Tuesday, September 18, 2007

ChocolateBet: December 9, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Starbucks (Shanghai, China)
"Black Chocolate" Dog

Today I finally venture out from the hotel (well, at least around the corner to a Shanghai Starbucks) to see what kind of "local" chocolate I can find while grabbing a morning coffee.

The Shanghai Starbucks looked similar to the Starbucks in the U.S., with a few differences. And, since I'm always on the lookout for local variations on chocolates, I was pleased to find a small, hollow chocolate dog to buy.

The dog I found was labeled as "black chocolate" was good. And the basket piled high with these little black chocolate dogs was near the Starbucks eggrolls. Yes, folks back in the U.S., see what you're missing from your local Starbucks? Eggrolls. 

ChocolateBet: December 8, 2006

Today we had an event at a movie theater in Shanghai that was next to an electronics mall. I bought a small container of Haagen Dazs Belgian dark chocolate ice cream to eat at the movie theater concession stand for my chocolate of the day, and I talked about how the event was going with a great woman who works for Softimage, an animation software company. And she is amused by all this chocolate silliness I'm telling her about. I'm feeling more acclimated today to the time zone, which is very helpful.

ChocolateBet: December 7, 2006

Today's chocolate: Karmal - chocolate-covered caramel; it was good.

I'm still getting over a cold and some jet lag here in Shanghai. I tried to look my perky best in meetings with business partners. It helped that they're all great people; and I appreciated their willingness to cut me a little slack when I had to decline a dinner invite last night. They said they enjoyed the chocolates I sent over. That's good.

ChocolateBet: December 6, 2006

Chocolate figs in mid-air

I've brought today's chocolate with me on the plane.

As we travel over the Pacific, I open a small box that has some Bio Vera Matiz Extremeno Pecaditos - Chocolate Truffle-filled figs. They are very good.

I eat a few on the plane, and a few in my hotel room in Shanghai - just to cover any possible discrepancies in what day it is, due to the time change. And also because they're good.

However, they can't save me from jet lag and my cold. I send my regrets for dinner (and send my colleagues a box of chocolates instead), and I try to sleep. But, I keep waking up from the sounds of car horns, bicycle and cart bells, and all sorts of noise from the street below. Shanghai streets are very busy in this neighborhood, and never quiet. And people love to use their horns it seems. When I get up later and I look outside the window I see why. The mix of vehicle types crammed into one roadway is chaotic, at best. Everyone probably needs to warn each other of where they are heading every few seconds to avoid collisions.

ChocolateBet: December 5, 2006

I've gotten up early to get to the SF Airport at a decent time, leaving plenty of time to check-in for an international flight to Shanghai.

I'm still getting over a cold, and I decide to have a latte at the airport with a decongestant. I worry about my sinuses a little - given that it's a long flight and that I'll have to bounceback quickly from jet lag for meetings when I get there. The latte is good and I have it with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder. I feel a little better.

ChocolateBet: December 4, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Godiva
Milk chocolate with coconut and macadamia nuts (bar)
Good

Today's chocolate was a Godiva Milk Chocolate with coconut and macadamia nuts bar. I ate a 1/2 bar; and it tasted good.

I'm busy packing for trip. Leaving for Shanghai tomorrow from SF Airport, with gift chocolates in my carry-on bag.

ChocolateBet: December 3, 2006

Today's chocolate: Hershey's Peter Paul Mounds bar (dark chocolate over coconut). Another great classic candy bar that still tastes good. For some reason I'm thinking it would be good with vanilla ice cream somehow as well. I'll try that next year...

Mom still not well. Doctors will continue to run tests. She did have a flu shot earlier last month (in November) a few days before her symptoms started to kick in. Could there be a connection? I hope her condition stabilizes by the time I get back from this Asia trip I'm about to leave for.

ChocolateBet: December 2, 2006

Chocolate of the Day:

Ghirardelli Chocolate
Limited Edition - Holiday Chocolate Assortment bag
Cinnamon Spiced Almond squares
Good
Weight: 2 squares / 9.4 oz. (267.1 g.) in total bag
Calories: 115 calories in 2 squares
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Today I tried another Limited Edition Ghirardelli holiday chocolate. I ate two Cinnamon Spiced Almond squares. They're good.

My mom is still not doing well, and I'm going to be leaving shortly on a business trip to Asia. I also have a cold. I debated whether I should cancel, and decided I should go anyway.

I'll bring antihistamines, a mask (like they wear in Japan when they have a cold, as a courtesy to others) to wear on the plane to keep from "sharing" my cold - and to keep my sinuses from drying out on the long flight. I will look odd, but I don't care that much. I just hope my fellow Americans on this flight (who are not used to anyone wearing a mask in public) don't think I have SARS or some terrible bird flu.

