ChocolateBet: November 13, 2011

Chocolate of the Day: 

1.05 oz. serving
Corfias Chocolats Fins
Bleuets sauvages - Wild blueberries
Good - Good+
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 1.6 oz. (45 g.) total package
Calories: 150 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.99 total package
Purchased from: airport shop, Dorval airport, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Today's almost irridescent, dark chocolate-coated St-Jean blueberries (from Corfins Chocolats Fins), came from up north in Quebec. If they spoke a language, it would almost certainly be French.

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Blueberry Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: November 12, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving
Dilettante Chocolates
Fruit Medley
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 5 oz. (142 g.) total package
Calories: 190 calories (per label)
Cost: $2.99 total bag (marked down)
Purchased from: Marshalls in Mountain View, CA

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

Today's chocolate choice: a chocolate covered Fruit Medley, consisting of 4 dried fruits: strawberries, cherries, apricots and, of course, blueberries.

The fruits in the Fruit Medley, from Dilettante Chocolates (Kent, WA), were coated with either white, milk or dark chocolate, and a different colored glaze, depending on fruit type. I believe the blueberries were coated in milk chocolate, and enhanced with a bit of natural blueberry flavoring. They were also the best-tasting  chocolate fruit in this bunch. A little festive fruit color (albeit artificial) was good for a day like today, as it was dark and gloomy outside.

ChocolateBet: November 11, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 serving
Marra Bros.
Chocolate Blueberries
Good +
Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) total container
Calories: 100 calories
Cost: $7.99 total container
Purchased from: DeMartini Orchard, in Los Altos, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Blueberries Theme Week. These milk chocolate covered blueberries from Marra Bros. (Morgan Hill, CA) were pretty good -- just sweet enough, and not so sweet that I couldn't detect natural blueberry taste. 

ChocolateBet: November 10, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) 1 serving
Gourmet Nut
Body Boosting Antioxidant Mix
Good+ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.)/ 9 oz. (255 g.) total bag
Calories: 165 calories
Cost: $3.99 total bag/package
Purchased from: Marshalls, Mountain View, CA

2.) 1 serving
TCHO
99% Limited Edition Peru-Ecuador
Good
Weight: .535 oz. (15 g.)
Calories: 77 calories
Cost: $3.99
Purchased from: TCHO, in San Francisco, CA

Today was the second day of Chocolate and Blueberries Theme Week. I was excited to find a trail-style mix with nuts, dark chocolate chips, dried blueberries, and other dried fruits.

This Antioxidant Mix from Gourmet Nut was very good. Only one problem. For some odd reason, there were no dark chocolate chips in this bag. So, I ate this mix with a 99% Limited Edition small dark chocolate (Organic, Fair Trade) bar/square from TCHO (San Francisco, CA). The cacao in this bar hailed from "Peru-Ecuador" and it tasted somewhat acidic and flat, but richly dark nonetheless -- with no sugar to interfere with or soften this flavor.

ChocolateBet: November 9, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 serving
Cape Cod Provisions
Harvest Sweets - All Natural Milk Chocolate Covered Blueberries
OK+ - Good
Weight: .62 oz. (17 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total package
Calories: 81 calories
Cost: $3.49 total package
Purchased from: Marshalls, in Mountain View, CA

As a carry-over from the Garden Grown theme this past week, this week I'm zeroing in on one backyard crop in particular -- blueberries. Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Blueberries Theme Week.

These dried blueberry pieces were coated in milk chocolate. The result was sweet, but not particularly great. In fairness to the manufacturer (Cape Cod Provisions), I bought these at a discounted price/store chain, so it was difficult to tell if these were a tad on the old side.

ChocolateBet: November 8, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

2 tiny bars
Maison Bouche
Geranium Bourbon
Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) for 2 pieces / 3 oz. (84.9 g.) for box of 12 (estimate)
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $18.99 for 12-piece box
Purchased from: Miette Bakery, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Garden Grown Theme Week. Geraniums are well-suited to the Mediterranean climate where I live, and I've enjoyed having a small bush or two of these sun-tolerant blooms in my backyard. I haven't tried to mix them with chocolate myself (although I plan to in the future). In the meantime, I enjoyed these tiny, individually wrapped, milk chocolate Geranium Bourbon bars from Maison Bouche (Oakland, CA).

ChocolateBet: November 6, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

2 pieces
Chocolate Visions
"Wild" Strawberry
Good
Weight: .8 oz. (22.6 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 120 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.00 - for 2 pieces
Purchased from: Chocolate Visions, in Scotts Valley, CA

I have tiny "Swiss" mountain strawberries growing in my yard. They are great for snacking -- for several months of the year here in California; and they're much hardier than the larger strawberries one sees in grocery stores.

I've never made strawberry vodka from my little yard berries (by soaking them in vodka for several weeks or months). That is the first step in making "wild" strawberries -- a la today's chocolates from Chocolate Visions (Scotts Valley, CA), where homemade strawberry vodka was mixed with cream and Belgian bittersweet chocolate. The quality of chocolate was high and the concept was fun; but don't expect a fresh strawberry taste or texture. These might be enjoyable with a warm scone or English Muffin with strawberry preserves,

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Garden Grown Theme Week.