ChocolateBet: June 15, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
McDonalds (+ Safeway)
Reese's McFlurry + toppings (fresh banana and fruit flavored monkey pieces)
Good - Good +
Weight: 7.1 oz. (202 g.) for McFlurry; + 4 oz. fresh banana; + .45 oz. (13 g.) for 1/2 pouch Curious George fruit-flavored snack pieces
Calories: 410 calories for 1 snack size Reese's McFlurry + 150 calories for toppings
Cost: $1.79 (McFlurry) + toppings
Purchased from: McDonalds in Sonoma, CA; and Safeway in Sonoma, CA

Day #5 of Chocolate and Monkey Theme Week resulted in an out-of-town chocolate monkey hunt. I was walking in the North Bay a few hours from home (http://walkingthebay.blogspot.com), and I tried to assemble a chocolate monkey type drink from ingredients I could buy in Sonoma, CA.

I tried a small liquor store first; but, they had no bananas or monkeys. So, I bought a McDonald's snack-size Reeses McFlurry and added my own monkey-related toppings -- a small fresh banana, and Curious George (the monkey) themed fruit flavored snack pieces -- monkey faces, monkey figure, a cluster of bananas (bright-colored, blob-like shapes shown at right).

Yes, this melange was a bit of a stretch; but it did have most of the elements of a chocolate monkey drink (ice cream, chocolate, bananas, etc.), without the alcohol. If I could have toned down the amount of sugar a bit more, that would have been nice.

ChocolateBet: June 14, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/4 bar
Rainforest Cafe - Pure Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .5 oz (14.6 g.)/ 2 oz. (57 g.) total bar
Calories: 72 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Rainforest Cafe, in San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Monkey Theme Week. Today's chocolate choice was a dark chocolate bar from the Rainforest Cafe gift shop, in San Francisco, CA. The monkey tie-in was the label art. A very happy and muscular cartoon ape appeared on the dark bar wrapper. The bar itself was smooth and rich, albeit a tad sweet for me.

The same day I purchased this item in the gift shop, I looked at the Cafe menu to see what chocolate desserts they were offering in the restaurant. The sparkling volcano dessert (with chocolate sauce and sparkler on top) looked fun.
http://www.rainforestcafe.com/menu.asp
Unfortunately, the chocolate cake dessert contained flour/wheat. That's OK. It was fun to take a peek inside at the rainforest ambience.

ChocolateBet: June 13, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 servings
Virgin Chocolate Monkey (drink)
Good +
Weight: 10 fl. oz. (296 ml), enough for 2 servings
Calories: 470 cals. (estimate)
Cost: $5.75 (estimate) for ingredients
Purchased from: Most ingredients were purchased from Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

Day #3 of Chocolate and Monkey Theme Week was reserved for a Chocolate Monkey beverage. I uncovered many different recipes for a Chocolate Monkey drink. They all involved banana, chocolate and ice cream in a blender; and most included some liqueur (usually creme de cacao and/or banana).

I made my own version of this drink, without any alcohol; I used Dreyer's fun flavors - Nestle Butterfinger ice cream, and just a little grated dark chocolate in this drink, along with fresh bananas and ice.  A cool blender drink was the right choice for a hot day. I drank the first serving inside, but moved outside to enjoy the second serving.

Coco-luxe Confections - Monkeyin' around bar - June 12, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 bar
Coco-luxe Confections
Monkeyin' around (bar)
Very Good
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: $5.50 for total bar
Purchased from: Coco-luxe Confections store, in San Francisco, CA

Day #2 of Chocolate and Monkey Theme Week found me munching on a few squares of a Coco-luxe Confections "Monkeyin' around" bar: milk chocolate with banana chips, cocoa nibs and alaea sea salt.

These bars were part of Coco-luxe's line of "classic americana in fine chocolate" line, and were, according to the packaging, handcrafted in small batches. The chocolate, banana and cocoa nibs flavors and textures were well-balanced with small hints of salt.

Leaving the land of chocolate monkeys for a moment, thank you to Sunita at Chocolate Dividends today, for allowing me to taste many wonderful chocolates at the new Chocolate Garage, in downtown Palo Alto, CA. I'm looking forward to visiting the Garage again in the near future. Today's tasting menu included bars from Madecasse and The Grenada Chocolate Company.

ChocolateBet: June 11, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/6 bar
Golden Monkey Bar
Very Good
Weight: .583 oz. (16.5 g.)/ 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 85 calories (estimate) for 1/6 bar
Cost: $12.90 for total bar
Purchased from: chocri (http://www.createmychocolate.com)

Today was Day #7 of Create Your Own Chocolate Theme Week (although there will be more of these in the future), and Day #1 of Chocolate and Monkey Theme Week.

Monkeys, you may ask? And my answer would be, why not? The Golden Monkey Bar that I created using the chocri online ordering system was a dark chocolate (64% cacao) bar with banana chips, cinnamon, real gold flakes, mini bananas, and peanut butter drops. The results: a fun-to-eat, festive-looking bar.

I'm not sure monkeys should eat chocolate, but our monkey friend (pictured below) seemed to like the idea.

ChocolateBet: June 10, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/6 bar
chocri
"Hot Plum Soup" (bar)
Very Good
Weight: .583 oz. (16.5 g.) in 1/6 bar / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar (estimate)
Calories: 85 calories (estimate) for 1/6 bar
Cost: $11.90
Purchased from: chocri (http://www.createmychocolate.com)

The question was, how could I best create a chocolate bar that incorporated coriander? The answer: hot plum soup. From the chocri menu (of 100 possible toppings) I added plum bits, candied ginger, cinnamon, coriander, and orange pepper -- to (an organic, fair trade*) dark chocolate (64% cacao) bar base. The result was not bad. Although, I saw an article on the chocri site that talked about German Chocolate Cake. I think a chocolate bar inspired by this cake may be next on my order list.

Today was Day #6 of Create Your Own Chocolate Theme Week.
*Note: According to their site, chocri also donates a portion of their revenues to DIV Kinder, an organization that supports children in the Ivory Coast region.

ChocolateBet: June 9, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/6 bar
chocri (meine schokolade)
"Anise Fruitcake" (bar)
Very Good
Weight: .583 oz. (16.5 g.) in 1/6 bar/ 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar (estimate)
Calories: 85 calories (estimate) in 1/6 bar
Cost: $12.20 total bar
Purchased from: chocri (http://www.createmychocolate.com)

What is in an "Anise Fruitcake" chocolate bar? Answer: dark chocolate (64% cacao), apricot, orange, cranberries, cinnamon, and anise. I suppose if I could have piled on a few more ingredients, I might have added cherries, pineapple, cloves, and brandy flavoring. But, there's probably a limit to the number of items that one bar of chocolate can hold.

Today's chocolate fruitcake choice (on Day #5 of Create Your Own Chocolate Theme Week) was another example of designing a chocolate version of a food item I can't normally eat. (Cakes are usually made with flour, which is usually made from wheat; and I can't have wheat/gluten, and so on...). Thank you again to chocri for offering a creative outlet to would-be chocolate designers.