How sweet was that of Diane to think of me? Diane, you're the best!!!! (And there is SO a place in Chocolate Heaven for you!)
And last week I spoke for the Mid Day Professionals Chapter of the ABWA (American Business Women's Association). Now these women have been great fans and friends since I started FireStar and they have set me up with speaking engagements many, many times. I don't think I can ever thank them enough. Toby Page sent me those great Seattle Chocolates (blogged about earlier) and this time she brought me some Wilbur Buds:
Cool box! I've reviewed Wilbur Buds before, but how sweet is Toby?? She also is the cutest human alive.
At this same meeting, Gwen Taylor showed up with two boxes from Mama Laura's Chocolates. The website is http://www.mamalauras.com/.
I have three words for these chocolates - OH MY GOD! The caramel (upper left) was so smooth and creamy and gooey, it should be outlawed. The others are truffles and are filled with the smoothest, creamiest dark and milk chocolate ganache you can imagine. And the second box had turtles which I'll blog about next. (They are so good, they would be considered a sin in several religions, but not ours!!! I actually think our first Saint may indeed be St. Mama Laura).
I just want to give thanks for such great friends. None of them had to go out of their way to do these things. They just have hearts of gold. They didn't even know I was making myself a Priestess when they gave me these gifts, so they weren't trying to buy their way into Chocolate Heaven. But, hey, wait - three wise women bearing gifts.....OMG - it's our first chocolate miracle!!
May the chocolate be with you.
Maybe this shape - but with a ribbon coming out of the top just like the little tag on the Kisses. And encrusted with shiny chocolate wrappers. There's gotta be a little glam.
Now before anyone freaks out, let's look at the definition of religion:
A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendent quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth.[1] It may be expressed through prayer, ritual, meditation, music and art, among other things. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws, ethics, and a particular lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience.
Now I see no reason why chocolate can't fall into this category. Obviously this whole blog uses chocolate as a way to "give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life." And there have indeed been times when I felt that chocolate was a higher power.
So, I need to get organized, but I can assure you I will not be making any moral claims and we will have no religious "laws." Suggestions, yes - laws, no. In fact, now that I have my ceremonial garb, let's move on to the Seven Suggestions, the foundation of our religion.
The Seven Suggestions
1. Thou shall not take chocolate (or anything else) for granted.
The Church of Chocolate is all about gratitude. Being grateful for all those who came before and figured out how to make this heavenly substance from random beans. Being grateful we live in a world where we can readily obtain some of the most amazing chocolate available. Being grateful for all those who make it for us and package it and ship it. Being grateful we are able to earn the money to purchase the chocolate. Being grateful we are healthy enough to eat the chocolate. Being grateful for all of those friends who give us chocolate (or time or attention). This process can go on and on and on. Each of us is so very, very fortunate. At the Church of Chocolate we come together to celebrate all we have, not bemoan all we feel we lack.
2. Thou shall savor.
This is a suggestion that you slow the heck down and actually enjoy your life. When you eat chocolate (or any other food), you would use all your senses, you actually focus on it. You notice the way the chocolate melts in your mouth. (Thus the chocolate communion wafers.) You are not talking on your cell phone and driving while you eat. You are in the moment. You do not do this just with food, but with many things - conversation, music, the weather. You actually see the person you are speaking with. You take the time to feel the sun on your face or the breeze in your hair. You revel in all the juice of life.
3. Thou shall not settle.
You know that your days on this earth are limited. You know that you can take the easy way out or with more effort, you can have something you really want. You can eat that leftover Halloween candy or you take your lazy self to the drugstore and get a chocolate bar you adore. You can just stay in the job you hate or you can work hard and find something you love. Members of the Church of Chocolate always want to make the most of their lives. They are not perfect, but they will not give up.
4. Thou shall be happy.
The Church of Chocolate is all about being happy. And you get to define happiness for yourself. We don't want you to come to Church if you don't want to. We only want you to come if it makes you happy. We do not think you get more chocolate if you suffer more. We think happiness is a chocolate magnet and those who are happy actually draw chocolate to them. We want to help you learn how to manage your own happiness - it's one of the few things we believe you have control over.
5. Thou shall practice moderation.
While we believe that chocolate is a higher power, we know that eating too much chocolate is not a good thing. There's is a point in the eating of chocolate at which it no longer tastes so good, a point at which you are full. Then there's the point at which you are sick. This is chocolate desecration. Moderation is an art which we are learning to practice at the Church of Chocolate (C of C). Most of tend to want it all, to want it now, and to want it in mass quantities. This leads us into all kinds of bad places - debt, addiction, obesity. At the C of C we just want you to stop while it's all still good.
6. Thou shall accept responsibility for thine own self.
This is an important tenant of the C of C faith. We believe you are about as happy and fulfilled as you decide to be. We believe that, for the most part, you will reap what you sow. We believe that blaming someone else for where you are is giving your power away and makes you a victim. Even if someone else wronged you, you get to decide whether that will devastate you or make you stronger. You will not count on anyone, not even the Church of Chocolate, to bail you out. You will know, at the end of the day, your best resource is you.
