A Blog of Chocolates

2002-08-03T17:07:00.000-04:00

Blogathon 2002 is over... but there are still women who want to start businesses and need help. First, feel free to look here and in the archives if you want to read about chocolate... and if you would like to support my cause, feel free to make a direct donation to Count Me In. Your donation will be tax-deductible.

If you would like to visit my regular blog, go to My Riad.

2002-07-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

Finis! I can't believe I did it! 24 hours without sleep! Thank you, thank you... you helped raise $429 for Count Me In... and you helped Blogathon 2002 raise more than $58,000 for charities around the world. (There may be more to add to the Count Me In total after I hear from Bean Tree Soap.)

I want to thank each of you who sponsored me. Your generosity is much appreciated. Thanks to all of you who helped me find stuff to write about, and helped me stay awake. I'm glad we could help Count Me In, and in turn, help our economy grow.

Before I crash, some important information for the sponsors:

*Do not send or give your pledge money to me, or to Blogathon 2002!

* You will receive an e-mail from Blogathon 2002 asking you to send your donation directly to Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence. You can donate online, or you can send your contribution to: Count Me In, 22 West 26th Street, Suite 9H, New York, NY 10010. If you do send your contribution by snail-mail, I would appreciate it if you mention that you made a pledge through A Blog of Chocolates.

*Be sure to get a receipt from Count Me In if you want to write your contribution off on your taxes. Because I am not collecting money, I cannot provide you with a receipt when tax-time rolls around. From my previous giving experience, I believe Count Me In will send you a thank-you e-mail which notes the amount you gave. Print out that e-mail and it can serve as your receipt. Otherwise, keep your cancelled check, or somehow keep track of your contribution.

This site will be accessible if you want to come back to review any of the chocolate tidbits I posted... please honor any references/credits I made to other authors, books, sites, etc.

Finally, I may do this again next year! If you have any chocolate ideas, please e-mail me.

Thank you very much.... and take a moment every day to enjoy life!

2002-07-28T08:35:00.000-04:00

Favorite Chocolate Cookies: Let's start with the classic-- chocolate chip. I've got a recipe that makes a really crunchy cookie. The secret ingredient is potato chips. No joke! Basically, take a standard cookie dough recipe, be sure you're using real butter, and add about 2 cups of crushed potato chips. (A sleeve of Pringle's is just about right.) It adds a unique crunch... and 99 percent of the time, people don't know why it tastes so good until you tell them the secret... if you tell them the secret!

Next-- a cookie that goes by several different names. At Foster's Market in North Carolina, it's called the "chocolate whopper." Look in the Williams-Sonoma chocolate cookbook, and it's called the "othello." Whatever you call it, it's a great recipe. It has loads of chocolate and very little flour... just enough so you can call the resulting product a cookie. Melted chocolate in the dough, and lots of chocolate chips and nuts. Mmmm.

Finally-- a cookie that got me several marriage proposals. It is the ultimate chocolate cookie. It's called the "Menage a trois" cookie, and the recipe was developed by DeDe Wilson. It's in her book, Bake It to The Limit. It's got a whopping 46 ounces of chocolate in the entire recipe... a dark, truffle-y cookie with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate chunks. I'm happy to say you can also get the recipe here. Go make these!

Last half hour: Thank you!

2002-07-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Chocolate and Ancient Mayan Religious Beliefs: The Mayans believed cacao was heavenly. (Hmmm. So do I.) They believed the cacao tree belonged to the gods, and research into their civilization shows that it was the only tree they bothered to name.

The Mayans believed the cacao pods were gifts from the gods to humans, (hmm... so do I) and that the pods were symbols of life and fertility.

They also built stone temples and palaces which featured carvings and images of cacao pods.

(I tried decorating my house in a chocolate theme and my husband wouldn't let me.)

Next half hour: Favorite chocolate cookies

2002-07-28T07:31:00.000-04:00

Chocolate and Christianity: Hey, it's Sunday morning. Guess we ought to do something religious.

Seems like the Church had a love-hate relationship with chocolate. Sometimes they used it, sometimes they banned it.

When Hernan Cortes realized cacao was sort of a "black gold," he got greedy and tried to keep a monopoly on processing beans. You can thank the Jesuits for actually introducing and spreading chocolate throughout Spain, Italy, and France.

