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!!!

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!!

Summer Coconut Continues

Ah - summertime!  Let's keep going to the islands, mon!  I've reviewed these Kisses before, but they are so good, let's look at them again:

They are coconut creme Kisses and you can see in the autopsy photo that the center is indeed creamy.  But there are chunks (or shreds) of coconut in these babies.  And they are damn good.  They would be awesome combined with the macadamia Kisses.  Yum!  Aloha!

Coconut candy seems to be mainly in the following combinations:
1.) without chocolate - like those vile coconut slices we looked at  (why bother?)
2.) coconut creme covered by chocolate - a coconut filling, if you will (this post)
3.) coconut (not cream) coated at least partly with chocolate (like the famous Almond Joy)
4.) coconut mixed with chocolate (not in bar form, but mixed together)
5.) coconut as an ingredient in a solid chocolate bar

You're going to see all of these variations in the next few posts.  You are going to feel like you are trapped on a desert island - one that happens to have a cacao plantation and loads of coconut trees.  Life could be worse. 

Okay, it could be worse if you only had these:

Too much crappy Palmer chocolate, not enough coconut filling.  All of Palmer's cream eggs were terrible. 

You all know how I feel about Russell Stover:

This egg is more like marshmallow cream with some coconut shreds.  Too sweet.  The dark chocolate helps, but not enough. 

I finally discovered who makes this egg!  Gertrude Hawk Chocolates.  I saw this exact design at their booth at Candy Expo.  I bought this egg at the Mast General Store and there is no manufacturer on the label.  (I really AM chocolate CSI!)

I wouldn't claim this egg either.  The base is WAY too thick and the filling has some coconut shreds, but doesn't have much taste at all.  No good. 

See's Cocoanut eggs looks okay:

But also was overly sweet.  It's the cream. Most of these coconut cream things are just too sweet.

The Godiva coconut egg:

This is much better.  Good dark chocolate and a less sweet, more coconutty taste.  One of the best coconut eggs.

Godiva has a coconut truffle:

And it's a little cloying.  I prefer the dark chocolate with the coconut in the eggs.  The truffle is a little too sweet.

Here's the problem with buying unlabeled chocolate.  The first truffle I autopsied (thinking it was the coconut) was this one:

Ooops!  Not coconut! 

This is a roasted almond truffle and it is fabulous.  Not too sweet, the almond center has a slightly salty taste.  LOVE it!!

And here are the new toasted almond gems:

Wow!  I loved these too - they are totally addictive!!  They seemed slightly less sweet than the larger truffle.  They are a sophisticates version of a peanut butter egg.  Amazingly good.  And the whole tube is $10 verses about $2 for one truffle.

Even more coconut to come!!  I figure it's the perfect thing to cover in the summertime. And yes, it's taken me this long to get to the end of the Easter Candy!  Can you believe it?  So much chocolate, so little time.

Easter, Italy, and Twitter

I have to tell you, I'm having a hard time letting Easter go. I still have Easter candy I have not blogged about. (Geez, I still have Valentine's Day candy I haven't blogged about.) My eyes are bigger than my blog.



I also have a twitter account which an increasingly large number of people are following me on. And I have yet to tweet. It's not that I don't have anything to say - anyone who knows me will tell you I have far too much to say. I just am overwhelmed by all the different electronic options. No tweet today, maybe tweet tomorrow.



Facebook is great, but also annoying. I don't want to be kidnapped, sent a virtual drink, or engaged in a virtual snowball fight (although there was a chocolate snowball that I found pretty funny). I love all the people that do these things and I don't want to not play, but for God's sake - I have to get some work done! How does the rest of the world do it? Between dealing with my e-mail, writing this nutty blog, actually working and let's not forget managing my match.com love life - I AM OVERWHELMED! My Facebook and Linked in accounts languish. I am a social media slackard. I'm sure my online connections think I'm a beeoch - I just can't handle it all. It's hard enough for me to stay focused. As you can see.



Back to Easter. I decided to dedicate my final Easter post to Italy. After all, they deserve it:

"The April 6 quake, the worst to hit Italy in three decades, killed more than 290 people and has left tens of thousands more homeless."

Can you imagine how terrifying that earthquake must have been? No way to escape, nowhere to hide - houses, streets crumbling around you? It's easy to forget things if they don't happen in your country/state/city/neighborhood. We're all pretty self absorbed. We're fascinated with ourselves. (Tweet, Tweet.)




