ChocolateBet: September 1, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

2 servings (~ 8 small cookies)
Pamela's Products
Extreme Chocolate Mini Cookies (gluten-free)
Very Good - nice small size
Weight: ~ 2 oz. (56 grams) for 2 srvgs; 7 oz. (198 g.) for total package
Calories: 260 calories for 2 srvgs.
Cost: $ 2.99 for total package
Purchased from: Piazzas Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

It's amazing how easy it is to justify having several little tiny cookies, due to their small size. Two servings? No problem.

Also, of all the different gluten-free chocolate cookies I've tried, these seem to be the best for making a chocolate cookie crust, and/or for crumbling/mixing into ice cream.

ChocolateBet: August 31, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 bottle
Odwalla
Chocolate Super Protein Drink (Soymilk based)
Very Good - Tastes a bit like banana bread (which is a good thing for me)
Wt.: 450 mL (15.2 fluid ounces) total
Calories: 340 calories for 1 whole bottle
Cost: $ 3.69
Purchased from: Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

Note: to self: it's hard to scan and capture an image of a label on a roundish bottle. That is what digital cameras are for. It is a shame that one of the wires/cables for my newish digital camera has gone missing again. I have way too many connector cables and recharging devices. Maybe the camera cable is buried under the growing pile of (several 100) chocolate wrappers in the box under my desk.

ChocolateBet: August 30, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving
FoodShouldTasteGood
Chocolate Tortilla Chips - Made with Dutch Cocoa, Cane Sugar, Sea Salt (also certified gluten-free)
Very Good - nice balance between sweet and savory (not too sweet or salty which is nice)
Weight: ~ 1 oz. (28 grams); 6 oz. (170 g.) total bag/pkg.
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) per serving
Cost: $2.99
Purchased from: Piazzas Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

Chocolate Tortilla Chips. Not bad. I'm still wondering what you would eat with these. Do you go with something sweet (sweetened cream cheese?), something salty (chili cheese dip?), or maybe something that also is both sweet and savory - like strawberry & green chile cream cheese dip, or mango/fruit salsa? Results could go either way. I'll have to experiment.

ChocolateBet: August 29, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Schoggi
Noisetta - milk chocolate, hazelnut w/ chopped hazelnuts
Very Good - very good for milk chocolate; I liked the crunchy hazelnut pieces
Wt.: ~.5 oz.
Calories: ~ 75 calories
Cost: ~$2.13 (approx.) Individual chocolates are weighed, and priced at $68.00/lb.
Purchased from: Schoggi store in San Francisco, CA (image of store, above right)

Oh dear. I bought a little box of Schoggi chocolates, and intended to eat just one piece today. Poof. The rest are gone. I'll have to buy more. This happens sometimes.

These chocolates are imported from Switzerland. The Schoggi ad (see image with cow - above) says the reason why their milk chocolates are so good is...the cream. OK, I'll buy it. It's definitely better than most milk chocolate I've tasted in the U.S.

ChocolateBet: August 28, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving (1.4 oz.)
Sconza Candy Company
Chocolate Toffee Pistachios ("roasted pistachios covered in rich toffee & milk chocolate")
Very Good - nice combination of chocolate, toffee, pistachio nuts
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) serving; 5 oz. (141 g.) in total package
Calories: 210 calories in 1 (1.4 oz.) serving
Cost: $5.99 for total package
Purchased from: a shop in the Portland Airport (PDX), in Portland, OR

This tasty combination of chocolate, toffee and crunchy pistachio nuts was, I think, the last chocolate from my Portland day trip (made on a Saturday earlier this month).

I always get a kick out of hurriedly buying some chocolate in an airport right before boarding a plane, thinking it is from that town/state where the airport is based -- and then finding out the chocolate is made in my own backyard.

In this case, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area (where I live) are quite close together, so I wasn't as surprised to find that Sconza Candy Company was based in Oakland, CA. (Part of the package label is shown above right.) I'll have to find out where else I can find Sconza chocolates/candy closer to home.

ChocolateBet: August 27, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
4 pieces
Columbia Empire Farms
Dark Chocolate Hazelnuts
Very Good
Wt.: (~17.7 g. in 4 pcs.); 4 oz. (113 g.) in total pkg.
Calories: ~ 102 calories in 4 pcs.
Cost: $4.95/ttl pkg.
Purchased from: One of the airport gift shops at PDX, in Portland, OR

ChocolateBet: August 26, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Godiva
Dark Chocolate Almond Bark
Very Good
Wt: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $ ?
Purchased from: Godiva Chocolatier, in Portland, OR

It's hard to determine the exact price of each chocolate when you buy several "in bulk." Higher-end chocolatiers are charging roughly $20.00 - $70.00 per pound ($1.25 - $4.37 per ounce) of chocolate these days. (Should I be investing in some fair trade cocoa farm somewhere?)

If I am saving money by buying fewer coffee lattes and bottles of water, does this savings help justify my daily chocolate habit? Only my savings account (or the lack thereof) knows for sure...

And now, I will donate $50 to the Second Harvest Food Bank, after feeling guilty for even having this conversation with myself.