ChocolateBet: December 5, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

Bloomsberry and Co.
Mother's Little Helper (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (99 g.)
Calories: 157 calories
Cost: $ lost info
Purchased from: Lost info

It was a cold, dark, Monday morning, and I rummaged around in my chocolate vault until I found the cleverly labeled "Mother's Little Helper," a 55% cocoa bar from Bloomsberry and Co. (Salem, MA) -- with subtle fruit/berry and hot chocolate notes. This bar did help me (feign wakefulness during a 7 a.m. meeting), and made for a fun snack all by itself...

...However, because today was also Day #4 of Chocolate and Walnuts Theme Week -- and because I can't resist soldering new flavors together, I incorporated the rest of this Mother's bar into a batch of (gluten free) chocolate brownies with cinnamon dusted walnuts, and trail mix with dried fruits, peanuts, almonds and walnuts. I also added a dash of rich, sweet blackberry balsamic vinegar to up the PBJ quotient. Sadly, mother's brownie fruitcake recipe will be impossible to replicate, as I rarely write down recipes as I'm inventing them.

ChocolateBet: December 4, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

2 pieces
The Oakland Chocolate Co.
1.) Triple Chocolate Brownie Truffle - Very Good
2.) Acorn Bonbon - Very Good
Weight: .9 oz. (25.5 g.) (estimate for 2 pieces)
Calories: 135 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.00 ($2.00 per piece on average)
Purchased from: The Oakland Chocolate Co., Oakland, CA

Nancy Nadel at The Oakland Chocolate Co. (Oakland, CA) works with farmers in Jamaica to obtain cacao to create chocolates like today's Triple Chocolate Brownie Truffle and Acorn Bonbon -- a tribute to the oak trees full of acorns, that once blanketed the San Francisco Bay Area.

Walnuts, like those that adorn the top of today's Brownie truffle were introduced to California, and became a large cash crop, with large groves in the Central Valley. I grew up climbing big walnut trees in our backyard. The young walnuts were great for fun and games and made dark stains on our clothes that were difficult to remove. Occasionally a few walnuts stayed on the tree long enough to ripen to the edible stage, and they were cracked open and incorporated into walnut and apricot children's tea parties, occasionally attended by squirrels -- like the one at my back door, shown below right.

The Triple Chocolate Brownie truffle had a rich, dark fudge-like center, and the Acorn Bonbon was filled with walnut, maple and honey. I recommend both.

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

ChocolateBet: December 3, 2011

 

Chocolate of the Day:

1 oz. serving
Torn Ranch, Inc.
Mashuga Nuts - Double Chocolate Walnuts
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.)/ 4.5 oz. (128 g.) total pouch
Calories: 150 calories
Cost: $3.50 (estimate) (sale price)
Purchased from: Andronicos, Palo Alto, CA (going out of business sale)

Half the fun of this Mashuga Nuts product was reading all the clever text on the pouch. (For example: "Warning: Do not use in libraries or places of worship." or "So good you probably don't even deserve it.") Someone had fun with designing this package. The Double Chocolate Walnuts flavor was one of at least four different flavors from the Mashuga Nuts line, offered by Torn Ranch (Novato, CA).

These Mashuga Nut walnut pieces were covered with a layer of egg whites and cocoa powder -- a light, sweet meringue coating. I'd forgotten how the most basic combination of chocolate and walnuts evokes the taste of brownies. And, in fact, this package reads: "The best of the brownie without the rest of the brownie."

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Walnuts Theme Week.
(photos today may be delayed due to system upgrade)

ChocolateBet: December 2, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

6 cookies
Baba Joon's Chocolate Chewies
Walnut - Little Chocolate Miracles
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 2.75 oz. (78 g.) /
Calories: 444 calories
Cost: $6.99 for 1 bag
Purchased from: De Martini Orchard, in Los Altos, CA

Today's diminuitive, rich, chewy chocolate treats were part of Baba Joon's Chocolate Chewies line of gluten-free and dairy-free items. These brownie-like, cookie-shaped Walnut "little chocolate miracles" were packed with chopped walnut pieces, and are now in the running for best gluten-free chocolate cookie (that I've tasted in 2011). Ingredients: sugar, walnuts, egg whites, cocoa, gluten free vanilla, salt. (Baba Joon's is based in San Jose, CA.)

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Gluten-Free Cookie Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Walnut Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: December 1, 2011

Chocolate of the Day: 

1 bar
thinkThin Products
thinkThin bites - Cookies and Cream
OK
Weight: .088 oz. (2.5 g.) - 1 bite / 4.4 oz. (125 g.) total box/package
Calories: 10 calories
Cost: $5.69 total box
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Gluten-Free Cookie Theme Week.

This thinkThin Cookies and Cream "portion control" snack (100 calorie bar) is, loosely speaking, a gluten-free cookie. The picture of the cookies on the box is reminiscent of small Oreo brand chocolate sandwich cookies. The gluten-free bar inside the wrapper is covered with a white chocolate-like coating, and the filling is chocolatey-dark -- more similar to an inside out chocolate sandwich cookie. The maltitol may help hold sugar and calories down, but the taste takes some getting used to. I think I'd prefer just a little less sweetener overall.

Note: Due to travel and lack of Internet connectivity this week (which usually results in delays in posting), I'm trying something new: posting 2-3 planned entries in advance. (I updated this post after I returned home.)

ChocolateBet: November 30, 2011

Chocolate of the Day: 

6 cookies
Home Free
mini crunchy chocolate chocolate chip cookies
Good+
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.)/ 5 oz. (143 g.) in total box
Calories: 130 calories (estimate)
Cost: $5.29 total box
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

Today is Day #6 of Chocolate and Gluten-free Cookie Theme Week.
These Gluten Free, Nut Free cookies are from Home Free.

As billed, these miniature, whole grain cookies where crunchy, without being too crumbly, and were quite good. The only note of caution: these contain gluten-free oat flour -- which some gluten-free diets can accommodate and others can't.

Note: Because I will be traveling and/or may not have regular Internet communications, I am posting 2-3 day's worth of planned chocolates-of-the-day in advance. (I updated this review after returning home.)

ChocolateBet: November 29, 2011

Chocolate of the Day: 

4 cookies
Mary's Gone Crackers
Love Cookies - Double Chocolate
Good - Good+
Weight: 1.8 oz. (52 g.)/5.5 oz. (155 g.) total box
Calories: 260 calories for 4 small cookies
Cost: $ lost info
Purchased from: Andronicos (store closing sale), in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Gluten-Free Cookie Theme Week.
Yesterday I sampled the Chocolate Chip version of these wheat- and gluten-free cookies from Mary's Gone Crackers. I liked these a little bit better, but these Double Chocolate Love Cookies were good too. These were crunchy and a bit crumbly. Thumbs up for Mary's philosophy of adding healthy and hearty seeds and grains to their gluten-free crackers and cookies.

Due to travel this week and possible lack of Internet availability, I am posting this planned entry "in advance" -- or, I'm trying to perfect the art of chocolate time travel.

Note: I completed this review during my trip and updated this post after returning.