All You Can Eat Chocolate

One of our favorite places in the world is located in a small Pittsburgh subburb called Trafford. Hidden on a one way street is the gem of all gems--the chocolate factory Sherm Edwards. We stumbled upon this place by accident a couple years ago. They offer free tours to anyone, anytime. And every November they hold the "All You Can Eat Tour", which is WAY better than it sounds. This year, possibly our last year of the tour, we decided to share it with Hannah and the kids--calling to claim the last 3 adult and 2 child tickets. Whew! The factory is very small, a main floor for selling and a basement for making. Everyone gets a hairnet.

Hannah, Caleb, and I enjoying the trays loaded with goodness--chocolate covered pretzels, meltaways, carmels, creams, cordials and jells in milk, dark, and white. My stomach is growling!

A table lined with almond, cashew, and pecan bark, again in milk, dark, and white.

Not only do you get to sample all of their goods, you can also watch them at work. This is the owner of Sherm Edwards-- he makes all the peanut brittle, carmel and toffee himself. In this picture he is cutting toffee for the almond butter crunch (kind of like an almond roca but much, much better).

Dj loves asking this guy all types of questions, trying to figure out the secret to his amazing skills. He answers them all.

After the toffee is cut, it gets loaded onto a conveyor belt. All of this is done by hand, each square lovingly placed.

Ready for the chocolate!

Once it leaves the other side, now covered in chocolate, an almond is placed in the center of each square, perfectly of course.

I could eat it right now!

But back they go, for another layer of chocolate.

The finished product, ready to be enjoyed.

My favorite fall treat is their carmel apples. The BEST thing ever. I order at least a half dozen every October, then buy more the day of the tour. The apples are always perfect and the carmel is perfection. I love these things!

They buy there chocolate elsewhere, melt it down, and use it for all of their treats. Two kinds of milk, two kinds of dark, and white. Samples for all.

We can not say enough positive things about this place. We spoil ourselves a couple times a year, driving up to Pittsburgh to pick out our favorites to enjoy. Check out their website--they deliver, too!

http://www.shermedwardscandies.com/