The Way the Cookie Crumbles

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!!!!

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.

Fancy Food Show 2010 Continued

The first night I was in NY, my friend Ruth (she makes fabulous jams and wanted to go to the Fancy Food Show to learn about selling them on a larger scale) joined me and we went to Junior's for cheesecake.  Look at this beauty:

Oh yes, that's cheesecake with chocolate cake, amazing chocolate frosting and chocolate chips and chocolate shavings.  It was absolutely fresh, moist and delicious.  And HUGE!

We also hit Hershey's Time Square store (as I mentioned) and I found these:

Macadamia nut Kisses!  I love how the paper tag says Aloha!  These are wickedly addictive.  I haven't seen them anywhere else, but I highly recommend them.  I ate almost a whole bag one night in my hotel room.  It was the nuts - crunchy, delish.

Here we are at the show (see how big it all is?):

You weren't supposed to take any pictures, but my buddies at Walkers let me.  Look at this amazing booth:

Rich wood, thick carpet - and it was packed the whole show.  The gang was doing some SERIOUS business.  This is the booth right before the award celebration:

They gave the guests these great Walker's goodies:

I love the paragraph on the back of the gorgeous black tin - Walkers is still owned by the founding family.  And they do make some simply amazing shortbread:

And eight cookies were packed in there!

We'll be reviewing them in upcoming posts = sooooo good!!

Now, since one of my readers (thanks, Perry!) recommended these, I had to try some:

These cookies contains real bits of ginger:

Now, here's the deal - if you like ginger - these are amazing!  I think real ginger tastes weird, so I am not crazy about these.  My heart belongs to shortbread.

It was so fun to be part of the Walkers' celebration!  And to play in NYC!  More to come!!!

White Chocolate - the NonChocolate

White chocolate is the red headed step child of the chocolate family. It's really not chocolate at all, (no cacao) but I still like it and I think we should keep an open mind. 

Can you believe I still have some Easter candy to review? I know, I know - time gets away from me! So much chocolate, so little time!

Lindt made a white chocolate Lindor truffle egg:

I can't say anything negative about this - sweet, delicious with that creamy truffle center.  Wow!

Neuhaus also did a white chocolate egg and this one is a solid "chocolate" egg:

 

This is also a great white chocolate egg - it's not as light and fluffy - not a truffle, but it's delicious.  It's hard to compare the two - both have great flavor, but are in such different consistencies I can't make a choice!

Now you all know I love Hershey's Kisses, but this white chocolate can't hold a candle to the Lindt or the Neuhaus - it has a waxier quality.  Nowhere near as good.  And the orange flavor is soooooo not my fav.  I could never eat another one of these again and be happy as a clam.

 

This is Lindt's Straccitella truffle egg:

It's the white chocolate truffle egg with some cocoa nibs on the outer layer.  The sad thing is, you can hardly taste the nibs at all.  Maybe if they were mixed all the way through?  I dunno - seems like they need more...something...maybe CHOCOLATE?

I found these at Harry and David:

They have a white chocolate outer layer, a dark chocolate layer and then the malt ball.  These didn't do anything for me.  The malt flavor seemed to offset everything else - kind of yucky.

These beauties are anything but yucky.  They are by one of favorite chocolatiers - Knipschildt.  And at $10.00 for five little eggs, they are not cheap.  But DAMN, they are delicious!

They are about the size of a robin's egg and are filled with a milk chocolate hazelnut paste that is amazing.  These are some of the best of the chocolates I had this Easter. 

These cuties are from L.A. Burdick and are the most adorable little white chocolate bunnies:

Each has an almond and a delicious chocolate and hazelnut truffle filling.  They also have a dark chocolate base:

L.A. Burdick makes the most gorgeous and delicious chocolates.  They also made this egg:

This delicious guy has our new friend white chocolate, then a layer of corn flakes (very crispy, very delicious!) and then a Gianduja filling (a sweet chocolate paste containing about 30% hazelnuts).    Not only is it totally cute, the combination of flavors and textures is wonderful.

So what did we learn?  White chocolate may not technically be chocolate, but it adds a lot to the family.  (Let's all join hands and sing "We are the World.")  It's mighty sweet, but it makes a great coating and has a lighter taste than milk chocolate.

Also - sometimes really great chocolate is completely worth the money.  There are artists who work in chocolate.

And finally, no chocolate is too cute to eat.

Have a great week - I'll be reporting from Candy Expo!!