Posted at 11:49 AM in Chocolicious Reviews | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 09:13 AM in Chocolate!, Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
I am terrific at going on vacation. Really. It's a skill that has taken years to master.
Posted at 10:07 PM in Chocolicious Reviews, Drinking Chocolate, Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates, Travel | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
So I am bidding you a fond farewell as I pack up the family for 2 glorious weeks in Mexico. Mojitos and sunshine here we come!
Posted at 11:35 AM in Chocolicious Reviews | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
So you may have noticed that I have a sweet tooth. Shocking, I know.
Posted at 09:06 PM in Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 06:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 07:00 AM in Chocoholics Unite, Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
For some, dark chocolate can be an acquired taste. It isn't the sweet, creamy comfort food that we enjoyed as kids with milk chocolate. It has some substance. A bite.
Posted at 07:23 PM in Chocolicious Reviews | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
I have recently become a fan of the lovely state of New Mexico when two of the most fabulous women I know moved there. They had given me a peek inside their local chocolate industry with a gift of the most incredible drinking chocolate elixir. It was like a spiritual experience. Ommmmmm.
The ChocolateSmith claims to produce "honest" chocolate which isn't a term I'd heard before but it appeals to me. They make their chocolates in full view of their patrons and support local and organic traditions and the living wage principle. That get's my vote.
Posted at 09:46 AM in Chocolicious Reviews, Drinking Chocolate | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
The lease for our car comes due in a few months.
With all these financing deals abound my hubby and I
have a harder decision than ever about what kind of car to get.
He has his own antiquated ideas of what makes a solid family vehicle choice.
Me? I'm happy with one made of chocolate ...
Posted at 09:29 AM in Chocolate! | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
So, I have been apparently living under a rock for my entire life because I've not once tasted a See's Chocolate. Well, actually, I've been living in Canada and although See's is in lots of groovy international locations, the great white north is not one of them.
Lucky for me the nice folks at this California-based candyland sent me the cutest little Poinsettia Box of chocolates to sample.
I have to admit that at first I was a little apprehensive because I was flying blind with the absence of one of those handy "which chocolate has which filling" guides. I love those guides as I plot my way through a box of chocolatey goodness. But it turned out that was half the fun because the first one I tasted was insane. Insane. In a good way. I was hooked and sat and devoured the entire package in one sitting. Not a single miss in the box.
I know you've been worried about what to get me for a stocking stuffer or hostess gift this season. Fret no more ... problem solved my friends ... a few dozen of these and I'll be smilin.
I poked around their website and they have a terrific selection of business gifts and (my personal favourite given I run a national charity when I am not busy devouring free chocolate for the laborious work of this blog) is their fantabulous fund-raising program.
Two chocolate-covered thumbs up for sure.
Posted at 06:33 PM in Chocolicious Reviews | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
A few days ago it was my birthday. Not a milestone birthday. Not a fanfare birthday. Not a big-deal birthday. Yet it still left me feeling more older than wiser which necessitated a trip to the salon for an ill-advised attempt to make at least my hair look younger. Sigh.
Posted at 10:57 AM in Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)
This past weekend I was out for a drink with two of the best friends anyone could ask for.
Posted at 06:41 PM in Drinking Chocolate | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)
I've had one of those weeks. You know the kind where life piles up on you and you are trying to navigate drama, wade through a mountain of work and then you get knocked on your backside with some rotten plague-like illness. Good times my friends. Good times.
The solution? It starts with a "c" and ends with me smiling - c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e.
The first solid food I've eaten in days was at breakfast this morning ... chocolate hazelnut spread. By the spoonful. Straight out of the jar.
Until I am back to my old self and able to string a coherent thought together, I'll leave you with "Sandra's Favourite Words to Live By" ...
10. Chocolate is cheaper than therapy ... and you don't need an appointment.
9. A balanced diet is a chocolate in both hands.
8. Save the earth, it's the only planet with chocolate.
7. When no one understands you, chocolate is there.
6. I would give up chocolate, but I am no quitter.
5. I've heard that chocolate slows down the aging process ... it may not be true, but do I dare take a chance?
4. Coffee makes it possible to get out of bed. Chocolate makes it worthwhile.
3. There is nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate.
2. When life hands you lemons, throw them back and demand chocolates.
.... and number 1 ...

