Real Chocolate Relief Act?
July 24, 2009
Where have I been? I suppose too busy working on Chocolate University Online lessons and support materials as well as handling website and blog issues.
Back in May, Mars put up a website at www.realchocolate.com that is giving away chocolate on Fridays through October. I just discovered this today!
In their words, "Times are tough and we at Mars want to help. How, you ask? Every Friday through October, Mars will give away free real chocolate to 250,000 people."
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Want a Chocolate Fling?
July 20, 2009
There's a new candy bar in town! And, she's looking for some steamy romance...
I'm talking about the new Fling bar, the first new candybar brand from Mars in more than 20 years, which proclaims to be "naughty, but not that naughty."
OK, before I get into the steamy details, let me back up a bit. First of all, Fling may not actually be in your town yet. She's been let loose, and is running wild in California, but those of us in other states cannot yet run to the grocery store and expect to see it on the shelves.
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Caribou Coffee – Mocha
July 8, 2009
I'm sitting at a local Caribou Coffee waiting for a business associate to arrive. This morning I ordered a medium Mocha from the Espresso menu.
Fit & Active – Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Bars
July 6, 2009
Bryn brought home a box of Fit & Active brand chocolate fudge low-fat ice cream bars. This is a product that you can buy at Aldi grocery stores.
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Semi-Sweet Ganache Torte Recipe
July 4, 2009
Here's one of my favorite chocolate dessert recipes. Bryn is making it today for the independence day party.
Semi-Sweet Ganache Torte
15 chocolate graham crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter (not margarine), melted
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup fat-free half & half
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pint your favorite berries (raspberries wonderful, frozen are OK)
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Caffe Chocolat in Titusville, Florida
June 29, 2009
Last Tuesday we stopped at Caffe' Chocolat in Titusville, Florida. We noticed it in the historic downtown part of Titusville a couple days earlier as we drove out to Playa Linda beach. When we drove by a second time, on another adventure, we took the opportunity to stop.
The cafe portion is truly a restaurant with a complete menu including sandwiches, wraps, pizzas, and salads. They also serve specialty coffees, hot and iced. Of course they have fine chocolates and other desserts.
Our interest was in their Chocolate Salon. Here they had a wide assortment of chocolates made right in the store. Pam, owner and chocolatier, has been making the chocolates for more than six and a half years now.
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Chocolate In Space
June 24, 2009
We spent the day enjoying our time at the Kennedy Space Center. What does that have to do with chocolate?
Apparently the astronauts need their chocolate fix too. Or, at least, the marketing department is quite active in its desire to have us think so.
First of all, our kids had to get some freeze-dried ice cream. You know that's official "space food," originally developed for early Apollo missions.
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Rice Crispy Bars with Chocolate and Wine
June 18, 2009
For dessert tonight Bryn's mother made Rice Crispy bars. She melted some Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips, spread it on the bars, and then put another layer of bar on top. So it was kind of a layer cake, the layers being rice crispy bars and the frosting being semisweet chocolate.
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Mo’s Bacon Bar
June 11, 2009
When I first laid eyes on the Mo's Bacon Bar by Vosges, Ltd. I was in shock. My mind raced. Who would put bacon in a chocolate bar? Isn't that some kind of violation? Serious penalties should follow. 
Then another thought crept up, "I wonder what it would taste like?" Did I really think that? Could I try something that sounded so strange? My resistance fell and I walked out of the store with a new-found creation.
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Chocolate Milk for Exercise Recovery
June 5, 2009
Research shows that chocolate milk might be just as good as sports drinks to help athletes recover from intense exercise. This information comes out of a small study from James Madison University in Virginia as presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine.
I like to ride my bicycle for hours at a time and have often enjoyed a glass of chocolate milk upon my return. My logic was that the milk contained some protein so it's probably a good thing for muscles. Milk also contains fluid for rehydration, as well as minerals like calcium and magnesium, electrolytes such as sodium and potassium, and carbohydrates including lactose. These are all good for recovery after exercise and occur naturally in milk.
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