ChocolateBet: May 26, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Russell Stover
Peanut Chew
(from a "Nut, Chewy and Crisp Centers" assortment box)
OK+ - Good
Wt: ~ 16 grams for 1 piece
Calories: 80 calories/pc.
Cost: $2.50* (sale)
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

This week I'm focused on finishing up some chocolates in an assortment box that I opened last month. So, you'll see a few more Russell Stover entries, as I try to mow through the rest of the flavors in this box, so I can move on to a new chocolate adventure. This is the equivalent of having to eat your peas on your dinner plate before you can have dessert. No, wait, bad analogy. This whole chocolate eating thing is only about dessert! Oh well, the point is that starting something new is often more fun that finishing what you already started but may have gotten bored with already.

(*The asterisk means the "cost" of an item here has already been recorded in a previous entry, for a different chocolate item; usually this is an assortment box situation.)

ChocolateBet: May 25, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 serving
Hachez
Cocoa D'Arriba - Erdbeer mit Pfeffer (Strawberry and Pepper)
77% cacao; "superior mild dark chocolate"
Good + - Very Good
Wt: 21 grams in 1/2 srvg. /3.5 oz. (100 grams) in total bar
Calories:
Cost: $0 (gift - thanks Alec!)
Purchased from: (Whole Foods?)

On this holiday Sunday, I thought to myself...Why not just have a whole breakfast with strawberry items? So, this morning I made, and sat down to enjoy, a bowl of freshly cut up fresh strawberries topped with strawberry yogurt, with some hot strawberry herb tea on the side. Oh yes, and not to forget....I also melted down a few squares of a (Hachez) strawberry and pepper flavored dark chocolate (77% cacao from Ecuador) bar -- which I ate with the fresh strawberries.

This was a great breakfast; although I think I got my urge for strawberries out of my system for awhile.

ChocolateBet: May 24, 2008

Chocolate of they Day:
2 pieces
Russell Stover
("Nut, Chewy and Crisp Centers" assortment box)
2 Cashew Cluster chocolates
Very Good
Wt: 32 grams for 2 pc. serving; 24 oz. (1 lb. 8 oz.)/680 grams total box
Calories: 160
Cost: $2.50* (recorded earlier for other chocolates in this box); sale price
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

ChocolateBet: May 23, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

Baratti and Milano
Finissimi Cremini al Limone (two chocolate and hazelnut layers, with a lemon layer in between)
Good+ - Very Good
Wt: 15 grams (estimate) / 2.12 oz. (60 grams) total package
Calories: 80 calories (estimate)
Cost: $ N/A (gift that was shared with me)
Purchased from: (gift from Klaus Schilling, a family friend; who was visiting from Europe; thank you to my parents for sharing a piece of this chocolate gift.)

ChocolateBet: May 22, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 bar
The Tea Room
Green Earl Grey - 58% Cacao (Organic)
"Dark Chocolate Infused with Green Earl Grey Tea"
Very Good+ - This was definitely my favorite of the 3 Tea Room tea-infused chocolate bars I tried this week.
Wt: .45 oz. (13 grams)/1.8 oz. (51 grams) total in whole bar
Calories: 70 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99/total or whole bar
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, in Los Altos, CA

And, this concludes Day #7 of Chocolate and Tea week on the blog.

Chocolate in the News:
I am not making up this story (below). Although accidents are not fun...Admit it, you would have liked to have seen this one, right? Wasn't there a Gary Larson cartoon something like this? (Some small birds or mice got loose from a truck/accident on the street in front of a cat's house; and the cat can't believe his/her good fortune.)

RIA Novosti - World (Russian News Agency)
May 19, 2008 - 19:44

Chocolate Cookies Stop Traffic on U.S. Highway
Washington, May 19 (RIA Novosti) - "A trailer loaded with 20,000 pounds of chocolate cookies overturned in Illinois in the early hours of Monday..."
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080519/107764394.html

ChocolateBet: May 21, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 bar
The Tea Room
Honeybush Caramel - 38% Cacao (Organic) bar
(Milk Chocolate Infused with Honeybush Caramel Tea"
Good +
Weight: .45 oz. (13 grams)/1.8 oz. (51 grams) total in whole bar
Calories: 70 calories for 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99 total
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

Day #6 of Chocolate and Tea theme week.

ChocolateBet: May 20, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 bar
The Tea Room
"Mate and Star Anis - Dark Chocolate Infused with Mate Tea, Star Anis and Nibs"
72% Cacao (Organic)
Very Good
Weight: .45 oz. (13 grams) in 1/4 bar; 1.8 oz. (51 grams) total/whole bar
Calories: 70 calories in 1/4 bar
Price: $2.99 total/whole bar
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

Given this is Day #5 of my Chocolate and Tea week, it is only right that I try some chocolate from a company called The Tea Room (based in American Canyon, California).

The star anis, cocoa nibs and mate ingredients in this organic dark chocolate bar were a bit crunchy and unevenly distributed, but the rich, earthy flavors were nice. I found I liked the second bite I had (later in the afternoon) better than the first bite I had in the early a.m. I think the bar was a bit warmer (less brittle) as well. Temperature and time of day do matter...

I plan on trying more Tea Room flavors this week.