The Italians have given us many gifts - especially in the realms of art and food. I have yet to visit Italy, but it is on my list. And I'm moving it up even higher after eating these Easter chocolates!!





The first I bought at Williams Sonoma, but they are made by Caffarel: http://www.caffarelkuwait.com/index.html



The song that plays when you go to their website is beautiful!! I have no idea what the words mean, but it is gorgeous! It MUST be about the love of chocolate - there really is no greater love.

See how pretty these are? Five different colors of paper wrapping three different colors of foil and three different flavors of chocolate egg. They are a treat to open! And because they are so carefully and beautifully packaged, you know they will be delish! This is a case in which you can judge the chocolate by its wrapper!

The three flavors are torroncino - this one was a challenge to find the translation of - many times it was referred to as an ice cream. But what it is (as far as I can tell) is almond paste with lemon flavor. It is really wonderful. The lemon is definitely noticeable but doesn't ruin the confection at all.

Gianduja (or, more commonly, gianduia) is a sweet chocolate containing about 50% hazelnut paste. It takes its name from Gianduja, a Carnival and marionette character who represents the archetypal Piedmontese, the Italian region where hazelnut confectionery is common. (Can you say Wikipedia?)

mandorla - this one is also an almond paste - tastes like almond extract which has always somehow reminded me of cherry. It was my favorite.

Now we're in the big league with these eggs - this ain't no Hershey or Mars. These are "traditional Italian Easter eggs created by and for chocolate connoisseurs." Oh hell yeah! Let me continue from the label: "An Italian Easter tradition, these exquisite chocolate eggs are created by a renowned Turin confectionery, founded in 1826 (we didn't even have chocolate in the US back then) by Pier Paul Caffarel. The bittersweet chocolate shells are made from couverture, produced using the finest South American and African cocoa beans. (I don't think there are any other kinds of cocoa beans, but hey, it sounds great!) Place these festive eggs in an Easter basket or scatter them on a table for a decorative Sunday brunch." Oh la la! Or get thee to Williams Sonoma and see if you can get some for 1/2 price and keep them all for yourself! Eggs this high speed should be wasted on no child. And no egg should be left behind.

All hail the Italians!!

Next up is this cutie from Vosges:

Not made in Italy, but this is Vosges Italian Bunny - and on the package he speaks "I enjoy the beautiful scenery of my native Sicily. My long ears help me hear very well and my large hind feet enable me to leap high. Nibble on my paw and you'll see that hazelnuts, almonds and deep milk chocolate run in my family! Buon Appetito!"

Not sure a chocolate bunny would actually encourage anyone to devour him, but hey, it's creative in a creepy kind of way. This is a solid gianduja bunny - made of almonds and carmelized hazelnut paste and deep milk chocolate. Now THAT rocks!!! Palmer and Russell Stover ain't got nuthin' on Vosges. What could be better than a chocolate rabbit with nuts? Why hasn't anyone thought of that? And isn't he just adorable?

So we finish Easter with a gourmet flourish and a tribute to a country that has given the world much beauty and pleasure. Send them good thoughts as they recover and rebuild and be grateful that your home is still standing and your loved ones are safe. We are much, much luckier than we ever realize or appreciate.

Here's to Italy, here's to chocolate and here's to you! (Just pretend that's a Tweet.)

Easter Eve

Hey Gang!! It's the night before Easter and I have been eating WAY too much Easter candy. One of the cool things about being an adult is you don't have to wait for the Easter Bunny. Even if maybe you should.



Here are a few quick reviews. We'll start with something you just can't go wrong with - Reese's Rabbits! (Well, they are actually Mini Reester Bunnies (ouch), but I like Reese's Rabbits better):





They are cute - this guy looks funny because my bag got a bit melted - and they taste great. Not as good as the Reese's eggs in my book because there's not as much peanut butter, but a great choice nonetheless.



Caramello also has a bunny:

This bunny is cute as well (so cute he looks like the rodent version of Hello Kitty) but I think it's pretty weak on the caramel. Too little, too thin - get the amazing Cadbury caramel egg - pass on the cute bunny. (Sorry, cuteness just ain't enough when it comes to candy. I mean, I will complain if the wrapper isn't cute enough, but cuteness alone can't carry a candy. I think the only thing cuteness alone can carry is a pop star.)

I have to tell you, I really can't decide between these two:

I mean, there are differences - Hershey (on the right) is bigger and the candy coating has a different texture (smoother). But they are both good - I liked them both. You can't go wrong with either one. (Now these are not the German truffle eggs of Williams-Sonoma - but they are a cheap and good alternative). Hey - do kids really need German truffle eggs?

