I Fought the Bus and the Bus Won

Today started off great!  Everything went well, I got to Chicago - was even able to check into my room at the Chicago Hilton EARLY - around noon.  I dumped my luggage and headed off to the French Market.  Can I just tell you it's really hot and humid here?  I was determined to walk the 3 miles or so because I knew I would be eating candy all week, but I was really hot by the time I got there.  I also realized I couldn't buy much chocolate because it would melt before I could get it back to the hotel.

So I bought five macaroons at Vanille Patisserie - in some great flavors - chocolate, peanut and honey, white chocolate and lychee, chocolate hazelnut, and red velvet.  Then I went to Michael Canady Le Chocolatier and bought what I thought I could eat on the spot.  How cool do these look?  (now keep in mind that I have neither my usual photo set up nor my autopsy suite this week, so the pics might be kind of crappy.  Please bear with me):

The one with the dancing couple on it is a blueberry cream with dark chocolate.  It was VERY tart and good, although the blueberry overwhelmed the chocolate.  It was too fragile to autopsy.  Plus I was in public and it's weird enough to be photographing your food - much less taking it out of your mouth half eaten and photographing it. 

This was a milk chocolate truffle - I couldn't get over its crazy red, metallic appearance and had to get it.  It was very creamy and very good, but there wasn't much to it.  It looks fabulous, but tastes only slightly better than average.

This is peanut butter and dark chocolate and is shown (unbitten) at the bottom center of the first picture.  I did pull this out of my mouth half eaten (so classy!).  The base of chocolate was so thick I had to see what was going on.  And was surprised to see more layers of dark chocolate in the peanut butter.  With this one, the chocolate overwhelms the peanut butter.  The dark chocolate was good, but I wanted more peanut butter!  Don't I always?

This one I had to buy because it looked so, well, implausible.  It's a pistachio pyramid:

The pistachio flavor was very strong and I have to admit, the metallic color was kind of unappetizing.  It didn't have any flavor, it was just, well, weird.  But what creativity and novelty!  So cool!

I left the French Market and decided to go to Macy's.  I was standing on the street corner and when the signal changed, I stepped out - and that's when the bus hit me.  I'm not kidding.  The driver ran the red light.

No head on (I'd be dead) - it grazed me, moving fast and at first I didn't even know what happened.  Thank God for Jean Bass, a retired nurse who was right beside me when this happened.  She was kind enough to ask if I was okay - it happened so fast we were both shocked.  The bus didn't even slow.  I thought I was okay, but she walked me across the street and noticed my arm was really swelling.  She took me into a restaurant to get ice and that's when I passed out - she caught me before I hit the floor and told the people in the restaurant to call an ambulance.  Thank God for Jean Bass!!  I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't been there.  Thank God for the kindness of strangers.

And thank God I didn't get any further out in the street.  I am really, really lucky to be okay right now.

The ambulance guys got there VERY quickly and were the best - so nice!  Chicago Fire and EMS ROCK!!!  The ER was packed and, the truth is, I wasn't dying.  So they weren't taking me anywhere right away.  At this point, I just wanted to make sure my arm wasn't broken (I've got an Expo to work, damn it!).  We'd been icing it and the swelling had gone down, but this is what it looked like at this point:

This is what the back of my arm looked like:

I was in the ER for about 4 hours - the bus hit me at 1:50 pm and I didn't get a cab back to the hotel until 7:00 pm.  So much for the great first day I had planned!  But I have to say that everyone I dealt with was very, very nice.  The cops that came by to take my report (after all, a city bus ran a red light and hit me - and God knows how much this whole fiasco is going to cost) were hilarious.  One of the young men on the hospital security crew even managed to come up with a square of Ghirardelli chocolate for me!  These folks were great.

That's me, back at the Hilton all patched up.  But you know the worst part?  I don't know what the hell happened to my macaroons!

