Motivation by Chocolate

Wisdom from the Great Masters (cont.)

2011-12-30T10:21:00.000-05:00

One of my all time favorite thinkers is Joseph Campbell who said “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.” One of the bravest things you can do is let go of something you thought was important to create room for something better. This is hard because at first you can’t clearly see the trade-off. You might have to give up the security of a job for the chance to start your own business. “You can’t steal second if you won’t take your foot off first” - attributed to so many people I don’t know who originally said it. You can’t know for certain what the outcome will be, but if you don’t take the chance, you may “lead a life of quiet desperation.” (Thank you for your eloquence, Thoreau.)

It may not just be job related, but relationship related. You may hang on to certain people (family, friends, customers, etc.) because they are there, not because they bring you anything of value. Letting go of the mediocre (or even the bad!) creates room for the extraordinary. Are you thinking, “Better the Devil you know, than the Devil you don’t know?” I say, “Quit hanging out with Devils, you blockhead!” I bet you already know what or who to let go of, you’re just afraid to do it. Joseph Campbell also said, “Follow your bliss.” Not your guilt. You have a year, you gonna spent it on first base with a bunch of Devils?

The most commonly made New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. If this was your last year, would you spend it worrying about your weight? Or would you get so absorbed in living that your weight didn’t matter? Many of the reasons for overeating - boredom, loneliness, stress - wouldn’t be problems if you were living an exciting, engaging, Devil-free life. The best way to lose weight is to get a life that’s more exciting than food. (Yeah, you can attribute that one to me too.) So instead of trying to find that new diet plan or that amazing new workout routine, know thyself and turn your attention to something that might actually work - alleviate your boredom, loneliness, and/or stress.

Ah - here’s a great one: “Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.” - An Wang. Think how successful we’d all be if we just used our common sense. Don’t spend money you don’t have. Treat other people the way you would like to be treated. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Don’t text, drink, or go seatbeltless when you drive. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Someone who lied to you yesterday will probably lie to you today. But no, we cast common sense to the wind - spending money we don’t have, texting while we drive, and believing those who have repeatedly lied to us. Fire up your good old common sense - you might be amazed where it will take you.

All the years that have come before are over. There is a bright new year awaiting you. Are you going to live it or just get through it? Your year will be as exciting, as successful and as fun as you choose to make it. And if it’s the last one, let’s go out in a blaze of glory - running to second for all we’re worth, leaving the Devils behind!

Have a happy, happy 2012 everyone!!!! And thanks for reading!

Wisdom from the Great Masters for 2012

2011-12-29T09:39:00.002-05:00

Another year ending - the older I get, I swear the faster they go by. According to interpretations of the Mayan calendar, 2012 could be it. We have until December 21st, but that might be the end. Let’s go for it and pretend this is our last year. I’ve brought in some of the best and brightest to advise you and have created a worksheet for you to put their advice into practice. http://www.firestarspeaking.com/ezine/winter2011insert.pdf

“We are always getting ready to live and never living.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson is a God in my country and he’s spot on with this one. We all say things like, “We’ll do it when the kids are older; when we lose 10 lbs.; after the Recession”… we’ll do it someday. Do it now. There will never be a perfect time. Decide now what you really want to do in 2012- assume it’s now or never. (You good with never?)

“Know thyself” - said by Socrates, Plato, or some other wise Greek guy. If you are waiting for someone else to bring your life to you, you are in for a long wait. You have to get out there and live and figure out what works best for you. How can you know you love the mountains without having seen the vastness of the sea? How can you make the most of your talents if you don’t know what they are? Try one new thing a month for the next 12. I promise you will learn many things about yourself. Just because you’ve always done (or not done) something doesn’t mean that’s right for you. As another master, George Eliot, said, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” 2013 might be too late - bring it now!

While I’m a little wary of calling William S. Burroughs a great master, I do like his advice, “When you stop growing you start dying.” It’s easy to get so consumed by routine and our busy lives that we don’t keep learning. I get lazy and read too much nonfiction; I work instead of taking time to attend conferences and get better at what I do. Try things outside your field, you’ll be surprised how exciting life is and how vibrant you become when you’re growing.

“Silence is not the enemy!” - Denise Ryan. Okay, so I’m no great master, but I know you need some silence to know who you are, to figure out what you want, to learn. And we have become terrified of silence. We get in our cars and immediately have to call someone or turn on music rather than be alone with our thoughts. We have to post things on Facebook rather than just sit and experience them. Silence lends itself to thinking, thinking makes you a person of depth - a person who knows who they are and what they want rather than someone who just does what everyone else is doing. (Only a complete loss of thinking can explain the popularity of the Kardashians.) Silence really is golden. Pay attention to how seldom you, and especially your children, experience it. Change that - turn off the TV or the computer or the music, silence the cell phone - have some quiet time.

More tomorrow!

2011-08-09T11:13:00.001-04:00

I hope this will help explain where the heck I've been!!

Hope you all are having a grand summer!

I see article after article about life balance. I’ve seen pie charts with segments for each part of your life—a slice for everything from finances to romance. Are you kidding me? A pie chart for the messy, sloppy wonderful thing called life?

I found life balance much easier when I had no life. I worked and worked out and that was about it. I was living with only two slices and it was pretty cool. I didn’t know why people had trouble balancing their lives. Now that I’m in a long distance relationship with a man with two teenagers, my slices are all jacked up. I still have a slice for working, but have added slices for romance, driving, and dealing with teenage drama. Working out has turned into a burnt crust.

I think the whole concept of “life balance” just makes us all feel guilty. (And creates jobs for life coaches.) If you look at the life balance pie chart (hereafter referred to as WOD—Wheel of Death), you’ll feel guilty about something. Maybe you aren’t having enough of the fun slice or the community slice or the spiritual slice. I think life balance is a bunch of crap.

First, I don’t think anyone can choose the right slices for you. You may be perfectly happy without having a community slice for example. Who’s to say that a life dedicated to work isn’t a great life? Or to spirituality? You gonna tell the Dali Lama he needs to focus more on romance? Balance scmallance—life HAPPINESS is what matters. Balance makes it sound like there’s some ideal arrangement of the slices and if you could just find it, everything would be perfect and cherubs would fly down from heaven and land on your shoulders. Bah! I’m going to tell you the truth.

1.) Forget about stupid life balance and focus on what makes you happy. Does it make you happy to be in debt up to your eyeballs? No? Then you better spend some time on your finances. How much? Enough to make you happy and keep the rest of your life running smoothly. You can spend all day stock trading or you can just spend less than you bring in. You get to decide.

2.) Make choices. What slices are you going to just let go of? You can’t have everything. I’ve spent a lot less time working (I gave up some evenings and weekends) and working out (people at my gym are probably looking for my obituary) to have more time for romance and driving. (I’m still trying to reconcile myself with teenage drama).

3.) Determine your priorities—in order. No time for exercise? That’s okay if your health is at the bottom of your priority list. Do you really know what your priorities are? I loved my life before, but the truth is, I was lonely. So having someone great in my life is a higher priority for me than working, but not higher than my health. So for me, health is number one, romance is number two and work is number three. As a result, I have made cardio non-negotiable. I compromised a bit on weight lifting. Those three are about all the slices I can handle and handle well. What about you? Be honest with yourself. What are your REAL priorities? There are no wrong answers, there’s just wasted time (which means wasted life). Deciding what you can let go of is one of the most important things you can do.

4.) Give yourself permission to let go. I’m still feeling pretty guilty about not lifting weights as much as I used to. And I haven’t had time to do a blog post in months! But my life has three new important people in it and that takes up a lot of time. I can’t do it all and you can’t either—and you know what? It’s okay. So I’m not selling as many tickets to the gun show—do 46 year old women really have to have killer biceps?

5.) Realize your priorities are interrelated. Don’t think I could just say, “Wheeeeee! I’m in love!” and quit working. I don’t think my guy would want to date an unemployed loser who apparently thinks his is the only life worth living. I need to bring my own cool, exciting life to the relationship. Think of your own life—maybe you put your spouse first, children second, and yourself last. Now you’ve gained weight (no time for you to exercise) and the kids have moved out, and you feel terrible about yourself. That’s going to impact your marriage big time. On the WOD no slice is an island.

6.) Say no. You don’t have to be all things to all people. You don’t have to take the volunteer post at the Rotary, drive little Johnny to 85 events, run a marathon, dye your hair, bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never let him forget he’s a man (or she’s a woman). Get off the WOD—do what brings you joy. And sometimes that might be absolutely nothing. Saying no is a great thing—it helps people know who you really are and it frees you up to say yes to what you really, really want.

7.) Do you want “life balance” or do you want control over your life? I think you want control. You’ll never have absolute control, but deciding what YOUR priorities are and planning your time around them will go a long way in getting it for you. If you don’t plan your time, it will get planned (read wasted) for you.

8.) Don’t let assumptions and fear make your choices for you. My Mom had a strong work ethic—always taking work home and coming in on the weekends. When she passed away, we asked her boss to say a few words at her funeral. He said, “I was always trying to get Mary to go home.” She put that pressure on herself as many of you do. Do you assume you have to work late? Are you afraid to say no and set appropriate boundaries? If you are asked to do something and say yes, people think you are willing to do it. If you really don’t want to do it, that must mean you are afraid to say no, afraid the person won’t like you or the boss will fire you. Examine those assumptions.

Forget some ideally balanced life. Instead determine who you are and what you really want. Then be brave enough to let go of the rest. You don’t need no stinkin’ wheel to tell you how to roll!

Corporate Promotional Chocolate

2011-04-19T11:55:00.000-04:00

I love the idea of promotional chocolate! And there are many different ways to do it. this company, Tasty Image (http://tastyimage.com/) contacted me and asked me to send them a jpeg of my logo.

I was thrilled to get a box of very well packed samples:

This is a really great rendition of my logo in a sugar coating over a block of delicious creamy milk chocolate.

Here's a business card in dark chocolate - this one was still good, but I preferred the thicker milk chocolate. But how cool is a chocolate business card?

This is a chocolate coin - very cute. They also do pictures - you could use this for a wedding or a graduation or a cute baby pic.

Not very big, but so fun!!!! And yes, I know there's a fine line between cool and cheesy - you have to figure how how not to cross it on your own.

See how the sugar layer works? The image is printed on and then attached to the chocolate - probably when it's nice and melty. Yumm......melty......

Now here's another option - logo on the wrapper:

This is Thea Kincaid of Thea's Ideas http://www.theasideas.com/ - she came up with this terrific idea to promote our businesses at the upcoming New Bern Professional Development Conference - where I'll be giving my Motivation by Chocolate session. Isn't she great? And how do you like our funky cool fire background? Woohoo!

The chocolate in Thea's bars is rich Belgian chocolate - super creamy and great.

Here's another version of the promotional wrapper. This one contains AMAZING chocolate by Jack Fisher confections http://www.jfconfections/ based in San Diego. It was created for the Lodge at Torrey Pines - a very swanky place.

The ingredients are to die for - English toffee with dark chocolate and cacao nibs. This was delicious gourmet chocolate that the Lodge has to be thrilled to have its logo on.

The Lodge was my kind of place - not just one, but TWO corporate chocolate bars!! This one is another version of the chocolate business card and was made by http://www.sweetpetiteconfections.com/.

I love that Arts and Crafts logo - rendered beautifully here. And it's packed in a lovely Arts and Crafts style tissue paper. The entire thing is a work of art. This is the back of the bar - isn't it gorgeous too?

The ingredients here? 62% dark chocolate and Hawaiian sea salt - a sweet, delicious dark chocolate and the perfect amount of sea salt. A fantastic bar!

And yet another version - here's it's all about the wrapper. The Gamble House is a famous Arts and Crafts home - when I saw this in the gift shop, I had to grab it.

Not amazing chocolate, but good enough. Certainly no mockolate!

The bottom line? Chocolate is good business! Companies have come up with easy ways to replicate your logo or pictures or website - and who doesn't love chocolate?

2011-04-14T21:01:00.000-04:00

For those of you who subscribe to my e-mail updates, the last one didn't have the video link - so if you'd like to see it, please visit the blog at http://motivationbychocolate.blogspot.com/

For the rest of you - how funny are these Peep Kabobs?

They are so cute peeking out of their little box!

And this is a Peep Easter parade!! Love those cuties!

Since they come on a stick, they are perfect for roasting over a fire. Yum!

Just Born is going crazy with the chocolate! Last year they introduced chocolate covered Peeps, this year they've taken it to a whole new level with Peepsters.

Peepsters come in both dark and milk chocolate and Just Born is testing two packaging designs. One is clearly trying to pattern itself after Dove and their Promises - chocolate as a luxury. Rich, silky chocolate for grownups:

And then there's this packaging for the Peeps lover - see how big the trademark word Peeps is here? Much smaller on the other package.

I love the Peep shaped window:

The bags are filled with these individually wrapped dark chocolate marshmallow filled treats:

What took me by surprise was how much more chocolate than marshmallow there was. These taste way more like chocolate than marshmallow. And they are really good!

They also come in milk chocolate:

These taste really good - nice chocolate and a slightly sweeter filling. I couldn't even decide which one I liked the best = both the dark chocolate and the milk chocolate were delish. Perfect little size - try them!!

Three Musketeers has a marshmallow Easter entry:

Would you believe the Three Musketeers is MORE marshmallowey than the Peepster? It's a crazy chocolate world - where chocolate bars cross over to marshmallow and Peeps (of all things) go chocolate.

Just goes to show you - your past doesn't have to define your future. This Easter (and the rest of your life) and be anything you make it.

Peeps New Easter Treats - Yay!!!

