Sunday, April 19, 2009

Everyday Can be a Holiday!

Hi Gang! I hope you had a great weekend! I am still sad about the passing of Easter, but to cheer myself up, I decided to revisit Valentine's Day. Remember all that half price candy I bought? Well, I sampled some this weekend and so far, all I can say is, "Thank God I didn't pay full price."

Two of the hearts I bought were from Elmer's Chocolates and Guinevere Chocolatier both from New Orleans. I'd never tried any of their chocolate before, so I was very curious. Well, well, well - guess what? These two are the same company. They have two different websites and try to look like different companies, but their chocolates are EXACTLY the same. And they are so not good. What they have are strawberry and orange creme (glack!), caramel (too sweet, not chewy - somewhere between too soft and not soft enough), chocolate raspberry truffle. The exact same flavors, the exact same shapes - the same damn company! Boo!

This heart I picked for its sexy color combo:



Very glam - I liked it. I liked the box WAY better than the chocolate. (This was by Riviera Brands out of Deerfield, IL - but I have no idea if they just distribute or actually make the chocolate. And after eating this, I don't even care.)

First of all, I think if you sell an assortment of 18 chocolates, there should be more than three flavors. Boo!!!! Secondly, well, these were just bad. Waxy chocolate, too sugary, no depth of flavor at all. In fact, the best thing about these was they really made me appreciate all the great chocolate I've gotten to sample. I've learned more about great chocolate by tasting bad chocolate! These all were so sugary and so waxy, chocolate was the last thing you tasted. They really made me appreciate the subtlety of many of the chocolatiers reviewed here.


It's kind of like dating - sometimes you don't realize how much you like someone until you go out with someone who is not them!


Speaking of dating, I'm still seeing the man I like, things still seem to be going okay. I know, scary, right? I'm still on match.com although my heart's not in it. But I don't want to take my profile down if his is still up - argh! See how complicated dating is, my married friends?


But then again, it's like the bad chocolates - the right guy for me will SO not have fun on dates with other women. And you can't lock someone down anyway - either they want to be with you or they don't. I mean, Russell Stover may try to win my heart, but I go back to Hershey every time. And the more chocolate I eat, the more I love Reese's. The best way to get someone to stay with you (whether a friend, a lover or a customer) is by being who you are, letting them be who they are, and knowing that the right people will keep showing up.


Even if someone else is half price.

4 comments:

About Me said...

Just like you wouldn't trade Hershey's for Russell Stover ... don't trade your Russell Crowe standards (well, maybe it's not Russell Crowe you dream of, but fill in the blank) for just any old hoo-ha.

He's out there ... just keep dating around and don't get hooked, because the one you're with right now may not meet that high standard of the perfect chocolate Kiss -- give it time, my friend. :-)

Swervie said...

Now this is what I call a chocolate review. Add a few more swear words and we'll hire you over at Canygurus :)

-MattyR

Denise Ryan said...

Thanks, Matty! Now that is a great compliment!!!

Denise Ryan said...

Heidi - good advice!! Given enough time, men, women, and chocolates all reveal themselves! : )