7. Thou shall laugh.
If it's not fun, why would you ever come to the C of C? Chocolate and life is all about fun. If we are going to expect you to stand up and take charge of your destiny, we're certainly going to provide some fun along the way. Most members of the C of C expect extraordinary things from themselves. We have to remind them (and the Holy Hat of Hershey can only help with this), that's it's okay to have fun. It's okay to not take everything so seriously. That beating yourself up does not make you a better person. That laughter really is the best medicine and we don't laugh nearly enough. In fact, if you DON'T laugh and smile, we will excommunicate you.
Can I get an amen?
I'll also take a "hell yeah", "Chocolate Rules", and just about anything else you'd like to shout out. As long as the spirit moves you.
And better yet - these were inside:
I'm sure I'll be going to hell for this (but we've already established I'm probably going there anyway so why get all holy now?). These are like Communion Wafers - the way they should be. I so want to start the Church of Chocolate and give these out! I could be the High Priestess! We could go on holy trips to Switzerland and Hershey, PA. I could wear one of those cool hats like the Pope! I could carry a staff topped by a Hershey's Kiss!
Apparently a little relaxation goes straight to my head.
Anyway, these little wafers ROCK!!! They are amazing chocolate and have a thin filling in them. They are incredible! They are so good, I had to Google the chocolater listed on the liner:
http://lebelgechocolatier.com/home.htm
I am SO going to order some of these - they look great and the ones I tried really were amazing. You know they were good if I'm thinking of starting a Church.
I'm sure that thought will pass after I get my massage.
And look at the size of this baby in comparison to a regular Kiss:
This is a solid 200 calorie Kiss (a regular kiss has about 20 calories). It's not really anything other than a giant Kiss in a really cute box. Clever!
I found these two new Kiss flavors today:
You can see from the autopsy photo that these are like chocolate truffle Kisses. Gorgeous wrapper (you can't really tell from my picture, but the wrapper is really glam), smooth chocolately center. These should make regular Kisses obsolete. Seriously. Why bother with those things - these have a MUCH better chocolate taste. At some point the line has to be cannibalized. I mean how many different Kisses can the world consume?
And look at these:
These look pretty good in the autopsy photo, don't they? These are okay, but I think they could be better. I think the white chocolate needs a little something. It seems more waxy than creamy. I can't explain it, but these don't set me on fire as much as I thought they would.
Kisses now come in a TON of varieties - it really is amazing. I figure if Hershey can come up with a Kiss for everyone, there must be a Kiss out there for me!
See how pretty these are? Five different colors of paper wrapping three different colors of foil and three different flavors of chocolate egg. They are a treat to open! And because they are so carefully and beautifully packaged, you know they will be delish! This is a case in which you can judge the chocolate by its wrapper!
The three flavors are torroncino - this one was a challenge to find the translation of - many times it was referred to as an ice cream. But what it is (as far as I can tell) is almond paste with lemon flavor. It is really wonderful. The lemon is definitely noticeable but doesn't ruin the confection at all.
Gianduja (or, more commonly, gianduia) is a sweet chocolate containing about 50% hazelnut paste. It takes its name from Gianduja, a Carnival and marionette character who represents the archetypal Piedmontese, the Italian region where hazelnut confectionery is common. (Can you say Wikipedia?)
mandorla - this one is also an almond paste - tastes like almond extract which has always somehow reminded me of cherry. It was my favorite.
Now we're in the big league with these eggs - this ain't no Hershey or Mars. These are "traditional Italian Easter eggs created by and for chocolate connoisseurs." Oh hell yeah! Let me continue from the label: "An Italian Easter tradition, these exquisite chocolate eggs are created by a renowned Turin confectionery, founded in 1826 (we didn't even have chocolate in the US back then) by Pier Paul Caffarel. The bittersweet chocolate shells are made from couverture, produced using the finest South American and African cocoa beans. (I don't think there are any other kinds of cocoa beans, but hey, it sounds great!) Place these festive eggs in an Easter basket or scatter them on a table for a decorative Sunday brunch." Oh la la! Or get thee to Williams Sonoma and see if you can get some for 1/2 price and keep them all for yourself! Eggs this high speed should be wasted on no child. And no egg should be left behind.
All hail the Italians!!
Next up is this cutie from Vosges:
Not made in Italy, but this is Vosges Italian Bunny - and on the package he speaks "I enjoy the beautiful scenery of my native Sicily. My long ears help me hear very well and my large hind feet enable me to leap high. Nibble on my paw and you'll see that hazelnuts, almonds and deep milk chocolate run in my family! Buon Appetito!"
Not sure a chocolate bunny would actually encourage anyone to devour him, but hey, it's creative in a creepy kind of way. This is a solid gianduja bunny - made of almonds and carmelized hazelnut paste and deep milk chocolate. Now THAT rocks!!! Palmer and Russell Stover ain't got nuthin' on Vosges. What could be better than a chocolate rabbit with nuts? Why hasn't anyone thought of that? And isn't he just adorable?
So we finish Easter with a gourmet flourish and a tribute to a country that has given the world much beauty and pleasure. Send them good thoughts as they recover and rebuild and be grateful that your home is still standing and your loved ones are safe. We are much, much luckier than we ever realize or appreciate.
Here's to Italy, here's to chocolate and here's to you! (Just pretend that's a Tweet.)
