Run, Forrest, Run!

Sorry for the hiatus! I've been insanely busy with speaking engagements, which in this economy is a mighty fine thing!

Valentine's Day candy is out already. I'm still trying to finish all my Christmas candy! I may have to miss a season. (Yeah, right!)

I'm going back to the Chocolate Show in this post. Please come with.

These gorgeous chocolates are from Oliver Kita: http://www.oliverkita.com/index.html



Aren't they gorgeous? They should be. You're looking at a $40 box of chocolates. But before we talk about the chocolates, I feel compelled to mention the pretentious stuff that comes with these gorgeous babies. There's the corporate tag line: Mind. Body. Chocolate Every Day TM Yes, this is trademarked. Puleeze.

The chocolate is described as joyful, powerful and conscious. Under powerful the little brochure that came in the box says, "Buying this chocolate supports human rights. The power of your giving or receiving it is aligned with universal values of the global community." Huh? Considering the current state of the world, violence seems to be one of the few universal values of the global community. What do you think $40 worth of chocolate will do on the Gaza Strip? You make chocolate, Mr Kita, you are not the Dalai Lama. Stay inside the box.

Sorry - you know how I am. I have to call BS when these fancy high-end chocolatiers start saying that buying their chocolate is going to help fulfill mysterious global values. (Maybe the writers of the redundant Chex Mix copy weren't so bad after all.) Just make amazing chocolate. You don't also have to save the world.

More important to me as a consumer is what I'm eating. I do not subscribe to the Forrest Gump "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" theory. I want the Whitman's Sampler road map. I want to know where the orange cream is so I can avoid that thing like the plague.

Oliver Kita did have some pictures and descriptions, but they were not all inclusive. Some of the chocolates in the box were not listed. Some chocolates not in the box were. It was partially helpful. For example:

Green stripe is Pistache - pistachio almond marzipan - VERY good!

The red one below it is Scarlet Caramel which is strawberry and caramel and blew me away!! It tasted like fresh strawberries and caramel, not that yucky strawberry cream stuff. This was simply amazing.

The purple/yellow one is Lavendar Citronade and was too lemony for me.

The other one looks kind of like the picture for Coconut Voile, but I couldn't taste any coconut, so I'm not sure.

Several of the other ones I have no idea about. They were good, but I was clueless as to exactly what they were. I would rather have a better guide to the CHOCOLATE than a cheesy we-are- the-world story.

A couple of these were fantastic - Galaxy Way - the one covered with nuts - smooth, chewy, gooey caramel with a twist is how Kita describes it. Delish! There's also a salted caramel - this one with Pink Hawaiian sea salt. Whoa! This is a mind blower. Extraordinary.

Also noteworthy is the Espresso Double Shot which has crushed cacao nibs, giving it a great texture. And I didn't think it was too bitter - it was excellent.

Questionable was White Peaches & Cream. Personally I want no peach and chocolate combo.

Only two were outright awful - Shiki Matcha Crunch - a green tea infused ganache with croquant crunch (in normal words - a weird green tea thing covered with weird white balls - yucko). You can see it in the lower right hand corner. Looks like an alien pod. Tastes like one too.

And Palet d'Opium - described as seductive blood orange, lapsang, hypnotic spice - immediately reminded me of the bacon bar - eew! Turns out lapsang is a black tea with a smokey flavor. I want no smokey tea in my chocolate. And I don't know what hypnotic spice is. Maybe it's a human rights thing.

I would like to see more information about the chocolate and the different ingredients and less on the alignment of universal values. If I'm going to be eating Pink Hawaiian Sea Salt, I want to know about it!

Overall I found the Oliver Kita Chocolate to be pretty amazing. Ingenious flavor combinations, most of which tasted fantastic. Some simple, yet unique (Scarlet Caramel) and SO well done. And a tip to all these chocolatiers - educate us and you'll build and expand your market. Treat us like Forrest Gump, and well, we'll run.