And, last but not least, I'll bring chocolate with me, to share with others as gifts, and also to ensure I have a new item to try each day, just in case I get stranded somewhere in Shanghai without a chocolate for my "list." God forbid.

ChocolateBet: December 1, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate
Limited Edition - Squares
Holiday Chocolate Assortment
Peppermint Bark
Good
Weight: .375 oz. (estimate) in 1 square / 9.4 oz. (267.1 g.) total bag
Calories: approx. 58 calories
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA


Ghirardelli Chocolate's (San Leandro, CA) Limited Edition Holiday assortment bag contained three flavors of individually-wrapped chocolate squares. Today I tried the Peppermint Bark square. It was good.

I'm trying to get in a holiday mood. The candy aisle in our local neighborhood pharmacy is certainly festive. The message is buy...more...chocolate. And I do, for myself, friends and family.

My mom is still not well. Tests are not conclusive. She was fine a month ago, and now she can't walk. It's hard to stay festive with this happening. But, good chocolate and friends to share it with helps.

ChocolateBet: November 30, 2006

Ghirardelli is a well-known San Francisco Bay Area brand of chocolate. I can remember my dad's secretary taking me up to the city in her classic convertible white Thunderbird, for the best ice cream sundae I'd ever tasted, when I was probably around 13 years old. This trip was a reward for helping her out in the office I think. Although I would gladly have ridden along for any reason. We went to Ghirardelli Square which is right next to the SF Bay. It's still there, although the sundae shop with the great view that I think I remember I think was converted to shop space. The sundae had vanilla ice cream, chocolate, coffee, and whipped cream and a cherry. It was heaven.

Today, I try Ghirardelli's Milk Chocolate with Caramelized Almonds. It tasted OK, but a bit chalky to me. It may have been too old. Eating one of these individually wrapped squares in an office is also not quite the same ambience as having the wind blow through your hair on an uncrowded freeway, and taking in a view of San Francisco bay and surroundings eating whipped cream and chocolate with a spoon....

Mom is still not well. I need to check in with my dad to find out what the status is.

ChocolateBet: November 29, 2006

Chocolate covered fruits and disappearing orchards

There used to be a large cherry orchard south of where I grew up here in the San Francisco Bay Area. To narrow down the geography a bit....Before the nickname "silicon valley" had ever been coined, the stretch below San Francisco and toward San Jose area where I grew up (and live now) was known as Santa Clara Valley, or Valley of Hearts Delight, and similar terms that led you to believe that fruit trees and other crops grew here in abundance. On the street where I grew up there were apricot orchards behind our back fence, and there was occasionally a rousing apricot fight that would break out between groups of kids when there were lots of overripe fruits laying on the ground. This was probably about the time the orchard had been sold to developers, but they hadn't laid in the asphalt street yet broken ground on any houses. So, the local kids were relatively free to take their bicycles over there and try to ride them over the dirt, and check out this patch of nature.

I also remember there was a company called Bee Ritchie that offered dried fruit. Later iterations of their prunes and apricots might have even been dipped in or coated in chocolate. My mom used to order boxes of these around the holidays. What a shame that it might not have been considered cool to eat chocolate-covered prunes. I think they would call them dried plums now - and would charge twice as much. I imagine there are stories like this the world over...So, enough nostalgia about our agrarian past, and back on the chocolate track...

Recently one of the last remaining cherry orchards in this area was recently drastically reduced in size. And, shops and residential units now sit in Sunnyvale on El Camino Rd where CJ Olsen (sp?) orchard and fruit stand once was. However, in the middle of the new shopping center, there is still a store (maybe even run by the members of the same family) where you can go in and buy fresh cherries and other produce. Some of these are sold covered in chocolate of various types. I had some chocolate covered cherries which were good. But, they were not as good as the fruit I remember from years ago, maybe due to the chocolate and and altered vegetable oils used to try to keep things neat and well-preserved now, so that they'll travel better.

ChocolateBet: November 28, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lack Champlain Chocolate
Five Star Chocolate Bar - Peanut
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.85 oz. (48 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 277 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Z. Cioccolatos?, North Beach, San Francisco, CA

Well, yesterday's Lake Champlain Five Star Fruit and Nut chocolate bar was good, so I tried the company's Five Star Peanut bar today. The Peanut bar was a satisfying blend of chocolate, peanuts, peanut butter, and crisp rice.