2011-04-12T16:01:00.001-04:00

In honor of the new Peeps store online (http://www.peepsandcompany.com/) - here's a preview of all the great goodies Just Born has for us this year! Autopsy photos, closeups and reviews next!

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Contest Winner!!!

2011-03-28T08:08:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone for their great entries! You all did a super job of celebrating Chocolate Week! I celebrated by consuming WAY more than my share of Reese's eggs and chocolate dipped Easter shortbread cookies from Target (I reviewed them last year and they are back again!).

I choose the winner the way the National Confectioners Association suggested - a random drawing. I couldn't think of a better way - the stories were great - but the recipes were great too and how can you compare the two? And Cheryl is a chocolate hero - spreading the word to her students. Check out all the comments to see the terrific stories posted. And there were a few of you who have been long time readers - argh!!! How to choose? So the random drawing it had to be. I put all the entrant's names in a bowl and had my sweetheart draw one out. And the winner is.........

Kiddocare!!!!

Woohoo! I'll be sending her address to the NCA and they'll send her chocolate package out to her. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to enter and for helping us celebrate Chocolate Week! And thanks so much for sharing!!!!

The Chocolate Contest Continues!!!

2011-03-22T20:34:00.000-04:00

Okay Gang - post those stories or recipes or whatevah! The big Chocolate Week contest ends on Sunday at midnight!!! I got my bag from the National Confectioners Association today and it is cool!!!

It has a great tag from the mysterious and all powerful Chocolate Council:

Looks like a bag of cacao beans:

And here are all the goodies - you could win!!!! Come on - your odds are really, really good!

I've never seen these adorable mini Green & Black's bars:

This one was toffee and was so so delicious:

Now, remember, the actual contents may vary - but what the heck - it's free and it's chocolate! Life is good! Post an entry and you could be opening a great goodie bag like this one!

And don't forget to check out http://www.thestoryofchocolate.com/. Here's a tidbit from the site:

There is no scientific evidence, however, that chocolate is addictive. Instead, people who desire chocolate likely do because of its sensory properties, its melting sensations and intense taste. Its aroma and flavors are highly complex. More than 500 compounds responsible for aromas have been found in roasted cocoa beans, and chocolate has more 1,500 flavor compounds—three times the number found in wine.

So see? We are not addicted to chocolate, we simply love the way it tastes. And clearly, it is more complex than wine, which makes us even cooler than those snobby wine people. Chocolate lovers of the world - arise!!!!!

Colonial Chocolate

2011-03-21T22:05:00.000-04:00

Since it's American Chocolate Week - let's talk about the history of American Chocolate!

Did you know MARS has a Historic Division? It was established in 2006 with the goal of becoming the undisputed leader in chocolate history. (You go, MARS!). Their marketing company sent me a really cool box of their new American Heritage Chocolate. It's made with only ingredients available during the 17th century. Hmmmmm.........let's investigate.

Isn't this packaging fabulous? A VERY cool wooden box:

A beautifully printed book and DVD were in the box. MARS researched the ingredients and used them to re-create colonial chocolate. The colonial chocolate making process is recreated in the video.

There were some samples - these are chocolate sticks:

This bag contained more chocolate sticks, but there's also hot chocolate mix in the line.

This contained a big chocolate block designed to grate, shave or melt and use on desserts:

I'm thinking maybe this would be terrific for Colonial Williamsburg or other museums. Might be really cool for teachers to use with their students. Definitely a niche product. (You can check all this out for yourself at http://www.americanheritagechocolate.com/ - a very well done website.)

But for the rest of us...um....it's just not that great. I don't want to eat more of this - too dry. It does have a strong chocolate taste, but I'd rather have just a regular old chocolate bar. Or a handful of M & Ms. We've come a long way, baby!

But I love MARS for innovation and cool marketing!

Woohoo! Great Chocolate Giveaway!!

2011-03-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

I swear, motivational speaker, Denise Ryan, based in good ol' Raleigh, NC is still alive! Easter is the last big candy holiday and I just can't stand to miss it! So I'm going to try to get some posts going.

I hope you all will love this one - I got a great e-mail from Monica at the National Confectioners Association writing on behalf of the Chocolate Council. (How cool would it be to get to hang out with the Chocolate Council? OMG! Think of the great conversations! The whole chocolate world is in their hands! Oooh - the power!) But I digress.

The big story is that next week is American Chocolate Week (not to be confused with Russian Chocolate Week or Swiss Chocolate Week). And to commemorate the week - the council is launching a new website http://www.thestoryofchocolate.com.

The Savor section was my favorite part of the site. It talks about how to taste chocolate and why it's just so dang irresistible. There's no peanut butter tab, but hey, I'm sure the Peanut Council is on it.

So let's get to the giveaway!!!! Monica is offering YOU, dear readers, a chance at a Chocolate Gift Pack from the Council!!!! See below:

I don't know if you all can really tell from the pic - but this is a lot of stuff! Now, Monica said that what you get may not be exactly this assortment, but who cares, right? It's FREE chocolate!!!!! And a lot of it! Are you with me?

So what do you have to do?

Monica suggested you all share your own "Story of Chocolate" - could be a memory, a favorite recipe, something about how you enjoy chocolate now - be creative! I'm going to put all the names of everyone who submits something that took a little effort and pull out one at random.

If you just post something like "I ate chocolate for breakfast today" - that is too lame. Give me something good - I know you all have talent!

I'm thinking anyone who takes the time to do something has a pretty good chance at this! I'm going to give you all Chocolate Week - that means through midnight the 26th. You can enter multiple times with different stuff if you want.

If I pick you, you'll give me your address and NCA will mail you the packet - how awesome is that????

Good luck, my beauties!!!

And you can always check out my cool website at www.firestarspeaking.com

Confession is Good for the Soul

2011-03-08T10:19:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make.

I went by Walmart this weekend to check out the Easter candy. Didn't see much new - with the exception of Marshmallow Three Musketeers which I'll review as soon as I get back to my camera (I'm on the road). So to comfort myself I bought a bag of Reese's Pieces Eggs. Have you tied these? I've reviewed them before:

These are like regular Reese's Pieces on steroids - they have two or three times the peanut butter. They are simply fabulous.

What is my confession? I ate the entire bag. Once you start, you are powerless to stop. They own you.

I'm not even going to tell you what happened with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles I also bought.

So take this post as a recommendation - both of these products are soooooo good! And a warning - they are the work of the Devil. You will be powerless to resist them.

Ghirardelli All Natural Chocolate

2011-03-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

My beloved readers know that, in my book, politics and chocolate don't mix. I don't care if chocolate is made by underpaid farmers or if it is produced by highly paid factory workers. I only care if it is good.

Ghirardelli has this new all natural line, but they don't beat you over the head with it. They aren't screaming about the evils of chemicals. Their other stuff has the chemicals, so I guess that wouldn't be very wise of them.

Ghirardelli's PR people sent me some coupons for free samples and I managed to find all the first three flavors (milk, almond and hazelnut), but couldn't find the crisp to save my life. I finally resorted to buying a combo bag that was on massive sale at Kohl's. (On sale because it was in a Christmas package - lucky me!)

I swear sale chocolate somehow tastes better. And if it's a really great deal, I feel I must buy it. Look to see me on an upcoming Hoarders episode. I'll be the crazy candy lady. They'll try to take my candy away and I'll claw their eyes out.

The first flavor is milk chocolate:

Love the Ghirardelli logo.

A nice, creamy and delish milk chocolate. If you've been looking for an all natural chocolate - here you go!

This is my favorite of the bunch - hazelnut:

Look at all those nuts!

I like the mix of the hazelnut with the milk chocolate - a great combo. The slightly bitter hazelnut sets off the sweet milk chocolate very well. Love this one!

Here's almond:

It looks like a lot of nuts, but the almonds got lost in the chocolate - I would have liked more of them.

Here's my crazy assorted Christmas sale bag:

Seems to be a lot of rice crisps.

I gotta tell you, I've never been a big fan of the rice crisp. Nestle Crunch is lame to me. Why take up space that could be filled with about 1,000,000 better things? Nuts, caramel, fruit, peanut butter, even just chocolate. Yeah, yeah - they have an interesting texture. Whatever! They have zero taste.

Here's the bottom line - if you want a natural chocolate line - you've got it! Delicious, creamy Ghirardelli milk chcocolate in four flavors. It.s good - and with the hazelnut - possibly great.

Set Our Chocolate Free!

2011-02-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

Ah - my dear readers, I was contacted my a new friend and asked to share this with you. Take a look and see what you think. I can only guess that the government wants to save us from eating the toys inside the egg and killing ourselves:

Free the Egg | Life, liberty, and the pursuit of chocolate.

wp.me

Kindereggs are considered contraband in the United States. Yes, the little, delicious chocolate egg with the cool toys in the middle are illegal. The insanity of it all! With this blog, we are dedicated to reversing this law and providing American children with the joy that millions of childr

Now lets put this in perspective. You can buy a gun, but you can't buy this chocolate egg. Seriously?

I say let us make our own choices. I signed the petition - I think that officially makes me a chocolate subversive. I feel cooler already.

Set our chocolate free!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2011-02-13T11:31:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm still struggling with my life balance - dating a great guy, running my business, trying to keep working out AND writing the blog. It's all obviously not going to happen. So far, the blog has been taking a butt kicking. Sorry gang! The good news is I'm not buying my own Valentine's Day present this year, and I'm sooooo lucky to have love in my life. But, I know what it's like to be solo, so I'm not going to turn into a sap. For those of you who are single - hang in there - there's always chocolate and fun and loads of life to be lived. For those of you who have love - hold it dear. For those of you hanging on to someone who doesn't treat you right - get the hell out. They are not going to change and you deserve better. For all of you - this is my Valentine's Day gift to you!!!

Dove introduced these dark chocolate and cherry swirl heart promises:

I love the way they look:

I wish I liked the taste as much as their cool apprearance. Too much cherry for me. I still think the Hershey's Cherry Cordial Kisses do this combo best.

And while I think the messages in the wrappers could be better, at least Martha Stewart is out of the picture. I just don't want that felon in my candy.

Woohoo! My freinds at Just Born haven't let us down! Milk chocolate and dark chocolate covered Peeps!

You know how I like to compare. Before now, my favorite chocolate covered marshmallow heart was from Hershey (hate the evil Russell Stover):

I don't know what happened to the Hershey heart, but it looks like it had a very bad night:

Look at what happened when I autopsied the Peep hearts! Holy cow - this color has never before been seen without the help of a black light (those of you under the age of 35 probably don't even know what that is). It's raspberry marshmallow - possibly from the planet Zenon.

And here's the autopsied Hershey Heart:

The verdict? The marshmallow in the Peep Hearts is fluffier; it's more chewy in the Hershey Heart. So marshmallow wise, I gotta go with the Peeps. The Hershey milk chocolate is the best, but the combo of the super sweet raspberry marshmallow and the dark chocolate is a winner. Overall - the best is the dark chocolate raspberry Peep Heart. But if you don't like raspberry - hello Hershey!! If you don't like marshmallow, well, keep reading.

I was amazed by these (I thought they would be horrible) - from Tootsie, maker of Junior Mints - raspberry cremes:

When I first saw them, I thought - what a great idea! Why didn't they think of different flavors before? And where the hell is peanut butter???

I popped the poor autopsy subject picture here into my mouth, honestly expecting them to suck. I have to tell you, they are great! A lot of it is that awesome size (totally poppable) and the chocolate shell/creamy filling combo that makes the Junior Mint so addictive. I find these impossible to stop eating. Go Tootsie Roll!

Thanks for reading! I hope all of you have a fantastic Valentine's Day - regardless of the state of your love life. I think it's a great day to celebrate our love affair with chocolate and with life - something that will never change! Love to you all!!

National Popcorn Day?

2011-01-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

Supposedly the 18th was National Popcorn Day. I don't know if that's true or not. And I really don't care. I just needed an excuse to write about popcorn.

I was considering a Black Swan tie-in. I just saw it in the theaters and loved it, although I'm not entirely clear on what happened. I just know I was on the edge of my seat the whole time; Natalie Portman did an amazing job; and the symbolism was fab. Very cool. I didn't actually eat any popcorn at the movie (I smuggled in Christmas candy), but I THOUGHT about popcorn.

And there you have it. Popcorn.

I met the folks from Jody's Gourmet Popcorn at the Fancy Food Show and they were awesome enough to send me some samples afterward.

They sent three different types of their popcorn (they have other flavors as well). This one was double cheddar:

Now I love cheese flavored popcorn. When I buy those tins with the three flavors, this is the flavor that I always chow down first. But I'm sad to say, this cheese popcorn was no good. It had a weird flavor and I actually pitched it. For me throwing away cheese popcorn is like Lindsey Lohan thowing out vodka.

Next up was Kettle Corn:

This was perfect. I mean perfect. Not overly sweet, just the right balance between sweet and salty. Awesome!!

And look at those kernels - all their popcorn is like this - fully popped, nice and fluffy - no bits. Some popcorn is filled with unpopped bits and hard pieces and is just crappy. The last time I got popcorn from the Popcorn Factory it was like that - bleech. This was great.

This is Jody's Recipe 53 Caramel Corn:

Also very cool - a nice light coating of caramel corn - very, very well done. You can still taste the popcorn - it's not overwhelmed by the caramel. A work of popcorn culinary art.

This is Great Scott's Peanut Butter Cup popcorn (I was sooooo excited to try this one!):

Boo! No good. Not very peanut buttery or chocolately; a weird flavor. There are so many better choices that I pitched this one too. You know it's no good if I threw away something involving peanut butter. That goes against everything I believe in.

