Author Archive: Bryn Kirk
Chocolate Board Game
May 19, 2010
Chocolate-opoly is a decadently delicious property trading game for chocolate lovers. Come again?
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Chocolate, Massage, What?
May 14, 2010
I just tried chocolate scented therapeutic massage oil...
🙂
What more is there to say?
Bryn
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Hints for Molding Chocolate
May 10, 2010
This is the second part of the series. If you missed the first part, or you'd like a review, please see Tips for Molding Chocolate.
Now that you're caught up, here are my Extra Special Helpful Hints when working with chocolate molds.
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Mother’s Day and Chocolate
May 4, 2010
Those two things, Mother's Day and Chocolate, just fit together nicely, don’t they?
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?
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Cupcakes Rule!
May 1, 2010
A couple weeks ago I attended an event that included a lunch buffet. I love buffets, especially the all-you-can-eat-dessert part of a buffet.
After eating my lunch, I elbowed my way through the crowd that had swarmed around the desserts. I stared at the table. <gasp> It had an abundance of cupcakes, the most diverse assortment of beautifully decorated cupcakes I had ever laid eyes on!
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Tips for Molding Chocolate
April 29, 2010
Molded Chocolate (not to be confused with moldy chocolate!), or chocolate from molds (moulds), has been around for a long time.
Most chocolate molds are made of either metal or plastic. They can be flat, to shape chocolate like a candy bar, or three dimensional, to shape like an Easter bunny.
If you are a beginner at working with chocolate, start with a flat plastic mold with small cavities of simple shapes. You can buy these at craft stores or baking/candy supply stores or online at a number of candy-making supply websites.
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Chocolate Adventures in England – Thorntons
March 11, 2010
My little niece was baptized on Valentines Day, Feb. 14, 2010 in a small church near Covent Garden in London.
Previously I had been told the English didn’t celebrate Valentines Day much, but that’s not what I experienced. The chocolate shops and patisseries surrounding the church fully embraced the holiday with window displays decked out in red hearts, flower bouquets, and lots and lots of chocolate!
Most of the time I don’t buy chocolate truffles by the box and off the shelf because I don’t know how long ago those truffles were made. I prefer a really fresh, handmade truffle at the corner shop.
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Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Nibs
March 2, 2010
Cocoa (or Cacao) Nibs are made from cocoa beans after they get separated from their thin shells and roasted. The bulk of nibs produced are ground into chocolate liquor, either used as unsweetened baking chocolate or as the main ingredient of chocolate bars and candies.
Roasted cocoa nibs are not for everyone. They taste rather bitter because they are not sweetened. If you can get past the bitterness, you’ll find they do taste rich and chocolaty and have a crunch similar to nuts. In fact, nibs are often used to replace nuts in cookies and granola recipes.