Thoughts on Portion Control and Sharing Chocolates

I had intended (like so many previous intentions on previous chocolate eating days), to eat just half of this chocolate. But, these chunky little Lake Champlain Five Star bars were tough to split in half -- unlike, say, a traditional thin Hershey's chocolate bar - which splits very easily, usually along some faint chocolate perforation/indentation lines. That's my excuse. And, when I can't fit in my clothes any longer, I'll be forced to revisit and revise this thinking.

It's difficult to just eat one square....especially when you are stuck at your desk or somewhere else, and you can't really go anywhere, but you're hungry. I could put down the chocolate, and take the time to forage for real food - but that is way too sensible.

If forced to buy an overly large size chocolate due to lack of an available smaller size, I try to eat chocolate in an environment where other people will accept your offer to share as the only charitable or polite way out of this awkward situation. (I'm not sure what's up with this chocolate eating, but maybe I can help out, they may be asking themselves.) Most of the time friends and co-workers are happy to oblige (especially between 3-4:30 in the afternoon at the office). However, I have on three occasions so far found myself offering candy to strangers in airports. It can be wonderful, or it can be quite awkward. I find myself trying to sound as sane as possible when making the offer. Make too many jokes about what you're doing, and people start looking a little nervous. Ah, all this in the name of portion control, but it's worth it when I get to share the joy of a newly discovered chocolate with friends and passing strangers alike.

ChocolateBet: November 27, 2006

Chocolate of the Day:

Lake Champlain
Five Star Chocolate Bar - Fruit and Nut
Very Good
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.)
Calories: 300 calories (estimate) for 1 bar
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Z. Cioccolatos?, North Beach, San Francisco, CA

Today I enjoyed a Lake Champlain, Five Star Fruit and Nut bar. It was a very good, flavorful mix of dark chocolate, praline, pecans, cherries, and other goodness.

I look forward to the end of this chocolate bet next year, so I can go back and eat more of the chocolates I really enjoyed. So far, everything I've tried with the Lake Champlain logo tastes pretty darn good to me.

ChocolateBet: November 26, 2006

I found a little miniature sized Toblerone chocolate bar (yellow wrapper) that was too cute to pass up. I polished off one of these. Swiss milk chocolate with honey and almond nougat. It was very good, and it provided me with 180 calories of candy bar goodness.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, in the spreadsheet I'm using to track the chocolates I'm eating every day, I'm trying to enter the weight of each item in ounces and/or grams, how much money I've spent, and how many calories worth of chocolate I'm eating every day. I'm not sure what the point is exactly for tallying these numbers, but I should have an approximate total of how many pounds of chocolate I've eaten, how many dollars I've frittered away during this year of chocolate, and at least an explanation of why I can't fit in my pants anymore.

Yes, I'm analytical person sometimes. I've resisted my tendency to do lots of scientific and detailed research on cocoa chemistry and chocolate brands, as you can probably tell. Sorry to disappoint those who thought they might actually learn a thing or two by reading this blog :-). Although if you are that much of a chocolate fan, my guess is that you've already done a web search and found a few of the good web sites out there that talk about this divine substance.

Enjoy.

ChocolateBet: November 25, 2006

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

See's Candies
Nut and Chews Assortment
1.) Milk Caramel
2.) Tutti Frutti
3.) Dark Caramel
Purchased from: See's Candies, Sunnyvale, CA

I ate 3 pieces of chocolate from See's nuts and chews assortment today: milk caramel, tutti frutti, and dark caramel. They were all very good.

It helps keeping a list/spreadsheet to track the chocolates I've eaten so far this year. I would have long since forgotten which ones I'd already eaten if I'd tried to keep all this in my head. Since there have been a few days where I've eaten more than one different chocolate a day, there will be more than 365 chocolates/entries by September 2007 (at the end of 1-year).

My mom is still sick. She is in her late 70s and is rather suddenly this month having an increasingly difficult time standing up and walking. She is losing feeling in her legs. This looks more serious by the day. I'm afraid that this is not the kind of problem that a box of chocolates and a get well card will solve.

ChocolateBet: November 24, 2006

Eating a Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts is very good; but it's even better if you throw in an extra handful of toasted hazelnuts to eat with this.

Mom is still not feeling well. Not sure what the difficulty walking means that we saw yesterday on Thanksgiving, but glad we weren't trying to cook dinner over at her house if she is not feeling well. Chocolate or no, a family of eight can require a lot of wrangling and cleanup, especially when young grandchildren are thrown into the mix.

ChocolateBet: November 23, 2006

My family met for dinner and had a great buffet Thanksgiving meal. I had a piece of Chocolate and Hazelnut mousse cake; made even more delicious by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream to my cup of decaf coffee that I was enjoying with this. Another great flavor combination.

