A White Chocolate Christmas

While a White Christmas is always the most magical, a chocolate one is the most luscious! Double Bonus that we had both. We did make fudge with the marshmallow cream- and it made a HUGE amount. [to think, I was worried] My Dad and step-Mother bought me Godiva Chocolate Liquor, which I immediately put into a grasshopper drink. [Okay, my girlfriend made it for me, thanks 'you know who.'] I need to start making my own chocolate martinis. I must be growing up! They also gave me a cookbook of chocolate . . . [you mean, they expect me to work for my chocolate??] Oh, I'm sure I'll investigate a few of the recipes. Deciding on which one may be difficult. No, wait, it will probably be determined by what ingredients I already have on hand, since cooking for chocolate is usually a desperate late night operation. Secretly hoping and plotting that daughters or daughters of friends will do most of the creating; leaving me to be head taste tester. My niece, however, made me chocolate. Score. [yeah, yeah, the label said me and my dh, but really. . . ] Several home made goodies: chocolate park, fudge with m&ms and Oreo truffles. Well, my New Year lower calorie goals will have to wait! Here's to hoping you had a Blessed Christmas too.

Christmas means chocolate

Okay, not really, but it does include lots of chocolate. I haven't done fudge yet, but a couple of my kids helped me make these really cute sandwich cookies- roll in crushed peppermint candy for a Christmas look! We're making other cookies as part of our Christmas traditions, but since they don't include chocolate, I won't bore you about them here.

Chocolate Sandwich cookies:

Probably fairly easy from scratch, but I did use this kit.

Eat Chocolate and lose weight

Well, I've had a couple of people close to me tell me I needed to ease up on the eating and lose a little weight. [30 lbs total] I had started a 'get healthy' regime last winter, but when my results were pathetic after 4-6 months, I dropped it. Now that it's been a few months, I am ready to try again. I realize that the crux of the problem is simply calories. I need to eat a lot less of them. This is really hard, because up until middle age set in, I could eat almost any man, woman or child under the table- and still be 120 lbs. Those days are over and I need to retire my trophy. However, that does not mean I have to give up chocolate! Heaven forbid. On the contrary, now more than ever, I need a little nibble here and there- to keep me motivated. If this man can eat twinkies and lose weight, I can eat dark chocolate [infinitely healthier than a twinkie!] and not eat much else and hopefully, lose some weight. Currently, my staple is Lindt chili dark. Exercising is another issue and since it's not about chocolate. . .

Brand does matter

Remind me again why I bought Aldi brand chocolate? I was in there the other day to get the usual, milk, butter and a snack- when lo and behold, they had dark chili chocolate! I bought three big bars. It wasn't until I got it home and and took my first bite that I remembered I'd done this before. It's okay, but it just doesn't have the right texture and mouth feel. Despite being the same dimensions as other bars, it feels thin. It does matter where you get your chocolate. No cheap shortcuts will do. I bet I could melt it in milk for hot chocolate and it be perfectly satisfying that way. . . off to try it.

Shoppers, get real

Chocolate. I'm getting pretty tired of visiting Shopper's Groceries just to find they have no dark chili or sea salt chocolate. I don't want any of that other stuff! Luckily, I still have a stash of chili, though it's dwindling fast. I'll have to stalk Giant real soon.

On a happier note, my oldest dd was told to gain a little weight. [yes, you can hate her, it's okay] So, I guess it's going to be a fudge filled Christmas this year! And yes, I am that devoted of a mother, willing to sacrifice my own lack of weight loss for one of my flesh. Surely, I can't have her eating fudge ALONE.

Nectar of the gods?

Chocovine.com. Need I say more? Truly divinely inspired. I always knew that chocolate was heaven sent, but how to explain all those wine references? Ah, this explains it. Very good day indeed.

Almost 2 weeks at the beach and the chocolate emergency is well over. I DID go to the hotel gift shop and buy a chunky bar and a couple of others. Talk about desperation, but then a good old fashioned chunky bar is no sawdust. A very fine chocolate experience. A few days ago we stopped at Candy Kitchen and I really stocked up. I bought 6 different flavors of fudge and a 1/4lb of assorted truffles. It's a tradition to buy fudge when we come here, but I'm afraid I am much more partial to the truffles. I like the texture better, but of course I can choose dark chocolate truffles. Seems like a tradition that needs adapting. Fudge is a lovely treat to set out for guests, so it's not like I have to eat it all myself.

