A New Kind of Chocolate . . . In Peru!

Did you know that chocolate is influenced by the region where it's grown? Depending on the country from which it comes, a cacao bean can have complex changes in flavor. Recently, scientists from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service reported discovering three previously unknown varieties of wild cacao in Peru.

But what does this Peruvian chocolate taste like, you ask?

Sadly for chocoholics, it will be several years before we get to find out. Cacao is a slow-growing tree; it takes at least five years for a tree to bear pods. So it will be a long while yet before the saplings now growing at a central collection spot in Tarapoto, Peru, yield enough beans to turn into chocolate.*

I think the takeaway from this news is twofold:

1. Be on the lookout for Peruvian chocolate in a few years.
2. Try chocolate from other regions of the world! (Apparently, Bolivian chocolate is amazing.

*Source: In Peru, A Hunt for Chocolate like You've Never Tasted It.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies I've Ever Eaten

Chocolate chip cookies are hard to get right. It's such a simple cookie, really, so you'd think there wouldn't be much to it. But that's precisely why I think good chocolate chip cookies are so hard to come by. Besides chocolate, there aren't many complex flavors going on in that cookie, You can't hide, for example, a bland base flavor by adding the excitement of M&Ms or butterscotch chips or coconut. It's just the base and the chocolate chips.

It may seem odd, but for a long time, the best chocolate chip cookies I had ever had were the Nestle Toll House cookies sold at Subway. They definitely had the best flavor. Still, they were always too flat for my liking.

I've tried chocolate chip cookies from all sorts of places. I even try to make my own, when I can't find the best recipe, but I can never get them quite right, either . . .

I finally found the best, though. At a hole-in-the-wall deli in Austin. Specializing in sandwiches, salads, and soups, Fricano's Deli is an unlikely place to find the best chocolate chip cookie. It's a tiny place just north of The University of Texas' campus, and it's fantastic. To be sure, the sandwiches are delicious, but I was surprised to find that they made desserts from scratch.

When I was there the first time, I saw one of the employees mixing the cookie batter. She said something about how she put her "heart and soul" into the cookies. At first I thought it was sort of a silly thing to say, but a while later, after I had devoured my cookie, I realized that she wasn't kidding!

If you are in Austin, get your chocolate chip cookies from Fricano's only! I don't care what anybody else says about other bakeries in town -- trust me, they're not as good!


Update: Not long after publishing this post, I went to Fricano's to buy more cookies. I asked for the recipe, and they told me they used the one on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag! I couldn't believe it, but the guy I talked to assured me that's what they used. I'm betting that they use a bit more flour than the original recipe calls for . . . And maybe that woman I talked to before really does put her heart and soul into the batter! :)

Might as Well Face It: I'm Addicted to Peanut Butter

That's right. I've been obsessed with peanut butter lately. It used to take me several months to go through my standard-size jar of extra crunchy Jif. Lately, though, I've been going through peanut butter jars like a madwoman. It took me about a month and a half to finish off my last jar!

But here's the thing: I've started mixing it with honey. I did that as a kid, and I guess I forgot about it. I forgot how wonderfully yummy peanut butter and honey is together. And you can make it very sweet or not too sweet. And you can spread it on nearly everything. This is what I like to eat my peanut butter and honey with:

• Bananas
• Graham crackers
• Nilla Wafers
• Apples
• Bread
• By itself

What I wanted to especially point out, though, is that when you eat it on a graham cracker, it sort of tastes like the Girl Scout Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies. No joke! No more waiting for March to have your Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies!!! Yay!

Food Review: Mint OREO Fudge Cremes

These are gross. Let me tell you why:

1. They left one of the chocolate cookies off.
2. The fudge creme makes the chocolate cookie a little soggy.
3. There's too much chocolate flavor and not enough mint.

All in all, this is a poor excuse for a cookie. The lack of crunch was the worst part.

I'm always looking for ways to get that Thin Mint experience during the off-season, but thinking that Mint OREO Fudge Cremes would be a good substitute was a mistake. What was I thinking?!?

