ChocolateBet: July 10, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

The Bliss Bar
Chia Mulberry bar
Good
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) total bar
Calories: 142 calories
Cost: $4.19 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

For those hoping to get your sugar buzz on, you may be disappointed with this disc-shaped bar. Organic, raw and gluten free, this Chia Mulberry "Endurance" bar from The Bliss Bar (Ashland, OR), was very lightly sweetened with raw honey and mulberries, and embodied a different approach -- chocolate as health food.

The bar was vegan and nut-free; and in addition to chia (seeds I'm assuming), it also contained pumpkin seed, maca, mesquite, hempseed and chaga.

Although not as initially eye-popping as a sugar and chocolate high, it was quite satisfying. And I did, in fact, feel much more productive this afternoon than I usually feel, after eating many other chocolates. I've noticed this effect before with similar bars.

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

WholeVine - Chocolate Chocolate-Chip cookies -: July 9, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

WholeVine Products
Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Sonoma Style Cookies
Good++
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) total bag/package
Calories: 220 calories in 2 cookies (assumes 8 per bag)
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bag
Purchased from: Molly Stone's Markets, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #12 of Chocolate and Backyard Barbeque and Bacon Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week. This backyard BBQ was Northern California style.

Or at least Sonoma Style...as in these gluten free Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies from WholeVine Products (Santa Rosa, CA). They were the perfect cookies for an solar cook-out and picnic.

(Solar cooker in my yard, pictured above right.) A California-style coq au vin dish (with chicken, wine, bacon and vegetables), a small glass of red wine for dessert, a BBQ chicken breast, and two of these chocolate cookies. Life was good.


A doff of the hat to gourmet wine country living; these cookies contained Merlot (red wine grape) skin and seed flours. WholeVine specializes in gluten-free cookies and flours, and culinary oils.

Thank you to Ken for tasting input.

ChocolateBet: July 8, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

NewTree

1.) Cherry Dark Chocolate bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) total bar
Calories: 63 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: NewTree store, in San Francisco, CA

2.) Quinoa Flax Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) total bar
Calories:  63 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: NewTree store, in San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #11 of Chocolate and Backyard Barbeque and Bacon Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

What better way to cook spicy, Hawaiian mango and chicken kebobs and ripe, red bell peppers than on a tiny, pig-shaped barbeque grill.

For dessert, I fixed a gluten free version of cherry cheesecake to accompany two Dark Chocolate (66% minimum cacao solids) bars from NewTree (Belgium/U.S.).

Both the Cherry Dark Chocolate and the Quinoa Flax Dark Chocolate bars were either reformulations or updates on previous bars that I'd tried in years past. Both was good. The Cherry bar had some very nice floral and fruit notes.

ChocolateBet: July 7, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

zotter
Bacon Bits bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 2.47 oz. (70 g.) total bar
Calories: 385 calories (estimate)
Cost: $7.95 total bar
Purchased from: Fog City News, San Francisco, CA

Summer weather this month has been perfect for cooking and eating outside, so I decided to extend this July theme week. Today marked Day #10 of Chocolate and Backyard Barbeque and Bacon Theme Week.

My breakfast this morning was the Bacon Bits bar from zotter (Austria). Made with 70% cacao organic and fair trade chocolate, the bar was filled with a relatively smooth and sweet hazelnut nougat with "bacon crackling" center.

The bacon flavor, or any salt/savory flavor, was very subtle. A smidge more salt or smokey flavor might have toned down the sweetness of this filling. I admit, however, not everyone shares my preference for bars for less sugar. So this bacon bar may be fine just the way it is for most people.

Later this month, I plan on pairing zotter's Chilli Bird's Eye bar (pictured above right with Bacon Bits bar), perhaps with a barbeque item. Until then, I enjoyed a Vietnamese-style BBQ Beef Rice Plate from Joy Hing BBQ Noodle in San Francisco, CA, with some garlic broccoli and a Thai iced tea. I sat by the door, to enjoy sunshine and a warm, gentle breeze from outside. This wasn't technically a backyard barbeque, but it was close.

ChocolateBet: July 6, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Kraft Foods
Jell-O S'more
Good
Weight: 3.28 oz. (93 g.) / 19.7 oz. (558 g.) total package of 6 snacks
Calories: 110 calories in one snack serving
Cost: $3.99 total package of 6
Purchased from: Safeway, Mountain View

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate and Backyard Barbeque and Bacon Theme Week.