Until the 18th century, nuns and monks made chocolate on both sides of the pond.

In the New World-- they loved chocolate. The nuns and monks even used it to keep them going during a fast.

In Europe, however, chocolate was kind of suspicious for a while. One monk tried to declare that chocolate was nothing but diabolical, but no one paid him much mind.

Next half hour: Chocolate and Ancient Mayan Religious Beliefs

2002-07-28T07:03:00.000-04:00

Cure for a hangover: Wild Saturday night? Waking up with a headache? (Or are you still up with a headache?) Chocolate might be your cure.

During the 17th century, an Englishman wrote in his diary about a terrible hangover he had the morning after the king's coronation. He wrote that a friend gave him a cup of chocolate as a remedy.

Hope it worked!

Next half hour: It's Sunday morning. Time for some religion. We'll start with Chocolate and Christianity.

2002-07-28T06:32:00.000-04:00

Chocolate Babka: I didn't even know what chocolata babka was until my co-worker introduced me to it a few weeks ago. She and her mom get it from a Jewish grocery store called Snyder's in DC. She kept telling me how good it was, and she finally brought in a piece so I could try it myself.

Merciful heavens! It was more than I imagined... more than just bread. And it is. Bread dough rolled out, then slathered with chocolate paste, rolled up and baked.

She said, "wait 'til you get home. Heat it up and put some whipped cream on top." She looked at me. Oh, yeah, her eyes said. It'll send you.

Me, when I taste something that good, I have to try to make it myself. I don't know if it's to continually impress my husband, or know that I can do myself in -- in a happy way-- with my own cooking. I haven't tried it yet-- but here's a chocolate babka recipe.

(FYI -- there are recipes for chocolate babka with pecans or walnuts, and Elinor Klivans has a chocolate-almond babka recipe in her book, Bake and Freeze Chocolate Desserts. I think I prefer no nuts. Leave room for more chocolate.)

Next half hour: Cure for a hangover

2002-07-28T06:03:00.000-04:00

Eeek! The sun is rising.... the birds are singing...

Chocolate for breakfast: Not that I'm hungry this early in the a.m. But I thought you might want to consider some choices.

If I were awake enough to cook, I'd make some chocolate scones. I was thinking about double-chocolate chip. I like scones-- they're easy to make, it's easy to experiment with flavors, and they're easy to carry in the car with you to work. And they look so impressive. Here are a few recipes:

*Chocolate-Drizzled Tweed Scones
*Bittersweet Chocolate Scones with Rum-Macerated Dried Cherries

Don't know about you, but around my house, whenever dad had a bumper crop of zucchini, it was zucchini this, zucchini that. How about some Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

Next half hour: Chocolate Babka

2002-07-28T05:37:00.000-04:00

Is Chocolate Good for You? Several new pieces of research have given us new reasons to enjoy chocolate with less guilt, according to the Chocolate Manufacturers' Association.

First is one my mom is really glad to hear: the main fatty acid in chocolate does not raise bad cholesterol levels.

Another is that dark chocolate and cocoa powder have the same antioxidants as red wine.

And the third is the positive impact chocolate has on the brain and our feelings of well-being.

But what about what dietitians say-- especially with obesity in America at epidemic proportions?

Chocolate makers say-- it's the so-called "junk" chocolate that makes you unhealthy. They say high-quality chocolate contains pure cocoa butter, with no added fat (so obviously they put milk chocolate in the non-high-quality category), and chocolate that has a higher percentage of the real thing needs less sugar to make it taste good. Basically-- just remember to think about what else is in your chocolate besides chocolate.

Next half hour: chocolate for breakfast

2002-07-28T05:03:00.000-04:00

Cloud Nine Chocolates: Cloud Nine chocolate is a smooth chocolate. It is made with evaporated cane juice instead of refined sugar, if avoiding refined sugar is your thing.

Cloud Nine makes about 11 different flavors of bars. Toasted coconut crisp with milk chocolate and cool mint crisp-- dark chocolate with little bits of peppermint candy-- are my favorites. They also have an espresso bean crunch bar, which I didn't like because I thought the beans were left too big; but then again, I'm not a coffee drinker.

Cloud Nine is definitely worth a taste!