Before we write Great Scott's off entirely, look at this flavor - bleu cheese (notice how not full the bag is):

I love the fact that the bleu cheese actually has a bit of a bleu tint to it! Gotta tell you - this stuff was delicious!! Love it! As you can see, I ate half the bag before I could even get to a camera to take a picture of it:

Everybody is getting in on the popcorn act. Harry & David just lauched a line of flavored popcorns. Here's loaded baked potato:

and bacon ranch:

I'm sure you are wondering why I don't have pictures of these flavors. Well, I now have like 5 open bags of popcorn in my house. I have to eat some before I open any more! I did sample both of these flavors in the Harry & David store and they were delish. There's no room for crappy entries once Harry & David is in the house. Popcorn makers of the world - step it up!

Harry & David also has their entire line of Moose Munches (coated popcorn with chocolate and assorted nuts or other ingredients). This stuff is over the top addictive. I saw this flavor (Milk Chocolate Pumpkin) and was dying to try it:

As Tim (my sweetheart) observed, "Pumpkin has it's place and this isn't it." I have to agree. As much as I love pumpkin, somethings just don't lend themselves as well to that flavor. Popcorn really shouldn't be pumpkin flavored. This wasn't very good. I was going to throw the bag away, but Tim said, "Don't get crazy, it's not that bad!"

So far, this is the best flavor of Moose Munch that I've tried - White Chocolate Macadamia Nut:

This is sooooooo good and is completely addictive. If you open a bag, the next thing you know it will be empty and your jeans will be tight. It's wicked good.

Harry & David also has a line of Moose Munch chocolate bars. This one is caramel with cashews and almonds:

It looks pretty good and in theory is a good idea. But I honestly think loose Moose Munch is better. This is too much chocolate. I know, I know - how can you have too much chocolate? If you eat the Moose Munch with only a few chocolate covered kernels, it's perfect. If you have all of it coated in chocolate, it's too much.

The takeaways?

Let's all be grateful for the awesomeness of popcorn. It can be healthy as heck or decadent beyond belief. It makes movies better and smells delicious.

Contrary to what I have long believed, pumpkin really doesn't make everything better. Neither does chocolate. I'm soooo happy they are both out there, but they don't need to be everywhere.

Really great things usually do get the recognition they deserve - Black Swan, Cirque du Soleil, popcorn. We all have different tastes and opinions, but we agree more than we disagree. If given the chance, Orville Redenbacher could probably have gotten us world peace.

Pumpkin and Elusive Childhood Memories

2011-01-13T18:52:00.000-05:00

I have to say that Ben's comment on my last post shamed me into getting a real post done. Ben - good for you! I'm a slacker!!

As promised - pumpkin!

I found these at Target - Ghirardelli Squares in Milk & Pumpkin Spice Caramel:

What a great idea! Love the creamy Ghirardelli milk chocolate, and they have a whisper of pumpkin. But I like a stronger pumpkin flavor. If you want a hint of pumpkin with your chocolate, this is for you.

Harry & David has these Pumpkin Spice Caramel Balls:

Gotta say I like them better! Much more pumpkin flavor. No chocolate, however. But I just LOVE these! Great texture, chewy caramel - yum!!

Harry & David also has these Pumpkin Spice Milk Chocolate Maltballs:

This is the perfect solution - a little chocolate and a LOT of pumpkin. These are great too! Harry & David rock the house on maltballs - TONS of flavors. These are seasonal.

Chewy or crunchy? Harry and David has your pumpkin balls covered! Wait, that didn't sound quite right....

Pumpkin Delights by my girl Little D. I'm so glad these are only available for a short period of time. They are impossibly delicious:

Moist and cakey and chewy - sooooo good. I really do love Little Debbie - these are awesome!!!

And they smile at you! What more can you really ask for?

I found these Pumpkin Pie with Cream Cheese Topping cookies at World Market. They are by Too Good Gourmet.

Great idea! Love the cream cheese topping! And the cookie is moist and has good pumpkin flavor as well as the delicious nutmeg and cinnamon of pumpkin pie. Well done!! So far I like everything I've tried by Too Good Gourmet. Look for them in World Market and TJ Maxx.

I was over the moon when I heard about these - thanks to our other Ben who tipped me off several posts ago - PUMPKIN PIE POP-TARTS! When Ben told me they existed, I searched for them. I read online reviews gushing about how great they were. I HAD to find some! They became my holy grail. When I finally saw then in Target, I was so excited; I bought up six boxes. I snuck home from Target like a junkie who just scored a fix.

Okay, not really like the picture on the box, but we know how this goes:

Promising?

The result? BOO! Not nearly enough pumpkin filling. These should be called Pumpkin Pie CRUST Pop-Tarts. I mean, I'm down with pie crust, I like it, but I was expecting more here. I was expecting some filling. These were a heart breaker.

Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors so I'm definitely biased in demanding more. And it's only available seasonally, so I gotta get as much of it as I can!

What have we learned?

Some flavors need more chocolate, some need less. Pumpkin and chocolate is a tricky mix and should best be left to professionals. I think there should always be more pumpkin. I feel the same way about peanut butter - the more peanut butter, the better. Although mixing it with chocolate isn't tricky at all - any combination is good - and complete amateurs can mix away with abandon.

Little Debbie remains a goddess (and the poor man's Paula Deen).

Childhood memories are tricky. Pop-Tarts are not as good as I remember them. Prolly because I was forbidden to have any. I could only get the amazing sugary treats when at friends' houses. I remember more filling - strawberry was my fav.

But you know how tricky those childhood memories can be! Some of the things you thought were so amazing you have today and you're shocked. The best example I can think of is the game Pong. My brother and I used to play that for hours. Kids today would be like, "Are you serious? Do you have a wooden paddle and a ball on a rubber band too?" Our reply? "Yeah, to smack you with you little Xbox, Wii playing brat! Let me get my wooden gun that shoots rubber bands and I'll teach you some respect!"

We've tried so many different foods from so many different countries over the course of our lives, how can a poor childhood favorite keep up?

Never fear, there's always Reese's my dears. Always.

Upcoming Motivation by Chocolate Seminar

2011-01-12T10:27:00.000-05:00

If any of you want to see me do the Motivation by Chocolate seminar, I'm speaking at a women's conference http://www.frenziedfemale.com/agenda-and-speakers.html on February 18th in Fletcher, NC. Check out the link to see the agenda and come on out! The day will be a blast and the chocolate will be fabulous!

Football and Foliage

2010-12-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like there are a whole lot more football specific candy/baked goods than ever before. Have you seen these babies? Football Oreos:

Look at all the different designs! Gotta love "lick the competition." Do these do anything for me? While I admire the different shapes and the many designs, I have to say - not really. There seems to be more cookie and less cream and I am so NOT about that. I was born for Double Stuff.

Little Debbie (LD) has some football shaped brownies (oddly these are the same shape as their Easter egg brownies, but the shape is better for footballs, so you go, LD!) They taste pretty good - the same as all the other Little Debbie brownies I've reviewed. A new shape is just a good excuse to buy more. Cheap and pretty chocolately - while not a touch down, I'd say definitely a field goal.

Look pretty good, huh? Always moist - Little Debbie has the cheap, mass produced brownie down cold.

And look at these! Reese's Footballs!

These are totally the Reese's eggs repackaged as footballs. But they are still that delicious Reese's peanut butter, so I'm not complainin'! And the bag weighs like a ton! (2 pounds!)

Since football is a fall sport, I'm going to include some other fall flavors. (Yeah, yeah I know it's January - give a girl a break! I've been busy!) Harry and David has these Red Apple Caramel balls:

And while you guys know I love most of Harry and David's stuff, I did not love these. They had some kind of funky aftertaste. Boo! If Hershey can get the exact taste of caramel apples in their Kisses (reviewed on September 5th), Harry and David can do better than this. Flag on the play!

Godiva also has a caramel apple Gem:

Now it's just pathetic when Hershey does better than Godiva. Once again I rant at how damn expensive Godiva is and how not so great. (Just like some pro football players we could name.)

Not to be limited by football, LD also had these for the Fall and their usual brownie trees for Christmas:

A solid performer.

Marshmallow Treats again - this time for Fall. Nothing wrong with them - they are basically second rate Rice Krispy treats in fall colors. A little less crispy, a little less sweet, just not quite as good as the original.

But you gotta give LD credit for those colors. I like a little originality and flash. (Just like some pro football players we could name.)

My favorite decorated sugar cookies from Harry and David:

Good tasting, not rock hard like some of these decorated cookies can be. They are VERY hard to stop eating. And they are in adorable little designs. I'm glad to see they have remained politically correct and not included an Indian head dress.

These little marzipan works of art were in World Market:

You know they are from Europe when you see the toadstool. We would have never included that in the good ol' US of A. Leaves yes, fungi no. They come from Germany. Land of the fairy tale (and the fungi).

Really pretty, aren't they?

The taste isn't bad - they have a good, strong almond flavor. I would like it if the chocolate coating was thicker. Marzipan can be so sweet - I like it best with paired with heavy chocolate. But I really like the artistry of these - very nice.

If you are intrigued by any of these - Harry and David stores are having a great sale right now. I got the cookies for half price. Little Debbie's never stay around for long - I have to grab them as soon as I see them. The Reese's footballs I found in Wal-Mart. But two pounds is a lot - be ready.

Go Team Chocolate!! Coming up next - my other beloved - pumpkin!!!!!

Hell Has Frozen Over

2010-12-28T19:17:00.002-05:00

Those of you who have followed my dating travails (endless match.com dates, speed dating, horrifying singles events, etc.) are going to be shocked. After 13 years of seeking, I have finally found the ever-elusive good guy who is not a geek, boring or gay. This guy (Tim) rides a Harley, has a good job, is great with his kids (and sweet to his mom), is tall, handsome, smart, loves candy, and most importantly, likes me! We have a blast together and that is why I have been completely off the grid since my last post.

This is us at the Renaissance Faire (with his cute son Brett - good looks run in the family, he has a lovely daughter too):

But I have not been off the sugar train. Tim was with me when I saw an add for Krispy Kreme's snowman donuts and I said how much I wanted to try them. I think I licked the picture. I knew he was the man for me when several days later, out of the blue, he suggested we go by Krispy Kreme and get the snowman donuts. Clearly he is my soul mate.

And these donuts are amazing - no filling, but sooooo good with the frosting. Can anything really be better than a warm, frosted, glazed donut on a cold morning? And how cute are they?

These didn't last long. But any man who shares my love of lard and sugar is a keeper!

Remember the Grove Park Inn's national gingerbread competition from last year? Well this year I took Tim (another bonus, a man who will go to a gingerbread house competition). He is the best!

Here's the first prize ribbon:

And here's the first prize gingerbread creation:

Gorgeous Christmas nesting dolls made out of gingerbread. So perfect! There were plenty more fantastic creations - a rocking horse that looked as if it were made out of wood, not gingerbread; several amazingly detailed houses - so much fun! And we got to drink hot chocolate, eat gingerbread and watch it snow. Finally a romantic Christmas!! Usually I'm off on a solo trip somewhere - it's so much better to have someone to celebrate the season with.

I don't want to be one of those sappy people who go on and on about their good fortune, but I do want to share some tips for those of you who may not yet have the relationship you dream of:

1.) Don't give up. I've been single since my divorce 13 years ago. I've been on more bad dates than anyone should have to endure. But every single one of them was worth it - they make me really appreciate the man I've finally found. And all that BS about stop looking and then it will happen? Well, if I had taken my match.com profile down, we would have never found each other. Keep doing something! The UPS person is not your only option!

2.) Don't settle. You'll meet plenty of people who just don't want to be alone. They just want to be with someone, anyone. You don't want that - you want to hold out for the one who wants to be with you. Someone who loves you with all your crazy quirks - hell, someone who loves you because of all your crazy quirks.

3.) When it's right, you'll know it. There's no drama. There's trust and openness, and in this case, a whole lot of laughter. Angst, worry, doubt - those are all signals that it's not right. It was weird, but the feeling I had on our first date was that I had come home.

4.) Being alone is better than being with the wrong person. I've been with the wrong person, with several wrong people and it's awful. Broken promises, lack of trust, no real talk of the future, secrets, lies - all of it makes you feel bad, makes you doubt yourself. A good relationship makes you feel better about yourself. You feel like you're part of a team. It's full of openness and light. You can be lonelier with the wrong person than you will ever be by yourself. If you can learn to walk alone, you can hold out for all the love you deserve.

5.) The Universe doesn't work on our time table. Thirteen years was a long, long time to me. I went through my mother's death alone, I went through hip surgery with no one to hold my hand. There were so many times when I would be the only one at a function without a date. Just because you want something doesn't mean you'll get it when you want it. Try hard, treat others as you would like to be treated, and keep holding your hand out. Someday the right person will take it.

6.) Choose your associates wisely. The people you let share your life will have a huge impact on it, for better or worse. Don't be afraid to walk away from those who cause you pain. You'll free up time and space for those who can bring you joy.

Bakers Bring It for Halloween

2010-11-01T10:18:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! I wound up spending it at a friend's house, so I still have tons of candy I didn't give out. Dear God. What about you all? Any good stories?? Share, share!!!

Okay - this is the last Halloween post. (If there was election candy, I'd be all over that, but alas, no such luck.)

Most of the candy makers just repackaged their candy in Halloween wrappers - something you all know bugs the heck out of me and seems like a cop out. I found these in TJ Maxx:

Halloween packaging and colors, but no real flavor - just sugar coated almonds. I love their butter pecan and toasted coconut flavored Jordan Almonds, but these were just boring. Not worth the calories.

Chips Ahoy brought out some new Halloween cookies! Yay!