I'm actually going to throw the box out. I don't know if I've ever done that with chocolate/cookies. (So trust me on this: Save your money for a different chocolate-y treat!)

Everybody Likes a Parfait!

Donkey was right about parfaits: Everybody likes them! And you know what? I have found the perfect ingredients for one. :)

I use variations of three ingredients:
Low-fat vanilla yogurt
I use low-fat vanilla yogurt (preferably Kroger brand) because it's a little more tart than regular vanilla yogurt or non-fat yogurt. I like it because it gives anything a little kick!

Granola cereal
Granola cereal is best for parfaits because there are biggish chunks that make the granola extra crunchy. (I like the Kroger brand for this, too.)

Fruit
I used to use fresh blueberries almost exclusively. Then I switched to fresh strawberries. Today I discovered that frozen fruit is divine in parfaits. The bit of juice you get in frozen fruit provides a nice syrupy texture that gives the parfait a cobbler feel. Right now I'm using Kirkland's Trader Farms Triple Berry.*

So basically, just layer each ingredient on top of each other. I don't put too much effort into creating multiple layers. Usually, I just scoop some yogurt into a Tupperware container, throw a large handful of berries on top, sprinkle about a third of a cup of granola cereal on top of that, and finally, add a few more heaping spoonfuls of yogurt on the very top. Then I put the lid on the container and let the parfait sit in the fridge for a few hours.

In my opinion, those last two steps are crucial. At least some of the granola cereal has to be touching a layer of yogurt. Then, when you let the parfait sit in the fridge for a while, the granola gets a bit soft and chewy. But because it's granola cereal, some of the granola chunks stay crunchy. In the end, you get a sort of tart cobbler concoction -- but it doesn't have ice cream! So it's healthy!

Try making a parfait my way! I promise that you won't regret it!


*"But, Sara?" you ask. "What's a marionberry?" I know, I know -- I wondered, too! Let's let Wikipedia tell us: marionberry.

Eat a Peach!

Better yet, eat a peach while listening to Eat a Peach! (Boy, those Allman Brothers knew what they were singing about!)

Seriously, though. Peaches are wonderful this season. I've had a peach almost every day for the last couple of weeks! You'd think I'd be tired of them, but I'm not! Because they're so good! There's almost nothing worse than a bad peach (Okay, there are a lot of things worse than a bad peach), but there is almost nothing better than a good one! (And that is true!)

I have just been eating peaches plain, but my mom always uses them to make peaches 'n' cream. You just dice a peach, put it into a cereal bowl, sprinkle a bit of sugar on top, and pour milk and a little whipping cream into it. It's basically peach cereal. I may or may not add a little extra cream . . . which makes it sort of unhealthy . . . But it is so good! In fact, I may have peaches 'n' cream for breakfast tomorrow!

Eat a peach!*


*But don't eat an apple. In my opinion, apples are sub-par this year. What happened?

The King and I

The peanut butter and banana sandwich (with or without bacon/bacon grease) is often referred to as the The Elvis because it is widely known that Elvis Presley ate many a PB&B sandwich in one sitting.

How I know that, I'm not really sure, and why it gives me somewhat of a thrill every time I eat such a sandwich, I don't know. It might be because I really like Elvis. (I mean, have you listened to Jailhouse Rock lately? So good!) And it might be because I find it fascinating that people in the '50s did the same things as people now. (Really, that thought never gets old.)

One thing I do know is that minus the bacon/bacon grease, The Elvis is a highly nutritional sandwich. I like to eat mine on toasted whole wheat English muffins or flatbread. A few tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter and a sliced banana make it a low-calorie, healthy meal!

Now, go! Get thee to a kitchen and make The Elvis!

Whole Grain Mac 'n' Cheese!

Am I the last person to know that Kraft Foods now makes whole grain macaroni and cheese? What a magnificent product! I didn't grow up on homemade macaroni and cheese; it was always Kraft macaroni in my parents' house. As such, I love the stuff! Unfortunately, I had cut it out of my diet for the most part because I don't like to eat much white flour, if I can help it.

