Chocolates Can Make Your Day

Yum! Yum! Chocolate is the best problem solver of all times. So what happens if you have had your 'fix' for the day, but you later develop a fever, sore throat that is swelling, and difficulty breathing? Perhaps you are allergic to the only thing that keeps you sane!

Don't give up all hope though, oh thou chocoholic. There are very few people who are truly allergic to chocolate. Often, people are allergic to added ingredients in the chocolate.

Sometimes, there can be more than one trigger in the particular type of chocolate you are eating. If you are allergic to more than one thing, this is especially true. There might be dairy, gluten, soy, corn, nuts, the list could go on and on.

If you are having an allergic reaction you may experience one or more of the following symptoms. Heartburn, headache, perhaps nausea, rectal itching, hives, being disoriented, and breathing difficulties. There is also a life threatening situation that involves more than one part of the body.

If you find that you do have a food allergy, you will need to be very careful about what you eat. You may have to avoid prepackaged food, as many things may be added in that you are allergic to. Here are a few tips that may be of some use to you.

If you decide to go the route of prepackaged foods, make sure you read the ingredients list very carefully to screen for any thing you might be allergic to. Food companies are required to clearly list all their ingredients for such a purpose as this. There are eight top allergen sources that will be listed separately on the packaging: eggs, milk, nuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, shell fish, and fish.

Going out to eat and know that you have asthma? Make sure to ask if the restaurant uses sulfites in their food. These can cause a serious flare up. Also check all food labels so that you can be sure to avoid these triggers.

Perhaps if you have a severe allergy and you are eating out, it would be wise to tell your server of your allergy and explain what happens if you eat something you are allergic to. If your server realizes how serious your condition is, they will be better able to meet your needs and warn you of anything you should know about.

You can also ask your server to pass the word along to the cooks. They may use the same pans and serving dishes to serve different things, and this could lead to cross contamination. They will then be able to meet your needs if they know of your condition.

Is Chocolate Really Bad For Your Health?

There is some confusion at the moment as many people are not sure of the answer to the question is chocolate bad for your health. We all know that it contains refined sugars, waxes, fillers, which will increase your calorie intake, and could make not only gain weight, but have big mood swings from the sugar. Often chocolate has caffeine added to it which can affect your system, and make you even more stressed out. It also is the food which has the highest caloric value for its weight, so anyone with bodyweight issues, and even diabetics should not consume it.

However, there have recently been reports about the health benefits of cocoa, and so people are realizing that perhaps it is not as bad as reported. It has been found that cocoa, in its raw form has many proven health benefits, so if you find the right kind of unprocessed raw cocoa, you can eat it daily as a functional food and see things like lowering of blood pressure; weight loss as it is an appetite suppressant; reduction in pain as it is an anti-inflammatory; mood stabilizer; it's even good for your teeth!

However, if it is eaten in the form of chocolate that most people it, you will not get any of these benefits, and actually you'll get the opposite reaction. Avoid the bars which have a low cocoa content, and lots of additives, fats, sugars and things like that. These are likely to have so many bad properties that they will outweigh any good that the cocoa is providing. It is much better to try, as hard as you can, to have chocolate which has a high cocoa content and preferably raw and unprocessed cocoa so it retains as many of its natural properties (antioxidants) as possible. And, there is a chocolate out there that is this exact kind and it tastes really good.

Since this is more of a functional food (supplement) and not candy, it will be more expensive, but the payoff is worth it. So when considering is chocolate bad for your health the answer is really what kind of chocolate you are consuming. If it's from the store shelf, it is most likely not good for you.

Barista - Once a Title Comparable to Chef, Now Comparable to a McDonald's Employee

In Italy a Barista is a respected job title. It is a title that shares the likes of "Chef" and "Sommelier". The average age of an Italian barista is around 48 years old and they have been a barista for most of their life. In America, however, it is a drastically different story. The average barista is in his/her early twenties, and is hardly respected in the culinary world.

"Barista" is no longer a title earned, or held with pride. For the most part, it is simply what you call a pimple faced kid that throws together your 4 pump, soy, vanilla, no foam latte.

