Chocolate lovers indulge in Homewood

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Shannon Olison (from left), Pastor Geno Olison and Annie Wilson, of South Suburban Vineyard Church in Flossmoor, fix hot cocoa sundaes Saturday at the Homewood Chocolate Fest. | Ginger Brashinger~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: April 19, 2012 1:51AM

Anyone who didn’t get their chocolate fix taken care of at the annual Homewood Chocolate Fest on Saturday wasn’t really trying.

The Chocolate Bake-Off alone offered a variety of sweet samples from 16 amateur bakers and confectioners, enough for nearly 800 visitors who only had to make a donation to the Homewood Girl Scouts in order to indulge themselves.

Youth division participant Emily Rose White’s entry was a chocolate lover’s dream, incorporating caramel, buttercream frosting and Heath bar sprinkles into her chocolate cupcake recipe.

White, 13, said the whole thing was practically an accident.

“My mom was messing around in the kitchen and asked me to help her,” White said. “We kind of came up with the recipe together.”

White said after she shared them with friends, “they said I should try this.”

To White’s surprise, she took first place.

If there was any room left in one’s sweet tooth after hitting the amateur tables, local vendors offered everything from candied apples to giant lollipops for on-the-spot or take-home consumption.

Linda Panici, of Dongola, Ill., planned to do both.

“I’ve been coming here from downstate for about eight years,” Panici said. “I love the taste-testing and all the fun. I always spend a ton of money on candy.”

If Laurie Norris, of Munster, Ind., has her way, visitors like Panici will be purchasing Norris’s first-place toffee next year. Norris created her candy from a 50-year-old family recipe and is hoping to make her amateur status a professional one.

“I’m trying to get things started,” Norris said about her “Tiddleywinks Toffee.”

“I just lost a job after 18 years, so maybe this is a window opening.”

Promoting Homewood businesses was one goal of the three-hour Chocolate Fest, hosted by the Community Relations Commission under the direction of event coordinator Alissa Opyd.

Following the fest, visitors were encouraged to join village staff members on the Downtown Homewood Chocolate Stroll hosted by the Downtown Homewood Business Association.

Rachael Jones, village public relations manager, said about 75 percent of the retail stores and restaurants offered finger samples of international chocolates to visitors Saturday as a way of bringing foot traffic to the downtown area.

“Chocolate Fest is just a perfect family party in terms of people getting together,” Jones said. “The Chocolate Stroll is an extension of that. It’s exactly what the town needs. It’s a great time to connect.”