ChocolateBet: December 26, 2009

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Palmer - Santa's Coal
1 piece
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.125 g.)/4 oz. (113 g.) total mesh bag of 8 pieces of "coal"
Calories: 75 calories for one piece (estimate)
Cost: $
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

2.) Reese's - Reese's Peanut Butter Snowman
3/4 snowman
Very Good
Weight: 3.75 oz. (105.7 g)/(5 oz. (141 g.) total
Calories: 540 calories for 3/4 snowman
Cost: $4.99
Purchased from: CVS/pharmcy, in midtown Palo Alto, CA

3.) Sweet Time - Red Reindeer Noses
1 serving
Good
Weight: 0.70 oz. (20 g.) total package - chocolate round shell + red pieces inside
Calories: 100 calories
Cost: $0.59
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was a post-Christmas chocolate windfall -- from chocolate coal, to snowboarding peanut butter and chocolate snowmen and a chocolate clown nose -- no wait a minute, there were little mini red shelled chocolate candies inside this little chocolate nose orb (see image above).

ChocolateBet: December 25, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

3 pieces
Enric Rovira
Bombolas de naranja con chocolate negro
(Pieces or orange with dark chocolate)
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .8 oz. (22.64 g.) (estimate) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total package/box
Calories: 120 calories (estimate)
Cost: $
Purchased from: Alegio Chocolate, in Manika Jewelry location, San Francisco, CA

Today marked the end (Day #7) of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week.

These orange chocolate pieces from Spanish chocolatier Enric Rovira ended this week on a high note. I was happy to be able to share these with family after presents were opened, and as part of a Christmas pre-lunch snack.

ChocolateBet: December 24, 2009

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Terry's - Dark Chocolate Orange
1 segment
Good +
Weight: .31 oz. (8.8 g.)/6.17 oz. (175 g.) in total orange
Calories: 48 calories for 1 segment
Cost: $0.50 (sale)
Purchased from: (most likely Safeway or Walgreens in Palo Alto, CA, some time ago)

Day #6 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week - and the conclusion of the battle of the foil-wrapped chocolate orange whack-a-thon. Trader Joe's dark chocolate orange scored highest of the four oranges sampled. However, I can't really say it was a fair fight, as the creaking sound you may have heard before the whacking (to separate the chocolate segments) started, was the sound of my removing the Terry's Orange from my chocolate vault. In fact this orange was, by far, the oldest item in my chocolate vault. Probably at least two years old. It stood up fairly well. Terry's was one of first vendors to turn out these citrus chocsimiles. Over the years, manufacturing for Terry's Chocolate Orange (a Kraft Foods owned brand now), was moved out of Great Britain, and production began to shift to other areas of Europe. However, Terry's still has a decent share of the holiday chocolate orange market from what I can tell. (From the old box I have, it looked like they also had a relationship in the U.S. with Callard & Bowser-Suchard, Inc.)

2.) Alegio Chocolate - Ginger and Orange; The Orange
2 pieces
Very Good
Weight: ~ .6 oz. (17 g.) in two pieces
Calories: 90 calories (estimate)
Cost: Approx. $4.00 for 2 pieces
Purchased from: Alegio Chocolate, Manika Jewelry location, 11 Maiden Lane, San Francisco, CA

Alegio Chocolate offers a great selection of fine chocolates. Both the Alegio "Ginger and Orange," and "The Orange" were filled with a 67% cacao (Madagascar) dark ganache. Both were skillful blends of orange and dark chocolate. My only complaint: the ginger flavor was almost undetectable in the first piece. I like ginger, so I would have enjoyed just a bit more of this flavor. (Our cat liked the image; she tried to "help" me type in this entry. xlzort aeg =g0fg0 h... - typed the cat.

ChocolateBet: December 23, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

5 segments
Ferrara Chocolate
Milk (Chocolate) Orange
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.55 oz. (44 g.)/6.17 oz. (175 g.) total orange
Calories: 230 calories in 5 segments
Cost: $2.50 (sale)
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

Day #5 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week. Whack! Whack! Whack! What do my neighbors think when they hear me slamming something down so hard on my kitchen counter? I'm not sure; but the rewards are sweet. This milk chocolate orange with "Natural Orange Flavor" was very enjoyable; and not bad for milk chocolate (which can be too sweet for me).

ChocolateBet: December 22, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
6 segments
Trader Joe's
Dark Chocolate Orange
Very Good
Weight: 1.8 oz. (52.8 g.) in 6 segments/6.17 oz. (175 g.) total orange
Calories: 252 calories in six segments
Cost: $2.49 for 1 orange
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, in Mountain View, CA

Day #4 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week. And the battle of the chocolate holiday oranges continues. I liked this orange-flavored dark chocolate. Once again, I recruited some help (thanks Elise) to "burst" this orange open. (Chocolate oranges typically require a whack or two on a hard surface to break the orange segments apart. And the individual pieces are often molded/textured to look like real orange sections.)

ChocolateBet: December 21, 2009

Chocolate of the Day: 

6 segments
Ferrara Chocolate
Toffee Crunch Milk Chocolate Orange
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.86 oz. (52.8 g.) in 6 segments /6.17 oz. (175 g.) in total
Calories: 276 calories in 6 segments
Cost: $2.50 (sale)
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

Day #3 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week, and the battle of the chocolate oranges has begun.

These foil-wrapped citrus replicas have become a popular holiday chocolate. Just whack them on a hard surface (actually I had some help after the first few whacks failed), et voila, you have chocolate wedges that resemble orange segments.


The toffee crunch flavor of this particular chocolate "orange," was a milk chocolate variant I'd not seen before. It was fun to try the toffee flavor, but I would have preferred a little less sugar.

ChocolateBet: December 20, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
2 macarons
Miette Bakery
Chocolate Orange macarons
Very Good
Weight: ~1.2 oz. (34 g.)
Calories: 100 calories (guess)
Cost: $3.50 for 2 macarons/cookies
Purchased from: Miette Bakery, in San Francisco, CA

Day #3 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week. Pictured above: glass jars of scrumptious little macarons in many flavors at Miette Bakery, located in the San Francisco Ferry Building. I couldn't eat their cakes (I can't eat wheat); however, their chocolate orange; rose geranium; vanilla; and other macarons represented some excellent cake alternatives. And Miette carried other chocolate bars, molded, and novelty items from around the globe.