Here was a surprise - Snickers Sports Creme Egg:

Now I gotta tell you - I totally don't get the sports thing. Why a sports egg? Why are there tennis balls on this wrapper? What the hell is going on?

No clue - but this egg was GOOD!! Not what I expected (which was a Snickers bar in the shape of an egg) this was creamier and sweeter and delicious. You should try one! Eating a sports egg might be as close as I come to exercise on Easter.

Enjoy the day!! Have fun, eat some candy, practice your faith, celebrate spring - most of all - celebrate life.

So Much Candy, So Little Time

Geez - Easter is here and there's so much more candy to review! (Hey, if that's the biggest problem I have, I'm pretty darn lucky, huh? It's all about perspective.) Things are still on track with the guy I like - I hate to talk too much about it - afraid I'll jinx it. Suffice it to say, if I go down in flames, I'll let you know.

We've seen in past holidays that some candy makers just throw out the same old stuff in a different package. Well, we have some of that with Easter. The Least Possible Holiday Effort award goes to Tootsie Roll:

Okay - could this packaging be any uglier? This is the most depressing Spring packaging EVER. Boo!!!

Now Tootsie did better with the Pops:

They have an egg shape! Creative! Not the world's most festive wrapper - how about a chick or a bunny? But at least not so suicidal. Look at the egg pops:



That blue thing is raspberry (NOT my fav), pink (cherry) was good. I don't know why these are colored so differently than the regular Tootsie Pops. I mean, it's not like these are some crazy spring colors. But I like the idea and it is a different candy for the season. I also think these have a better Tootsie to Pop ratio than the regular pops. But it's possible that's my imagination. I honestly don't care enough to really try and figure that out. It hurts my brain to think about actually (weights, ratios, ugh).

These are all solid entries - you already know what you're going to get. Kissables (which I like) has some great Easter colors and a rabbit. I like chicks and rabbits and think they should be on all Easter candy wrappers.

When I was a kid we used to get malted milk eggs (robin eggs) in our Easter baskets. I remember my little brother getting all pastel coloring all over his mouth. Or maybe he would just chew one up and get me to look at his as he opened his mouth. Little brothers are experts in gross. But I don't think they make these like they used to. Here's what I could find:

Okay - there's a robin CARRYING an egg! (Do you think that's an African or a European robin?)Whoppers remind me the most of the taste of the eggs I remember, but the colors are too garish:

Of course, after those Tootsie Roll wrappers, these are a Godsend.

These fancy-schmancy ones are from Williams-Sonoma. More florescent than the ones I remember and (trust me) WAY more expensive, but these are the best of the malted milk eggs. The only thing I didn't like about them is that the green ones actually have a little lime flavor to the candy coating. I wasn't too keen on that. But the chocolate layer is definitely of a high quality. And they are pretty. I like pretty.









NECCO rejoins the candy party with PAAS splashed malted milk eggs in ice cream flavors:

Okay - let's just slow down here. PAAS makes Easter egg dye, right? I mean, the name is synonymous with Easter, but.....on candy? And do we really need ice cream flavors? And when the hell did orange become an ice cream flavor? Aren't we talking sherbet here? What the hell is going on?





Look at that purple and orange monstrosity! GLAACK! YUCK! Too orange, too ugly. Strawberry tastes like the crunch berries in Captain Crunch coated with some waxy strawberry stuff. Vanilla is okay as is chocolate, but there's no malt here. All taste like some kind of bad cereal. These have the feel of a candy made in a third world country. But on a good note, they do have both a rabbit and a duck on the package.

Look at this confectionery artistry from Germany for Williams-Sonoma:




These are chocolate truffle eggs and they are gorgeous as well as delicious:

From the horrifying to the sublime, Easter candy offers something for everyone. It's all there for you to enjoy! (And on Monday it will be half price!)

And remember in the great Easter Egg hunt of life:

1.) Sometimes what you're looking for is right under your nose.

2.) The early bird gets the most eggs.

3.) The real winner is the one who had the most fun.

4.) You are grown up when you have more fun helping the other kids find the eggs.

5.) If the Easter bunny doesn't make you smile, you need to loosen up.

6.) The only things you'll find in the hunt that you can take with you are your memories. Fill your days with good ones.

So wear the biggest Easter bonnet you can find, share your candy, and stop and smell the flowers. Life is sweet and all too short - savor every second.