Candy Trends for 2009

There was an interesting article in the New York Times on December 31st about the Flavor of the Year (not sure who gets to decide this, but hey, I'm going with it), Salt Caramel.

Now if you haven't tried this - get on the bandwagon! The combination ROCKS!! Of course, I love caramel, so this is right up my alley. And I did a review of those amazing Sea Salt Caramels from Chocolate Modern http://motivationbychocolate.blogspot.com/search/label/Chocolat%20Moderne

What I found interesting about the article was it discussed how American Food trends evolve. Apparently there are five stages (and it takes about ten years for a food item to move through all five):

1.) Chef's indulgence (with the caramels, the trend started with chefs in France, was adopted by chocolatiers, then chefs in the US)

2.) High-end food magazines and specialty food shows

3.) On menus at the more inventive chain restaurants or sold at retailers like Williams-Sonoma

4.) Appearance in a main stream woman's magazine, a larger restaurant chain, or even in supermarkets as a premium item (Starbucks just began selling salted caramel boxed hot chocolate and back in April Haagen-Dazs introduced a reserve brand of salted caramel ice cream (yum! I bet it's awesome!)

5.) Becomes a supermarket staple Wal-Mart has rolled out salted caramel in a box of salted truffles.

Well, I'm not so sure about this - Oprah (in her mainstream woman's magazine was talking about Sea Salt caramels many years ago - she found a brand made in France. They were delicious! I know, because when Oprah talks about food, I listen.)

The article also gives credit to Obama because apparently he likes Fran's Salted Caramels. (Good grief, does Obama get credit for everything?) I think salted caramels were popular way before Obama started buying them, but hey, it is the New York Times article. (Obama also likes Nicorette Gum - I wonder if they too have had a spike in sales?) I did read an article recently that featured Mariska Hargitay and she loves Fran's salted caramels as well. Maybe we should just site the overall celebrity factor - maybe stage 3.5. Celebrities embrace trend.

But also, this is just a damn good combination. You don't have to have a weird sophisticated palate; I bet almost everybody likes this. It really is already around - we love Pay Days and Turtles and caramel corn and lots of things that combine salt and sweet.

The next food she predicts will be a big hit is Quinoa - a whole grain. I actually know about Quinoa, and I say maybe because it is a pain to prepare. I don't think it has the same mainstream allure as salted caramel. But if an incredible product is made with it, it might make it. But I think it will because people want the fiber and health benefits rather than the flavor of Quinoa. To me this is like saying flour will be the next big thing.

But it is interesting how ideas, products, and information flow though a culture. In America it starts with experts, them goes through the market place (with the help of the media and celebrities) and if it's good enough, we all buy it. (I have to say, though, I bet the sea salt truffles at Wal-Mart don't hold a candle to those French caramels.) Lots of products don't go all the way because only a few of us like them and that's okay.

I wonder what the big food will be in 2009? I think candy is getting more crazy and decadent (beer and chocolate, vegetables and chocolate, weirder combinations will keep coming) AND at the same time, there is a push for nostalgia and penny pinching. The spectrum is only getting longer. I think 2009 will be a very good year for candy. (And apparently for Nicorette.)

Happy 2009!

I hope all of you have a fantastic New Year's Eve!!!! And that 2009 is your best year yet!

If you are making resolutions, I just read Leann's at Lake Champlain Chocolates and I think her list is great - check it out for inspiration:

http://blog.lakechamplainchocolates.com/

I don't know about the whole eat local thing, but I like the rest of them. Of course, if I worked at a chocolate factory I might eat locally until I exploded.

When I think about about 2008, I'm proud of a few things - I got my CSP (a certification that's kind of a big deal in the speaking biz), I paid off my mortgage, I altered my client base so I might have a life. But most of my accomplishments have been in the professional and financial realms. I did take some cool trips - the Chocolate Show in NYC, the ChocoTour in PA starting with the visit to Fallingwater, the visit to Kentucky to see my friend Heidi and the bourbon balls. (Heidi - that sounds like a good name for a swing band.) There were some disasters - the Improv Debacle comes to mind. There have been scary health issues.