I like the new wrapper and the festive orange chips, but they pretty much are the same old cheap chocolate chip cookies. Big points if you love Chips Ahoy, but nothing to go crazy about.

These, however, are delish:

See all that great orange filling? These are double stuff thickness - love them!! And look at the cute designs:

Clockwise from upper left - witch on her broomstick, black cat, ghost, jack-o-lanterns, bats. I like the creativity, love the color of the filling (and the quantity - yay!), the packaging and the designs. Woohoo - thank you Oreo!

Even Pop-Tarts came up with a Halloween design:

Although Choc-o-Lantern is a pretty lame name (Palmer would have called these Bloody Pop Hearts and filled them with cherry.) These look great on the package, but pretty grim in reality (pretty ugly and terrible actually):

But the flavor isn't bad - like chocolate cookie dough. So appearance is bad, but taste is great!

I'm not sure if these are special for Halloween or not, but I've never seen them before and there is a mention of a Halloween promotion in the right hand corner:

Now look at them on the box - pretty cool. Look at them in real life - ewww!

At least they are cream filled, right? Um - no. Not good. Weird taste. Boo. (And not in a ghostly way.)

Harry and David comes through with these adorable mini iced cookies:

Aren't they the cutest? And they taste great too. Although they are the most expensive of the lot at $9.95 for a bag.

And is that the Salvador Dali pumpkin? Must be a mustache.

These are in Target - witches' hats, pumpkins, and ghosts:

They are shortbread covered in white icing with orange and black sprinkles. And they, too, are delicious. And addictive. I think they are laced with crack.

I found these in TJ Maxx too. TJ Maxx has some cool treats, but you have to dig through the chaos. These are Too Good Gourmet's Candy Shortbread Cookies:

Love the adorable witch and the pumpkin cut out window on the box. And the cookies?

OMG! They are GREAT! Delicious shortbread cookies with loads of candy coated chocolate bits.

So, not only did I eat too much candy this Halloween season, I ate way too many cookies and Pop Tarts. But what a great adventure! I am proud of the bakers and candy companies who went to the trouble of bringing us something new - woohoo! I am saddened by the apparent demise of the mini (70 calorie) Reese's Pumpkin. But loved the new Hershey's caramel apples Kisses. When one door closes, another opens. ; )

Have a great week!! And don't forget to vote!

The Most Artistic Halloween Chocolates

2010-10-29T21:03:00.000-04:00

The big night fast approaches!!! And while I hate to have Palmer, Godiva and John & Kira's in the same blog - I gotta do what I gotta do.

Palmer is one of the few companies that actually came up with something NEW this Halloween. Chocolate zombies:

Notice the coffin shaped base and the detailed creepy zombie! For a buck you get a whole bag! And there are multiple foil colors and designs - one zombie is actually holding a brain. I give Palmer so much credit for crazy concepts and great execution (although it's damn hard to execute a zombie - bwah, ha, ha!). The detail, the use of two colors of chocolate - bravo! The taste - GROSS! Can't have everything - cheap price, great design and great taste. Two outta three ain't bad.

Palmer also has these screaming skullsl:

Look at the colors! Look at the precision - green band-aid, creepy red eyeballs - still taste like Hell, but bravo, bravo for artistry!!! And cheapness.

Godiva charges an arm and a leg (mention of severed limbs intentional) for its Halloween creations. These cost $2.00 each:

This is a white chocolate tombstone with a caramel apple filling. And it's only okay. At some point I just need to give up on Godiva - overpriced, disappointing, so over rated. Creative, yes. Better than Palmer. But not worth $2.00.

This is a Blood Orange Bat (bwah, ha, ha - BLOOD orange):

And as much as I hate to admit it, I like this one. It has a rich, delicious orange taste - not that awful fake orange. And the design and coloring is truly a work of art. I have to say, this one is excellent. Guess I won't be giving up on Godiva after all!

Now look at these beauties from John & Kira's:

Aren't they the cutest? But they are small - about the size of a nickle. And they are not cheap - about $3.00 each (yep the box is $36!)

Do you remember the Harry and David's pumpkin butter I reviewed? These are filled with something very similar - it says it's pumpkin pie caramel, but it tastes just like pumpkin butter to me in a thin chocolate shell. They are good, but I still think the best pumpkin chocolate confection is Knipschildt Chocolatier pumpkin truffles - sooo creamy and great.

Here's to the all the chocolate makers who take the time to design something fun and or beautiful! And when it's delicious too - Happy Halloween to us!!

Teenage Vampires and Werewolves, Oh My!

2010-10-27T18:04:00.000-04:00

I don't pretend to understand middle aged women who are into teenage vampires. I don't pretend to understand middle aged women who are in to middle aged vampires. (I mean, do you know where those fangs have been?) But, hey, to each her own. Or to each her own undead.

I've never seen this show or read these books and I have no intention of doing so. But I did want to try the candy. (I'm telling you, pickin's were slim this year!)

This assortment had three different designs and flavors. Peanut butter for the werewolf Jacob:

I like the howling wolf design, (but is that his tongue poking out? Wha? You can't howl with your tongue poking out! Try it if you don't believe me.), liked the taste the best of the three, but that's not saying much. This is no Reese's peanut butter and no great chocolate. Better than Palmer, but that's about it. (And really, what chocolate is not better than Palmer?)

This is a chocolate truffle for Bella:

Bleech. Crappy chocolate. Not even the truffle part was good.

Caramel for the vampire Edward:

Like the design - very detailed - nice!

While this looks like a good caramel, it's not that flavorful. These are just not that great. Mediocre. Zzzzzz...

I got this prototype bar at Candy Expo - before the final packaging was done - cool, huh? These are made by the New England Confectionery Company (yep, Necco). I hate almost everything else they make (Necco wafers, Sweethearts) - so I shouldn't be surprised these don't rock my world:

Here's the final - the new Sky Bar with the Twilight design:

Got a little crushed on my travels:

This is repackaged in the individual servings for Halloween. I like the flavors even less in the bar because there's more cheap chocolate. I like having the variety of flavors in one bar, like the creative artwork, don't care for the taste. Sorry, Necco. But hopefully those vampire/werewolf lovers out there will sustain you - I like your creativity.

But next up are the real artists in chocolate, the super creative chocolate makers! Stay tuned!

Halloween and Peanut Butter - Yay!!

2010-10-25T16:06:00.000-04:00

I love peanut butter. I love Halloween. I was so excited when the Halloween candy starting hitting the shelves. I kept going back to all my favorite candy haunts (heh, heh, heh - get it, haunts?) looking for the new, the exciting, the different. And was so disappointed this year.

Sure there were the usual miniature candy bars, but that's the same every year. We need new, exciting candy - simple pleasures to take our minds off foreclosure rates and unemployment figures.

At least Nestle made a Butterfinger pumpkin:

I like the design - a bit creepy and a bit friendly all at once. Pretty impressive.

This guy is chocolate with Butterfinger pieces mixed in. It's okay. I prefer the mini Butterfingers taste. Nestle's chocolate isn't as good as their Butterfinger filling. I'd really like this if it were all Butterfinger filling. I don't think it would hold together very well, but damn, it would be good! And it would be orange. Nestle candy makers - read my blog and make us a Butterfinger (no chocolate) pumpkin! Crunchy! Peanut buttery! Yum!

This is new fall packing for the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins. I'm still bitter they didn't make the mini ones this year. But I still think these are the best peanut butter treats on the market. They still have the old Halloween themed purple packaging from last year (you can see it in last year's post if you really care that much). Maybe this is so they can keep the Reese's pumpkins on the shelf a little longer - making them a fall treat? These could stay out through Thanksgiving.

I think we should be giving thanks for these all year long!

This is the only Russell Stover candy I bought this year. I didn't see anything else new and I hate Russell Stover anyway. I think they own Whitman's so the marshmallow candy corn was one of theirs too. I did like it. But I still hate Russell Stover. Not as much as the Naked Cowboy, but close.

I was intrigued by this because the wrapper says it's solid peanut butter and it's flat as a pancake. I wanted to see what it was:

Reese's next to Russell Stover:

My soul mate:

You have got to be kidding! Why even bother with this?

No creaminess, the peanut butter taste is too sugary and fake. It's just a travesty. Gross. See why I hate Russell Stover?

I reviewed these last year, but they are so random and weird, I threw them in again this year:

Palmer's Creepy Peepers peanut butter filled eyeballs. Made with the world's cheapest chocolate but at least they have decent peanut butter filling. I like the peanut butter but that chocolate is just so waxy and bad. But they are creepy (in a good Halloweeny way) and the packaging is a riot - "Eye love it, You'll Love it!" "Another eye-catching idea from Palmer" Campy!! Love it!

These are another of my favorites - Hallowscream Caramel Balls from Harry and David:

Oh yes, babies - that is peanut butter wrapped around that caramel center. These are the best EVAH! Totally addictive, totally great. Very peanut buttery and the mix of textures - crunchy candy coating, creamy peanut butter, chewy caramel - genius!!!!! Get thee to a Harry and David and grab some of these - they are sooooo good!!!!!

I don't know about you, but I'm having fun!!! I love Halloween and getting to see all the cute kiddies in their costumes! And what better excuse for a middle aged woman to be stalking the candy aisle?

Hope you're doing some fun things this week! I'm gving my "Motivation by Chocolate" session for the hospital staff at Roanoke-Chowan Hospital. How much fun are we going to have? Join in the fun - take some candy to work, wear a costume, or visit a corn maze or haunted house. Life is short - celebrate!

Candy Corn Gone Wild

2010-10-22T21:10:00.001-04:00

Halloween is fast approaching!! And I have to say that, compared to last year, this year's Halloween candy is lame. Thank God Just Born offered something new with their chocolate covered Peeps pumpkins. The rest of the crew just served up the same old boring stuff. I couldn't even find the mini Reese's peanut butter pumpkins this year. Hershey, hast thou forsaken me?

Target, however, has a line of candy corn in flavors including green apple, strawberry and loads of others. I picked a couple to try. Pumpkin Pie:

These taste just like candy corn with a hint of pumpkin. Not enough pumpkin as far as I'm concerned. If you like candy corn, I think you'll like these. If you're looking for pumpkin pie, look somewhere else.

Now this is a good idea - chocolate covered candy corn:

I like the way it looks better than the way it tastes. Although chocolate covered candy corn is better than naked candy corn, it's too sweet for me. But a great idea!

I thought I'd also try chocolate covered toffee candy corn:

YIKES! This was just terrible. I like toffee, but definitely not toffee candy corn. Remember our old adage - just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. This was really terrible. Yipes!

Whoa - look at this crazy marshmallow candy corn from Whitman's:

I have to admit - it's festive as hell.

And, shockingly - it's pretty good! Now - you have to consider that it's just marshmallow covered in a sugary candy shell, but the marshmallow was really creamy. I am now diabetic.

These are some weird things I found in World Market - they are made in Ireland:

This might be one of the weirdest candies ever. They have a really strange "tutti frutti" smell - so I was kind of scared of them. But they were oddly good. Weird green candy eyeballs from Ireland - what more could you want for Halloween?
Yahoo!!!! The holidays are beginning! Are you having fun?

NC State Fair 2010 - Food Fest

2010-10-19T21:53:00.001-04:00

I approach the State Fair like I approach all things in life - all or nothing, take no prisoners, burn the boats, eat until you explode. I've never been good with all that moderation, kumbayah stuff.

So in preparation for the attack - uh, I mean our visit - I went to the State Fair website to get a list of all the new food items http://www.ncstatefair.org/2010/General/FoodFinder.htm
I performed two dramatic readings of the list on the way to the fair. There were two items I absolutely wanted to try - fried Chips Ahoy cookies and fried pumpkin pie. I also decided I would try a Kool-Aid pickle. I mean, you only live once, right?

My fellow warriors and I had already decided we would begin the attack by having lunch and decided we wanted to try deep fried bacon and cheese mashed potato bites. Now, just think about that for a minute - cheese, bacon, mashed potato -sounds so good, right?

Would you believe we saw that booth first? AND they had the fried chocolate chip cookies? Score!!

As we got in the line, we noticed the sign:

Yes, that says "Chocalate Chip Cookies". Almost as bad as the embroidery entry we saw in the arts and crafts section that read "Merry Chritmas." Dear God....uh, I mean Jesus.

Here are the mashed potato bites:

These were horrible. The "cheese" is on the side, the bacon is like Bacos, and the mashed potatoes were instant. GLAACK! A beautiful dream destroyed.

These odd shrimp shaped things are the deep fried chocalate cookies:

It was more like deep fried chocalate chip cookie dough and IT WAS AMAZING!

If you go, you have to get these - so damn good!!!!!!

A cute little candy booth:

The festive midway - we strolled this only in search of food. No distractions until the mission was completed. And the mission wouldn't be completed until they had to call EMS.

Then we saw this booth - it mentioned deep fried Chips Ahoy which I thought might be different than deep fried chocalate chip cookies. I felt no risks could be taken and we should check this out. They also had a deep fried Ho Ho and a deep fried honey bun which I still want to try.

Here's the display of their wares - the red things are the Kool-Aid pickles, the fried thing is a honey bun? (who the hell knows) and this is one version of the Krispy Cream doughnut hamburger. None of us wanted to try that.

When I saw the Kool-Aid pickles, I wanted to retreat. Those things looked heinous! But my fellow warrior Larry tried to convince me that the pickles looked so yucky because they had been sitting out in the sun on display. I said if they were $3 I would try them, but not if they were $6. They were $3:

And they looked just like the ones on display. Oh well - I tried one:

And it was horrible:

Think cherry and pickle. Gross.

But there was still the fried Chips Ahoy! This is what Chips Ahoy look like when you put them in a fryer. FDA? EPA? CIA? Where are you guys?