Chicago Architecture and Chocolate

Wow - today started off gorgeous weather wise - clear skies, warm - it was awesome! But by the time I got off the architectural cruise I was freezing my butt off! BRRR! I was thinking about doing an art deco architectural tour tonight, but I don't have the clothes for it. And, no I am not buying a winter coat. I already bought a Hershey sweatshirt I don't need - that's as far as I'm going.



Let me show you some of the shots from the cruise:

















I took about a million more, but this is On Motivation and Chocolate not On Motivation and Architecture.


The cruise really was terrific and seeing the city from the river was very cool. If you come to Chicago - do one of these tours.


Also, I think it's a shame how much we miss of life. We really are blinded by ignorance. I had looked at many of these buildings while walking through the city, but I didn't SEE them. When our tour guide pointed out details or things that made the buildings special, I realized how vast my ignorance and how little I really saw. Knowledge really does give you an appreciation - of art, architecture, writing, people.

Let me give you an example. See these buildings?


Yeah, yeah more skyscrapers, whatever, right?

Well look closer:


This one is called Aqua - it's under construction. Look at the amazing balconies that undulate like water. A tribute to the river. It's also one of the tallest buildings in the world designed by a female architect. I would have never seen it. Now, it's all I see when I look at those buildings.

Keep learning - life is way more fascinating that way.


I did manage to visit another chocolate shop on my own (imagine that!). I don't think a chocolate lover can come to Chicago and not stop by:





And check this out from their website:

More than 85 years of Fannie May – The first Fannie May retail store was opened by H. Teller Archibald in 1920 at 11 N. LaSalle St. in Chicago. By 1935, there were nearly four dozen retail stores in Illinois and several neighboring states. During World War II, while other companies chose to change their recipes when ingredients were scarce, Fannie May stuck with its exact recipes, making only what it could which often meant closing shops early because no more candy was available - never was the taste of the candy compromised.

Well - we'll just see about that.

If I spent at least $40 I got a free 1 pound assortment, so of course I spend the $40. Did I mention earlier than I'm kind of cheap? And you already know I have a thing for chocolate.


I also have a thing for almonds:

Okay, I'm not going to lie. I was pretty skeptical about these. They were $16.99 for the one pound bag pictured here. Regular Jordan almonds are nowhere near that much. But these blow regular Jordan almonds out of the water (or maybe I should say out of the river as a tribute). The last bag of Jordan almonds I had were hard as rocks - these were perfect, you could tell the almonds were very fresh. Delicious. Well worth the extra cost. A++

I also bought a few loose pieces:

Two peanut butter buckeyes (one with white chocolate), a butter caramel, a butterscotch caramel, a milk praline, and a milk caramel present. All of these were really, really good. Now these are not crazy gourmet candies. There ain't no salt on these caramels, no weird spices, no talk of saving the Earth or organic sun drenched fields. These are good, solid all-American chocolates. I have to say I think they are better than See's, but not as good as Sarah's. After all - they are mass produced.



But I was very surprised at their quality. I'll report more when I break into the boxes, but right now, I have to say that Fannie May makes a damn fine chocolate and I hope they are around for a long, long time.



They also have a location right by where you board the cruise boats at the corner of Michigan and Wacker. So you can do two great things at once. (You are planning to do SOMETHING new and different after reading this, right?)



Tomorrow - CANDY EXPO!! I feel like a kid on the night before Christmas. WHEEE!!!

Chicago Chocolate Tour continued

Whew! I got up this am and went to Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House - more on that later. It's another gorgeous day in Chicago - albeit a little chillier than yesterday. But the sun is shining and it is spectacular.

I do have to share with you the key they gave me at check-in:

And this was left in my room today:

Ha, ha, ha! I love Candy Expo already!!

Okay - back to the Chocolate Tour! After More Cupcakes, we went to my favorite place on the tour - Sarah's Pastries and Candies (http://www.sarahscandies.com/):

Sarah Levy is the second Saint in the Church of Chocolate (that would be my C of C - I can't speak for those other C of Cer's - they'll have to find their own Saints). Sarah is in her 20's and is selling her candies and pastries to Macy's! She has it together - and her stuff ROCKS!!! She also is incredibly nice and amazingly humble. She has great energy and enthusiasm and I know if any of you met her you would like her. I wish I lived in ChiTown so I could eat her chocolate all the time and hang out with her!