And there's been something that I have no idea how it will turn out. Early this year I met a great guy and we dated for a month. (Now to put this in perspective, for me to find a guy I want to hang out with for more than one date is a pretty big deal.) We had a blast and then he was deployed to Afghanistan. The deployment was for seven months (which has turned into nine). The question was - do I wait for him and see what happens when he gets back or do I move on?

My friends were divided on this issue - with the majority telling me I was insane to even consider waiting, that life was short, that I didn't really know this guy, etc. etc. But I liked him and if you have any idea of how many bad dates I've been on, you would know this is very rare. He told me he would understand whatever decision I made. (You have to appreciate that, but it was no help. Of course, if he were weeping and saying, "Don't leave me!" I would have left. Immediately.)

I, of course, could have dated and if no one better showed up, maybe could have kept him as my backup. But I thought, how would I feel about that if I were the one deployed? I knew I would feel terrible and I would decide to let the other person go. Why put myself through that pain? Why be the backup? I didn't want to do that to him. And I didn't think it would be fair to do to someone else. Presenting yourself as available when you really aren't is BS. Too many people do it and I hope Karma will kick their butts for it.

I could have dated in secret - hey, the chances of him finding out were probably zero. But that is not the way I roll. I am either in a relationship or I am out. I am not going to lie to someone and I consider omission in this case a lie. I have been lied to in the past (as I'm sure many of you have) and I will not do that to someone else. Not when it comes to his heart.

So I decided to wait. Of course this could turn out to be a bad decision. He might come back and decide he doesn't like me that much after all. Or we might not get along as well as we did. Or 100 other things might happen. But relationships are risky, and if you don't take the risk, you'll never know. And I think if I didn't play it this way I might have always wondered, "What if I had waited?"

Of course, he might come back and we hit it off great and it turns out to be the relationship I've been waiting for. I have no way to know. Right now, I just hope he makes it back safe.

So, just like you, I have no idea what 2009 will hold. All I can do is my best. So here are my resolutions:

1.) Every year I hope FireStar will do better than the year before. I measure that with income. I don't care if we are in a recession, I'm still setting the goal to do better than last year.

2.) I want to maintain my health and I measure this with my weight and my exercise program. Maintenance may not seem like a lofty goal, but any of you who are over 40, know that maintenance ain't child's play!

3.) I want this to be the year I have an intimate, committed relationship. And the best things I can do here are stay open, communicate, and not run away. When Leann said she was going to resurrect old dreams, it made me think of this old dream of mine - love.

4.) I want to take three exciting, fun trips. I'm already thinking about going to the National Confectioners Conference this spring. And I'm so hoping I can go to Candy EXPO in Chicago! I know that if I don't get these on the calendar soon, they may not happen. (But I'm hoping I'll have someone to travel with this year and I don't want to lock down too much. Keep your fingers crossed for me!)

Take a few minutes sometime today to review your 2008. What are you most proud of? I bet you did some great things and never really patted yourself on the back. What were your disasters? What did you learn? (I learned to ask way more questions. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.) I also learned how hard it is for me to handle things I can't control. Having a long distance relationship with someone at war brought up every insecurity I have. But after so many months, I realize all that insecurity exists in one place only - my own head.
Your life lessons don't count unless you take a few minutes to sit back and learn them.

And, most importantly write down what you want for 2009. I know we have control over very little, but I am convinced that charting your own course makes a difference. Deciding what you want doesn't guarantee that it will happen, but I promise you, it increases the chances a hundredfold.

My wish for you in 2009? You get everything you want and you enjoy the journey to getting it. And don't forget to eat some chocolate along the way!

Get Thee to a Mall

I went shopping today. I know that is no big deal , but I want to share the wealth! I went to the Tommy Hilfiger Outlet (I downloaded a Save 15% coupon from the Web) and EVERYTHING in the store was 50% off. Let me tell you what I got:

two pairs of jeans

a wool sweater (nice, hoodie style, zips up) originally $69.99

four t-shirts

Okay, let's go over that again - TWO pairs of jeans, a sweater, and four t-shirts. My total after taxes was $108.83. SCORE!!!

