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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-04-18, Page 14• A voti it, • 1, Serving over Milverton, Elmira, Palrnersten, Harriston, BruSsels, Atwoe kA‘ Monkton, MillbanK, Newton, Clifford, Wallenstein, Drayton, Moorefield and Arthur. Wednesday, April 18, 1984 • N. 6 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 411 6.• • 004 The tiny hamlet of Peffers, between Listowel and Milverton, is no more than a small cluster ,of houses around a railroad crossing. Years ago, however, the area boasted a railway station, a mill, a coal business, an Orange Lodge and a general store. The general store remained in operation until nine years ago, but then the owners, Adeline and Germain DeBrouwer, had their Atleline-waS-niffing-thP store while her husband worked, she felt the store was just too much while raising children. Erntually .sec 9nd, ,cerne, .makin$ the family complete With a boy and a ghi. The general store was converted into a large den in the front of their home, with a spacious fireplace and large windows over- looking the road. Until a couple of years ago the converted store remained not much more than a home to the couple raising their children. However, activity has begun again in the old home as Adeline and her friend, Kara • Carter, launched into a chocolate industry. De -Car Pralines (De for DeBrouwer and • Car for Carter) was founded over a year ago, just in time for Christmas 1982. The chocolates the two make are not just or dinary chocolates .— they are mP de in a • variety, of figures, and painstakingly iced and 'decorated Right now the partners are preparing for the Easter• rush, which is taking up all of •6 by Laura Plumtree • 0 d Peffers store now thriving chocolate / business 1 4841— •• ., 06. • • o0 • their time until the occasion is over. Trays full of eggs, hollow and solid, rabbits and chickens and other novelty items can be found in a rear storage room where the chocolate is kept. Adeline's appreciation of good chocolate comes, in part, from her husband Germain, who is a native of Belgium. "They do a lot of these Easter things over there," she explained, "but there are a lot of --.—eple,here-wherate-d- oing-it-ne Their main business is centred around the Christmas and Easter seasons which prove to be •hectic times for De -Car Pralines, The Agied..,,putking,,AheAtmectlates ,for Valentine's bay and Mother's Day but with less success. Learning the art of making these chocolate characters was pretty much by trial and error, Adeline said. They were both "green' to the business, but they read books and the store manager where they buy their chocolate gave helpful advice. "We read books and experimented a lot," said Kara. "We just tried a lot of different things." And after that, was it smooth sailing? • "If you call 12 to 16 hours a day smooth sailing — we don't do too badly." However, trial and error eventually worked out, and the girls were ready for last year's Christmas rush. This season has been the busiest so far for • the two, who put a deadline on orders for personalized eggs. Despite the deadline, • • toe* do,IV ow e• ifalfroaffsoreseforewdeadv 0.5.01041aff d 4 v.. ••/-'" 4104,10. 0,1 /,.,../e,;i0Ameoei . • • , . • ' 4 dt4 to.M#004,,g.;'46, • they feel they still have more than enough to keep them busy. Temperature seemed to be the main stumbling block they encountered. If the chocolate wasn't melted at a high enough temperature, it couldn't be worked and if the temperature was too high, it left streaks in the chocolate. The production takes place in Adeline's warm, --,sunny cooker to melt down the chocolate, which regulates the temperature at 110, degrees Fahrenheit, the perfect temperature for the • moulds. • • The girls purchase their Mateiritfily bulk food store in Kitchener where e> chocolate is bought in blocks. At Christmas - the girls use a Swedish chocolate, which Adeline describes as "delicious" and it is purchased in 11 -pound blocks. At Easter, Canadian chocolate is used and it is bought in 30 -pound blocks. , Once the chocolate is melted down in the slow -cooker — it takes three hours to melt properly — it is spooned into the moulds. The chocolate then must be cooled, either in the refrigerator or in a cool area in the house, not in the freezer, Adeline said, because that tends to leave lighter marks on the chocolate too. While Adeline explains the process, Kara is busy putting icing on the eggs. Her young daughter lies sprawled on a rug in the living room, and the voices of Sesame Street characters can be heard from the other room where Adeline's son, Tyrone, watches his favorite program. "A good solid egg can take up to three hours to cool down," Adeline said. The husbands are not to be left out of the act. Germain supplied the other half of the company's name, Pralines, which means in French very fancy chocolates. When the season gets busy Germain and Alvin Carter can be found folding the fragile cardboard cartons that display the chocolate through their windows. Adeline has a great appreciation for foreign'l - chocelates. • LITTLE HELPER—Tyrone DeBrouwer must often find it hard to resist all the. goodies pis mother, Adeline and her friend Kara Carter cook up in their kitchen. Tyrone &,% seen with some of the finished products, which are handsomely ‘1, displayed a cabinet at the DeBrouwer home. "When Shona Stevens (a local exchange student) came back from Belgium she brought home some chocolates. You've never tasted chocolate until you've tasted that." Once the chocolate is cool and is removed from the moulds, it is rubbed with paper towels which makes the figures look as if they've been waxed. However, De -Car Pralines uses no wax in its chocolates. After the chocolates are ready the decorating is done with :icing applied by icing tubes. With Christmas chocolates, the mould is half-filied and then a variety of nuts are put in..The remainder of the chocolate is poured into the mould and set. "And you 'can't allow any water 'in the chocolate or it will leave streaks," Kara pointed out as another problem they had encountered. Aside from the basic Easter eggs, rabbits and chickens which one can find at Easter time, the two women also make several novelty,i terns which include characters such as the Smurfs and Garfield the cat. The items are made in various sizes and can