There's the finished product:

We tried to eat them but they were WAY too hot. So we strolled along for a bit. It was kind of like being in Heaven.

This was the big new thing this year:

Go ponytail man!!!! (Love the looks on their faces.)

Really?

The Chips Ahoy finally cooled down enough to eat. See how they are nowhere near as gooey as the chocalate chip ones?

They were pretty damn good. Not as good as the chocalate chip ones, but damn good nonetheless. We strolled some more. I bought some pumpkin fudge which was amazing and delicious and I already ate it so no pictures. It was like pumpkin frosting. Yummmm!

I like this ride - it looks like candy:

Ah-ha! Deep fried pumpkin pie!! Pineapple lemonade! And chocolate batter funnel cakes!

Here's the pumpkin pie with caramel drizzle and the required confectioner's sugar (which I was covered in from head to toe. I kid you not - it was on my shoes when I got home.)

This may not look good - but I thought it was awesome! It had real pumpkin pie filling. Yay! Yay! Yay!

I couldn't eat these - just no room, but I really wanted to. This is a turtle brownie funnel cake with chocolate batter, chocolate chips, caramel - if only my stomach wasn't so full and funnel cakes weren't so big!

And they had loads of other great flavors - chocolate obsession, black forest funnel cake, pecan praline, blueberry, apple..... So much food, so little space in my stomach.

I did get the pineapple lemonade:

Didn't like it - too sweet. Ha, ha, ha - did you read that? I thought it was too sweet! A woman covered in confectioner's sugar!

This man (who I found very creepy) was selling the world's largest gummy bear - which I had to touch:

And the world's largest gummy worm, which I did not touch. See what I mean? Kinda creepy.

Speaking of creepy, you could (in theory) win this:

Or this Rastafarian Simpson banana:

We had pretty much conquered the food list and decided to go see the award winning cakes (I love these things). Intricate holly leaves (Merry Chritmas!):

My fav - so colorful and festive:

Cake sushi!

This is way too frilly and sappy for me, but the detail is amazing! See the pacifier, the bottle and the shoes?

I like this one too:

And how damn funny is this wedding cake? A pumpkin and a squash! Love the veil and the bow tie.

Then we saw this and angles flew down from heaven and I could hear harps playing:

I think they got a little carried away with the confectioner's sugar (this is when it got on my shoes):

I knew my warriors were tough when one of them said, "What? Only three?"

I wish this picture were clearer - there was probably confectioner's sugar on the lens. But you can see that delicious Reese's peanut butter cup in there. We decided this was a tie for the best of the day. Deep fried Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are just so over the top, decadent and delicious. But that deep fried chocalate chip cookie dough was to die for!!! (Of course, at this rate I will be dying for it.)

On the way out we cruised through this really great show of NC flower power. I thought I was taking a picture of these pretty mums, but apparently I was taking a picture of that blockhead waving.

Festive candy land!!!

Do painted rocks count as flowers?

Pretty!!!

This is a random (but pretty) CD clothespin butterfly:

This is the whole CD display - which actually looked pretty cool with the sun hitting those babies:

We spent some time people watching before we left (which was very scary) and overall, had a blast. It was a gorgeous day and a celebration of food, fun and friendship. And maybe fall, frosting and freaks. Possibly flowers, frying and felons - but I'm not sure about the last one.

The Patron Saint of Single Women!

California and Chocolate

2010-10-18T22:41:00.000-04:00

Here's the scoopage on the trip to San Diego! Thanks, Sorbet Sistah Sassy for hiring me!

As soon as I landed, I got my hands on a rental car and went to Cabrillo National Monument:

It's named after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo - the first European to set foot on the west coast of what is now the United States. (I'd never heard of him before. Sad, huh?) Look at the gorgeous view of San Diego:

This is the Old Point Loma Lighthouse which is very cool because you can go in and see how the lighthouse keeper and his family lived back in the day. I couldn't have handled it (so tiny inside and you had to be there all the time) and would have probably gone completely insane.

Now this lighthouse (the new one), I could handle! Gorgeous.

After that I drove up to La Jolla and pretty much chilled to adjust to the jet lag.

But I was up bright and early the next day to drive out past Escondido to the nut farm!! I mean, really, when I discovered there was a nut farm nearby and they were having a Fall Festival the weekend I was in Cally - well, it must be fate, right?

First thing I noted was that my GPS has made my brain turn to mush. I didn't have one in the rental car and had to navigate for myself. Wow - I was surprised how much I rely on that thing. If you use one regularly, I bet you'd be surprised too. It's kind of scary, actually.

But I did manage to find Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center, California - and the place was packed! Look at all these pumpkins:

People were getting tons of huge pumpkins. I didn't think Southwest Airlines would be too excited about that, so I didn't get one. There were also hay wagon rides, a corn maze, a huge petting zoo, an arts and crafts fair, those blow up things kids jump around in, and loads of food vendors. I didn't see any nuts growing anywhere. I still am bitter about that. But all the employees were swarmed in the massive retail outlet and I thought they might call security if I asked to see the nuts growing. Here's the gift shop:

I spent a small fortune myself - check out this haul - barbecue and honey roasted almonds, mixed nuts, macadamias, pecans, walnuts, salted almonds, trail mix and butter toffee cashews:

And there's more - caramel balls, chocolate covered banana chips, peanut brittle, a giant pecan roll, toffee almonds, dark chocolate coated almond, dates (not pictured - I ate them all in CA and date rolls - not good - I pitched them in CA):

And these blocks of toffee were GIANT! Think the size of a hamburger - and a good inch thick. Wow!

Here's their peanut brittle:

It wasn't very peanutty. Too brittley. And get this - they had so-called Virginia peanuts and they were tiny! True Virginia peanuts rock! Those were impostors and the resulting peanut brittle was lame.

I had to get these because I'd never had them before - chocolate covered banana chips:

I thought I would hate them, but they were pretty good. Tasted like chocolate (no real banana flavor - the chocolate overpowered it) with a nice crunch in the middle. Good, but not great. Would be better if you could taste banana. The combination of textures was great though.

I bought so much stuff people in the parking lot commented on it. And these people were using wheelbarrows to carry their pumpkins to their cars. So, I had two huge bags of nuts and candy. What's wrong with that?

After I navigated my way back to La Jolla with my loot, I decided to hike in Torrey Pines State Reserve. (Yes, our hotel was right next to it AND on the 18th hole of the famous golf course.) (Sassy - you rock!)

A famous Torrey pine - this pine exists no where else in the world. Yes, I hiked EVERY tail (took three hours) and went to the ranger station and watched a cool video. Yes, I am a geeky weirdo - but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Look at the views:

What a perfect day! What a gorgeous, gorgeous place! FireStar (my company) always takes me to the greatest places. I am so lucky!!!

I think when you find your calling, it's the greatest gift in the world. Have you found yours? Don't stop looking until you do - the world is waiting for you.

Random Acts of Kindness and PEEPS!

2010-10-18T09:46:00.000-04:00

I have not died! The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy and blogging had to wait. I had a speaking engagement in La Jolla - so cool - you will hear about that soon - I even visited a nut farm while I was there. I know - who the hell goes to San Diego and visits a nut farm? I say - who doesn't?

I also am trying to recover from my arch enemy, the Naked Cowboy, announcing that he plans to run for President. First he sues Mars, now this? What an idiot. Call me crazy, but I want my President to wear pants. (or a skirt - but clothing, dammit!)

Back to business.

Even though I'm a motivational speaker and typically happy person, I get the blues sometimes. I don't trust people who say they never do. Just like I don't trust people who don't like to eat. Suspicious, very suspicious.

Anyway, fall is the time of year that I always think it would be so cool to have a sweetheart. You know - someone to go to the fair with, someone to watch football with, someone to snuggle up with. And don't even get me started on the holidays! So this weekend, as the first crisp fall weather rolled in, I was feeling a little blue.

I stumbled downstairs to get the paper - and what did I see on my porch? A box from Just Born! How do my candy buddies know? I was so excited!! There was a sweet (no pun intended) note from Cindy Glick - my fabulous factory tour guide. Look at the note card:

Bwah, ha, ha!! In the note she said "You may remember the tour you took of the Just Born candy factory." Remember? That was one of the highlights of my life! Yeah, I've seen the Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock, the Grand Canyon, a nut farm - whatever. Seeing those Peeps made was the coolest - hands down. And when Cindy let me have one hot off the line? Woohoo! Remember? I'll never forget!

Anyway, she sent me some of their new and amazing chocolate Peeps! Look what she sent me:

There are 24 Peeps in each of those boxes. I'm not alone anymore!!! Woohoo!! I can't tell you how nice it was to know Cindy was thinking about me.

She sent a box of dark chocolate covered marshmallow pumpkins:

Okay, he looks a little like a pig, but he's still better than a blob!

The dark chocolate ones are my favs - the darker chocolate seems to offset the sweetness of the marshmallow better. Even if you don't like Peeps, I think you should try these. The chocolate takes it to a whole new level. And if you like Peeps, you'll REALLY like these!

I picked up a couple of milk chocolate covered pumpkins to show you:

This one looks mysterious.

Love the bright orange color - and look at all that marshmallow! When it comes to marshmallow, Just Born doesn't mess around. I've seen these at most drugstores and some convenience stores if you're trying to find them. The Easter chocolate covered chicks sold out fast, so you might want to get one of these babies now!

And look at these - dark chocolate covered MINT flavored marshmallow Christmas trees:

And milk chocolate:

Here they are side by side - and they will stand up on their own. In case you want to build a holiday forest to surround your holiday gingerbread houses.

Dark chocolate autopsy (whoa - that is some serious green, right?):

Milk chocolate autopsy:

These are different in that they have a mint flavor. I wasn't as crazy about the mint - I like the non-mint flavor better. This tasted a little toothpasty to me. But when these come out, I'd love to hear what you all think. I'm not a huge mint lover, so I might be wrong here. Let me know.

Simple things can make a big difference to other people. After a REALLY bad date the other night, I went by Walmart to get chocolate for an upcoming seminar (and to feel better by looking at Halloween candy). I was walking in and a young man passed me and said "Super fine" and he was talking to me! He made my night. (I also had a flashback to the 70's, but what the hell.)

Recently I had lunch with my good friend Don Johnson and he brought me a Time magazine printed right around my birthday (not to give away how old it is but the original price was 35 cents). He didn't have to do that - but it was really sweet. I forget that other people are thinking of me and that I'm not alone.

It's so easy to do something random and kind - here are some ideas I'm going to try over the next few months (chances are other people might be feeling kind of blue too this time of year):

Post something nice on someone's wall on Facebook.

Pay a stranger a sincere compliment.

Give someone an unexpected gift - it doesn't have to be expensive - it could a a wildflower you picked for them.

Leave a nice tip for a service person - better yet, tip someone who never expects it.

Be open - talk to a stranger rather than listening to your iPod or talking on your phone.

Give someone candy!

You'd be surprised how much a simple act of kindness could mean to someone.

More Halloween to come!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peanut Butter and Jelly

2010-10-05T17:08:00.000-04:00

Those of you who have been reading this for any length of time know that I have issues - dating issues, chocolate issues, and perfectionist issues. When I review something - say peanut brittle - I want to review ALL the peanut brittle. The only way I know how to tell you what's best is by comparing them. I can't just try a random peanut brittle and remember all the others. I don't how gourmets do it.

Of course, the problem with this perfectionism is that I can never get my hands on ALL the peanut brittles.

But I can't stop myself. Today I went in Rite Aid to check out the Halloween Candy. I have to tell you, I am underwhelmed this year. Not much new and exciting. But we'll get to that.

I saw this - Chocolate Covered Peanut Brittle by our friends at Old Dominion and had to buy it:

Box looks nice! But look at this blob:

That's how it is - all in a blob. You gotta work at it to pull it apart. It's not bad - chocolate covered peanut brittle - I mean, can you really go wrong? But it's not as good as Feridies. Feridies is much thicker, not in a blob and has more peanuts.

And, of course, Planters has a peanut bar (there's my love, Mr. Peanut):

In color it falls between the Old Dominion bar and the overcooked Carolina bar. I gotta say, it's surprisingly good. Very peanutty. But a bit smaller and with more calories that the others. No wonder I like it - probably has more sugar. God help me.

I promised you peanut butter! But I can't review all the peanut butters - I will literally explode. I adore peanut butter and if I have multiple jars in the house, I'll eat them all. So I'll just review some fringe peanut butters.

Imagine my amazement when I saw this at Harry and David - Creamy Caramel Peanut Spread!

Looks pretty good, right? I like caramel. I love peanut butter. I like candies that have both. This, however, I do not like. I prefer plain peanut butter.

Just so you know, I've tried A LOT of these flavored peanut butters. And for the most part, I don't think they improve on plain peanut butter. That's my standard. If it's not better than plain peanut butter - it should not be made. The caramel flavor here just makes the peanut butter taste weird. Boo!

But there's another - Creamy Raspberry Peanut Spread!

BLEECH!!! Funky weird raspberry taste - what the hell were they thinking? Just get some raspberry jam! UGH! I think this line is going to disappear from the Harry and David shelves.

These samples I got at the Fancy Food Show. This is Peanut Butter and Co's Smooth Operator - their natural regular ol' peanut butter:

It's good - very peanutty.

But their White Chocolate Wonderful - oh dear God - it's TO DIE FOR. I don't have a picture of it here because I will eat the entire jar. It is the best peanut butter in the entire Universe. They have it at Super Target and more grocery stores now. I think you should go out and get some as soon as possible if you like peanut butter. Your life will never be the same.

