ChocolateBet: March 30, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 bars
Weight Watchers
English Toffee Crunch - ice cream bars
Good +
Weight: 3.5 fl. oz. (103.4 mL) for 2 bars / 21 fl oz. (621 mL) in entire box of 12 bars
Calories: 200 calories for 2 bars
Cost: $3.99 for total box/package
Purchased from: Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

Today (March 30) was Day #6 of Chocolate and Toffee Theme Week -- and, apparently, drowning in holidays day. These Weight Watchers bars are made with low fat toffee ice cream and have a milk chocolate flavored coating, with some toffee pieces. Made in Le Mars, Iowa (the self-proclaimed ice cream manufacturing capital of the world), these toffee ice cream bars are only 100 calories each. I'm sure the low calorie count tempts people to have more than one bar. OK, maybe it was just me.  I had "only" two bars, because I wanted to honor today's strange holiday: "I am in Control Day" (www.holidayinsights.com).  And now I'm going for a walk in the park for some exercise. (Coincidentally, today's other lesser known holiday is "Take a Walk in the Park Day.")
On a more serious note, Passover begins today. It's a good time to try out flourless chocolate cake recipes.

ChocolateBet: March 29, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 package
Marich Confectionery Co.
Chocolate Toffee Pistachios
Good +
Weight: 2.25 oz. (63 g.)/ 4.5 oz. (125 g.) in total package
Calories: 315 calories
Cost: $
Purchased from: Safeway

Marich Confectionery Co., based in Hollister, CA, was started as a family business. And members of the same family are still there today. Marich makes a variety of chocolates and candies, including a few different toffee and nut products. In this case, California pistachios were glazed with toffee, and then coated with milk chocolate.

Today (March 29), according to www.holidayinsights.com, is also National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day. Best wishes to all family-owned and/or operated chocolate businesses everywhere. And, today is also Day #5 of Chocolate and Toffee Theme Week here at the Chocolate Banquet blog.

ChocolateBet: March 28, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 bar
Chocolove
Toffee and Almonds in Milk Chocolate
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.3 oz. (37 grams) in 1 bar
Calories: 210 calories
Cost: $1.19
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, in San Rafael, CA

I enjoyed this smaller (1.3 oz./37 grams) Chocolove bar.  The milk chocolate bar, with 33% cacao content, was a little on the sweet side for me, but still good. And, like the larger Chocolove bars, this smaller bar contained a love poem (printed on the inside the wrapper).

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Toffee Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: March 27, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 package
Coco-luxe, llc
Sugar Pine Bark
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) total package
Calories: 300 calories (estimate) in one package/bag
Cost: $ (don't have receipt)
Purchased from: Coco-luxe, llc, at the Chocolate Salon in San Francisco, CA

The pieces of pine nut and sage toffee embedded in these pieces of dark chocolate bark were especially tasty.

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Toffee Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: March 26, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 bar
World Market/Cost Plus
Toffee Caramel Milk Chocolate (bar) - 42% cacao
Very Good
Weight: 3 oz. (85 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 460 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, in Mountain View, CA

This Toffee Caramel bar was my favorite World Market chocolate bar so far. It had a nice snap to it, and didn't seem overly sweet.

As noted yesterday, after a light dinner last night, I was still hungry. And, so I opened up a package of Marich Chocolate Toffee Almonds. Today (March 26) was "make up your own holiday day" (according to information found on holidayinsights.com). Therefore, I declared today Day #2 of Chocolate and Toffee Theme Week -- both justifying my overindulgence last night, and paving the way for more chocolate and toffee combinations this week. Toffee in the U.S. generally refers to butter and sugar mixture caramelized together, heated, cooled, and rendered into a crunchy end product. It is sometimes broken into bits and embedded in chocolate - as is the case with today's bar. In any case, it is very nice when mixed with chocolate.

ChocolateBet: March 25, 2010

Chocolate(s) of the Day:
1/2 piece/turtle
Robicheaux's Specialty Candy, Inc.
Pecan Turtle
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) in 1/2 piece/1 oz. (28 g.) total turtle
Calories: 70 calories (estimate)
Cost: $1.75
Purchased from: Robicheaux's Specialty Candy, Inc. (via online order)

Once again I combed through odd-holiday themed information from Holiday Insights (www.holidayinsights.com) to help select a new chocolate item. For example, today (March 25) is Pecan Day, not to be confused with National Pecan Day (in April). I had squirreled away this Robicheaux's pecan turtle in my chocolate vault, for just such an occasion. A variant of this pecan turtle, eaten last year, was topped with a chocsimile (chocolate replica/facsimile) of the State of Mississippi. (Robicheaux's is in Poplarville, MS.)

Today's second chocolate of the day, was an unplanned addition in the evening. Hungry, and lacking willpower, I opened a package of Marich Chocolate Toffee Almonds. Sadly, the only image I can show is part of an empty box.

1/2 package
Marich Confectionery Co.
Chocolate Toffee Almonds
Very Good
Weight: 2.25 oz. (63 g.)/ 4.5 oz. (125 g.) in total package
Calories: 315 calories in 1/2 package (estimate)
Cost: $ (no receipt)
Purchased from: Safeway

ChocolateBet: March 24, 2010

Chocolate(s) of the Day:
5 pieces
Posh Chocolat
The chocolates (pictured, from left to right)
1.) White Truffle Oil Caramel w/ Cyprus Flaked Sea Salt
2.) (Mystery Chocolate with dark ganache, blue dots on top)
3.) Bacon Caramel with Alder Wood Smoked Salt
4.) (Rose Water with dark ganache, pink flowers on top)
5.) Coconut-Pineapple Caramel with Hawaiian Pink Sea Salt
Weight: 1.9 oz. (53 g.) (estimate) for 5 pieces
Calories: 275 calories (estimate) for 5 pieces
Cost: n/a - thank you for the samples
Purchased from: n/a - from Posh Chocolat, at the Chocolate Salon, San Francisco, CA

If you're fond of salt caramels, Posh Chocolat offers some very nicely paired flavors in their chocolate caramel line. I tried three salt caramels, and two other chocolates (shown above right). My favorites were the Bacon Caramel, although the Coconut-Pineapple Caramel was surprisingly good. The flavors tasted very authentic, and were well balanced. I also really enjoyed the Rose Water flavored chocolate. Again, very authentic. I like florals. (My apologies for not being able to identify the chocolate topped with blue dots. I couldn't find a reference photo on the Posh website for this one.)