Using chocolate as the star of your party appeals to all ages, genders, and budgets.  And it works great for the party–poopers, too.  Ever had the pleasure (or obligation) of trying to throw a party for the person who says “Don’t throw me a party, I hate parties!”?

I bet they won’t turn down a party in which chocolate is the center of attention.

If you are planning a kid’s birthday party, what could better than making it a chocolate party?

Invitations could include a candy bar.  Many popular chocolates are made in a miniature size which fits perfectly in an envelope.  Just watch the weather.  If it’s too hot you could be sending chocolate mush along with that invitation.

Chocolate is kid friendly on so many levels: safe and non-toxic, attention grabbing, fun, educational, edible, and – most importantly – cleans up with a little hot water!

The number of activities and ideas are practically endless…

You can dip stuff in chocolate like pretzels, fruits, and cookies. You can mold it, make chocolate lollipops, make “chocolate play dough,” bake and frost cupcakes.  Throw the girly-girls a chocolate spa party with items like hot fudge smelling bubble bath and cocoa butter body lotion.

For the more grown-up chocolate party, don’t forget about the Chocolate Tasting, or Chocolate and Wine pairing parties.  Invite me if you have one of those!  I’ll be the one wearing chocolate scented nail polish.

Chocolate-opoly is a decadently delicious property trading game for chocolate lovers.  Come again?

I haven’t had the pleasure of playing this game, so it could be fun, but I just gotta laugh thinking about it.  Keep reading.

According to the manufacturer, Late for the Sky, in Chocolate-Opoly you buy your favorite chocolate properties (ah, what would those be?), collect chunks of chocolate (not cool if not real) and requires you to suppress your chocolate cravings or get sent to Chocoholics Anonymous (as if there’s something wrong with being a chocoholic!).

Wait – there’s more…

You have to pay roasting fees!  This just gets better and better.

Here’s the tag line, “Dark, milk, bittersweet, semi-sweet, in a shake, filled with caramel, covered in nuts, or as a warm, frothy brew–there’s nothing the cocoa bean can’t do!” 

Ok then.  Who sniffed glue and then wrote that?  (of course I agree with the concept, it’s the rhyme that makes me chuckle)

All this for the list price of $29.99.  I’m thinking about all the decadently delicious chocolate I can get for that!   For real!

But, hey, I’m not really the board-game type.  If you are, maybe this would be a fun way to expand your time in the world of chocolate. 

If you’ve played it, you’re welcome to leave your own comment here in the blog.  Tell others what they can expect.

(The Chocolate-opoly text link and image link above will redirect you to Amazon where you can get the game for $10 off the list price, last time I checked.)

What more is there to say?

Bryn

(Hey, I could have tweeted this.  By the way you can follow along at www.twitter.com/chocolateclass)

Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days and different months depending on which country you live in.  In the United States, it is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May. 

We can thank Anna Jarvis for this great day.  She is the one credited for founding Mothers Day in the US.

How do you choose the perfect chocolate for Mom?

The choices are plentiful (overwhelming, really) and if you have not gone chocolate shopping in a while, you will be amazed at the variety of exotic new flavors and the gourmet quality of old classics.

Narrow down the choices by focusing on Mom’s fondness:

Floral:  try chocolate truffles made with lavender, rose or my favorite, orange and geranium!

Tea:  milk chocolate made with flavored teas and chai spices are absolutely delicious.

Fire:  chili peppers added to chocolate bring out the intensity of the chocolate and of course, give it a kick.

Savory:  don’t judge a book by its cover: chocolate with crystallized ginger, mushroom ganache or goat cheese taste better than you think.

Unique:  www.chocomize.com.  Just go there and check it out!

Posh:  opening a gift box of molded chocolates decorated with sprayed on cocoa butter designs, gold, and glitter will take her breath away.  They might look too beautiful to eat, but do it anyway.  They taste just as good as they look.

Now pair that scrumptious chocolate with a series of chocolate lessons to keep the experience lingering long after Mother’s Day and you’ve got a real winner of a gift!

