ChocolateBet: February 6, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece/sheet
Claudio Corallo
Chocolate with Ginger
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.)/3.527 oz. (100 g.) total package
Calories: 132 calories (estimate)
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Alegio Chocolate, Berkeley, CA

A thin sheet of this chocolate (embedded with pieces of crystallized ginger), from the island nation of Sao Tome e Principe (Africa), was good a la carte. And, it would be an enjoyable addition to a vanilla or chocolate ice cream sundae too.

ChocolateBet: February 5, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
7 cookies
K(inni)TOOS Chocolate Sandwich Creme
Very Good
Weight: 2.7 oz. (73.3 g.)/8 oz. (220 g.) total pkg. of 21 cookies
Calories: 420 calories for 7 cookies
Cost: $
Purchased from: ?

This is what happens when you skip breakfast and lunch (which I rarely do). You sit down to eat one cookie, and eat seven of them. Yes, I was hungry, but the fact that these cookies tasted so good, without wheat (gluten), dairy, egg, or trans fats, is also a sign of a well-made cookie.

ChocolateBet: February 4, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving (2 Tablespoons)
Peanut Butter and Co.
Dark Chocolate Dreams
Good +
Weight: 1.13 oz. (32 g.)/16 oz. (454 g.) total jar
Calories: 170 calories
Cost: $6.49 total for one jar
Purchased from: Bi-Rite Market, in San Francisco, CA

(Pictured) is a plate of peanut butter and chocolate health food. Not being able to eat bread (wheat), I ate this dark chocolate peanut spread with Mary's "seed" crackers (very good), and a little homemade strawberry banana jam; and the result was....a peanut butter and jelly, gluten-free snack plate that tasted better than this looks.

ChocolateBet: February 3, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/3 bar
Donna Elvira dolceria
cioccolata modicana - al pepe nero Kuching
Good
Weight: 1.172 oz. (33 g.)/3.52 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 175 calories (estimate)
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Miette Bakery, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

The bits of black pepper in this dark (50% cacao - Peru) bar were easier to taste (than the lemon and pepper bar from yesterday - where the lemon flavor outshone the pepper flavor). Yes, there is nothing like biting into a piece of black peppercorn and suddenly bringing a halt to the conversation you're having with someone, while you make odd sounds and faces.

The texture to this bar was a bit crumbly. However, this problem was easily solved when I dissolved this in milk and made spicy hot chocolate out of part of it.

ChocolateBet: February 2, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

Safeway Select
Dark Chocolate with Lemon and Pepper
Very Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.)/3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 253 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $2.00 for total bar
Purchased from: Safeway, in San Jose, CA

Happy Groundhog Day all.

It was also my mom's birthday dinner - with a lemon and black pepper theme. So, it was fitting that today's dark chocolate (55%) bar would be flavored with -- yes, lemon and black pepper. This Safeway bar was a "product of Switzerland."

ChocolateBet: February 1, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
18 pieces
Recchiuti
Peppermint Thins
Very Good
Weight: 2.6 oz. (73 g.)/3.5 oz. (98 g.) in total box of 24 pieces
Calories: 342 calories (estimate)
Cost: $18.00 for total box
Purchased from: Recchiuti, Ferry Building, in San Francisco, CA

Made with fresh peppermint (you can see little pieces of mint in the filling), and covered with bittersweet chocolate, these sweet little thins are better than most. Eighteen dollars for a little box of 24 pieces may be a lot to swallow for some; but Recchiuti chocolates tend to be a bit more expensive.

ChocolateBet: January 31, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
van Dungen (Steenland Chocolate)
Milk Chocolate Clogs
Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) in 2 /3.2 oz. (90 g.) in total box
Calories: 76 calories for 2 (estimate)
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Miette Bakery, Ferry Building, in San Francisco, CA

Today I thought I'd be out walking around San Francisco Bay. The sun was out, but I ended up fighting off a cold instead. In keeping with the walking (theme at least), today's chocolate was a pair of milk chocolate clogs. I found these chocsimiles of carved, wooden shoes from Holland at Miette Bakery -- a small place, filled with interesting pastries and chocolates.