After finishing up another outdoor meal, and a small mixed bowl of Lay's Carolina Barbeque potato chips and Lay's BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato) chips, I tried another version of s'mores -- a Jello S'more snack pudding cup.

While I can't be sure these were gluten free, this Jell-O version of the toasted marshmallow, chocolate and graham cracker snack did not list any wheat ingredients, or contain any actual graham crackers or cookie bits. It was a pudding parfait that had the smooth chocolate pudding at the bottom and a lighter (marshmallow?) layer on the top.

ChocolateBet: July 5, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

FunkyChunky, Inc.
FixMix Popcorn
Good
Weight: 4 oz. (113 g.) / 5 oz. (140 g.)
Calories: 520 calories in 4/5 package
Cost: $3.99 total package
Purchased from: Cost Plus World Market, in Mountain View, CA

In honor of Day #8 of Chocolate and Backyard Barbeque and Bacon Theme Week, I made a popcorn parfait jar with three different kinds of popcorn. The bottom layer was made up of FixMix Popcorn from FunkyChunky, Inc. (Edina, MN) -- caramel popcorn drizzled with dark, milk and white chocolate.

The middle layer in this glass parfait jar was olive oil popcorn with a hint of barbeque sauce. And the top layer was BaconPOP, bacon-flavored, gluten-free popcorn from Justin and David (J and D's Foods, Inc.). Too bad we had to eat through the first two layers to get to the bottom layer with the chocolate, as we were stuffed after we ate the very rich and sweet FixMix blend.

We also sampled some BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato flavored) potato chips from Lay's. Summer fresh fruits and nuts made up the rest of this backyard barbeque snack and dessert buffet.

ChocolateBet: July 4, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Nestle Dreyer's Ice Cream Company
Wonka's - Chocolate Chipper Chip ice cream
Good
Weight: 1/2 cup (91 g.) / 14 fl. oz. (414 mL) total container
Calories: 270 in 1/2 cup + BBQ chip, regular chip, other toppings = 400 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 container
Purchased from: Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

2.) Wild Ophelia
New Orleans Chili dark chocolate bar
Good+ - Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) total bar
Calories: 70 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Cost Plus World Market, in Mountain View, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Backyard Barbeque and Bacon Theme Week.

Today was the 4th of July, my favorite BBQ holiday in the U.S. I attended the annual Palo Alto Chili cook-off held in a park within walking distance of my backyard. I tasted some great jerk chili, and some sweet, turkey chili. Smells of barbequed chicken and ribs and vegetables wafted through the air as dogs frolicked and rolled in the grass, and crowds waited in line for tastes of chili. Unfortunately, there was no chocolate to be found. I thought one chef might have added cacao/cocoa powder/chocolate to their chili or barbeque sauce. I'll ask again next year.


I also attended a 4th of July block party that was full of happy people, happy dogs, happy children, good food. It was a beautiful summer day. Plenty of shade trees and picnic tables. Thank you Elise. There were some great figs with goat cheese and prosciutto, but no chocolate left by the time we arrived.

So, below were my two chocolate choices -- that were marginally connected with today's theme.

First, I scooped out a small bowl of (Nestle/Dreyer's) Wonka's Chocolate Chipper Chip ice cream (with potato chips). I garnished this ice cream with a few regular potato chips. But, the flavors didn't really liven up until I added a some hickory barbeque chips to this vanilla ice cream that was marbled with "chocolatey potato chip bark and swirls." It was a bit of a mess with the freshly crumbled BBQ chips, but the savory/salty/spicy BBQ flavors enhanced, and helped neutralize, the sweetness of the ice cream. Unfortunately, I read too late that this ice cream also contained bread crumbs -- definitely not gluten free.

So, my second chocolate of the day was a Wild Ophelia - New Orleans Chili dark chocolate (62% cacao) bar. This bar was a well-balanced, flavorful blend. The 62% cacao was just right to complement the spices. I also mixed some of this chili bar with a tasty southern barbeque sauce, which went well with chicken, ribs and bacon burgers.

Happy Summer and 4th of July to all.