“Man cannot live on chocolate alone; but woman sure can!”
-author unknown

I’m a chocolate lover that never tires of chocolate as a gift, chocolate as a treat, and chocolate as part of my everyday diet.  At the present, though, I am particularly fond of seeking out unique chocolate.

What do I mean by unique?

Unique can mean different things to different people but for me, unique chocolate is handcrafted, creative in design/presentation, and exotic in flavor.   The chocolate truffle embodies all these characteristics for me.  In my book, the chocolate truffle is the Queen of unique.

A key component of a chocolate truffle is the ganache center.  Ganache is traditionally made from fresh dairy ingredients (usually heavy cream) and fine chocolate.  That is the simple, classic truffle. 

On the complex side, chocolate truffles can be made with every flavor or filling you can think of.  The truffle is traditionally hand rolled and dusted in cocoa powder but other things like nuts, coconut, and candied fruit are used too.  Some truffles are dipped in premium chocolate to form a thin, glossy coating. 

A truffle is different from other chocolates, or bon bons, because of the heavy cream ganache and chocolate combination.  (Just so you know, chocolates with nougat, caramel, nuts, or marzipan are considered bon bons.)

Truffles make a unique chocolate gift.  You can purchase them from your favorite local chocolate shop or order from a website.  Just make sure they are fresh when they’re delivered.

Do you like truffles too?  What’s your favorite flavor?  Please leave a comment for me.  Then come back here to watch for more truffle information coming soon.

The molinillo (pronounced moh-lee-NEE-yoh) is the Mexican chocolate whisk.  It is a “stirrer,”  typically made of wood and used to froth warm drinks such as hot chocolate.

This tool was invented by the Spanish colonists in Mexico around the 1700′s.  The first molinillos were made to fit into a container with the handle sticking out of the top.  Then the user would rapidly rotate the molinillo between his/her palms.  The twisting motion frothed the chocolate.

Not only is this little cutie useful, but it loads of fun, too.  And it looks cool! It starts many conversations because my friends have to ask what it is and what I use it for.

I have a couple different molinillos but one in particular, the one pictured here, has an interesting story behind it.

When my son was born, a very good friend of the family who happened to be a local antique dealer, presented us with a baby gift.  She called it a Victorian era baby rattle.  The rattle is made of wood with circular discs surrounding the “neck” of the rattle and decorated with inlaid ivory.  It has a long handle with carved geometric designs, beautifully stained and varnished.  It looks attractive and interesting.  Kind of a funny looking rattle, though.

Years go by and one day I am looking online to find a Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe.  Embedded in the recipe is a link to view the recommended tool of choice, the molinillo, to froth up the chocolate drink.  When I clicked on the link, several photos of different styles of molinillos popped up and HOLY SMOKES! there is my Victorian era “baby rattle” working hard to put a creamy head of foam on a mug of hot chocolate!  I always thought it was a funny looking rattle!

Chocolate Fix is a single-player game where the pieces are in the shape of chocolate candies.  Basically this is a logic, problem solving, game where you have nine chocolates in three different colors and three different shapes.  Each exercise gives you clues as to how you put them into the “chocolate box”.

Think “chocolate meets Sudoku!”  Each 3×3 grid has only one possible solution based on the clues provided.  The easiest levels are quite straight forward and help you understand the notation of the clues.  The tougher levels provide an addicting challenge.  One of the lessons I learned is that apparently a chocolate addiction can apply to something that just looks like chocolate!  Or maybe it’s a game addiction, a problem solving addiction – heck I don’t know.

After working your way through the various levels you’ll be ready to eat the pieces.  Since they’re made of plastic, you better have some real chocolate on hand to get yourself through the experience.  This way even if the game proves that you’re not much of a logic problem solver, you still go away victorious having shown the chocolate bar who’s boss!

The game is inexpensive and would make a great chocolate gift for yourself or for a chocolate lover in your life.  For more information just click the photo.  It’s already a link over to the product on Amazon.com.

Well, that excuse isn’t very good at Chocolate University Online.  Since your homework is chocolate, you’d better hope your dog doesn’t eat it!  We’d hate for you to get behind on your homework tending to a sick dog.

