

Half-Moon Buttercream Dream

Chocolate Heart, Foiled

milk Chocolate Mousse Dream

Monster Mint Patty

Lemon Heaven

(and those are only a few of the chapters.)

It is also a story of romance and love

as you follow Frances and Ginger 

through dating, broken loves and marriage.

If this table tantalized your tastebuds for

"Edible Books"

visit Jain at

Food For Thought

to see her review of this book and 

ask her to email you the list of books

Food For Thought will be covering this

year.  Join in on the fun.

And as a true story of sisterly bonds, I have to point

out that these beautiful "purple" Royal Crown goblets

were a gift from my sister Jean.  She saw them and

thought of me.  They are so gorgeous and look purple

in some light and pink in other light.

The book ends with their recipe for their

House Truffle which they created.  Of course

I have highlighted it on my Ipad and plan to give 

it a try.

Their final line in the book is 

"Long Live Chocolate."

I hope you enjoyed Chocolate Chocolate

with me today. 

Visit Mary to see her Chocolate Chocolate review

or

Sarah to see her Chocolate Chocolate review and

start your mouth watering.

I will be posting this with 

Tablescapes Thursday 

Seasonal Sunday