From the Fancy Food Show - Justin's (also all-natural) honey peanut butter blend:

Is also okay. There's nothing wrong with these, but Peter Pan is so damn good why go to the trouble of finding new peanut butter unless it's extraordinary?

Justin's also makes maple almond butter:

This was much blander than I thought it should be. I like almonds, I like maple. But this? Eh.

Harry and David also has a chocolate hazelnut spread. They are totally trying to move in on Nutella. Their jar is even shaped like the Nutella jar (shame, Harry and David, shame):

This is a little single serving of Nutella I got at Candy Expo:

This is the Harry and David spread which looks just like Nutella (same color, a little less thick). But.....

Nutella is better. The difference is slight - but Nutella tastes a little sweeter and more chocolately. The Harry and David mix has a stronger hazelnut flavor. But both are damn good.

Not as good as White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter - not even close.

This is somewhere between a butter and a jelly. It's Harry and David's Pumpkin Pecan Fruit Butter:

Okay - I know that looks gross, but this stuff is soooooo good! It's spicy (ginger) and pumpkiny and the chunks of pecan are delish! I've been eating it right out of the jar! Who needs pumpkin or pecan pie? This is awesome!!!!!!!

Now for the jelly (well, actually jam)!! My friend Ruth Taylor (who went to the Fancy Food Show with me), makes the most amazing jams. I mean, she wins blue ribbons at the NC State Fair!

This is her raspberry peach:

Doesn't it look great? And it is - the sweetness of the peach works perfectly with the tartness of the raspberries. YUM!!!! And so fresh and fruity tasting - wow!!!

And this (my favorite) is cherry pecan:

Wow!! Tart cherries (see the chucks?) and pecans - so very, very good! It's packed with fruit and nuts and really is a treat in and of itself. Put it on some Walker's Shortbread - woowee! Now THAT would be amazing!

It's fall! Time to get out there and try some new flavors, hit some festivals, celebrate the harvest and the season and most importantly - life!

The Peanut Festival Continues - Peanut Bars

2010-09-29T19:53:00.000-04:00

As I promised - the peanut roll continues!!!

I went through my extensive candy stash and found another couple chocolate covered peanut brittles. The first one is Jer's Toffee Break - peanut brittle bites covered in dark chocolate:

There's a little bloom here - see the white "dust?" These must have gotten hot somewhere in my travels and the cocoa butter rose to the surface. Doesn't impact the taste, they just look a little yucky.

Jer's throws the word toffee in here. According to The Nibble:
http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/candy/toffee/toffee-information2.asp
this might be buttercrunch, but it ain't toffee. I'm calling everything that involves the peanut, and is labeled peanut brittle, peanut brittle. We'll get to toffee someday.

These weren't that hot. I like milk chocolate better than dark with peanut brittle, and Jer's brittle had a funky aftertaste. It's almost a smokey taste. Didn't like it.

I got these at Candy Expo - chocolate covered peanut brittle:

The peanut brittle was overpowered by waxy, crappy chocolate. Warrell must be another distributor of cheap, crappy candy. Good idea, but Feridies does it like 1,000,000,000 times better.

The people at The Peanut Patch (aka Feridies storefront) told me they changed their peanut brittle to make it crunchier (thus the name - Peanut Brittle Crunch). It used to be called Peanut Squares and just wasn't as good. Don't get me wrong, it was good and tasted like peanuts, but this has a more buttery flavor and is better.

I met the folks from Old Dominion at Candy Expo. Their stuff is at Walgreen's, and I'm starting to see it in other places too. Both of these are their bar, just in different packages. I like the top one better. Looks much classier:

This one reminds me of the circus:

See? Same bars.

I think this is an Old Dominion bar too:

Why do I think that? The ingredients are exactly the same - peanuts, sugar, corn syrup and salt (no butter like in Feridies crunch). And all say they have 286 calories. They are all good, but Feridies crunch blows them away.

Mars Munch bar also has a buttery taste and indeed, butter is added to the ingredient list above:

I like Feridies WAY better than the Munch bar. I even like the other peanut bars better. The butter taste is a little yucky in the Munch, overpowering the peanuts. I say Boo!!

Now this bar looks and tastes burned:

Seriously! What happened? It's made by the Golden Grove Candy Company in Warsaw NC, so I really wanted to like it (rooting for the home state and all). But I can't recommend it - it's overcooked! I may grab another sometime just to see if this was a bad batch.

This is a sample I got at Candy Expo from Taylor's Candy:

It was supposed to be coconut peanut brittle. It was the worst of the lot!

I mean - can you see how few peanuts are involved? And coconut? It tasted weird, but not necessarily coconutty. If you go to their website it looks like they just do cheap, crappy candy and this certainly fits. Bleech.

Atkinson's (maker of the Chick-o-Stick) makes Peco Coconut Peanut Brittle. Now Peco means Sin in Spanish. I'm not quite sure what to say about that:

I can't taste any coconut here either. Maybe my taste buds are just shot. This peanut brittle is a bit chewier than the others (which I like) but some of the peanuts taste way over cooked like in the Carolina Crisp bar. It's also darker in color like that bar. But the chewiness keeps me eating it and it has lots of peanuts, so I can't totally diss it. There's something about it that I like. Maybe it's the Sin factor. So it's better than Munch, but not as good as Old Dominion. Now if Old Dominion could get a little chewier - well - SNAP!

This Peanut Crunch is just squares of peanut bars:

It's also from The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg and I think it's the same Old Dominion bars. Ingredients the same, looks the same, I'm sure it is the same. The best one? Feridies Peanut Brittle Crunch - hands down. In fact, I'd say it's a ten and the others are a three at best in comparison. Smack down!

Lessons?

The more I learn, the less I know. Who knew all this about brittle and toffee? That peanuts could be so different? That peco means sin?

As usual, you can't judge a book by it's cover! Here we have the same stuff in four different packages. It's the inside that counts.

Peanut butter and jelly tomorrow!!!

The Virginia Peanut Festival

2010-09-28T18:33:00.000-04:00

This Saturday, the Patron Saint of Single Women, my buddy Larry, and I went to the Virginia Peanut Festival in the metropolis of Emporia, Virginia. Why do I give Larry Patron Saint status? After my last dating disaster Larry took me to lunch and reminded me that there was nothing wrong with me. And as if that wasn't enough, when I suggested we go to the random Peanut Festival, Larry didn't hesitate. Even when the temperature was pushing 100. See? Patron Saint.

In fact, I've found that the Peanut Festival is a great screener for dating. This weekend two match.com guys called me. When they asked what I had done this weekend, I told them both in an excited voice, "I went to the Virginia Peanut Festival!" One immediately went on to tell a long and boring story about some relatives he had who used to live in Emporia. He then proceeded to give me a lecture on vitamin intake. Told me that you pee most of the vitamins in supplements out. (As if I don't know this and who the hell cares? Did he think I was fascinated? That I was hoping he'd ask me out so I could hear more about urination?) I could have put the phone down and come back 10 minutes later. He wouldn't have missed me. I lied and said I had to go. When he asked if he could call back I said I was really, really busy. Forever.

When I told the second man, "I went to the Virginia Peanut Festival!" He said, "Why?" Clearly he is not the man for me. He's a computer guy. Another one. Raleigh is infested with them.

The man for me would either - laugh; say he was jealous; or ask what I had to eat at the festival. If he asked if I saw Mr. Peanut I would propose.

Let's get back to the festival.

Now I've been to the Blueberry Festival in Burgaw, NC where there was blueberry ice cream, blueberry muffins, blueberry bread, and lots and lots of blueberries. Silly me, I expected the same thing at the Peanut Festival. Instead it was just.......well, scary.

The opening parade was rolling by when we got there. There were a lot of Jesus floats - churches with signs about sin and abortion and murder and greed. I expected to catch on fire at any second. One group was handing out brochures that asked THE QUESTION.

I had no idea what THE QUESTION was. But Larry knew. THE QUESTION is "When I die, will I go to Heaven or TO HELL?" I'm pretty sure I'm going to Hell with all my other rowdy friends, so I don't worry too much about this. I really just wanted some peanuts. I'll get redemption some other time. Maybe

There was a car show (by the church):

At least this person involved the peanut:

There was a 1949 peanut picker and that brown mound of vegetation in front of the picker is peanut plants:

These were in front of the courthouse:

The was also a weird flea market/vendor area, a Civil War camp reenactment, (How boring to reenact camping), and a cheesy carnival like you see in the parking lot of Walmart. What was missing? PEANUTS!!!! No peanut foods. Funnel cakes and all that crap. Domino's pizza. I was sweating like I already was in Hell and there were no peanuts in sight. Bastards.

I say THE QUESTION is "Where the hell are the peanuts?"

I did get a bag of Planter's Peanuts throw off of one of the floats. And the Virginia Peanut Growers Association had a booth where I got some peanuts. Wow - I could barely carry this huge peanut haul! Good thing I dragged Larry all the way to Emporia, Virginia! Which I have to tell you, might be the armpit of the state. YIKES!

Now, this is WHY I went to the Virginia Peanut Festival. I sampled some Virginia Peanuts at the Fancy Food show and they rock! They are way bigger than Planters and taste so much better. The difference really is surprising. I had no idea what I'd been missing:

Planters on the left, Virginia's Finest on the right. It's really hard to describe the nuances of peanut flavor, but the Virgina peanuts are so much better. Less oily, more peanutty. If you like peanuts, I think you'll love these. I won't waste my time with Planter's anymore. Sorry Mr. Peanut, Virginia's Finest are WAY better.

Other than the Virginia Peanut Grower's Association (who seemed less than excited when I said we had come all the way from Raleigh and I loved Virginia peanuts!), there was one lone peanut booth. I mean there were rubber ducky races and a whole bunch of other crap - two stages with bands, a freakin' car show and the Civil War weirdness, but no peanut booths at the PEANUT festival. Go figure.

This was The Good Earth Peanut Company:

I bought some of their peanuts and tried to get them excited too. Told them about the blog! I'm not sure they have Internet access in Emporia. Or maybe they just didn't know what a blog was. Or maybe they were all just stunned by the heat. Or maybe they could tell I was the spawn of Satan from the Big City who didn't know what THE QUESTION really was.

Well, I turned to Larry after scarfing down a really good pumpkin cupcake from a vendor. (Home made and AMAZING! But not peanut!!) And said, "I have a back-up plan. Are you willing to drive another 30 miles?" The Patron Saint of Single Women was in. I'm kind of hard to resist when pumpkin muffin crumbs are sticking to my sweat.

Feridies Peanut Patch https://www.feridies.com/ is what got me started on Virginia peanuts. I had a speaking engagement in Suffolk, Virgina and on the way back, I saw it and just pulled in. (I live on the edge like that.) It's everything the peanut festival should have been. And it's just east of Hell - I mean Emporia.

Look at this great peanut box!

They have some great peanut flavors - I love the regular salted - I also got Hickory Smoked, chocolate covered peanut brittle and peanut brittle crunch. But they have loads of stuff - trail mix, other nuts, more peanut flavors (like Scorned Woman and Jamaician Jerk) and you can sample them all! They even have peanut candy! See those cuties?

The peanut patch even had peanut shaped erasers and a peanut Christmas ornament! Woohoo!! Peanut Heaven!

I thought I'd show you the Good Earth peanuts (on the left) and the Feridies peanuts (on the right):

The Good Earth peanuts are better than Planters, but not as good as Feridies. Feridies just have a cleaner taste. A bit less greasy, a bit less salty. And their overall peanut quality is better - larger and more well formed peanuts. Look, I've never thought about all this before, but someone had to have a Peanut Festival!
They even had peanut butter pound cake!

I'm glad I found it and tried it, but I was disappointed. Bland. A little dry. Needs more peanut butter!!

I love peanut brittle and this was a time when adding chocolate really worked:

Completely addictive and totally delicious! This is clearly the work of Satan!! And I am SO in!!!

Lessons?

Not all peanuts are created equal. Did you know? I sure didn't. I've grown up with Planters - they are everywhere. But they are actually lame. Just because something is readily available doesn't mean it's the best. The best takes a little more work to find.

It's not about the destination - it's about the journey. Larry and I had a great time - we melted, but we laughed a LOT. And he was a great sport. We had an adventure - you have to make those happen. It's too easy to beg off and just run errands or laze around the house. Emerson said we're always getting ready to live and never living.

Now you know what THE QUESTION is. But I still don't agree. I don't think THE QUESTION is "What will happen to you after you die?" I think THE QUESTION is "Will you really LIVE?"

Tomorrow wer're going to talk about peanut brittle without chocolate! Hey, we're on a roll here!!

Final Goodbye to Summer Cookies

2010-09-27T18:35:00.000-04:00

It's been insanely hot down here in North Cakalacky - this weekend the high was close to 100. I almost melted at the Peanut Festival (but that's the next post!). So it might as well still be summer. The perfect time to finish up the summer treats.

Flathau's Fine Foods has more flavors of gourmet shortbread cookies. Here is lemon:

Again, maybe a tad overcooked - see the darker brown at the base? I so want to like these, but I find them a little bit dry and not that flavorful. Sorry guys! I really, really liked the folks from Flathau's so I hate to not love these.

Another flavor is Key Lime:

The verdict is the same - just not that great. I want them to be a little less dry - maybe undercooked? And to have a little more sweetness and flavor. I like the candy bits, but overall - these just don't do it for me.

I keep trying to like Dancing Deer cookies. The packaging is cute, they use all natural ingredients. They get a little too kumbayah with all their mindfulness (They say on the label "we think it's better to share a cookie than gobble one". Whatever.) and community project stuff, but I do want to like them. Unfortunately, most of the time, I'm disappointed.

