ChocolateBet: December 29, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Godiva
Gingerbread Truffle
Very Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
$ 0 (gift)
Ordered/sent from: Godiva online

I really enjoy gingerbread flavors in coffee and chocolate drinks and desserts, so it's not a great surprise that I really liked this truffle.

This truffle has inspired me to make some kind of flourless chocolate gingerbread cake (maybe a variant of one of the recipes on the Godiva web site).

I'll add this cooking opportunity to my New Year's resolution and "to do" lists. It is December 29, and I'm down to one of the last days of the year (2007), so to do lists are on my mind as I try to finish some items that haven't gotten done yet. I probably shouldn't be adding more items to my list right now - but, what the heck, it's chocolate-related, so it will at least be more fun than all the clean-up, organizing, recycling, laundry, personal biography/resume updating, and other tasks I seem to be putting off at the moment. Happy de-cluttering and de-to-do-listing to everyone.

ChocolateBet: December 28, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece/truffle
Seattle Chocolates
Cafe Mocha
Good -Very Good.
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 70 calories (estimate)
Cost: $0 (gift)
I received in my Christmas stocking at a family celebration a few days ago.

The coffee taste in some Seattle Chocolates items is a bit too strong (burnt flavor?) for me. This is surprising as I really like strong coffee flavors and I also tend not to mind crispy-singed BBQ veggies, potatoes, and meat items. I salute Seattle Chocolates in that they are not afraid to go for it with the intense coffee roast here. I'd rather see bold statements like this than be frustrated by chocolates where the flavors are lost or too weak/muddled.

Can you take flavors too far? Other than the chocolate-covered bugs I tried, I'd have to say I haven't found too many chocolates that I thought were too strongly flavored - other than those that perhaps use artificial flavors which don't taste quite right. Start with a good base chocolate, and I think almost any great flavor might work. Just my opinion.

ChocolateBet: December 27, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pcs
See's
California Brittle - Milk Chocolate
Very Good. I prefer the dark chocolate version of this chocolate, but these are still very good.
~ 1.75 oz. for 2 pcs
~ 260 calories for 2 pcs
~$1.50 for 2 pcs
Purchased from See's, Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA

ChocolateBet: December 26, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pcs.
See's
California Brittle - Dark Chocolate
Very Good - Yum; I really like these. They are like a very robust Heath bar - with bigger hunks of toasted almonds inside the middle brittle center.
~ 1.75 oz. for 2 pieces
~ 260 calories
~$1.50 for 2 pcs
Purchased from: See's, Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA

ChocolateBet: December 25, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1 small serving of shavings
Godiva
Dark Chocolate Santa (foil-wrapped)
Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2.5 oz./71 g. total
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. of shavings
Cost: $6.50
Purchased from: Macy's at Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA

This was Very Good; especially given that most little figures or sculpted/molded chocolate figures over a certain size taste a bit waxy or dull (probably due to ingredients used to help them keep their shape I'm guessing, or to cut down on costs/weight perhaps).

OK, I admit it; I have an odd sense of humor. Because Christmas can be a time when expectations can run high, and family time and commercial overload can be overwhelming, I think there is a place for a bit of comic relief. This fine Godiva chocolate Santa was transmogrified* (see Calvin and Hobbes comics) into chocolate shavings and included in a hot milk, brandy, cinnamon and spices drink for a nice cold winter evening. Poor Santa got shaved by a vegetable peeler.

ChocolateBet: December 24, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

2 pieces
Frango
Candy Cane (mint chocolates) - Limited Edition
Very Good+
Weight: 16 oz. (453 g.) for 1 box
Calories: 80 calories (estimate) for 2 small pieces
Cost: $15.40 total (30% off sale) originally $22.00
Purchased from: Macy's, at Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA

I shared this box of crunchy Candy Cane and chocolate sweets with family at a holiday dinner get-together.

My sister, who lived in Seattle, WA, for many years assured me that Frango mints originated in Seattle -- and that a smaller department store that originated these chocolates/mint line was bought up by Marshall-Fields department store. Eventually Macy's bought out Marshall-Fields, or Macy's became the Frango distributor. Glad to hear that a favorite sweets brand survived all these transitions. (Frango is also listed in wikipedia for more info.)

I believe the limited edition chocolates can only be found at specific times of the year, and that these Candy Cane chocolate mints fit under this category.

ChocolateBet: December 23, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Anette's Chocolates
Traditional Cherry Cordial
Good - Very Good
~ .5 oz.?
~ 75 calories?
$0 (gift box)
From: Anette's Chocolates, Napa, CA

This cherry cordial was the last chocolate in a fairly large assortment box. While cherry cordials aren't my favorites, this was good.

As noted previously the good news with assortment boxes is that I can share chocolates with friends and family -- carefully guarding the ones I want to keep for myself for recording in this blog! -- and also I can skip my furtive hunting around for new chocolates for several days. The bad news is that it limits your sense of variety and new adventures, and you may also be tempted to eat more than you originally planned. This is the old security-and-comfort vs. the thrill-of-a-new-adventure trade-off. As with life, there is a balance point that lies somewhere between boredom and terror. The 2- or 3-piece assortment box seems to be that balance point for me.