But now, as kids are heading back to school, perhaps there is a new excuse to consider, “My Husband Ate My Homework!“  You bet, when chocolate is around, someone is going to eat it.  And, as a student at CUO you’ll have chocolate lying around. 

To commemorate this grand excuse we’ve introduced the “My Husband Ate My Homework!” t-shirt.  You can find this in our chocolate store.  Look closely and you’ll also see you can get a “My Wife Ate My Homework!” t-shirt as well.  Maybe this t-shirt is even more accurate as the wife is actively prowling for chocolate.

Finally, though not so much an excuse, but a declaration, we have another t-shirt of similar style available.  It tells anyone coming near to, “Eat Your Own Homework!“  Leave your hands off mine.  Or maybe the same phrase expresses your excitement that you get to “Eat Your Own Homework!”  Whatever it means to you, share it with a fun t-shirt from Chocolate University Online.

Get any of these funs shirts for yourself or as gifts for any chocolate lovers.  You’ll find these shirts in our chocolate store.

The first product is an oldie but goodie. By oldie, I mean, I don’t think it is being made anymore and by goodie, I mean, it’s been my gold standard for the past year. I am talking about Bath and Body Works: Wickedly Hot Chocolate Body Wash, Shampoo and Bubble Bath. You couldn’t ask for a product to do more!  The very dark and thick brown gel has a strong chocolate aroma and feels smooth on my skin.  It foams into a sudsy lather right away.  By the end of the shower, the odor does fade.  The lingering smell is a creamy, honey, vanilla- like scented candle.

The second product I used sounds better than it smells.  This is Sun Valley’s Crème de Cacao Body Wash.  The light brown mixture has a softer chocolate aroma than the Wickedly Hot Chocolate but feels just as smooth and lathers up just as fast.  The chocolate smell fades quickly and the lingering odor is very sweet with more vanilla scent than chocolate.

The third and newest product could be my new favorite!  Made by Crabtree and Evelyn it is called Cacao Noir Body Wash.  The thick creamy gel is white which surprised me because I have been used to seeing something in a shade of chocolate brown.  Right away, the aroma is very strong chocolate followed by a fantastic combination of chili pepper and spice cake.  The mixture of these smells is really different yet very pleasant.  I liked the unusual combination right from the start.  The body wash feels smoother on my skin than the other two products, if that is possible.  The chocolate aroma lingers longer before fading into a spicy, honey, vanilla and light floral scent.  Until the Cacao Noir, I did not really notice anything special about the way the body products felt on my skin.  I guess I was too busy sniffing the air and taking in the yummy smells.  But something in this body wash made me pay attention to how it felt on my skin and I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the delightful aroma.

I wanted to include links to these products in this article, but a quick search could not find any of them available online.  As is the case with many such items they may be made for a seasonal special purpose (perhaps Valentine’s Day, Sweetest Day, or Mother’s Day) and then discontinued.  Therefore my advice is to keep your eyes (and nose) open and grab one of these or similar products when you have a chance!

What a great way to celebrate a special event like a wedding (imagine a photo of the bride and groom), birthday, graduation, anniversary, or even a holiday!  Or you could use it as a promotional item for your business with your logo on each m&m.

Start out by picking your favorite m&m color.  There are currently 20 different color choices ranging from various shades of white to all the usual m&m colors, to aqua, light pink, and a shimmering golden color.

Then, depending upon the option you choose, you can upload your favorite photo, most likely in whatever format you can pull off your digital camera including .jpg, .bmp, and .tif formats.  The higher the resolution the better you’ll see the detail.  Or enter the text you’d like to have displayed.  Or select and upload a logo.

Once you have the m&m designed then you can even pick out the packaging; bags, boxes, and tins round out the selection.  In the case of a business promotion you can get packaging that is personalized to the business extending the promotion beyond the candy.

For those of us who have enjoyed m&ms since our childhood, the personalization makes them just a little bit more “ours.”

This is really cool!

To  learn more about all the different options, and a discount offer, click here:  www.ChocolateUniversityOnline.com/goto/getmms.html.