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ALBANY – The Chocolate Expo & Holiday Gift Market on Sunday, December 3, featuring a wide variety of chocolates, hand-crafted specialty foods and gifts, will highlight the weekend’s Family Fun Chocolate Celebration at the New York State Museum.

The Chocolate Expo, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will offer samples and sales of chocolates, desserts, artisan cheeses, wine and other specialty items, as well as holiday gifts, from more than 40 vendors from across New York State. Family Fun Weekend activities will be held Saturday and Sunday, December 2-3 from 1 to 4 p.m., offering chocolate sampling and cooking demonstrations, music, interactive children’s theater and more.

The holiday celebration will also extend to the Empire State Plaza and concourse on December 3, from 2-6 p.m., where activities will include the annual Holiday Tree lighting, fireworks, ice skating lessons and demonstrations, as well as holiday music, craft vendors, storytelling and more.

All events are free. The Chocolate Expo and Family Fun Weekend celebration are among many activities planned by the Museum to complement its Chocolate exhibition, open through Jan. 7, 2006.

Chocolate, an exhibition from Chicago’s Field Museum, takes visitors on a journey through history, exploring the relationship between human culture and this rainforest treasure. Admission to the Chocolate exhibition is $4 for adults and $2 for children aged 6 to 12.

The Averill Park High School Jazz Ensemble will perform at the Museum from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3. The Chocolate Expo will also feature chocolate fountains, with fresh fruit for dipping. This will be free to all visitors, compliments of Price Chopper and We Do Fondue.

Many products offered at the Chocolate Expo are made using fresh, locally produced ingredients whenever possible. Items will include gourmet handcrafted chocolates, chocolate bark, fudge, cookies, cakes, pies, brownies, ice cream tarts, biscotti, pretzels, coffees, teas, sauces, as well as novelty items such as chocolate “wings, “ and “pizza.” There also will be safe, chocolate-like carob treats for dogs and cats and chocolate vegan desserts, as well as vegetarian specialty foods and non-vegan desserts.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of products sold by Cooperstown Cookie Co. will benefit

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Pathfinder Village, a residential community near Cooperstown, dedicated to children and adults with Down syndrome. The company sells regulation baseball-sized shortbread and “bunts” bite-sized cookies.

Non-chocolate items will include maple and honey products, jams and jellies, wines, gourmet sodas, cheeses and baked goods, as well as gift items. There also will be one-of-a-kind quilts, tablecloths, herbal skin care products, handcrafted soaps, candles, wreaths, birdhouses and more.

Chibekeni Global Treasures in Nyack will offer unique, handmade crafts appropriate for the Kwanzaa holiday or any other occasion. These are fair-trade products created by artists in Africa.

Other participating vendors are Bluestone Farm, Cheesecake Machismo, Chocolate by Design, Chutney Unlimited, Cooper’s Cave Ale, Dawn’s Bakery, Dolce & Biscotti, Dutch Desserts, El Mariachi, Evanna Chocolates, Goold Orchards, Heartworks Quilts, Honest Weight Food Coop, InDulj Dessert Sauces, Isn’t It Sweet, Ives Cream, Log Cabin Farm Soap, Lucky Chocolates, Native Farm Flowers, Oswego Chocolate Shoppe, Remsburger Maple Farm & Apiary, Sundaes Best Hot Fudge Sauce, Sweets & Treats, The Green Spiral, The Good Leaf, The Peanut Principle, Vegan Creations and more. Wine tastings and sales will be available from Pazdar Winery, which makes unique chocolate wines, as well as Brookview Station Winery and Catharine Valley Winery.

The Museum’s Family Fun activities on Sunday will also include businesses, which will offer sales and samples of their products, as well as demonstrations, in the Museum lobby.

On Sunday, Chef Armand Vanderstigchel, cookbook author and media cooking celebrity, will demonstrate various uses for chocolate in cooking. Currently the head chef at Stew Leonard’s in New York City, Chef Armand is the author of “The Adirondack Cuisine Cookbook,” which led to a PBS TV series, and “Chicken Wings Across America.” He also is the culinary editor of Dish DuJour Magazine and has appeared on radio and TV, including the “Today Show” and “Good Morning America.” He will have cookbooks for sale.

The Arlington House in West Sand Lake will make its signature chocolate dessert and offer samples of that, as well as compatible liquers and wines. Visitors can also sample hot chocolate from Chocolate Springs of Lenox, MA, which also will have gift packages for sale. Saratoga Sweets will offer samples from their chocolate fountain, and other products for sale.

Family Fun’s Saturday activities will feature “The Singing, Ringing Cacao Tree,” interactive children’s theatre, directed by Sarah Salerno-Thomas, from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

The Chocolate Expo is supported in part by Price Chopper and Berkshire Bank. It was organized by Baum Image Group, Inc. of Valley Cottage, which also brought the “Taste of New York,” reception to the Museum in 2004, in conjunction with the Woodstock 35th anniversary exhibition.

The New York State Museum is a cultural program of the State Education Department. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

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