These are adorable Lemon Daisy cookies:

And while not horrible, they sure aren't anything special. Cute, but completely boring.

If you want a lemon flavor and a great shortbread - this is the cookie for you! Walkers pure butter Shortbread Lemon Thins:

Nice design, buttery delicious taste, and a hint of lemon. Walker's recommends serving with a tart lemon mousse and fresh cream. (They don't say anything about sharing or homelessness.) I think they might work great with a raspberry something. Or a blueberry something. Or just handfuls out of the box. Gobble, gobble.

Not to be left out, Harry and David is in the mix! With their Tangy Citrus Shortbread:

There's lemon, orange and lime - all three in one box! And let me tell you - you gotta love citrus to love these. The flavor to me was overpowering - way too lemony, way too limey and even way too orangey. More like a Starburst than a cookie. The worst of the lot! Harry and David - what the hell?

But, there's hope! Check out these babies!!

Creme filled (and you can see - they aren't kidding around - look at all that filling!) shortbread in lemon, lime, orange and strawberry. These are all good - the cookies are great - buttery and delish and the filling is - well, can you really go wrong with frosting? Strawberry was by far my favorite - orange had a funky aftertaste. Lemon and lime were both good. But in all honesty, I like the fruit filling of the galettes better. Those things are just so damn good!

And look at these - are they not the most adorable cookies evah?? (Snagged them on sale! Of course, since the Halloween cookies are out now):

They are simple frosted sugar cookies, but I love the sugar cookie! These are great, not rock hard - just perfect! And the perfect size. What a perfect end to summer. Here's to fall!!!! And the Peanut Festival!

More Fruit and Chocolate

2010-09-23T21:45:00.000-04:00

Let's get back to chocolate! But still fruit!! As you all know, I am not a big drinker. But when I saw these, I wanted to try them. That's part of my problem - I see a new chocolate candy (or cookie or cake or ice cream or frosting) I want to try it.

These are chocolate-covered wine grapes by Bissingers:

The verdict? If you like wine, you'll like these. I think I was hoping for something a little more grapey and a little less winey. But wine lovers will love these and Bissinger's does chocolate right. They're also unique - I've never seen them anywhere else. And I love unique!

Bissinger's also makes these Fig Truffles:

They look pretty good, (white chocolate drizzle is a nice touch) but they reminded me of fruitcake. Not chocolately enough. They also have cognac in them - ugh. Where's an alcohol-loving boyfriend when you need one?

Lindt has a so delicious raspberry truffle:

You just can't go wrong with Lindt. So creamy, so delicious and this has just the right amount of raspberry and chocolate - LOVE them!!

These little treats are AMAZING!!! This one is Wildberry Yogurt Eisdessert - a mix of blueberries, raspberry and blackberry filling over yogurt covered in smooth milk chocolate (Eisdessert means ice cream dessert - Lindt suggests you slightly chill these):

This is raspberry:

These are sooooo good - they taste like little fruit and chocolate cheesecakes! I'm telling you - get to a Lindt store and buy a few - soooo worth it!

This is dark chocolate covered strawberry:

While WAY better than orange, after the awesome baby cheesecakes, why bother with these? I actually thought the dark chocolate overpowered the strawberry.

Ghirardelli has a dark chocolate square with raspberry filling:

It was okay. Nothing earth shattering. Lindt truffles kick Ghirardelli butt.

Lindt also has a raspberry bar:

Lindt's bar has a liquid center sealed in that amazing creamy milk chocolate. It has a good flavor, but I don't really love the liquid center. I'd rather have a raspberry cream filling.

Perugina has a raspberry bar:

It has an interesting center - almost like a raspberry jelly. I liked it better than the liquid, but I don't love the jellyness. But what I really like is a creamy raspberry filling (like the filling in the strawberry Lindt above). So I can't really suggest you run out and get any of these bars. Get the yogurt/cheesecake eisdessert!!! Do it, do it!!

One of the big flavors at Candy Expo was black currant (some kind of weird berry). Lindt has a dark bar in their Excellence line with it:

The bar also has almonds (yum!). When you open it, all you smell are the weird black currants - a grapey, berryish smell. I'm not big on blackcurrent (as you heard with the purple bear cookies). Too bitter. Don't like it.

This one I got at the Anthon Berg booth at Candy Expo - most of their chocolates are infused with alcohol:

This one was super sweet with just a hint of the blackcurrant bitterness. While not bad, I don't really want to eat another one. Not really a rousing endorsement, huh?

Go with the amazing, awesome cheesecake (yogurt, whatever) eisdesserts! They are fabulous!!!!! Oh - and if you need some motivation - keep a couple in the fridge! Yay!!

Fruit and Cookies - I Say Yes! Yes! Yes!

2010-09-20T22:15:00.001-04:00

There's no chocolate at all in this post, but there is more fruit! The problem is there are so many great vendors at Candy Expo and the Fancy Food Show I get distracted and venture into other areas....like cookies. I am the female Homer Simpson when it comes to cookies.

At Candy Expo I met a great guy named Gordon Cramer who works for Biscomerica. He really hooked me up with some FABULOUS samples! Look at all these different flavors of Knott's Berry Farm Shortbread:

And I gotta tell you - they are all good! Raspberry and Boysenberry are really, really good - but they all are sooo hard to stop eating! They are not as rich and buttery as Walker's, but they good. They are relatively inexpensive and the fruity taste is there, but not overpowering. Good, good stuff!!

And I didn't know this, but according to the wrappers - In 1920 Walter and Cordelia Knott began selling fresh produce, berries and preserves from a roadside berry stand in California. They earned a place in history when Walter cultivated a luscious new fruit - the boysenberry! (Who knew?)

Lance (Archway is a Lance brand) was at Candy Expo too and I got a sample of their fruit filled strawberry cookies:

I have to say I was really disappointed. There's not much fruit filling at all - got a dot in the middle. And the cookies, while soft and cakey - really didn't have much flavor. I usually like Archway, so I was very sad about these.

This cutie is raspberry shortbread from Harry and David:

It's yummy - nice and buttery, but could use a little more raspberry.

These, however, are absolutely to die for:

Look at all that filling! This is blackberry:

And this is peach:

And they are soooo buttery and so fruity - I swear they are sinful. Harry and David makes some of the best baked goods on the market. AMAZING!!! They also come in raspberry.

These cute, all-butter biscuits (cookies to us Americans) have blackcurrant juice in them:

I just don't like that blackcurrant taste. Slightly bitter. And the purple color really isn't appetizing to me. Cute for kids, but can't told a candle to these babies:

Walker's pure butter raspberry thins:

Delicious buttery taste offset by tart raspberry and in perfect balance. These cookies are truly a work of art. I love Walker's.

And on their package it says - "For a real treat these are truly wonderful served with raspberries and fresh cream - the perfect Scottish dessert." YUM! We ain't talking no roadside stand here!

McVitie's has a currant shortcake:

No good - dry and tasteless. Somehow I bet the British love them.

At the Fancy Food Show I met the great folks from Flathau's Fine Foods based in Mississippi. They were so nice and set me a box of their gourmet shortbread cookies - all flavors (more reviews to come). They come in a couple of different packages:

They taste the same - one might be a little overdone (you can see the difference in the color). These are raspberry and have little chunks of candy in them. These are great if you are looking for something that is flavorful, but not too sweet. And I like my cookies SWEET! I like them, but the problem is......

I am completely addicted to these raspberry tea cookies from Harry and David:

These are so powdery and sweet and raspberryish - oh man! Every time I go into Harry and David I have to get some. OMG! Start buying Harry & David's baked goods at your own risk.

I think fruit and cookies work really well together. And with all these berries we can rationalize that we are getting antioxidants. Woohoo!!! It just doesn't get much better......unless chocolate is involved.

Chocolate and Orange - I Say No

2010-09-16T19:43:00.000-04:00

Godiva's orange sherbet concoction got me thinking about the whole chocolate/orange combo. I like orange, I like chocolate. But do they really need to be together?

This is Lindt's Arancia (Italian for orange) truffle:

Holy cow it's strong! That filling tastes like Tang! Whoa! This might be a little too much.

This is the famous Lindor truffle in orange:

This is better - that great creamy Lindt chocolate with a taste of orange. Is it my favorite combo? (With peanut butter and hazelnut in the mix?) Not really, but this is a better balance.

This is a awesome milk chocolate bar with creamy orange filling:

Now that filling doesn't really look like the filling in the picture, does it? Taste wise, it's pretty heavy on the orange. I gotta tell you, this combo just doesn't really work all that well for me.

New Tree has this combo - Bitter Orange and Crisped Rice:

While I like the crisped rice, I'm not a fan of bitter orange.

Chocolove has orange peel in dark chocolate:

I like the dark chocolate, but I don't think orange PEEL really adds anything.

Seattle Chocolates at least adds CANDIED orange peel:

Love the wonderful dark chocolate truffle bar - was not thrilled by the chewy orange peely chunks.
Look at this giant box of Orange Sticks:

The picture doesn't really show it, but that's a jellied orange center. I don't really love those jellied centers, but these are scarily addictive. If you like those creepy orange slices, you'll adore these. By the Sweet Candy Company http://www.sweetcandy.com/. I got the box at Candy Expo - thanks Sweet's!

This is by Harvest Sweets and after I ate some......

I discovered they were milk chocolate covered orange PEEL! EWWW!!! Too bitter and I don't like that peel texture. Even a chocolate coating can't save these. UGH! The worst of the lot.

These just say Orange and are by Lindt:

Dark chocolate with a hint of orange - I liked these best. More to the chocolate end of the spectrum than the orange and the chunks aren't so bitter. Maybe they aren't orange PEEL.

This exotic bar is by B.T. McElrath Chocolatier and it is dark and white chocolates infused with passion fruit and tangerine:

Look how pretty!

I really wanted to like this bar - it's so pretty, the chocolates swirled together. But......it really didn't do much for me. Passion fruit tastes kinda weird to me and the flavor combos just didn't wow me. For $5.00 I want a bar to wow me.

Chocolate and orange - I say no. I think each is way better without the addition of the other. Maybe a slight hint of orange in some confections, but overall - nah. What do you think, dear readers?

And orange peel - really? Just leave that be.

Chocolate Versions of Ice Cream

2010-09-15T18:49:00.000-04:00

Somethings really are better left alone. I think ice cream is better as ice cream and chocolate shouldn't try to be ice cream.

I got these (by Turin) because peanut butter was included. I think there should be real peanut butter ice cream. But I've never seen it, so there must be a reason. Maybe it's just no good. It seems like it would be good.....

Well, I can say with certainty the peanut butter here was no good! UGH!!!!! Terrible! The orange one in the lower right corner was supposed to be peanut butter. HORRIBLE!

The tan one was coffee and that was much better. Tasted like the coffee ice cream my Dad liked when I was a kid. Faux ice cream in my book - I mean, really - coffee as an ice cream favor? Even as an adult I don't like it. As a kid I was convinced it was some kind of adult conspiracy.

Godiva produced a bunch of ice cream truffles - this one is pecan sundae:

Looks good with gooey caramel, vanilla and carmelized pecans on top. But wasn't very extraordinary to me. I think I'm the only person alive that thinks Godiva is totally overrated and completely overpriced. Zzzzzz.........

More Godiva ice cream flavors:

Pistachio:

I like the screaming green color and the layer of chocolate. It was smooth and creamy, but I found the flavor weak.

This was supposed to be Neapolitan with strawberry and vanilla (notice the pink drizzle?):

No strawberry! A total rip off - instead I got chocolate and vanilla. Again smooth and creamy, but not very flavorful.

Ditto for this one which I think was supposed to be Rocky Road:

Zzzz.......

Hazelnut Gelato:

I love hazelnut and even this one was boring. Totally disappointing. Godiva is going to be my new Russell Stover. I hate them both. Although I might hate Russell less because he's so much cheaper.

Let's check out their $3.00 bars. Here's Hazelnut Gelato again:

Look at those fancy G's - must stand for Gotcha! or Gullible or Greedy:

I can see the hazelnut, but I can't taste much of it. Tastes like a chocolate bar. Lame.

Here's Vanilla Sundae:

Boo! What vanilla? A nice dark chocolate (which completely overpowers the vanilla), but sure as hell nothing like a vanilla sundae.

And finally Oranges & Cream in white chocolate:

While heinously sweet, this actually resembles something like ice cream. Remember those orange push-up things the ice cream man used to have? My brother liked those. Orange sherbet or some similar crap? One step above SORBET? That's what this tastes like.

When you are turning chocolate into sorbet you have lost all credibility as a chocolatier. Like orange sherbet needs to be replicated in chocolate. That's chocolate treason.

The Emperor really does have no clothes. Maybe Lady Godiva really is a good image for them.

Lessons?

Ah - they repeat so often! Just because you CAN do it, doesn't mean you should.

A fancy wrapper and an expensive price don't mean a thing. You really can't judge a chocolate bar by its wrapper.

Be who you are - ice cream should be ice cream and chocolate should be chocolate. When you try to be something you 're not - we lose you. And there's only one.

Motivation in the Fall

2010-09-14T15:27:00.000-04:00

I'm sooo excited the fall is fast approaching! Don't get me wrong - I love the other seasons too, but fall is just dreamy! The chill in the air, the amazing colors of the leaves, the fall flavors - cinnamon, pumpkin, nutmeg - and the state fair! Woohoo! Life is good!

I know lots of people are struggling to keep their motivation high, so I thought I'd post a quick list of ideas to help:

Allow yourself one simple pleasure (and savor it) everyday starting tomorrow. You pick the pleasure - coffee on your porch? a really great chocolate bar? a long, hot bath? Watching a football game? We cut these out in the name of saving time and wonder why we're crabby.