So imagine my delight when I saw that Kraft now makes macaroni with half white flour and half whole wheat! Now I'm getting at least some whole grains without completely sacrificing the flavor!

Yummee!

Graeter's Ice Cream and Candy

I haven't posted anything on this blog since November of last year. Well, I hope that dry spell is over, thanks to 2 things:

1. I decided to expand the scope of this blog a bit. Instead of just blogging about chocolate, I will blog about baking in general. Uh, I doubt I will write about cooking because my true interest is in sweet treats . . .
2. I tasted the best dark chocolate I've ever had in my life. I will expound on this below.

A co-worker brought Cincinnati's finest to the office today -- in the form of Graeter's dark chocolate bars. I tend to be skeptical of dark chocolate because it's usually bitter and waxy. Actually, that's probably because I rarely eat gourmet chocolate. I'm used to cheap dark chocolate, like Hershey's and Dove. (Dove dark is pretty good.)

Oh, but Graeter's dark chocolate has so much genuine chocolate flavor. The texture is amazing; it's so, so smooth and creamy. My co-worker brought their milk chocolate as well, but it just didn't hold a candle to the dark. Not even close.

Well, I looked Graeter's up online, and from the looks of it, the company's big draw is ice cream. Louis C. Graeter began the business in 1870 as an ice cream shop. He started in Cincinnati, and as the range of sweets grew to include candy, the number of shops grew. Graeter's now operates in 7 U.S. cities and has an online store. (Though, they are not shipping anything at the moment due to warm weather -- shucks.)

But you can read all about the company's history online. What I want you to take away from this post is that all I know about Graeter's is their chocolate, and it's good. Very good. Bottom line? Graeter's is greater. Get some.

Hershey's Sticks

Just call me Louis. Or Clark. Because I just discovered a new chocolate product for you!

It seems that the folks at Hershey have jumped on board the small-portion-size marketing strategy (e.g. 100-calorie packs). They've created Hershey's Sticks -- smooth and creamy, perfectly-sized, 60-calorie chocolate sticks. The sticks come in 4 varieties: milk chocolate, caramel-filled milk chocolate, rich dark chocolate, and mint chocolate. They really are the perfect snack size! I'm telling you -- if you have a hankering for an after-lunch, but before-work-ends sweet snack, keep these on hand. You'll satisfy your chocolate urge, but with only 60 calories. Not bad! (Of course, you do need to make sure you only eat one . . .)

I think the psychology behind it is in the shape. They are long and skinny sticks. So you almost feel like you're eating a candy bar -- just a skinny one. But those little Hershey miniatures? Fuhgedaboudit. They make me think I need to eat about 10 before I'm satisfied . . .

Basically, I think if you're a chocoholic like me, this is a great development in the industry for you.

Bonus: You can use these sticks in hot chocolate!

Recipe for Some Good Hot Chocolate

Okay, so this isn't really an original recipe, but if you need some great hot chocolate fast, this is what you have to do:

1. Buy Archer Farms Hazelnut Hot Cocoa Mix from Target.
2. Buy a box of Hershey's Sticks, the Mint Milk Chocolate variety.
3. Make one cup of hot cocoa, according to the directions on the hot chocolate tin. (This means you'd be using 4 tablespoons of cocoa mix.)
   
4. Add half of a mint Hershey Stick to the mixture, and stir until it's thoroughly melted.

And that's it! You can add whipped cream if you want, which I almost always recommend -- the fatter, the better, I say!

So this recipe seems pretty boring, but just try it. It'll knock your proverbial socks off! The thing that's so great about this recipe is that it's minty, but not overly minty, which is the problem I have with many mint chocolate mixes. Also, I used only water for this mix, whereas usually I use milk for hot chocolate. Milk is my favorite, but then you have to deal with that curdled layer on top when you heat it -- gross! But I guess what you trade off for milkfat in this mix is sugar -- 'cuz there's a lot of it!

Go make yourself some hot chocolate!

