Do you adhere to the theory that there are four food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles? Does decorating your favorite three-layer cake provide you nearly as much pleasure as eating it? Are you interested in knowing how your culinary expertise measures up, and if you may have the right “ingredients” for a new career? If you are, join Jack and Iva Elmer, owners of JaCiva’s, at their shop in Portland, Oregon, for a sweet VocationVacations® dream job holiday as a chocolatier and pastry chef. Jack began baking cakes when he was six years old. “I had to stand on a chair to reach the counter to do the mixing,” remembers Jack. He sold his first cake when he was seven, and when he was nine, his grandmother bought him his first KitchenAid mixer. As Jack grew up, he realized, in addition to mixing it up in the kitchen, he also liked to mix it up on the music stage. He worked as a drummer for a number of years as back-up to the likes of Nat King Cole and Les Brown. His earnings as a drummer paid for him to attend a culinary school in Switzerland where he was first introduced to the art of chocolate making. In 1972, he started Heidi’s Swiss Pastries in Boring, Oregon, near Portland. It was there he hired a young woman named Iva to work behind the pastry counter. Iva soon became indispensable to the business….and to Jack. They were married in 1980. Together they began experimenting making chocolate in their basement kitchen. “We were like mad scientists,” laughs Iva. They began selling their chocolates at Heidi’s, and when they sold this business in the mid 1980’s, Jack and Iva decided to open a new shop in Portland. And what better name for that shop than “JaCiva’s,” reflecting a combination of their two names and their talents. More than twenty years later, JaCiva’s has become known for its exquisite top quality chocolates and pastries. “At any time, we offer at least 25 different chocolates and everything from petit fours to wedding cakes,” says Jack. When asked who is the most creative, they both point to each other. “We are always coming up with new recipes and improving on old ones. We try them out on each other, and if we like the results, we feel confident our customers will like them, too,” they explain. Iva says she actually dreams about new recipes and turns these dreams into new sweet realities. You could say she truly is living her dream job. “My staff wants me to stay awake more,” laughs Iva. JaCiva’s has been featured on Food Finds on the Food Network, on a number of local Portland television segments, and in publications like People Magazine and Modern Bakery. Jack and Iva’s creativity, people skills and business sense have built a company that has brought pleasure to customers throughout the country and all over the world. Although most of their chocolates and pastries are sold through their shop, they do sell to select retail clients like upscale grocery stores, to hotels for chocolate turn-down service, and to companies for gifts of chocolate that feature the company’s logo on the packaging. Their newest venture will be the opening of JaCiva’s After Dark, a dessert house that will feed their customers’ sweet tooth outside of the store’s regular hours. And that KitchenAid mixer Jack’s grandmother bought him when he was 9, it holds a place of honor at JaCiva’s today. While on your chocolatier and pastry chef VocationVacations® dream job holiday with Jack and Iva Elmer at JaCiva’s, activities will include some or all of the following:
The Chocolatier and Pastry Chef VocationVacations® adventure includes:
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| (Not included in the price of your VocationVacations® dream job holiday) Other activities and tourist destinations while on your VocationVacations® adventure:
Reservation, Cancellation and Rescheduling Rules and Conditions: Full payment of the VocationVacations dream job holiday is required to make a reservation. A $100 non-refundable fee is assessed if a VocationVacations experience is cancelled or rescheduled prior to 14-days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday, based on the approved availability of the mentor to reschedule. A VocationVacations adventure cannot be rescheduled and is non-refundable if cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday. Written notification of cancellation or rescheduling is required in all cases. In the US, Grounded Nomads, LLC and VocationVacations holidays encourage all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling. In the UK, Grounded Nomads, Ltd and VocationVacations holidays must require all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling and provide verification of such travel insurance to Grounded Nomads, Ltd. |
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