ChocolateBet: March 2, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 cookie
Edna's
Fudge Cookies!
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 1.33 oz. (37.7 g.) (estimate) in 1 cookie/ 8 oz. (226 g.) total package
Calories: 150 calories (guesstimate)
Cost: $6.99 for approximately 6 cookies
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

Rich, sweet chocolate fudge cookies. Nice texture...Wait a minute. I had to double check the label to make sure these were gluten-free. Hurray, yes they were. Even better, since I can't have wheat or gluten. And, perfect chocolate choice for today -- Day #2 of Chocolate and Gluten-Free Cookie Theme Week.

Postscript:
I'm adding Edna's Pecan Crisps Cookies to this post. 
Technically these shortbread-style, gluten free cookies don't have chocolate in them, but they're great with blueberries or peaches (or both), and the lack of chocolate problem is easily remedied -- with the addition of a little chocolate ice cream or chocolate shavings and whipped cream.

ChocolateBet: March 1, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
3 macarons
Cookie Momster
Mint with chocolate filling
Very Good
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) total package of 3
Calories: 150 calories
Cost: $3.49
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

Wheee! Sugar rush. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all three Paris Wheel French Macarons from Cookie Momster. But, they were good. I enjoyed the mint macarons with fudgey chocolate filling down to the last pink and green crumbs.

Oh yes, there was also an orange macaron with vanilla filling -- poor thing; no chocolate, no respect.

These macarons were airy but sweetly substantial creations made from almonds, sugar, egg whites, dark chocolate, cream, butter, orange peel, mint and other natural flavorings. The bright, festive colors were achieved with a little help from artificial coloring.

There was no evil wheat/gluten in these. I say "evil" because I can't have wheat, and this limits my chocolate universe by several thousand items. However, I would like to make the point that, after eating 1,600+ different (almost all wheat-free) chocolates in the past 4 1/2 years, this gluten prohibition has not exactly left me deprived.

And to prove this point, today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Gluten-Free Cookie Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 28, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
Tropical Chocolate Company
1.) Zinfandel - Good + - Very Good
2.) Paradise Pear - Good
Weight: .89 oz. (25 g.) (estimate for 2 pieces)
Calories: 133 calories (estimate)
Cost: $N/A - gift (thank you to Ardis, Alec)
Purchased from: N/A (from Tropical Chocolate, San Luis Obispo, CA)

No goofy theme weeks today. Tropical Chocolate's Zinfandel chocolate -- made from Paso Robles Zinfandel wine in a 65% dark chocolate ganache -- was flavorful and interesting. I was looking forward to trying the teardrop-shaped Paradise Pear chocolate (pear and goat cheese in dark chocolate), but I think I waited too long. Instead of pear, this second chocolate tasted a bit more like banana. The next time I visit San Luis Obispo in the Central California Coast region, I look forward to trying other Tropical Chocolate flavors.

ChocolateBet: February 27, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream
(+ Rum + Milk + Coffee Liqueur)
Good +
Weight: 3 oz. (estimate)
Calories: 180 calories
Cost: $3.00 (estimated cost for all ingredients)
Purchased from: BevMo, in Mountain View, CA + Safeway, Palo Alto

A famous Dutch girl from a Vermeer painting escapes and vacations in the Caribbean. That is the story behind today's chocolate (drink) of the day. Well, I imagined she won the lottery in Holland and sailed for the New World. And if she did so, she might have invented a drink with milk or cream, chocolate, coffee and rum.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Rum/Spirits Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 26, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Chocolate Momotombo
Cashew Rum - fresh chocolate
Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 70 calories (estimate)
Cost: $N/A - part of chocolate tasting/workshop
Purchased from: Chocolate Workshop - The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

It's not every day that I get a chance to experience 600 years of chocolate history in one sitting. Ometeote is a small organization dedicated to educating people about the history and production of chocolate in Nicaragua. Fortunately, Carlos Mann of Ometeote was at the Chocolate Garage in Palo Alto, California, this afternoon to conduct a workshop and tasting.

This workshop was a unique opportunity to sample cacao-based beverages from pre-Columbian and Colonial times well as chocolates being made today by Mann's company, Managua-based Chocolate Momotombo. Unique chocolates include Momotombo's fresh chocolates, that come in multiple flavors. I selected a blue-foil wrapped, Cashew Rum fresh chocolate as today's chocolate of the day (pictured next to a Coconut fresh chocolate).

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Rum/Spirits Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 25, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
NutriSystem, Inc.
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pudding
(with Bacardi Silver Label Rum)
Good +
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) packet + liquid + rum
Calories: 130 calories w/ soymilk and rum
Cost: $N/A - donation from Alec - thank you
Purchased from: N/A

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Rum/Spirits Theme Week. After dinner with a friend, I still hadn't found a chocolate and rum concoction for today, so I stopped at Alec's house on my way home. Thank you Alec for letting me rummage through your kitchen cupboards. Voila! There they were, ingredients for chocolate rum pudding. A tiny splash of rum made this instant Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pudding taste even better. Probably not what NutriSystem had in mind though.

ChocolateBet: February 24, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Tropical Chocolate Company
Island Breeze Mint
Very Good
Weight: .3 oz. (8.49 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 45 calories (estimate)
Cost: N/A - thank you to Alec, Ardis
Purchased from: N/A - gift (Tropical Chocolates, San Luis Obispo, CA)

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Rum/Spirits Theme Week. When the weather is cold and dreary, the chocolate themes turn toward the lively and the tropical. Today's Tropical Chocolate Island Breeze Mint (mint with a Columbian dark chocolate ganache) was fresh tasting, and was accompanied by a very small sip of aged rum from St. Croix.

Note: island dancer and ukelele player sold separately.