World’s Greatest Chocolate Museums
February 8, 2011
Some museums may have an exhibit or a small display about chocolate but there are a few museums around the globe that are dedicated exclusively to chocolate. I wish my state had a chocolate museum, but alas, we have the Mustard Museum!
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Tesco Value Plain Chocolate
February 7, 2011
Tesco stores are located all over London, England. When I visited my sister living there, we did a lot of chocolate shopping. Almost every store I shopped in offered a label of chocolate all their own. These chocolates were priced lower than the name brands sitting next to them on the shelf.
As promised in last Monday’s blog (I reviewed store brand Roundy’s Milk Chocolate), I am going to continue to review store brand chocolates.
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Valentines Day Chocolate Car?
February 4, 2011
Bryn was feeling a little pinched for time so I decided to jump in and post something interesting for today.
Friday is typically a "chocolate in the news" day so I spent a little time scouring the internet for chocolate stories that would be worth repeating.
In the past, Bryn has made several posts about large chocolate sculptures. Well, today's feature only looks like chocolate, you can't really eat it. I'm sure you wouldn't want to. But it is still chocolate art!
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Chocolate and Cheese Pairings
February 3, 2011
I found a great article from the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) offering guidelines for chocolate and cheese pairings.
With all my pairings, I consider matching flavor profiles from the chocolate’s perspective...
Since dark chocolates offer a complex set of flavors, it makes sense that the best matches would be complex, aged cheeses.
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Cappuccino Chocolate Cheesecake
February 2, 2011
I’m sure you will enjoy staying indoors during this wintry weather time of year. You can bake up some comfort food – like cheesecake! Here is variation of a chocolate cheesecake I like by adding coffee liqueur.
| Cappuccino Chocolate Cheesecake • 1 1/4 cups chocolate wafers, crushed • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon • 8 ounces light cream cheese • 1 cup sugar • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder • 2 eggs • 2 1/2 cups sour cream • 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur • 1 teaspoon vanilla • 1 teaspoon cocoa powder for garnish Read more |
Chocolate for the Chinese New Year
February 1, 2011
This week kicks off the Chinese New Year – Feb. 3, 2011 – or year 4708 according to the Chinese calendar.
Giving gifts of chocolate is not a major part of the Chinese New Year, but it is a growing activity.
Traditionally, red envelopes or red packets filled with money are passed out during the celebrations. These days, you may find chocolate coins in addition to cash inside the packets.
Small gifts of food or sweets are exchanged between friends or relatives when visiting their homes. Chocolate candies or cakes are becoming popular gifts during these visits.
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Store Brand Chocolates
January 31, 2011
Often “store brand” food items are thought of an economical and perhaps an inferior version of its name brand counterpart. While many times I think that ends up being true, I’m still open to give unknowns a try, especially if it costs me less. I do get disappointed but sometimes I also get surprised.
I plan on writing a flavor review of different store brand chocolate bars; some available only in the US and some available only overseas, each Monday for as many Mondays as I have chocolates. On this journey I know we’ll discover the good and the bad but either way we’ll have fun and eat chocolate. Isn’t that the meaning of life anyway?
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Chocolate and Cocoa Substitutes
January 28, 2011
Have you ever discovered you were out of an ingredient? Of course that always seems to happen right in the middle of making something!
When the recipe calls for chocolate, cocoa powder, or unsweetened baking chocolate, using the correct substitution can mean your crisis is avoided. And no emergency trip to the grocery store!
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Chocolate Trivia
January 27, 2011
Here are some interesting numbers related to the chocolate and candy industries in the United States.
1,317............
the number of U.S. manufacturers that produced chocolate and cocoa products a year.
38,369............
the number of people employed in the chocolate and cocoa products industry in U.S.
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Chocolate Chip Nut Bars
January 26, 2011
We're putting together a Chocolate University Online recipe book. Some of the recipes I post here on the blog are recipes that we've collected for that book.
This one is no exception. Here are comments from our recipe tester...
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