O magazine features sweet new career of Charlotte chocolatier

Charlotte pastry chef and chocolatier Casey Hickey, who owns Petit Philippe with her husband, Mark Meissner, is featured in the February issue of Oprah Winfrey's O magazine that's on newsstands now.

It wasn't just Hickey's house-made artisan chocolates and confections she creates under her brand Twenty Degrees Chocolates that caught the magazine's eye. It was her leap from a successful corporate career in San Francisco to following her culinary dreams by creating a new business near her hometown of Greensboro.

Hickey says the exposure in the popular magazine has been "thrilling and humbling." An added bonus is that the magazine's readers have been calling from all over the country to have her sweets shipped to them. "It's given me an external gratification that we all need," she says.

It's also modeling a personal belief for her young sons, Max and Michael. "We want to teach them to follow their instincts and their inherent skills, and we couldn't do that if we weren't living it," she says.

You can also read the feature about Hickey at www.oprah.com./money/how-real-women-discovered-their-dream-careers.

Petit Phillipe is in the Tranquil Court development at 2820 Selwyn Ave. #160. A Valentine's Day open house is scheduled 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Feb. 14.

704-332-9910; www.petitphillipe.com.

Olivia Fortson

Chocolate Festival is Saturday in Rock Hill

The fourth annual Chocolate Festival is 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 2370 W. Main St. in Rock Hill. There's a chocolate bake sale and other decadent treats for purchase, including fried candy bars, Nutella crepes, fruit kabobs to dip in a chocolate fountain, chocolate candy from Epiphany Chocolatiers in Fort Mill, S.C., and chocolate chili. You can take your goodies home or enjoy them in the Chocolate Café with music.

Admission is free. 803-324-8877; www.epiphany- rockhill.org .

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Chocoholic Frolic fundraiser in Indian Trail

Literacy Council of Union County is holding a Chocoholic Frolic fundraiser 6-8 p.m. Feb. 9 at Dale Jarrett Ford on U.S. 74 West in Indian Trail. Seventeen vendors from Union and Mecklenburg counties will provide samples of some of their signature goodies that have chocolate as an ingredient.

The event is for ages 21 and older. There's a cash bar with beer and wine.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Patron tickets are $50. 704-226-1425; www.literacyunion.org/cf.

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