While walking out to our cars in the parking lot, we noticed my mom was having trouble walking. This was a concern, and in talking about it, found out she hadn't really been feeling well for the past week or so. Hmmm...

ChocolateBet: November 22, 2006

More See's nuts and chews...3 pieces this time. Walnut square, milk walnut, peanut nougat. They were very good.

ChocolateBet: November 21, 2006

I had one Vanilla nut creme chocolate, from the See's nuts and chews assortment box that I'm still working on. It was good. Tomorrow is thanksgiving and we will get together as a family to eat out, which makes me very happy. With a large family, the focus can be on visiting and conversation, and not on food preparation and cleanup. That's fine with me.

ChocolateBet: November 20, 2006

Chocolate of the Day:

Droste
Chocolate Extra Dark (bar)


I've found there are many factors that go into how enjoyable a chocolate is, including time of day, temperature, what I eat before I eat chocolate, and how fresh a bar is (or how well its been stored) when I buy it. I'm still figuring this out.

This bar was OK. It was kind of chalky. I probably ate more than I should have as well. It's a Monday. I wonder if the day of the week or the month, or the season/weather influences taste. I'm sure I could ask professional tasters this question and they might have some good insights here. Maybe this bar would have benefited from being heated a little - or maybe it would have made better fondue than eating chocolate. Hard to tell.

ChocolateBet: November 19, 2006

I ate three more pieces of See's candy from the nuts and chews assortment today. Peanut square, milk almonds, and a dark almonds: they were very good. I love chocolate with nuts. I love dark chocolate with nuts even more. (Throw some ice cream in with the dark chocolate and the nuts, and you've got my attention. I'll have to throw these into a bowl with some ice cream next time, and maybe add a dash of cinnamon on top. I've heard cinnamon can help with blood sugar regulation; sounds good to me.

ChocolateBet: November 18, 2006

Three pieces of See's candy - scotchmallow, butter chew, Drk Peanut; very good.

ChocolateBet: November 17, 2006

The beauty of living in California is that it never really gets too cold for ice cream. I think of my friends in Canada, and I hope they are staying warm this time of year. So, a suitable ice cream flavor to try seemed to be Dreyer's Moose Tracks ice cream. It was good.

ChocolateBet: November 16, 2006

Chocolove's Ginger in Dark Chocolate sounded great. It was good. I think it might be tasty to melt this down and use it for fondue - for fresh strawberries, and the usual dipping materials into molten chocolate.

ChocolateBet: November 15, 2006

Odwalla (bar), Choco-Walla flavor; 2.2 oz. Good, except it had oats in it and unfortunately, I have to stay away from wheat and oats as well it seems. Although it gave me a healthy feeling to eat this. Much better than popular commercial venues might offer, or vending machine choices I usually see.

I have no idea whether these health bars are a profitable line for Odwalla - a company that really made their name in fresh juices from what I can remember.

ChocolateBet: November 14, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Vosges Haut Chocolat
Calindia Bar
Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.3 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 119 calories in 1/4 bar per label

This Calindia 65% cacao dark chocolate bar from Vosges (Chicago, IL) was good.

I give the Vosges flavor makers and chocolatiers extra credit for an interesting mix of Indian green cardamom, walnuts, plums, and Venezuelan dark chocolate; and I look forward to trying their other chocolates in the near future.

ChocolateBet: November 13, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dream Chocolate
Cafe Chocolate - Heavenly Hazelnut Mocha
Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. bar
Calories: 226 calories in 1 bar

Today's Cafe Chocolate - Heavenly Hazelnut Mocha bar from Dream Chocolate was made with European milk chocolate (31% cocoa mass).

This milk chocolate bar was infused with finely ground coffee and "natural" (presumably hazelnut) flavoring, and a hint of vanilla.

ChocolateBet: November 12, 2006

It was an amazing, sparkling fall day today. Driving up the scenic route to San Francisco, vivid colors (bright green squares of grass, reds and jewel tones in the leaves of the trees and dazzling yellows against an amazing blue sky) keep grabbing my attention.

I stopped in Golden Gate Park and had jasmine tea and light rice-based tea snacks in the Japanese tea garden. I walked through the well manicured miniature landscape and up over the narrow arched bridge with a view of a koi pond.

I created a meal out of a Hershey's chocolate bar with some almonds.

ChocolateBet: November 11, 2006

See's Candies suckers are about the only sucker I still enjoy eating. Well, maybe I don't give this class of candy its due; but See's suckers are certainly the first ones I think of. The caramel and/or butterscotch-flavored suckers are probably my favorite. But their chocolate sucker, which I had today, was still quite good.