Next half hour: Is chocolate good for you?

2002-07-28T04:42:00.000-04:00

Man, this is torturous, hearing my husband snoring in the next room...

Does Chocolate Really Cause Pimples? Well, we'll have to consider the sources. On one hand, your mom, who either doesn't want you to get into the habit of eating chocolate or wants to eat it all herself. On the other, the chocolate manufacturers who want to you buy, eat, buy, eat.

You know what your mom says.

Here's what the manufacturers have to say: there is "no correlation between chocolate consumption and acne in teenagers. Likely culprits are hormonal imbalances and a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in the diet."

The chocolate manufacturers, according to The Cook's Encyclopedia of Chocolate, have similar explanations for migraines (chocolate has less of the chemical that sets off migraines than cheese); tooth decay (blame sugar, sticky candy, or toffee); and even obesity (good quality dark chocolate is expensive, so you can't afford to eat enough of it to make you fat).

(Kinda reminds you of that guy in NY trying to sue KFC and McDonald's for his weight problem, doesn't it?)

Next half hour: Cloud Nine Chocolates

2002-07-28T04:15:00.000-04:00

Chocolate and the Afterlife: If there's a choice, send me off Mayan style. The Egyptians equipped their dead with things they thought they'd need in the next life, and so did the Mayans-- though perhaps not as elaborately.

A tomb found in Guatemala contained vessels used for drinking chocolate-- and one of those vessels had traces of chocolate left in it!

Next half hour: Does chocolate cause pimples?

2002-07-28T03:44:00.000-04:00

Chocolate bath and body products: There are quite a few products out there that not only use cocoa butter, but cocoa for the body.

Let me plug one of my corporate sponsors, Bean Tree Soap. The owner, Shannon, has a chocolate massage bar that is shaped like a wooden massage tool. It contains cocoa butter, cocoa, and shea butter. She says that the smell is so wonderful, every time she makes it, her husband thinks she's making brownies. Shannon has put together a chocolate gift basket just for this fundraiser... you can get chocolate soap, chocolate lotion, chocolate bath salts, and chocolate massage oil for $20. A very sensual gift. And $5 will go to Count Me In.

Next half hour: Chocolate and the after life

2002-07-28T03:12:00.000-04:00

Six hours left! We're in the home stretch... last quarter of the Blogathon.

Note to self: get BloggerPro for spell-checking if you do this again next year...

Chocolate and body temperature: One of the most sensual things about chocolate is that it melts somewhere between 86 degrees F and 97 degrees F, which is right below body temperature. So, it remains solid at room temperature and melts once you put it in your mouth.

Do, however, store your chocolate slightly below room temperature, and give it time to warm up before you eat it, so you can enjoy all the flavor.

Next half hour: Chocolate bath products

2002-07-28T02:41:00.000-04:00

Chocolate and prostitution: During the Mayan and Aztec Empires, a john paid for a prostitute's services in cacao beans. During the Mayan Empire, an entire night at a brothel cost a handful of 'em.

And a contemporary of Hernan Cortes (the explorer who took cacao back to Spain) noted that the services of a prostitute during the Aztec Empire cost ten cacao beans.

(Wonder how he knew?)

Next half hour: chocolate and body temperature

2002-07-28T02:11:00.000-04:00

Mood foods: You know what we've been talking about.

Here are two of my favorites-- the "chocolate kiss" (no, not the Hershey's thing)-- take a piece of chocolate, put it in your mouth, let it melt a little, then kiss. Very sweet.

I also like Nutella. You know, the chocolate-hazelnut spread?

You figure out what to do with it.

Next half hour: Chocolate and prostitution

2002-07-28T01:31:00.000-04:00

Chocolate aphrodisiacs: If we follow the logic of my last post, then whatever you think puts you in the mood does.

For Montezuma, it was 50 cups of chocolate a night... Casanova ditched champagne as a love potion, opting for hot chocolate instead... in the 1930s, many femme fatales were pictured with a box of chocolates on satin sheets... and historically, monks were told to avoid chocolate because it could "violently inflame the passions."

Next half hour: More on mood foods

2002-07-28T01:04:00.000-04:00

Sex and chocolate: One of chocolate's early uses was as an aphrodisiac. (You've heard or read the story of Montezuma and his 50 cups of chocolate a night before visiting his many wives...?)