I love the quote she has on the back of her business card:

"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate." Katherine Hepburn

See how cool Sarah is?

She gave us samples of her chocolate delight: A delicious blend of milk chocolate, caramelized almonds, roasted pistachios and crispy rice. Can I just say "YUM!?" And her to die for brownies. The samples were so great, I had to buy a t-shirt, a box of chocolates, two cookies, and several more goodies. I say if you're going to go, go big!

Today I had her peanut butter square:

My only regret is that I didn't buy 4 or 5 hundred. These things are amazing. I don't know what the heck is in them, but there is something light and crunchy. Maybe some of that crispy rice? But they are also very peanut buttery. It's the perfect balance, because they are awesome, but not too heavy like most slabs of peanut butter would be. Ah.....

Then I tried her chocolate-almond toffee:

Also delicious. Sarah told me what she does differently is mix almonds in with the toffee as well as rolling the chocolate coated toffee in almonds. It really is fantastic. See why she is a C of C Saint? Sarah's confections are fantastic!!!!

As I try the rest of her stuff, I'll post more reviews.

From there we went to Lindt:

I love Lindt. I think their chocolate is smooth and creamy and fabulous. I love the way their stores are decorated (no fake flowers, lots of dark wood and shiny wrappers - love it!). Their sales people are nice and helpful. They have a frequent buyers program. I bought several things here which I will review in upcoming blogs. They gave us samples of their awesome white chocolate truffle with dark bits and a dark salted bar. Both delicious. Yay Lindt. (Boo teuscher again. Maybe I can start a Swiss war! Although that's not very C of C of me. But then again, there were all those Holy Wars.....hmmm....)

Crusades, anyone?

From there we went to Frango:

Now Frango used to be Marshall Field's signature candy, but Marshall Field's has been bought by Macy's. Frango is blobbed in with a lot of other chocolate brands here in Macy's candy department. And the Frango employees were completely lame. They gave us samples but acted like it was killing them. Actually one of the girls was okay but the other one was awful. I overheard her ask if she could go on break now. (Hello - how often does a chocolate tour come through, slack girl? Will working 15 more minutes kill you? I guess rolling your eyes and sighing IS pretty tiring.)

They gave us a sample of their famous mint and a new sea salt caramel:

Note the sea side box? Cute. I did buy a box of these because I am a sucker for the salt/caramel combo and these were pretty good. Not Chocolate Fetish good, but better than average. Frango also had some new flavors I would have liked to try - cherry almond, pomegranate pistachio - but I didn't want to buy a whole box. And it wasn't like Break Girl was helping me. Not many options, horrible customer service - look for Frango to disappear into candy history.

Our final stop was Argo Tea. Now, as usual, I was being judgemental and thinking this was a gyp. I didn't want tea, I wanted chocolate. And when we walked past Hershey and Ghirardelli stores to get there, I was even less happy. But, as usual, I was wrong. When will I learn to keep an open mind?

Here we sampled a double chocolate muffin (okay) and chocolate chai tea (fabulous). And doesn't this guy look like someone who should serve you chocolate chai tea?:

Ooops - there goes that judgemental thing!

The tour ended here and I, of course, headed straight to Hershey. The adventure picks up there tomorrow!! Big thanks to Valerie Beck and Heidi Holladay of Chicago Chocolate Tours for a great adventure!

Chicago Chocolate Tour

Hey Gang!! I'm in Chicago - the weather is to die for, the architecture is fantastic, and the chocolate is plentiful. I think I want to move here. Or at least spend the next four days here.



The flights were easy, but the traffic from the airport was a bitch. However, our van driver was festive and some businessman gave me his card and told me to call him if I wanted to have drinks. (Um - no. But flattering nonetheless.)



