ChocolateBet: December 7, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

Russell Sifers Candy Co.
Valomilk (The Original "Flowing Center" Candy Cups
Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (1 cup) / 2 oz. total package (2 cups)
Calories: 140 calories in 1 cup
Cost: $1.59
Purchased at Powell's Sweet Shoppe, in Los Gatos, CA

Additional Notes: Even though this was very sweet, sugar seems tastes so much better than corn syrup to me. This candy has marshmallowy goodness; I ate only one cup as the other cup had already "flowed" away. Inside the wrapper it was very sticky, much like the stickiest fly paper you can imagine. I had to wash my hands twice to extricate the 1 cup from the wrapper. Valomilk is the winner of the messiest candy so far!

Change of Subject...
Magic Eight Balls and Chocolate and Silliness

What, you may be asking yourself, do magic eight balls have to do with chocolate? Well, one of the beautiful things about today's search engines is that you can find a web site with a magic eight ball. I found one. I typed in queries and received answers to the following important questions:

1) Should I eat another piece of chocolate today? (Answer: Outlook not so good)
My analysis: Yes, I had already decided I'd had enough. How did it know? :-)

2) Can I request that I die from eating too much chocolate? (Answer: No way!)
My analysis: OK, I'm a little disappointed to hear this; but I still might try.

3) Do I like chocolate? (Answer: Maybe)
My analysis: Hmmm. Maybe? (See #4 and #7 for possible "explanation", i.e. it "knows" i don't just "like" chocolate....)

4) Do I love chocolate? (Answer: No way!)
My analysis: Ah, I get it. It thinks I meant "love" romantically...(See #7 below)

5) Do I eat too much chocolate? (Answer: Definitely)
My analysis: Well, this answer is spot on.

6) Will I have a successful chocolate blog? (Answer: Maybe)
My analysis: I better work harder at this blog; it still might be possible!

7) Do I love eating chocolate? (Answer: Absolutely!)
My analysis: Re: #4 above...See, I just had to re-phrase the question to get the right answer!

It's as if it's reading my mind! Amazing. I would have flipped a coin to get answers to these questions, but a coin is just so...binary (e.g. heads - yes; tails - no). OK, enough fun for now.

For test the magic eight ball I used, go to:
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ssanty/cgi-bin/eightball.cgi
Thank you to Steven Santy.

Have you ever used outside help to make a chocolate-related decision? (I feel another short story writing itself...)

ChocolateBet: December 6, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
3 individually-wrapped pieces/1 small box
Chick Chocolates (Seattle Chocolate Co.)
Nutty Chick (milk chocolate with almonds and toffee)
Good-Very Good; cute packaging, but seems overpriced for 3 small pieces
1 oz. (28 grams)
155 calories
$3.29
Purchased at: Powell's Sweet Shoppe, in Los Gatos, CA

Change of subject
Chocolate in the News (Dec 6 story):

LG Electronics reports that they've sold more than 15 million Chocolate Phones (no, these aren't edible) worldwide. These mobile handset devices are from Korea and have sold well. (I've considered buying one, just because I'm thinking so much about all things chocolate these days.) Another example of a chocolate tie-in boosting sales of an otherwise unrelated product? If yes, might we see more chocolate appliances? Could a chocolate car or house be far behind?

ChocolateBet: December 5, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Nestle
Carlos V (chocolate bar)
Good - Very Good
Weight: 0.75 oz. (21 g) in 1 bar
Calories: ? (this info wasn't printed on the wrapper); 100 calories (guess)
Cost: $0.59
Purchased at Powell's Sweet Shoppe, Los Gatos

This little Carlos V milk chocolate bar is "the authentic Mexican chocolate bar - the king of bars in Mexico" according to materials I was able to find (primarily on the Nestle web site). The bar is a perfect size for a royal snack, at a price that regular people can afford.

ChocolateBet: December 4, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Cadbury
Crunchie
Very Good
Weight: 40 grams
Calories: 185 kcals per bar (or 775 kJoules)
Cost: $1.09
Purchased at: Powell's Sweet Shoppe, in Los Gatos, CA

The Cadbury Crunchie candy bar was quite good; its light crunchy "honeycombed centre" was covered in milk chocolate.

ChocolateBet: December 3, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
1 bar
Cadbury
Bournville - Classic Dark Chocolate
Good+ - Very Good
45 grams
220 calories
$1.89
Purchased at: Powell's Sweet Shoppe, in Los Gatos, CA

ChocolateBet: December 2, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 cookie
Gayle's chocolate macaroon
Very Good - Yum
? oz.
? Calories
$?
Purchased at: Gayle's (Santa Cruz); split with Elise L.

ChocolateBet: December 1, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 piece
Gayle's
Peppermint Stick Pie (similar to a chocolate cream pie topped with whipped cream and pieces of peppermint stick
Very Good; sweet and rich but very nice
? oz.
? Calories
$ ?
Purchased at Gayle's

ChocolateBet: November 30, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1 srvg, or 3 squares; approx. 1/4 - 1/3 of a 3 oz. bar
Vosges Haut Chocolat
Woolloomooloo "exotic candy bar"
Good - Very Good
Weight: 3.0 oz. (85 grams) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories/serving
Cost: ~$6.95 (estimate)
Purchased from: Whole Foods?, Los Altos, CA?

This one didn't quite grab me like some of the other Vosges exotic bars; but I love the fact that Vosges is putting these different exotic flavors together. This Woolloomooloo bar contained roasted and salted macadamia nuts, Indonesian coconut, and hemp seeds -- mixed into what they're calling deep milk chocolate.

ChocolateBet: November 29, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1 pkg
Ocean Spray
Craisins Trail Mix
Cranberry and Chocolate
Very Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (49.6 grams)
Calories: 230 calories for 1 package
Cost: $?
Purchased at: ?

I can't always tolerate cashews (a relative of the poison oak family); so I shared the 6-7 cashew pieces in this trail mix serving with the neighborhood squirrel in our yard instead of tossing them out.

The squirrel enjoyed them, and I enjoyed watching the squirrel enjoy them. No chocolate pieces though for you Mr. or Ms. Squirrel. Even though I saw your cousin eating part of an Oreo cookie in the next yard over one time several years ago...