Meeteetse goodness

Wyoming roads are long, lonesome, and lack adequate signage, but eventually you get Somewhere, and it is often well worth the drive.

Meeteetse (m-tee'-tsee), 20 minutes south of Cody, is an example of a Really Worthwhile Somewhere.

on the main road through Meeteetse

The Meeteetse Chocolatier is a good reason to stop in this charming town of 351 people. Unless you live in Paris, New York, or another city that nurtures gourmet chocolate, you are unlikely to find anything that comes close to tasting like what you'll find in Meeteetse.

In 2004 Tim Kellogg was a rodeo saddle bronc rider who needed to raise money for a new saddle. His mother urged him to make and sell chocolates from his grandmother's recipe. Being a typical young cowboy, he resisted the suggestion, but eventually he was persuaded to set up a booth at a three-day arts fair during the Cody Stampede. Each day he made truffles and each day he sold out, thus beginning a journey that led him to study chocolate making in Paris and set up shop in Meeteetse. You can learn more at the Meeteetse Chocolatier website.

During cool weather you can order chocolates online, but it's so much better to visit the shop if you possibly can. No website can re-create the smell or sight of so much fine chocolate! Six days a week, Tim gets up early to make a dozen truffles in 25 flavors. These include mint, huckleberry, prickly pear, chipolte, Jack Daniels, and other familiar and unfamiliar flavors.

There are also pain au chocolat and bags of pretzels or marshmallows dipped in chocolate, as well as a variety of brownies topped with ganache. I can still remember that first bite of brownie . . . it is soooo good. You can't take photos in the store, but I wanted to save the brownie to show you on this blog. However, all I managed was The Last Bite (gone immediately after this photo was taken).

the last bite

As a side note, I must say that brownie gave me energy to drive through Wyoming all the way back to Montana, about 4 or 5 hours' worth. Powered by chocolate sums it up.

Although these chocolates are not meant to last long, my travel companion Debbie managed to save a hunk of mud bar that we later had for supper. (We ate this with a handful of raw cauliflower and broccoli and a glass of milk . . . so yes, you can have a balanced, healthy meal around chocolate. But children, do ask your parents for permission first.)

Meeteetse Chocolatier mud bar

Lest you think you will be using up all your hard-earned vacation money to indulge in Meeteetse chocolates, let me tell you that the prices are extremely reasonable. The very best Belgian chocolate is used, but somehow this clever cowboy chocolatier keeps his costs down.

While you are in the shop, be sure to look at the works of area artists hung on walls. Even the window display is worth admiring, for Tim is an artist in every sense of the word. If you can, stay for an evening of music or a special event that might include taste-testing a new flavor.

And as I always say, stop to chat with the locals. Debbie and I greatly enjoyed talking with Shirley, the woman behind the counter, who described the history of the building we were in, which used to be a restaurant where she created and made over 250 flavors of pie. Since Tim wasn't there (he was working at a nearby ranch, which he does two days a week, probably to work off the chocolate buzz), Shirley indulged in a few funny behind-the-scenes stories about her boss.

It was a great day, one Debbie and I are still talking about and won't easily forget.

we'll be back!