Swap out some decorations. You don't have to completely redecorate to get a change of scene. Get a couple of ceramic pumpkins or a wrought iron leaf or two. Maybe a fall scented candle. Change it up! The same things all the time get boring and we get stagnant. Think of something you can change up at work too. Even if it's just your computer desktop background - change it!

Go to a festival. (Okay if you hate festivals, don't do this.) There are so many festivals and I like going someplace new and trying the food and watching the people. Fall is the best time to do this in my book. There's a peanut festival this weekend in Dublin, NC this weekend. It's on my calendar. Personally I think the peanut should be celebrated everyday, but once a year is better than nothing.

Get outside!!! For God's sake, people - breathe the air, feel the sun on your face, see the beauty of the world! Most of us spend way too much time inside. Before you know it, you'll be saying it's too cold. Do it now!

Start or continue a tradition. Is there something you can do with your friends or family this season that could be a fun tradition? Heading out to a corn maze or carving pumpkins? What about your work family? Don't your people deserve a break? Do something for them.

Life is as good as we decide to make it.

My favorite leaves - chocolate ones!!!

Chocolate, Yogurt and Roses

2010-09-12T21:41:00.000-04:00

Hi Gang!

I've been off the grid - took a few days off to head out to the mountains of North Carolina and one of my favorite places in the whole world - the Grove Park Inn. My buddy Kristina and I spent a great day at the spa and I put the latest relationship disaster behind me (or as far behind me as you can ever put those things).

Thanks to all of you for the good thoughts and the support - I love you guys!!! Obviously I need to find a man with an addiction to chocolate - then I'll be golden! : )

As summer is rapidly fading, I wanted to deliver the promised ice cream post! But first I felt compelled to do a yogurt post. Surely we can rationalize the consuming of chocolate if yogurt is involved.

Lindt has a wide array of flavors - some in milk chocolate and some in white chocolate. While I love yogurt, some of these combos were more successful (in my opinion) than others. Peach-Apricot with milk chocolate was my least favorite:

All of these have a great yogurt flavor - so if you don't like yogurt, you won't like these. I happen to love yogurt, so I found them all pretty darn good. Lindt seldom disappoints me. I think with this bar I just don't really care for the peach/chocolate combo. Not bad, mind you, just not as good as the others.

Strawberry-Rhubarb had a great, great strawberry flavor:

This was one of my favorites - a great combination and it works well with the white chocolate.

All these bars suggest you try them chilled. I tried a couple chilled (blueberry being one of them) and didn't think it added much. I actually found them creamier if not chilled and liked that more.

Blueberry was not as good as I thought it should be. I like chocolate covered blueberries way better. Amarena Cherry Creme (below) is better.

Cherry yogurt is good:

But this one didn't thrill me as much as strawberry or Amarena Cherry Creme (actually ice cream inspired):

This cherry was tarter - the milk chocolate also seemed to work better than the white chocolate. Cherry yogurt was just a little too sweet. This one was very, very good and I had a hard time not eating it all!! Sooooo good!

Raspberry Vanilla Yogurt I also tried chilled.

I found this one too sweet also. The only white chocolate that worked for me was the strawberry-rhubarb and I think it's the tartness of the rhubarb that makes it great.

Ritter Sport also has a yogurt bar:

And while it seems to contain plenty of yogurt, the rich milk chocolate overpowers the yogurt. I like the Lindt bars better.

Ice cream next!!!!! I think ice cream works a little better with chocolate than yogurt. But these bars are well worth trying if you like yogurt!!

One of the great things about the Grove Park is the stone everywhere. It's such a gorgeous place. The stones in the massive lobby have quotes painted on them, and I want to share one of my favorites with you:

This old world we're livin' in

Is mighty hard to beat

We get a thorn with every rose

But ain't the roses sweet.

- Stanton

Here's to forgetting about the thorns, stopping to smell the roses, and savoring all the beauty of this world. Oh - and here's to good friends and chocolate. Life is mighty hard to beat!! Have a great week!!

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

2010-09-05T18:31:00.001-04:00

I guess I should have known it wouldn't last. The New Guy sounded pretty good, right? I thought so - hey - he treated me great, even read my book, I thought we had fun together. I guess I was the only one having fun.

Last time I saw him, he told me I didn't drink enough and it was an issue for him. Oh, I'm sure there are a myriad of other things wrong with me, but that was the one he mentioned. I didn't think it was a deal breaker, I mean - look how fun I am! Surely I bring some other things to the table (or I guess I should say, to the bar). I hadn't said anything about his drinking or objected to any of the places we went. But I might nurse just a glass of wine or two all night - apparently my latest downfall.

We were supposed to go out tonight, but he's been acting different lately, a little distant. One of my GFs suggested I check and see if he had reposted his dating profile - and - yep - he had.

I have to say, I was surprised. Not about him changing his mind about me - he told me my not drinking was an issue - but I really didn't think he would repost his profile after we agreed to take them down. I thought he would end things with me first. Certainly not continue to go out with me until he found someone better. I even told him about Afghanistan Man doing that exact same thing to me and how much it hurt. It just takes an e-mail to set someone free before you start looking for someone else.

It's okay - I never, ever want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me. And I'm never going to be much of a drinker. But what bothers me is that I can't tell the good guys from the bad guys anymore. And that makes me sad.

But enough of that! I reposted my profile and I've already had a dozen or so contacts. Sooner or later someone will like me for exactly who I am. Until then, there's aways chocolate!!

Look at these beauties!! I love Chips Ahoy and adding chunks of Reese's could only make them better:

Damn good - only wish I had a glass of milk to dunk them in. A match made in heaven. Why it hasn't been done before, I have no idea.

I LOVE soft cookies and hadn't seen these before:

They are really good, although I think the bag I got was a little overdone.

But if you like soft cookies like me - these are fab!

I told you about the new Bugles - here are caramel:

These are okay - really taste just like sweet Bugles. (Mike - you were right!)

But THESE - chocolate peanut butter Bugles - these bring it!!!

Okay, they don't look like much, but they are amazing! You will be addicted and will be unable to stop eating these. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I really shouldn't be allowed to leave the house. This is what I found at Target yesterday:

That's Reese's no bake peanut butter bar mix in the background. Dear God - how amazing does that sound? And, the fall candy is starting to hit the shelves!!! Those are Pumpkin Spice, Candy Corn and Caramel Apple Kisses - yahoo!!! I've reviewed the first two, but I've never seen Caramel Apple before.

I don't know how the hell they did it, but these taste JUST LIKE caramel apples! They are really good! They make me totally ready for fall. (And it looks like they'll be the only Kisses I'm going to get for a while, so I'm glad they're so damn good. And, as far as I know, Hershey's Kisses think I rock!)

Motivational takeaways?

There are worse things than being alone. Being with someone who wants you to be someone else is one of them.

If you have someone in your life who loves you, don't take them for granted!!! It's so easy to do - we always think the grass is greener and it seldom is.

As long as peanut butter and chocolate are around, we can't be sad!

Here's to fall, the great new products coming out and all my beloved friends who like me just the way I am! Thank you guys!!!!

Zzang Candy Bars and Passion

2010-09-02T19:29:00.000-04:00

The Fancy Food Show really was awesome. The best part was getting to meet people who are really passionate about food and chocolate in particular. One of them was Charlie Frank with Zingerman's Candy Manufactory (http://www.zingermanscandy.com).

Zingerman's (http://www.zingermans.com/) makes all kinds of amazing things. But these candy bars are over the top. Charlie and his team make them almost entirely BY HAND. It's always so cool when you get to meet the chocolatier!! And Charlie is so excited about these bars! They actually have ingredient lists you can read - not a bunch of added weirdness.

The boxes are very cool - that's a collectible Christmas card in the purple box (love the peanut in a Santa hat!).

The Cashew Cow is described as milk chocolate cashew butter gianduja, cashew brittle and roasted cashews dipped in dark chocolate.

OMG - this is amazing! Fantastic texture and if you like cashews - you'll be in heaven! Not too many bars have cashews so this is a real treat. Also some puffed rice, so it has a really light feel to it. Wow!!!

The original bar is described as butter-roasted peanuts, caramel and peanut butter honey nougat dipped in dark chocolate. Holy God - how great does that sound?

How great does that look?

And the bar is awesome - a nice salty taste and loaded with peanuts. Great chewy texture. Awesome. I wish it were covered in milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate, but that's just my super sweet tooth talking.

The Wowza is described as creamy raspberry-chocolate ganache, raspberry preserves and fresh raspberry nougat in a crisp dark chocolate shell.

Again with the textures! Wow! The preserves have a grainy, sugary quality that plays perfectly off the nougat and the chocolate. Super sweet and totally made for lovers of raspberry!

The What the Fudge? bar is described as milk chocolate fudge, Muscovade caramel and malted milk cream dipped in dark chocolate.

If you like fudge, this is the bar for you! So rich and coated in chocolate! It's WAY too rich and sweet for me, but if you can handle fudge - you will love this.

The great thing about all these is they are candy bars! Not weird excursions into la-la land - they are gorgeously rich, decadent bars of candy! Charlie isn't messing around - these are delicious, rich celebrations of classic flavors. Different from any of the classic candy bars, but comforting like the best of them. Yummy!!!

The best thing (besides the awesome flavors and quality ingredients) is Charlie's passion. It is really contagious. Are you passionate about your work? If not, is there something in your life you're passionate about? It could be a hobby or other pursuit. If nothing comes to mind - get on it! What do you like? What are your dreams? What would you regret not doing or experiencing?

You have to find your own passion - no one else can bring it to you.

While you're mulling it over, make sure you eat some chocolate.

Fire and Chocolate

2010-09-01T19:33:00.000-04:00

You all know how I love the chocolate from the folks at Lake Champlain Chocolates. They make some really , really great stuff. But I have to admit that I am less than thrilled by the prospect of trying their newest bar. For some reason they have partnered with some rock and rollers - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - to make a new bar - Grace Under Fire.

http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/Chocolate/Chocolate-Candy-Bars/Grace-Potter-Chocolate.aspx

It's a dark chocolate bar with pistachio and red pepper. That's the part that makes me less than thrilled. I just don't like pepper in my chocolate.

As always, the dark chocolate is delicious. The pepper has a kick, especially the aftertaste. Those of you who like hot flavors in your chocolate should definitely try this bar. Me - I would much rather have the dark chocolate and pistachio without the red pepper.

I actually prefer Vosges' bar in this category:

It also has the hot factor - here it is Mexican ancho y chipotle chillies (Voges can never include a simple ingredient) but in this dark chocolate bar the pepper is paired with cinnamon, (oh, sorry - Ceylon cinnamon). I prefer the sweetness of the cinnamon in this combo. In the Lake Champlain bar, the pistachio is good at first, but is quickly overwhelmed by the pepper. In fact, I had to eat some Hershey's macadamia nut Kisses to get that hot pepper taste out of my mouth. Love those macadamia nut Kisses!

I love Lake Champlain chocolates, but not the Grace Under Fire bar. I clearly have no grace under fire and just rush to cram Hershey's Kisses in my mouth.

As a side note - I have to tell you that if you haven't tried the new Peanut Butter Chocolate Bugles - YOU HAVE GOT TO GET SOME!!! I found them at Target and ate them all - I have to go get more to photograph for the blog.

Lessons?

Partnering with a rock band doesn't always make it better. Has it ever? I'm not sure.

Adding peanut butter always does make it better. Before you argue, try the Bugles.

They don't add hot pepper to ice cream! Sometimes staying in the box is a good thing. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should.

But I love creativity, so rock on, Lake Champlain!

Soft and Smushy on the Inside

2010-08-23T22:59:00.000-04:00

I am alive!!!! I know I've been off the radar for the past month or so, but I have a great reason.

First, let me catch you all up. Flower Man (the guy who I had a lunch date with and who sent me flowers the next day) disappeared. He had said we might go out that weekend, but I heard nothing. In the meantime, I had a date with someone else. He and I have been going out ever since. Flower Man e-mailed a week later, said he called and left a message on the wrong voice mail. Seriously?

The good news is the new guy does what he says he will and loves to eat almost as much as I do. I feel I've found my soul mate when we're picking an ice cream flavor to share and he chooses Cake Batter. He makes me laugh. He even saw me speak before we went out so the dreaded Big Personality doesn't bother him. He even took the time to read my book! So things are good, but finding time to work, work out, date AND blog is tricky! Thanks for not giving up on me!!!

In honor of my mutation into a big marshmallow, I thought I'd review this great new product:

As you all know, I've been railing that something like this should be made! Those horrible chocolate "flavored" marshmallows are creepy. Those marshmallows at Candy Expo with some dark chocolate drizzled on them (Zebras) didn't have enough chocolate. Kraft finally got it together!!! These are miniature marshmallows, which makes the chocolate to marshmallow ratio perfect. They are addictive alone and would be great in trail mix, over ice cream, in popcorn - you name it!

Not only are they impossible to stop eating - I ate the whole bag today - but the whole bag has only 300 calories. Yahoo!!!

One comment - Kraft has got to change the choking warning. It says: Eat one at a time. (HA!) For children under 6, cut marshmallows into bite-sized pieces. Children should always be seated and supervised while eating.

For God's sake, Kraft, lighten up! These are MINIATURE marshmallows, after all! And who wants to sit down and be supervised while eating marshmallows? I want to eat them while running with scissors!

And speaking of marshmallows, the new guy and I went to a fondue place this weekend - ordered the Triple Play - peanut butter, caramel and chocolate in the fondue pot with pretzels, fruit and marshmallows to dip in. He let me have almost all the peanut butter. Is he a good man or what?