Posted at 07:12 PM in Sweet Humour | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBack (0)
I think that title translates to "Welcome Brazil's chocolate lovers." But I don't actually speak Portuguese so I may have offered up something ridiculously naughty instead.
They say you should learn something new each day. Today I learned that Brazilians love their chocolate.
A lot.
And there are hoards and hoards of them visiting here today compliments of a lovely Brazilian website who appears to be profiling blogs about chocolate. Judging by the volume of traffic they are sending my way, for all I know they could touting this here blawg as chocolate porn. Heh.
But I am nothing if not hospitable to fellow chocoholics.
I expect they came here to read about delicious recipes or poignant chocolate reviews or at the very least see tantalizing photos of chocolate debauchery. I doubt they wanted to read the diarist ramblings of the life of a 30-something Canadian mama with a sweet tooth.
So in an attempt to make my new South American friends feel welcome, I did a little research on Brazilian chocolate facts that they might find more interesting ....
Did you know there is a super cool Brazilian chocolate company called Garoto? Well, I guess if you are here from Brazil then you would know that. Ya. But I didn't. I am a Euro-chocolate lover myself. Especially the Belgian variety. Though the Garoto folks look like they know a thing or two about chocolate so if you want to send me some brazilian sweets then I am alllll over that.
Actually, I have come to the conclusion that I think I might have to move to Brazil. Did you know they have a National Chocolate Research Institute?! Well they do. But better yet, that they have found that Chocolate can save the planet! Of course it can. Of course it can. Those smart, chocolate-savvy, Brazilians.
Tropical paradise, soccer wizards AND enviro-chocoholics. Nice. Even my friend Lucy, might have liked to pay them a visit ...
Posted at 03:29 PM in Chocolate! | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)
Remember our little eco-trip this past summer? We were hot.

And so was our sweet ride.
There is only one thing that would have made it sweeter ... if it were powered by chocolate. Yes chocolate.
Earlier this week I read about these uber-green Brits from a company called Ecotec that drove a chocolate powered truck 4,500 miles to Timbuktu. You gotta like a pair of guys who aspire to drive to Timbuktu inspired by chocolate. That's just cool.

My first reaction was mixed. The selfish, chocoholic side of me was all "whoa boys, don't you be diverting my chocolate in massive quantities for fuel?!". The green-lovin side of me was concerned about all the controversial issues surrounding crop fuels. Not to worry on either count. They aren't taking my chocolate. Or yours. They use waste chocolate from confectionery companies and then turn it into biodiesel. (Although how can any chocolate be waste? Really.)
Unfortunately the car doesn't smell or taste like chocolate and it took them equivilant to 80,000 chocolate bars for their Timbuktu publicity trip. But if these guys can do it with waste chocolate, and if Doc Brown can do it with banana peels, then what the hell are the big car companies waiting for?
I want a car powered by waste bio fuels. I want a car powered by chocolate.
Posted at 08:31 PM in Chocolate Activism | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBack (0)
I have always considered myself a card-carrying chocoholic. But if the linguists prefer, I suppose that I can be a chocolatic (although that sounds more like a laxative). Recently I came across the term chocoholism and I am not quite sure if I qualify. I do know that I am not ready to be "treated through aversives." This is one of those few addictions that one can often indulge in without abandon, shame or fear of an intervention ... usually.
Do you remember that scene from Forest Gump when Bubba talks about shrimp? I swear to god I have the conversation all the time about chocolate. Chocolate Cake. Chocolate Cookies. Chocolate Ice Cream. Chocolate Truffles. Chocolate Pie. Chocolate Chips. Chocolate Chunks. Chocolate Mousse. Chocolate Strawberries. Chocolate Drops. Chocolate Brownie. Chocolate Fudge. Chocolate Wafers. Hot Chocolate... I should stop now as my typing pace begins to reach an orgasmic parallel.
I have read more than one blogger talk about their relationship with chocolate. I thought it important to establish my own chocoholic credibility.
My addiction (I mean affair) with chocolate has been life long. I was an official member of the Laura Secord Club for years (a chocolate chain in Canada) where I was able to get a free chocolate a month and special treats on my birthday because I was such a frequent customer. Not good enough? Stay with me...