Watch Out -- These Little Buggers Will Get You Every Time

That's right -- I'm talking about the Mint Chocolate M&M's. They only come out at Christmastime, and it's difficult to find them just anywhere. I usually can't find them at any other store besides Target. I was finally able to get three bags last night at $2.98 a pop! But that's $2.98 well-spent, I say.

The bags are really pretty this year, too, and "Limited Edition" is printed next to the logo. So I'm tempted to buy a huge box and freeze them. I mean, you never know -- Mars, Inc. could very well decide they don't want to produce anymore. Sadly, that was the fate of the Hershey Cookies 'n' Mint bar . . .

I'm hopeful this won't happen, though, because candy that only comes out once a year seems to fair better, usually. Plus, I think the mint and chocolate combo is addictive. Addictive, I tell you.

Please, go to your nearest Target and pick up a bag or two. And come back to tell me what you think of the divine red, white, and green Christmas candies.

World's Tallest Chocolate Fountain

I never really cared about Las Vegas, even after "Ocean's Eleven" came out. Sure, the Bellagio sounds cool and hip, but what do I care about casinos? Well, I just found out that this is what I care about casinos:




That's right, folks -- it's the World's tallest chocolate fountain at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. I found these photos on Flickr (Thanks, lesliebyk and shookiemookie!). Here are the facts:

• Designed by Montreal artist Michel Mailhot
  
• It's the world's tallest and largest-volume chocolate fountain.
  
• The glass-encased fountain contains about 2,100 pounds of flowing chocolate.
• 6 pumps circulate close to 2 tons of chocolate.
• Over 500 feet of stainless steel piping
• Chocolate circulates at 120 degrees Farenheit.
• 2 years of engineering, planning, and design

Now, scroll back up to those images. You know you want to.

Making Chocolate: A Video

If you love watching chocolate products being made, you really ought to check out the "Making Chocolate" video on the Hershey Corporation Web site. It's incredible.

Could it be real? Could it be true? Could the Hershey candy company have begun producing Cookies 'n' Mint again?

Well, folks, believe it. Because it is true. I spotted them a week ago at Cowboys gas station, and today I actually bought one. It was as delightful as it ever was.

I'm not sure what brought this small miracle of capitalism about, but I have an idea it has to do with Steve Almond's book Candy Freak. (If you've found this blog about chocolate, you probably already know about the book.) I'll save the discussion of this book for another post, but I'll just say that in his 2004 publication, Almond describes candy that has gone into . . . extinction. One of them was Cookies 'n' Mint. He bemoans the loss of this candy within the first 3 pages, and the book had pretty good reviews. So I just bet that Hershey took some notice.

Thanks, Mr. Almond.

Update: Since writing this post, I have searched for information on Cookies 'n' Mint production, and sadly, I have to wonder if it is too good to be true. I noticed the other day that the words "Limited Edition" were printed on the stash of bars at the gas station I had been buying them from. What does this mean? I don't know. But I have a feeling it doesn't mean that Hershey is producing an entire line. I'm sorry chocolate-lovers and Pro Chocolate readers; I should've checked my facts thoroughly first.

The Rules of Chocolate

I found this list on Smile of the Day, and actually, I think I received it in a forward once . . .

So. These are the rules of chocolate:

1. If you get melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.
2. Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices, and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.
3. The Problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. Solution: Eat it in the parking lot.
4. Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It will take the edge off your appetite and you will eat less.
5. A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy?
6. Money talks. Chocolate sings.
7. Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
8. Chocolate is a health food. Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived either from sugar beets or cane, both vegetables. And, of course, the milk/cream is dairy. So eat more chocolate to meet the dietary requirements for daily vegetable and dairy intake.
9. Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you will get one thing done.

Can you think of any other chocolate rules?

Can You Guess This Candy?

It is the best-selling confectionery item between January 1st and Easter; over 200 million are sold annually, 3 for every person in the UK.

Yep, that's right -- the Cadbury Creme Egg.

The Cadbury Creme Egg plant at Bournville can produce more than 1.5 million eggs per day. If you laid all the eggs made on the Creme Egg plant end to end, they would stretch all the way from the Bournville factory in Birmingham UK to Sydney in Australia -- that's 12,000 miles.