I'm just saying - if you need anything or have any favorite stores - get out there!! It's good for the retailers, the economy, and good for you. Of course, if you are already in debt up to your eyeballs, stay home.

I also had to go to Harry and David (I had a 20% coupon) and look what I got:

That is a sweet set of CANDY DISHES!! Ha, ha, ha - how great is that??? Only $15.95 with my 20% off coupon! I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with them yet, but how cool are they? And if your name is Andy or Dan or you love NYC - these are for you!

Shop a sale - help a retailer. And if you see any great deals on chocolate - let me know!!

There's Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby

Authenticity. I love it. I like people who are authentic - they are who they are. They're not trying to impress anyone. They want to be liked, mind you, but they're not going to change who they are so you'll like them. They can't. They just not wired that way.

Most of my good buddies are like this - it's something I can't explain, but I think you know what I mean. The only way I can describe it is they don't hold themselves too tightly. They don't hold back some aspect of themselves. They tell me what they think. I meet many people and I feel like many of them are playing a part - "successful businessman or businesswoman", maybe "corporate leader" or simply "in control." The people I like the most are real - they may really have it together or not, but they pretend nothing. They laugh at themselves and I love to be with them.


Other people I just can't connect with - I want to grab them by the lapels and say "Live! Be who you ARE not you you think you should be!" I need some authenticity defibrillator paddles to shock these people back to themselves. If only it were so easy. Being yourself is the hardest thing you will ever do - most people lost themselves to conformity back in high school.

I like authenticity in experiences too. Vegas is fun, but the Venetian is not Venice and the Luxor is not Egypt. Sure, you can watch a video of almost anything on UTube, but it is not the same as being there. Being face-to-face with people in a seminar is a completely different experience than participating in a webinar. I like it real.

Which brings us to authenticity in food. Many blogs ago I said "Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should do it." I said this about chocolate gum, about chocolate Pez, and now I will say it about See's Seasonal Pie Truffles.

Now I know See's has some rabid fans. Many people have told me how great See's Candies are. Here's their website: http://www.sees.com/. I saw this box of truffles and it looked pretty interesting:

Look at that design! Notice the crust around the edges - it looks like a pie! Yay! And look at those flavors - apple, pumpkin, pecan and cranberry orange! (okay, maybe not cranberry orange - that doesn't sound like a good pie.) But hey - apple, pumpkin, and pecan! Yay!

Oooh - looking good, eh? Pumpkin is milk chocolate covered, apple is white chocolate covered, and if you can't figure out the other two, you have had way too much egg nog. I don't even have to dissect these for you - See's did it for us!

Let me be honest with you. Pie is better. Why does pie need to be made into a truffle anyway? Pie is great as pie. Here's my take - cranberry orange is not my thing. I don't like orange in my chocolate. And here it really overpowers the cranberry. I hope no one makes an orange pie.

I love pumpkin as we have discussed before. Last night I had a canful of pumpkin with Splenda (a mere 140 calories - less than one and a half truffles!). I LOVE pumpkin. This truffle had a weird aftertaste like the Godiva pumpkin truffle. Pumpkin pie has never had a weird aftertaste.

Apple pie just does not cut it - it does taste vaguely of apple pie, but are you kidding? Let's think of apple pie - hot apple pie, flaky crust, melting ice cream - why would we bother with these? Apple pie laughs at these things.

The best of the four was pecan pie, but again, I'd rather have the pie. Or a pecan ball covered in chocolate. This box takes something great (pie!) and imitates it in something great (chocolate) and ruins both. Give me authentic pie, not chocolates pretending to be pie.

And I'll also need some defibrillator paddles and some ice cream.

Got Motivation?

Most of the articles I see that discuss motivation talk about sports. But us average Joes and Jills are not playing sports. We just have to get out of bed everyday, go to work, and try to live. We don’t have a coach working with us and a bunch of fans cheering us on. There are no big endorsement contracts, no uniforms, and seldom the thrill of victory. How do we find motivation?

