-I'm Margaret Savas and I am a chocolatier.
I grew up with my dad telling me stories
about working in the candy and ice cream store in Chicago.
My grandfather and his brother came over from Greece
and the uncle started the candy store in Chicago.
And my dad grew up working there.
His siblings all grew up working there.
Back in the days when Chicago
had a candy and ice cream store every other corner.
And many immigrant families found their way into confections
in order to make living in a new place.
And at the time of hearing all these stories
as a kid growing up, I did not necessarily have an impulse,
"Oh, that's what I'm going to do."
But I'm delighted that the universe took me down this path.
After college, not sure what I was going to do
with my very useful theater degree,
and I got a day job working
at the original Fran's Chocolate store
in the Madison Valley.
And Fran herself took me through how to taste chocolate,
how to talk about chocolate, and I learned from the best.
And at the time, I did not think I would ever do it on my own.
But looking back, that's how I'm able to do all the parts myself.
If you're not careful in your sourcing of chocolate,
there may be issues with farmers who aren't treated well.
They're not getting paid well,
there have been issues with child labor as well.
So knowing the person who connects with these farmers
means a lot to me.
The chocolate that I use right now
is Conexión chocolate from Ecuador.
And I was fortunate enough to travel to Ecuador last summer,
and I met the woman who owns the company.
It's a very sustainable business that she has built,
connecting with a lot of different family farms.
And the chocolate is amazing in flavor.
It has to taste good.
I love caramel and I found a recipe after much tinkering
that I love.
You start with sugar, caramelize it.
I do it slowly bit by bit.
I use a dry caramelization method.
It's easier to see exactly when the caramel is at the color
that I want, which means it's at the flavor that I want.
The cream is added to the caramel,
bubbles up, comes to a certain temperature,
is poured out, and then the next day is available
to be dipped in chocolate.
I make four varieties of caramels --
lemon rosemary, vanilla,
espresso, and a Honeycrisp apple cider.
And then I have a selection of truffles
that are a creamy, smooth center.
I make a bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate,
dulce, which is a caramelized white chocolate,
and then a caramel latte.
People ask me, "What's your favorite?"
But they're all my favorite because I only make what I want.
What do I want to make? Hmm.
What would my favorite candy bar --
What would my ultimate candy bar be?
My dream bar, my first bar, Meg's Mocha,
a layer of caramel but espresso caramel,
and a layer of nougat,
once I figured out what that actually was
and learned how to make it.
Bittersweet chocolate on the outside,
and everything's better with salt.
So a little bit of espresso salt on top.
Everything in moderation.
But, dark chocolate,
there have been studies that it does good things for you.
I believe them all,
but I also believe that allowing yourself a treat
is good for your -- your soul.
♪♪
I found boxing
when my sister was going through a very, very rough time.
And it was recommended to her
to help get through this rough time.
And like a dutiful little sister
who couldn't do anything else to help,
I came with. And it did help.
And I saw it help other people.
And it was kind of life changing, and I never left.
The community of Cappy's is -- it's hard to describe,
but that's why most of us are there.
And when there was an opportunity to train as a coach,
it just seemed very natural to do.
We welcome everybody into that space.
Everyone's a boxer when they walk through the door.
And I have boxing clients who range from 75-year-old Peggy,
who just started and just was just interested --
She just walked through the door one day --
to people in their 20s. Everything in between.
Keep your balance when you miss.
And with every goal in between,
from becoming more confident to down the line,
training to spar and to compete.
The connection that I see between the two
very different things that I do --
chocolates and boxing --
believe it or not, is joy.
The joy that I see in boxers
when they complete that combination
for the first time... There it is.
...when they master the speed bag,
when they just do something really hard and they do it,
there's nothing quite like that.
It's a smaller, delightful joy
to taste something that just leaves you speechless
and to be able to taste something
that maybe brings back a memory from your childhood,
except it's the best version of that that you've ever had,
that's joy.
This is a very tiny business,
and I want it to be just a part of what I do.
That's how I can have this balanced,
miraculously balanced life.
I make as much as I can make.
I make as much as I have time to make,
and when it's gone, it's gone.
I love that people buy it, and I'll make as much as I can.
-Meg Maggie Margaret Chocolates are available at megmaggie.com.
[guitar strumming]
♪♪
Catch Art Zone Friday nights at eight and
anytime online at seattlechannel.org/artzone.
♪♪