ChocolateBet: December 9, 2011

Chocolate of the Day: 

1/2 cup serving
Fentons Creamery
Rocky Road ice cream
Good ++
Weight: 1/2 cup / 1 Pint container
Calories: 220 calories (estimate)
Cost: $7.50 for 1 pint
Purchased from: Fentons, in Oakland, CA

In 1929, after the stock market had crashed and the U.S. was experiencing the Great Depression, times were hard. According to legend, two ice cream makers in in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area) wanted to soothe people's spirits and give them something to smile about. Thus, Rocky Road ice cream was born.

Fentons Creamery (Oakland, CA) claims it was the first to create this chocolate ice cream flavor with marshmallows and walnuts (as well as two other flavors: toasted almond and Swiss milk chocolate).

If you visit Fentons Creamery in Oakland, be prepared. Their ice cream sundaes are large and delicious.

I had trouble scooping out my serving today from the hand-packed pint container I took home. This was serious, dense chocolate ice cream, chock full of cut walnut and marshmallow pieces, as promised.

Today was the first day of Rocky Road Theme Week. Tomorrow I will feature the cross-town company (Dreyer's), that also claims it originated Rocky Road ice cream.

ChocolateBet: December 8, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 teaspoon
Liberty Richter
Mr. Sprinkles
Good - Good+
Weight: .14 oz. (4 g.) in 1 tsp. / 6 oz. (175 g.)
Calories: 20 calories
Cost: Lost info
Purchased from: Lost info

Even though it's almost Winter, and I'm wearing a sweater, I still find ice cream attractive.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Walnut Theme Week, and I topped a small scoop of Black Walnut ice cream with whipped cream and milk chocolate sprinkles (made in Holland, Distributed by Liberty Richter, Saddle Brook, NJ), courtesy of Mr. Sprinkles. This red baseball-cap wearing clown, with the big yellow bowtie and grin has been patiently waiting in my chocolate vault. And today, it's hats off to Mr. Sprinkles.  

ChocolateBet: December 7, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 bar
Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Banana Victoria Bar
Good +
Weight: .75 oz. (21.25 g.)/ 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 105 calories
Cost: $7.50 total bar
Purchased from: Vosges, Chicago, IL

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Walnut Theme Week.

So far, this week's chocolates have veered toward the brownie and fudge end of the chocolate spectrum. While these are great ways to incorporate walnuts into chocolate, there are countless others -- such as adding bananas to the mix. Today's chocolate of the day, a Banana Victoria Bar from Vosges (Chicago, IL) does just that.

This Vosges bar was created using a 62% cacao dark chocolate base, and add-in ingredients included dried, organic bananas; organic California walnuts; and Grenadian nutmeg. I wasn't able to detect the nutmeg (which I like, and was looking forward to tasting); the small pieces of walnut played second fiddle to slightly chewy micro-bits of dried banana. A fun bar.

ChocolateBet: December 6, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving
McJak Candy Company, LLC
Chocolate Walnut Fudge
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.48 oz. (42 g.)/ 8 oz. (226 g) total pkg./box
Calories: 180 calories
Cost: $2.99 (sale price)
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

It's December, and Christmas is upon us. As Santa's semi-truck lurches into town, stores fill with chocolate seasonal items, life feels more abundant -- and my waistline is expanding.

The film A Christmas Story, was a humorous slice-of-life that depicted a family preparing for the holidays: a young boy lusting after a beloved toy (that he hoped Santa would bring); the same boy accidentally using the F-word (Ohh, Fudge, he meant); and a riotous scene where a pack of dogs from next door ruin a Thanksgiving turkey feast.

This box of Chocolate Walnut Fudge from McJak Candy Company (Medina, OH - apparently close to where A Christmas Story was filmed), was thematically co-branded with images from the Warner Bros. film.

The fudge was good, honest fudge: sweet and smooth, with a healthy does of texture and flavor from embedded walnut pieces.

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

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)