Should have brought my stash

Well, what a pickle I'm in. I knew I should have packed my stash of chocolate bars, but I figured there would be plenty of chocolate eating opportunities at the beach! Yes, I am at the beach, with my kids and there is plenty of chocolate. But not dark chocolate bars. I've had chocolate cake and 'dirt' [chocolate pudding w/ oreo cookie crumbs and whipped cream]and even a mocha something from Rita's, but there's no replacing a really good bar of dark chocolate. Preferably with chili or sea salt. The grocery store across from our hotel was out of both. [banish the thought that they just might not carry it!] I did not want a 'plain' chocolate bar, so I left empty handed. [well, $100 worth of other groceries] We passed several 'fudge' and candy shops today, but I did not enter any of them. I figured I had plenty of time before I would need any dark chocolate. Little did I know how the kids would try my patience and I would regret not making it a higher priority. Tomorrow, we plan to spend all day at the beach. If desperate, I will seek the hotel gift shop; surely they will have such a basic essential.

Spice is Right

Today, I melted some Columbian Chocolate in hot milk for a spicy [not hot spicy] deliciousness. Who says cinnamon doesn't go with chocolate? Hog wash. It goes ever so much better than hazelnut, bleh. I was also lucky indeed to have more of my daughter's chocolate shortbread with vanilla ice cream. Fate intervened and though I planned to counterbalance that goodness with an hour at the gym, I escaped that dubious activity due to car sharing/baby sitting snafus. Maybe I'll hoop at home instead. Well, after the HP movie is over. . .

I am hoping to add some photos soon, but must wait for the right moment to sucker, I mean ask, my dd to take the photos. She has such an artistic eye with the camera, only she could do the fruit of the gods justice.

A Delectable Fluke

So, yesterday I amazingly had the chance to eat lots of chocolate. First, at lunch I had Brio's version of the lava cake, yum! Ate the whole thing with no trouble. Then for dinner at Red, Hot and Blue went ahead and ordered the 4-person sized slice of their decadent chocolate cake. I could only eat a small fraction, but it was chocolate cake layered with fudgey chocolate and pretty darn moist. I don't normally eat out twice in one week, much less 1 day, so it was an enjoyable fluke. I also remembered to order milk with an ice cube each time. Asking for an ice cube in my milk is a totally new thing, I think I will do so regularly from now on. Today, I had the last little bit of the cake and taste-tested my daughter's chocolate short-bread. I like my cookies chewy, so I slathered butter on the short bread as compensation, though some type of spreadable chocolate would be preferable. Deliciousness. Hopefully, there is more chocolate tomorrow.

Afternoon Doldrums require chocolate

I think I must be getting too much caffeine lately, oh and staying up too late too. I am having serious late afternoon doldrums that call for chocolate. I don't have any decent chocolate in the house right now and that yummy double dunker ice cream was all eaten up last night. So, should I run to the store? Hmm. . .

a new flavor

I really needed an ice cream pick me up today, so off to walmart we went. [Gotta love that one stop shopping!] In the ice cream aisle, Turkey Hill had a new flavor- double dunker. The lid claims it's a limited edition, so get it now while you can. Mocha flavored ice cream with cookie dough AND [off-brand] oreo cookies. Yum. Bought Hot fudge to go with it, not that it really needed it. Definitely shake material for tomorrow. . .

It Was Inevitable

It was only a matter of time before I started a blog. I resisted. I really did. The purpose of this blog is pure enjoyment for me and hopefully a smidgen of enjoyment for you, my readers, if any.

Today was a good day for chocolate. I was out of dark chocolate w/ Chili and the Food Lion didn't seem to carry it. However, I was lucky enough to enjoy a chocolate, chocolate chip/walnut cookie from Panera Bread, a slice of chocolate chip ice cream pie from The Daily Scoop, and a slice of chocolate marble cheesecake. I did not, however, have milk with any of it, which was a shame.