It seems to me that most people want to find the motivation to do something (or to stop doing something). Let me give you some examples:

Lose weight or eat healthier
Stop smoking
Get rid of clutter or be more organized
Get out of debt
Exercise
Make better use of their time

I don’t think what is needed is necessarily motivation. I think what is needed is true desire, discipline, and information.

What do I mean? True desire – you have to really, truly want it. It starts here. It’s not going to be easy, but don’t lie to yourself. If deep down you really would rather have that new pair of shoes than pay off that credit card – I can’t help you. You’ve got to get this straight in your own head. You have to decide what you really want and go for it. When athletes take the field they want to win. Period. You have to have that level of clarity and desire.

You don’t hear much about discipline anymore and that’s a damn shame. Because discipline is what you’re going to need. The discipline to get out of bed when you don’t feel like it and go to the gym. The discipline to not buy those shoes and put that money in the bank. The discipline to go to night school when your friends are out partying. Every successful person in the history of the world could practice discipline. Discipline is doing what might suck in the short term to get you where you want to go in the long term. No discipline equals no success. There is no easy way out.

Information is vital. Too many people fail because they don’t know what they need to do to succeed. They don’t realize they will NEVER get out of debt paying the minimum balance on their credit cards. They don’t know that salad dressing, cheese and bacon they just dumped on their salad destroyed their diet. You don’t need more motivation – you need more information.

Here’s your “motivation:”

1.) Commit or let it go. You have got to be able to say “I will do whatever it takes to do ______________.” And you have to mean this. If there is any doubt in your mind, come back when you’re ready. Don’t waste your time until then.

2.) Get smart. You obviously aren’t that smart about this particular topic. Hey – there’s no shame in that!! If you could see my library, you’d know there’s a whole lotta stuff I’m not too smart about! But you need to quit thinking you have all the answers. Get a basic book on managing your finances or on weight lost or organization. Whatever it is you think you need “motivation” for. Anything that promises you a quick fix is a lie and a bad source. You are not going to become rich, skinny or organized overnight. You need to get smart, not suckered.

3.) Set up systems. Automatic payroll deduction, making your lunch the night before, immediately sorting the mail over the trash can, deleting all email by the end of the day – you have got to make this a no brainer. Your systems will start to form habits and the new behaviors will become easier.

4.) DISCIPLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!! These systems are going to be hard at first, they may be hard for a long time. Even the life long athlete has days when they don’t want to workout. That’s where discipline comes in. You have to work your system even when you don’t want to. Now – I don’t mean that if you have an injury, you keep working out. I mean if it’s cold outside and you just don’t feel like it, you man up and go. There’s a difference between taking care of yourself and being undisciplined, and we all know it. This is the difference between those who get what they want out of life and those who don’t. And the only person who can do this for you is you.

Don’t get discouraged – what I find is that the more you practice discipline – the easier it gets. You become stronger. Your self-esteem rises. You realize that you CAN get out there and do anything – you just have to push yourself.

5.) Keep on top of it. Life happens – sometimes things will occur that will throw you off track. You may have a health issue or you may have to go out of town for work and things may pile up on your desk. This has nothing to do with your discipline. The clutter comes back, the exercise regime can’t be completed, you regain some weight. That will happen, it’s okay. As soon as you can, get those systems going again. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. Do what you can as soon as you can.

6.) Fight the P Sisters – procrastination and perfectionism. Don’t put it off till tomorrow. Better to do a little today than nothing. It DOES NOT have to be perfect. A short workout is better than no workout. A small binge is better than a huge binge. Get back on track as soon as you can.

You might read this and think – but I just want motivation to get out of bed and go to work or to be a better parent. You know what I’m going to say? Look at those steps in that context – are you really committed to loving your job? If not, don’t look for me to motivate you into it! If you are, are there things you could learn to make you better at it? To help you advance? If you don’t know, learn the answer!