ChocolateBet: November 10, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dream Chocolate
Cafe Chocolate - Black Raspberry Mocha bar
Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 330 calories (per bar label, sounds high) in 1 bar
Cost: ?
Purchased from: ?

I had a Cafe Chocolate black raspberry mocha and dark chocolate bar today from Dream Chocolate (Boise, ID). It was good. The inclusion of finely ground coffee gave this dark chocolate bar an authentic mocha flavor. The black raspberry taste was derived from both natural and artificial flavoring.

ChocolateBet: November 9, 2006

Chocolate of the Day:

LesserEvil Brand Snack Co.
Black and White
Good
Weight: 3.65 oz. (103 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 420 calories (per label) in 1 package
Cost: $?
Purchased from: work cafeteria, Sunnyvale, CA

Clever packaging and some fun twists on traditional kettle corn and other candy. I tried their "chocolaty kettle corn" black and white mix. It was good.

ChocolateBet: November 8, 2006


Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Cadbury
Roast Almond - milk chocolate with roasted almonds bar
Good
Wt.: 2.25 oz. (63.5 grams) in 1/2 bar/ 4.5 oz. (127 g.) in total bar
Calories: ~ 355 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $?
Purchased from: ?

ChocolateBet: November 7, 2006

Well, I couldn't resist. I am back at the new neighborhood Whole Foods store - at the chocolate counter.

I try two different kinds today: the Lavender Fleur d'sel (Yum) and Toffee spice pecan (Very good). There is something very nice about the lavender and certain floral flavors/scents that I would bathe in, plant in my garden to enjoy the smells wafting through the air, and love to eat as well. Just dip me in these great smelling plant-based flavorings for chocolates like lemon verbena, rose, Earl Grey and lavender, and roll me in chocolate, and I'm good. Oh, and a little sprinkle of sea salt on the top please. Who would have thunk it, but all these chocolates and chocolate caramels dusted with a few salt crystals on top are really tasty.

ChocolateBet: November 6, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Seattle Chocolates
Cocoa Nibs in Dark Truffle bar
Very Good
Weight: 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 360 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.49 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: ? market in San Francisco, CA

Having really enjoyed a previous selection from Seattle Chocolates, today I tried the company's Cocoa Nibs in Dark Truffle bar, wrapped in gold foil and a bright, shiny raspberry colored wrapper with cocoa pod images. The packaging was cheery on a fall day, and the cocoa nibs truffle bar was very good.

ChocolateBet: November 5, 2006

Sunday is a great day to explore and run around San Francisco. I got a bit of a late start, but headed up to the new DeYoung museum in Golden Gate Park. I can't say as I really appreciate the newest look for the museum building, but I appreciated the great view of the city from the observation deck of the new tower structure.

Later, I took myself to dinner at the North Beach Restaurant and sat under and near a series of Miro prints. This is pretty great, as I've been goofing off trying to paint in the style of Miro lately. It's been fun, but as with most good painters, copying is easier than creating something equally fabulous of your own.

On the way back to my car, I stopped at Z Cioccolatos, a great chocolate store in the North Beach area (near Columbus and Stockton, and the Wells Fargo ATMs). The owners and employees have succeeded in making this a fun place to visit. In addition to a great assortment of chocolates and candy and gift items, they also have some chocolate-themed t-shirts and adult-oriented chocolate products. And, they hand out free samples of fudge. Or, at least they did when I was there. I tried a little bit of pumpkin pie fudge - which was much better than I thought it might be. And I ended up buying a small square of chocolate walnut fudge there; it was good.

ChocolateBet: November 4, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Seattle Chocolates
Pikes Place Espresso Truffle Bar
Yum
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) total bar
Calories: 200 calories
Cost: $2.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: ? market in San Francisco, CA

Today, I enjoyed a Saturday of painting (on real canvas for a change), cooking and cleaning up the backyard at home. I made lots of dishes only a veggie lover would appreciate, including some with golden beets and herbs, pumpkin butter, broccoli in marinara sauce, and the the much maligned brussel sprout(s). Well, I loved it. Something good for me too. I thank my mother for infusing a love for fruit and vegetables into us at a young age - with tales of their "victory" garden back in the mid-west when she was young.

For my chocolate of the day, I looked to Seattle Chocolates. They make a great Espresso Infused Dark Chocolate Truffle Bar. I ate half their 2.5 oz. bar. Yum. This was very nice chocolate.

Note: Photo added later, when camera available.
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