Well, one of chocolate's ingredients is "phenylethylamine." (Don't ask me how to say it. I'm not sure I could spell it without looking.) Just think of it as a chocolate amphetamine. This chemical occurs naturally in the brain... and releases other chemicals in the pleasure centers of our brains... and peaks during the big O.

So does chocolate give us the same chemical response as an orgasm?

Well, according to chocolate.org, our bodies metabolize much of the pheny-thingy before it reaches our central nervous systems. Sorry.

But, hey, I've always heard the best sex organ is your brain... so if you think it works...

Next half hour: Aphrodisiacs.

2002-07-28T00:30:00.000-04:00

Men vs. Chocolate: First, a quote from Maria Teresa, the Spanish princess who married King Louis XIV of France in 1660:

"Chocolate and the king are my only passions."

Note the order!

And she's not the only woman who feels this way... according to chocolate.org, 50 percent of women claim to prefer chocolate to sex.

I'd have to say... I loved chocolate before I met my hubby... he's a great guy... however, chocolate doesn't leave its shorts in the floor for me to pick up day after day...

Sometimes, it's a clear choice, sometimes, it's a toss.

Next half hour: put the kiddies to bed! Chocolate and sex

2002-07-27T23:58:00.000-04:00

Woo-hoo! Two more sponsors-- one a good friend, the other an anonymous I can't figure out. (Email me, anonymous, so that I may thank you personally.) Thank you both! Our total for Count Me In is $429, not counting contributions from Bean Tree Soap. I'm feeling pretty good about hitting $500...

Chocolove: Chocolove has a cute packaging concept. The bars are wrapped to look like love letters, with a stamp. Inside the wrapper is a love poem. Chocolove bars are made of organic Belgian chocolate.

Chocolove comes in 33% milk chocolate, and an assortment of dark chocolate bars ranging from 55% to 77%! There are also combinations of ginger, cherries and almonds, orange, and raspberry.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the milk chocolate and hazelnut bar. It tasted a little waxy. I tried the 55% dark chocolate bar, and it didn't melt in my mouth like I wanted; it took a couple of chews. However, I did enjoy the dark chocolate orange bar.

Cute packaging-- worth a try.

Next half hour: Men vs. Chocolate. Oh, ladies, you'll wanna hit the comment key for this one.

2002-07-27T23:36:00.000-04:00

Can you become addicted to chocolate? There are certainly quite a few people who say they should belong to Chocoholics Anonymous. But can you really be addicted to chocolate-- like a drug?

Chocolate contains compounds similiar to those found in marijuana, and these compounds do give us a little buzz of pleasure when we eat chocolate. But our stomach acids break down these compounds before they get into our bloodstream.

And, it's true, chocolate triggers the body's natural opiates-- but scientists say that creates a craving, not an addiction. What's the dif? When you're addicted to something, it becomes less and less satisfying every time you use it.

While it's true that Hershey's lost its luster for me years ago, progressing from Hershey's to, say, Lindt, isn't the same as going from weed to nose candy.

Next half hour: Chocolove

2002-07-27T23:02:00.000-04:00

The Bishop who was murdered for trying to ban chocolate: This took place in Chiapas, Mexico, I believe sometime in the 17th century.

A group of upper-class ladies basically said Mass was too long and exhausting without having a cup of hot chocolate to help them through. So they would have maid-servants to walk into the sanctuary bringing them cups of chocolate.

This didn't go over too well with the Bishop. It disrupted Mass. He told the ladies there would be no more chocolate served during Mass. Anyone who broke that rule would be excommunicated.

The ladies didn't care. It got so bad, at one point, folks pulled swords on each other when the priests tried to take the chocolate away from the ladies' maids. (In church! We got in trouble just for chewing gum!)

Finally, the ladies refused to attend the Bishop's services, and started going to Mass at a convent. The priests tried to warn the Bishop that if the women couldn't drink their chocolate during services, they were going to get revenge-- and that it could be deadly.

Eight days later-- the Bishop died a very painful death.

Rumors started spreading that one of the gentlewomen who was -- *ahem* -- "familiar"-- with one of the Bishop's pages got that page to give the Bishop a cup of poisoned chocolate.

