ChocolateBet: October 3, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 bar
Choco-Lina
Sheep Milk Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 1.51 oz. (45 grams)/3.17 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 226 calories (estimate)
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, in San Francisco, CA

The actual name for this bar from Vienna, Austria, is "Schafmilchschokolade" (Sheep Milk Chocolate). I am always impressed when I see words this long. I couldn't really detect any strong sheep milk taste. However, milk chocolate can be very sweet, and this sweetness can mask flavors almost as well as the taste of very dark chocolate. I liked the individual sheep stamped in each square of the chocolate bar.

Today's chocolate choice was inspired by a trip I'm making today up to The Sea Ranch, along the Northern California Coast. Grassy fields that once held sheep now contain (mostly vacation/second) homes, and occasionally small groups of deer. Although there were small design concessions made to honor a sheep ranch past. The Sea Ranch logo is based on a ram's horns, and unpainted wood siding on homes seems like a nod to old sheep ranch structures. Digression: I have yet to hear about any deer milk chocolate, although I would not be surprised to hear that someone, somewhere in the world is considering this. Maybe reindeer milk?

Note: Chocolate eating will continue while I'm gone for the next several days, but posting will be delayed, due to lack of Internet connectivity.

ChocolateBet: October 2, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1 Tall Espresso Drink
Starbucks
Caffe Mocha Latte
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 12 oz.
Calories: 200 calories in 1 tall, no whipped cream
Cost: $3.00
Purchased from: Starbucks, in Menlo Park, CA

It's that time. The weather is cooling down and I ordered one of my first hot lattes of the season at Starbucks. I'm happy to report that there were even two beverages/flavors (with chocolate) that I haven't tried there yet. Hurray.

Apparently, today, October 2, is also "Name Your Car Day." My apologies to those who are tired of my zany holidays month....But, so many of these strange holidays seem to have the potential for chocolate tie-ins, I couldn't resist. I hereby name my car, "The Chocolate Wagon."

ChocolateBet: October 1, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1 bar
Tree Huggin' Treats
Crispy Cat - Toasted Almond (Dark Chocolate) bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 grams) in 1 bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.39
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, in Cupertino, CA

This dairy-free and gluten-free bar and is, according to their web site, 95% organic. I liked the fact that it was not too sweet. Agave syrup is used as a sweetener. It's gotten a little easier to find a decent tasting gluten-free health or granola-type bar. I'm looking forward to trying the two other Crispy Cat bar flavors.

ChocolateBet: September 30, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 bar
Equal Exchange Chocolates
"Organic (& fairly traded) Mint Chocolate" bar
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (49.5 g.)/3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: ~262 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Global Exchange Fair Trade Store, on 24th St., Noe Valley, San Francisco, CA

This dark chocolate bar (with 67% cacao content) had a slightly crunchy texture from peppermint and vanilla beans, which worked.

Switching to strange holidays...September 30 is (according to holidayinsights site) National Mud Pack day. So, my daughter and I applied a packet of Masque Chocolat to our faces. Mud never smelled so good. This followed a stroll along San Francisco Bay with a friend and her dog, Sadie -- who supplied her owner with a few extra spots of mud, at no charge. She's a smart dog.

ChocolateBet: September 29, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

~1 oz.
MarieBelle - New York
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.)/3.1 oz. (90 g.) total bar
Calories: ~150 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.50
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, in San Francisco, CA

This bar was a very skillful blend of dark chocolate and banana. There seemed to be a nice, slight crunch to this as well, perhaps due to strategically mixed in grains of potato starch.

Happy Confucius Day. This Asian philosopher is quoted as saying "With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bent arm for a pillow -- I have still joy in the midst of all these things." Throw in some chocolate, and maybe a good book, and I'm there. Simple things are best, yet I always seem to want to add a few more items.

ChocolateBet: September 28, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1 pudding cup
Lucerne Foods, Inc.
Eating Right Kids - Artificially flavored Chocolate Pudding (cups)
Good +
Weight: 3.5 oz. (99 g.) in one pudding cup/14 oz. (396 g.) in package of 4 cups
Calories: 80 calories in 1 pudding cup
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Safeway?

I knew I was making a good choice when I bought these pudding cups, because the Tasmanian Devil* is eating a huge spoonful of this pudding; and (on the back side of this package) Bugs Bunny is trying to hand me a carrot.

No, I'm not suffering from chocolate hallucinations. These are the characters on the pudding cup packaging, geared toward getting kids to eat fat-free pudding I'm guessing.

I liked the relatively small serving sizes. I ate mine with a small handful of toasted walnuts. This pudding does contain cocoa, so I was a bit puzzled about why the artificial flavoring was needed.

*The Tasmanian Devil was a personal cartoon favorite of mine when I was little.

ChocolateBet: September 27, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Melzy Enterprises, Inc.
Figamajig Raspberry Dark Chocolate Covered Fig Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.)
Calories: 130 calories
Cost: $2.50
Purchased from East West Bookstore, Mountain View, CA

Today, during a walk along the San Francisco Bay, I spotted a small fig tree growing out of the marsh grasses, thistles and assorted non-native plants and weeds, several yards from the water.

To honor this lone little tree by the Bay, I ate a Figamajigs raspberry flavored, dark chocolate covered fig bar from Melzy Enterprises (Sonoma, CA). It was very rich and satisfying after a long walk.