be •decorated in different colors. , • Decorating the characters can be done in two separate stages. Sometimes it is done right in the mould — the chocolate is colored, and set into little grooves in the mould after which the chocolate is poured in. Or the decorations are applied with the icing tube or painted •on with special • brushes. The talents of these ladies does not stop at simply making chocolates. Adeline also crochets and kknits little baskets that hOld the eggs and the figures. Kara, who took • calligraphy at Milverton Public School, also puts her skills to use drawing up price lists for the items. Kara wouldlike to improve her skills in decorating by taking a course. Although the partners are busy all day — it can take all day to make a batch of eggs — and they have been busy for the past several weeks preparing for the Easter rush, they don't think they'll expand. "I don't have much time to work on it since my daughter was born," Kara admits, "and it's such a slow process." "We probably could expand, but we really don't want to get any bigger than we already are," COOKING THE CHOCOLATE at the right temperature was, one of the problems De - Car Pralines faced whei starting out. Now they use the slow cOoker, which Adeline CHOCOLATE LOVER'S DELIGHT—Trays. full of the goodies • shows here, that regulates the temperature evenly. are kept in a cool storage place until they are ready to be clecoraled. Adeline and Kara are approaching their second Easter in the business, and say this is their busiest time as yet. by Kim Dadson Interfaith counselling provides affordable help in troubled times - High unemployment and a stressed economy in general have led to an increase in personal problems for many families and individuals. The Woolwich Interfaith Counselling Cen- tre is one service which attempts to solve or alleviate these problems by providing coun- selling for anyone, regardless of ability to pay. The community of Elmira, where the centre is located is fortunate to have such a service, where the client pays only what the individual can afford. But as a result, a major concern of the board of directors which operates the centre is fundraising. "We are still going month to month finan- cially," comments Board Chairman Dr. Barbara Schumacher. "We are confident the centre will thrive, but it would be en- couraging if the community gave us sup- port." The need for support increases this year because of some changes in the operation of the centre. In a sense, the Woolwich Inter- faith Counselling Centre is leaving the nest of its Kitchener affiliate and flying on its own. Woolwich did not receive direct financial support from Kitchener but shared a coun- sellor and interns were available because of the association. (Kitchener trains counsel- lors who pay for the experience of counsel- ling. Elmira benefitted via an intern who provided extra hours of counselling at no cost. This will no longer be available as Elmira ventures on its own.) The need for counselling has increased everywhere and Kitchener wanted to Offer another day of counselling to its clients. As a result, Kitchener called back Gloria Taylor -Whiffierbveri-working-afila centre - one day a week. Adah Miller, who has coun- selled in .Elmira for two years, remainone daboayrad week and isr wjbooinercelebebd byJoan barLeenesdo.fithia.‘ •.Masters -degree in social -work *tem- ber, the last intern will leave. Without the intern, the board will find it • necessary to assess the number.of counsel- ling hours it must provide clients and it must • now consider additional funding to support these hours preyiously filed by the intern. The board remains confident it will continue to meet the needs of clients, who come not only from Woolwich Township but surround- ing communities outside of the .Waterloo region. From its inception in 1976, the counselling centre has attempted to meet the needs of the community, as expressed by the com- munity. As well as running the counselling service, the board of directors organize pub- lic lectures and groups, such as parent ef- fectiveness training or how to handle stress. One such . group that starts today (April 18) is , an afternoon women's group which will -meet over the next eight weeks, one af- ternoon a week, to discuss such topics as communication in relationships, creative problem solving, emotional issues — and others as they are wanted by the partici- pants. (It is possible there is still room in this group and anyone interested may call the centre at 669-8651.) There is a fee, as there will be for all lectures andftralys in the future. While the economy has increased the number of clients needing counselling, it has also made funds to run the counselling cen- tre more difficult to come by. Woolwich re - money from the Elmira Maple Syrup Festi- val, community churches, service clubs and individuals. St. James' Lutheran Church provides the Centre with its office and also shares its receptionist, Verneda Prentice. Clients contribute about 33 per cent to the centre budget. It is estimated clients pay $7.27 an hour for counselling that costs $21 an hour to provide. After the intern leaves, the hourly cost of counselling rises to $40 for the initial session and $30 for on-going. As one fundraising project the board oper- ates 'a quilt draw — unique because the win- • ner chooses the color and design and the board commissions the queen size quilt to be made by a local group. Tickets are $1 and available from Ab Martin at Canada Trust. 4We are meeting a need," stresses Board Chairman Schumacher. "Let's pull together as a community. Not just financial support but energy — in the form of volunteers and board members." The public will have an opportunity to show that support and learn more about what the centre offers at the annual meeting onApruilc2h6, Am sought after speaker, (the board tried to get him in 1982 but were told to wait until 1984) Clyde Lansdell will discuss Inter- personal Relationships and Communica- tions in a Christian Community. Lansdell is a licenced psychologist with a doctorate In education in psychology from the University off Toronto. He has a private practice and es well consults with industry and teaches communication skills. He preaches once a month at the Church of Christ in Waterloo. The annual meeting starts at 8 p.m. at the Elmira Mennonite Church.