Moral of the story: never come between a woman and her chocolate!

Next half hour: Can you become addicted to chocolate?

2002-07-27T22:33:00.000-04:00

Montezuma's Chocolates: First, hello to all my friends in the UK. I want to come visit you. Actually, I want to go visit this chocolate company and stay with you so I can save money on lodging.

Montezuma's was started by two lawyers about two years ago. (Maybe less.) Their chocolate is hand-made using all organic ingredients, and they have some unique combinations of flavors. They offer bars, blocks, truffles, and drinking chocolate. The ingredients they use include brazil nuts, Australian ginger, bananas, coconut, apricots, pecans, cranberries, sultanas, almonds, cardamom, apple, lemon, coffee beans...

I ordered several of their bars last Christmas. Wow. I loved the white chocolate with cinnamon. Very smooth. And after I tasted the milk chocolate with nutmeg, I hid it from my husband. If you love dark chocolate, they have a 73% very dark chocolate bar. They also have what they call the "Emperor Chili" bar... chocolate with chili; I haven't got up the courage to try it yet. And they have some vegan chocolate bars. Yes!

If you're lucky enough to live near Sussex, where Montezuma's is based, you can join "Monty's Club" and get invites to the company's chocolate tastings.

If you live in the US and want to try some of Montezuma's chocolates, which I do recommend, order from www.chefshop.com. You'll save a little bit on shipping-- and since it's summer, it's probably safer.

Next half hour: The bishop who was murdered for trying to ban chocolate

2002-07-27T22:05:00.000-04:00

Best Hot Chocolates: It's 10pm in my corner of the world: Time to cozy down with some hot chocolate.

(Or maybe not. I'm in the South, where it's cooled down to 72 degrees. It's so hot during the day, I've got fried green tomatoes on-the-vine.)

So, hey, if it's cold enough in your world to cozy down with a cup of chocolate, here are some of my favorites:

*Ibarra Authentic Mexican Chocolate Drink Mix comes in a nifty yellow and red box. Inside are large tablets containing cacao nibs, sugar, and cinnamon. You heat up some milk, then put the milk in a blender with a few wedges of the chocolate tablets and give it a whir. Frothy and flavorful.

*Lake Champlain of Vermont makes a nice powdered cocoa mix, in several different flavors (chocolate, chocolate raspberry, chocolate orange, and chocolate mint). When you follow the directions on the package you get a nice, rich drink. Oh, this is a "no water" mix. Gotta use milk. By the way, Lake Champlain makes some nice chocolates and truffles-- I love their holiday truffles (like the hazelnut praline Easter Egg)-- and they have a box of thins, with a dark chocolate peppermint candy crunch. It's a dark chocolate I really enjoy.

*My mom sends me a canister of this every Christmas: Williams-Sonoma's peppermint hot chocolate. It is actually chipped chocolate that has been infused with peppermint oil. You mix a few spoonfuls into some hot milk. Mmmm. I do believe it is a seasonal product.

Next half hour: A British chocolate company with some great combinations-- Montezuma's.

2002-07-27T21:36:00.000-04:00

Why Every Chocolate Lover Should be an Environmentalist: Basically, because cacao trees don't just grow anywhere. They're very picky about where they'll flourish. And the best gardener for the job is Mother Nature.

Cacao trees only grow within about 15 degrees of the equator. They need constant warmth, and constant rainfall. They can reach 50 feet high, but they must grow under the shade of other trees. Under the right conditions, they can produce pods for 100 years or more.

There have been some attempts to create large plantations, but it just doesn't work. Only about 3 percent of all the blossoms on the cacao tree actually produce fruit-- and the number drops when man steps in to try to industrialize it. Some people have even tried hand-pollination, and it doesn't increase the success. Any chocolate that is produced just doesn't taste the same. Fact is, 90 percent of the chocolate we get is grown by small farmers who just help Mother Earth do her thing.

I think it's divinely ironic that the "food of the gods"-- one of the greatest pleasures on earth-- is something only God (if you believe in one; if not, nature or whatever) has the recipe for. And if you're a chocolate lover, you can see why mowing through the rainforests threatens your passion.

Learn more about the cocoa tree through a special interactive project called The Cocoa Tree.

Next half hour: Best hot chocolates