My chocolate habit got so bad that about 10 years ago that I actually overdosed, had an extreme reaction and consequently developed a serious intolerance to caffeine. And I am so messed up that I am bragging about this. Big goofy smile on my face as I tap tap tap at the keyboard.
It happened when I was doing my tour of duty in the ad biz and one of our clients was a chocolate manufacturer (not my client - I got to sell antiperspirant, shampoo, cosmetics and canned pasta. Shivers). They were consumer testing a new chocolate bar. Someone at the client heard that there was one of our team (me) who could eat an unbelievable number of chocolate bars in one day without getting sick of it. So they'd send me dozens to try and give my 2 cents on. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Turns out there IS too much of a good thing and I had a terribly embarrassing reaction at work - fainting, convulsions, very dramatic. I was taken to the hospital because of my chocolate OD. Credible chocoholic yet? Well just wait...
Following my over-indulgent episode and my "intolerance" being diagnosed, I was told that I'd have to break off my dependent fling with my sweet brown lover. To eat even just a little chocolate and I'd get a headache, loose feeling in my lips and forehead and my stomach would stage a full fledged war. Did that stop me? No. The doctor made the mistake of telling me that sometimes people grow out of an intolerance and their immunity changes. That's all I needed to begin planning a strategy for turning this little no-chocolate situation around. I proceeded to secretly build my tolerance over time in an effort to "cure" myself from this dreaded affliction. My sweet husband would have lost his mind if he knew what I was up too. I bought a bag of chocolate chips and snuck one chocolate chip a day to build up my immunity. At first the reaction was rotten but it got better and after a couple of years (this was some serious dedication I tell ya), I could have 2 chocolate chips and then the triumph of 3. I had to take a break when I was pregnant but then finally about 3 years ago I came out and admitted my back room sneaking and that I had won. I was back in the chocolate covered saddle! 
So although I may have established my chocoholic credibility, I am pretty sure in the process, that I've lost all other credibility of being a reasonably sane person.
The most terribly ironic part of all of this is that I am a bit of a health nut outside of my chocolate issue. I'm a vegetarian who eats mostly organic, takes vitamins, eats little processed foods, and goes to a naturopathic doctor regularly. Yet I will never accepted carob as a viable substitute. More like a communist plot.
Maybe I do need an intervention...
Posted at 08:57 AM in Chocoholics Unite | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Even the most culinary-challenged among us can, on that rare occasion, bring grown men to their knees with that one dish (okay now I am really over-promising). This Chocolate Caramel Apple Pie is most appreciated by those with a sweet tooth and a penchant for rich desserts. And, hey, if I can make it, anyone can.
Enough preamble already. All you really came to the party for was the damn pie! So without further adieu...
Hit the market to buy:
- 1 frozen pie crust with a lattice top (for us mom's with no time - or make your own crust if you are so talented - for simplicity, this is the lazy ass version)
- 2/3 cup of sugar
- 2 tbsp flour
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 6 cups peeled, sliced apples (I like Macs but choose your own fav)
- 2 (or more) Caramilk chocolate bars
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cream
- 1 additional tbsp sugar
Get Busy:
(note this is for the lazy ass version - adapt for your own crust)
1. Thaw pastry at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
2. Combine 2/3 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon and whipping cream in a large bowl.
3. Add apples and mix gently.
4. Place half the mixture on the bottom crust.
5. Break Caramilk chocolate bars into squares and place evenly on apple mixture in crust (plus stick some of those babies down between the apples).
6. Add remaining apple mixture, covering the chocolate.
7. Sprinkle brown sugar over apples.
8. Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top pastry over filling , seal and flute edge.
9. Brush crust lightly with cream and sprinkle evenly with 2 tbsp of sugar.
10. Place pie on piece of foil on baking sheet (trust me on that part it can get sticky if you over-filled) and put on lower rack of oven.
11. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and bake 35-40 minutes.
12. Dig in.
Or in other words... take your favourite apple pie recipe and stuff in a pile of Caramilk chocolate bars and you too can be a one-hit-wonder rockstar. The chocolate and caramel melt into the pie and the flavour combo is ... well... you'll see.
Now that I've surrendered my best (okay only) recipe ... I challenge you to do the same.
Posted at 12:01 AM in Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)