I dumped my bags and hit the streets - I decided to walk the 17 blocks to make plenty of room for all the chocolate I was about to eat (a decision that seemed brilliant at the time.) My hotel is across from Millennium Park, which is gorgeous. Here are a couple of pics from my walk:






Can you tell how gorgeous the day is? And do you like the way I have juxtaposed the natural beauty of the tulips with the man made beauty of the sculpture? Hey - I didn't get that undergraduate degree in art history for nuthin'!


Well, you just gotta shoot the lions in front of the Art Institute:





And check these out! Notice the human at the base - they are gigantic!! American Gothic in front of the Chicago Tribune building. How cool is Chi Town?

As I was walking toward Bloomingdale's (which was the meeting place for the tour) - http://www.chicagochocolatetours.com/ I saw a woman in a lively yellow jacket with a purple purse. I think - "Look at her - she is so petite and looks so great in those bright colors." Then I notice she is carrying a chocolate tours sign! I kid you not - I say' "Valerie?" And she turns around - it's Valerie Beck from the website! She is very nice and gracious, loves both Chicago and chocolate. And she walked with me about 9 more blocks to the tour site.

My tour guide was actually Heidi Holladay (Valerie was leading another tour at the same time), a pastry chef and tour guide extraordinaire. She did a great job - taking us to six different sites and giving us loads of information about chocolate and Chicago along the way. The tour was supposed to last two hours, but ours lasted about three. No one complained - it was a fantastic time. But if any of you decide to go, budget extra time. You'll want it anyway - you might want to go back to some of the sites or stay longer at the last one.

Because I was carrying large bags of chocolate and a twelve pack of Diet Sierra Mist for my 17 block return trip, I am tired, so I'm only going to review the first two stops tonight. Now you might be thinking - why did Denise carry so much soda? I am addicted to diet soda and would rather get a lot at a drug store than try to find some at outrageous hotel rates. You might also be thinking - why did she not call a cab if she was carrying all this? IBecause I am stubborn (I really felt I should do some exercise after all this decadent eating) and I am essentially cheap. Why pay cab fare if you can manage to hobble 17 blocks with your arthritic hips carrying 20 pounds of chocolate and soda?



Remember, I have never claimed to be either sane or issue free.



I did have several interesting conversations with the homeless as I struggled along.



But I digress.



The first stop was teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland. I have written of teuscher before.

My friend Katie and I stopped in a teuscher store in New York when I was there for the Chocolate Show. I wasn't impressed then and I'm not impressed now. The prices are insanely high in my book and the decor says funeral parlor more than chocolate shop. I can't help it - it just creeps me out. They gave us a sample which was fine, but nothing that made me go crazy and buy a bunch of stuff. In both locations I found the staff snooty. Please - it's chocolate. Get over it. And you're in a mall. If you work in a mall, you really need to get over it.

Next stop was More Cupcakes (http://www.morecupcakes.com/). Now this was something - look at how this place is designed:

It's like a cupcake gallery or museum - gorgeous! And they have some amazing and creative flavors. They have more flavors in the shop than are listed on the website. We got to taste two mini cupcakes - the first was chocolate with chocolate icing; the second was chocolate with a vanilla icing. After the first sample (I didn't know there was going to be a second sample), I was so smitten I bought a full size cupcake - salted caramel. A yellow cake with caramel in the center and a light caramel frosting. And they pack it up in a great, sturdy box with a cool More Cupcakes sticker- very nice packaging. Woowee!

The small cupcakes were the perfect size - you could pop one in your mouth. They were fresh and delicious and the frosting was amazingly light.

But when I got back to my room and devoured - I mean daintily ate - the larger cupcake, I was disappointed. To be honest, it tasted a little stale. : (

I still think these were awesome cupcakes and this was most people's favorite stop on the tour. I would definitely give them another chance.

Okay - I'm smoked!! I'll give you more of my chocolate adventure tomorrow. Until then, sweet dreams!!!