Set up systems – if you love your co-workers, make sure you have a fun lunch planned with one each day. The discipline is that you have to fight to keep your fire about anything – you have to keep learning, keep growing, keep reminding yourself of what you like, etc. etc.

Do you see? These steps really do apply to anything you want to be “motivated” about. So there it is – stop waiting for that magic “motivation” and get on it!

Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Christmas - It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas Eve! And in my own humble opinion, I think we've saved the best for last. It's time to talk peanut butter. First up, Reese's Bells:

I like the three colors of foil, like the bell shape, nice execution. A little bigger than a Hershey's Kiss in size, these guys deliver. I gave them out randomly with a lot of other chocolate at a seminar and everyone was asking what they were. I'm telling you, it's the peanut butter. But, do I like them better than the miniature Reese's cups? No. There seems to be a better PB to chocolate ratio with the cups. But these are more festive. You pick for yourself. These make fab decorations before you eat them.

Let's get onto the REAL peanut butter:

Okay - here we have a Reese's Tree regular size, a King Size one, another Russell Stover Santa (this one filled with peanut butter of course), and a BIG Reese's Snowman. The snowman is festive - look at the Reese's sweater! There's also a search-a-word game on the back. This is clearly a stocking stuffer. Let's see them naked (is this becoming a chocolate porn site? I guess it is!):

Well, look at Russell Stover - Santa my ass!! Reese's regular size tree is not much better, but you can tell it's a tree. Russell Stover's could be anything - a snowman, a penguin, a teddy bear, even the baby Jesus. They have no game whatsoever in the shaping of chocolate. The larger Reese's tree is better and look at that snowman! We've got the sweater, the carrot nose, even detail in the hat and a holly leaf!

Let's cut them open, heh, heh, heh. Nothing like a little Christmas carnage!

Look at how big that King Size Tree is - I'm telling you, it is so decadent! "Santa" is the smallest of the bunch. But look at what happened to the snowman! When I cut him in half, the back stayed put. It's a solid block of chocolate.

Here are the taste results - Russell Stover is creamier than Reese's but it tastes less peanut buttery. The Reese's were saltier. You'll have to choose for yourself, but I'm choosing Reese's.

Now let's talk about the snowman. Too much chocolate for me. I get Reese's because I like the peanut butter. But I thought, "Score! I'm just going to eat all the peanut butter out of there!" But - it was too salty - it needs the thin coating of chocolate the trees have. The trees are so good!

But it's not over yet! I don't know if you've seen these, but if you like Reese's, you owe it to yourself to get some:

These are peanut butter, caramel and nuts, but I'll be honest with you, it's mostly about the peanut butter. But that is okay with me! I view these as a fancy version of the miniature cup. Try them! They are a great size for when you need a Reese's fix.

Why am I talking about these at Christmas? Because of these:

I first saw these in Oprah's magazine (and hey, Oprah knows her sweets). These are available year round, this is the festive Christmas packaging. And they are really good. They are made by the Koeze family, and have been for almost 100 years. I love these small American confectioners!! The clusters are peanut butter and pecans covered in chocolate - no caramel. The peanut butter is all natural and is VERY smooth and creamy and you can really taste the pecans. I was amazed at how fresh it all seemed. They are much larger than the Reese's clusters (and a lot more expensive). They are, however, excellent. As a lover of nuts, I was impressed by the company's website http://koeze.com/ and may have to place an order.

One final word:

This bar is by Bloomsberry & Co. They have the best packaging EVER. Very funny, clever. And they change it for all the holidays. I find the chocolate, however, only average. Don't get me wrong - it's not bad, it's just that the packaging is better than the chocolate - check out the website and see for yourself: http://www.bloomsberry.com/

This is the season of lights and glitter and fancy packaging, but what really matters to most of us is what it all represents. If you are religious, it is your faith. If not, it may be the love of the person who gave you a gift or the love of your family. Fancy packaging is great, but what really matters is the emotion behind the gift. Or how the chocolate inside tastes!!!! It's always what's on the inside that counts. Merry Christmas!