Besides these interesting facts, the Cadbury Creme Egg site tells us this about the history of the Cadbury chocolateers:

In the 19th century the Cadbury family were members of the Society of Friends or Quakers, one of the many non-conformist groups developed in the 17th century in protest against the formalism of the Established Church. Quakers held strong beliefs and ideals which carried into 'campaigns for justice, equality and social reform, putting an end to poverty and deprivation'.

As nonconformists, Quakers weren't allowed to enter the Universities, which in the 19th century were closely linked with the Established Church. So entry into the professions was impossible, and pacifist principles precluded the military as a career. Their energies and talents were therefore directed towards business, social reform and the transformation of social and industrial society in Victorian Britain.

And so, the Cadbury's got into the chocolate business. Maybe it's a good thing they weren't allowed to enter the universities?

And the Survey Says . . .

Okay, I think it's about time that I post the results of my chocolate blogpoll. It's been up for about 2-3 months, and it still only got a grand total of . . . wait for it . . . 14 votes! (Looks like it's time for me to start paying attention to my chocolate blog!)

So the question was: Which is your favorite chocolate combination? Chocolate and mint? Or Chocolate and peanut butter? Here are the results:

1. Chocolate and mint -- 9 votes, 64.3%
2. Chocolate and peanut butter -- 5 votes, 35.7%

Chocolate and mint won! That's the one I voted for. For one main reason: Chocolate and peanut butter is a brilliant combo, no doubt. One of my favorite treats is to eat Hershey's Kisses with a dollop of crunchy peanut butter. And who can doubt the power of the Reese's Peanut Butter egg at Easter? It makes my mouth water. But then the memory of the special Christmas mint M&M's pop into my head . . . They're just little, unassuming red and green candies, but they are the most addictive junk food I've ever put into my mouth. I wonder if mint is addictive . . . I'll have to do some research on that . . .

Anyway, mint is the winner. And this is a very scientific survey . . .

Lindt Balls

I asked my sister Summer to model a milk chocolate Lindt ball for 2 reasons:

1. It looks like the medicine ball Miracle Max makes Westley in The Princess Bride.
2. It is an extremely delicious piece of food. I had actually never had Lindt chocolate before Valentine's Day '06, and I must say that I feel I've been left out of the full chocolate heaven for the majority of my life. There are other chocolates I still like better, but I now think that a platter of the finest chocolates must always include at least one Lindt ball. Try one; you'll like it.
   

*Regarding the picture, I have to tell you that I took a few more. Summer actually shot me the bird in one of them . . . It's a crazy funny picture, but I'm not posting it on my blog. You'll have to ask me for it in person.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, INDEED!

I saw this article on MSN and jumped on it! It's an article about the health benefits of chocolate. Yeah, we've all "heard" that before, but I thought I'd at least post the article. And here are some excerpts:

According to the diet doc [Arthur Agatston of South Beach Diet fame], studies show that high concentrations of cocoa found in dark chocolate -- at least 70 percent -- help improve vascular function by relaxing blood vessels, keeping cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels and reducing the risk of blood clots.

Others agreed. Jeffrey Blumberg, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition, in Boston, said dark chocolate contains flavanols, plant-based antioxidants that may have beneficial effects on cardiovascular function. These benefits might extend to improving heart function and lowering blood pressure, he said.

"However, even if you're eating 80 percent cocoa, flavanol-rich dark chocolate, you're still eating a high-calorie, high-fat food," the Boston expert warned. "It is not a 'health food.'"

Nevertheless, he and a team of researchers published a study last August in Hypertension that found that eating a dark chocolate candy bar once a day for 15 days significantly lowered the blood pressure of 20 people suffering from hypertension.

There was a catch: The participants had to lower their caloric intake of other foods to accommodate the nearly 500 calories they consumed every day by eating the candy bar.

"You choose whole grain bread instead of white bread, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, and when it comes to Valentine's Day, choose dark chocolate-covered almonds rather than milk chocolate or white chocolate," Agatston said.

"You want to make the best choices, even when you're cheating a bit," Agatston advised.