Milk texturing. What's that? Shot times. Huh? Latte art. Is that where you draw the little picture?

Unfortunately, Starbucks and most coffee shop business models have transformed the public perception of a barista from that of a respected "coffee Chef" or "coffee Sommelier" into that of a McDonald's fast food employee. All focus is on efficiency.

Even though a good (real) barista requires the same level of training and commitment to their trade as a good Chef or Sommelier, they are lucky to earn little more than minimum wage.

Meanwhile, the coffee companies they work for are shouting catchy buzzwords like responsibility, sustainability, and seed to cup - with all focus on the "seed" side of things. What about the "cup" side - AKA baristas? $22k a year (and that is generous) is HARDLY sustainable in this day and age.

The truly talented baristas out there are forced to make a big life decision. Follow their passion - and struggle financially for the rest of their life. Or, move on to a more fruitful career - and live more comfortably.

It's no wonder specialty coffee is still in the dark ages!

• Think about how much better the industry could be if it could attract higher level baristas in virtually every coffee shop.
• Think about the awareness to the CRAFT of coffee true baristas will generate.
• Think about how much easier it will be to raise the perception of what a cup of coffee should cost.
• Think about how roasters and farmers will also benefit from coffee being sold at higher costs.

"From cup to seed." It's a complete reversal of current thinking, but one that could make the biggest impact.

If coffee shop owners would get off this "selfless sustainability" kick and focus on raising the perception of coffee to that of wine; all of a sudden they have more money to pay baristas, more for themselves, more for the roasters, more for the transporters, all the way down to the farmers. Everybody wins - sustainably! Is it going to be that easy? Hell no. But if enough key people buy into this way of thinking, the industry could be better as a whole. In the least, I hope this gets some gears turning out there.

Dark Chocolate Health Benefits Are Many

When people started saying the chocolate was healthy I did not think that it was true. I merely thought that it was people using it as an excuse to eat something which tasted good that was thought of as being unhealthy and had no idea about the dark chocolate health benefits. People often are looking for a good excuse to eat something that they like but have been told is not good for them. However, it seems that there are some health benefits to eating dark chocolate. It contains similar health benefits as dark vegetables because it contains flavonoids which act as antioxidants in the body. The flavonoids also help to decrease blood pressure because they produce nitric oxide which helps to balance some of the hormones in the body responsible for blood pressure.

There has also been evidence to show that it can reduce bad cholesterol levels due to it containing one third oleic acid which is a healthy fat found in olive oil. There are also benefits to mental health with the endorphins and serotonin that is produced when it is eaten. These both give feelings of happiness which is great for anyone that tends to get depressed or just for overall well being.

They could reduce stress which can be the cause of some nasty illnesses and lowers the immune system. Although chocolate should not be used as a replacement for advice from a doctor or any sort of medication, there is evidence to show that it does have some health benefits.

It is important to make sure that it is dark chocolate that is consumed as not in massive amounts as it is still calorifically high and will therefore increase weight if eaten in excess. Also make sure that it is eaten as part of a healthy balanced diet in order to see the maximum dark chocolate health benefits.

Healthy Dark Chocolate - Is There Such a Thing?

With a lot of talk about health and chocolate it is important to realize that there is a big difference between all types of chocolate and the health benefits they provide. One of the main health benefits that has been found in healthy dark chocolate is the flavonoids and they are more highly concentrated in dark chocolate because it has a higher cocoa percentage.

It is the cocoa which comes from a plant, which provides all of the health benefits. It is not only full of flavanoids but also minerals and other elements beneficial to health. Also white chocolate and milk chocolate contain more fat, refined sugar and fillers, which are not healthy.

Products which are coated with chocolate should also be eaten with caution because the amount of chocolate may be small and therefore the health benefits minimal. The product which is coated in the chocolate may be unhealthy and outweigh any health benefits provided by the chocolate. It is a balancing act, like any sort of healthy eating to make sure that you have the chocolate as part of a healthy balanced diet and have the dark chocolate if you want to ensure you are getting the maximum health benefits.

There is also a difference between different types of dark chocolate and this can effect the health benefits. Some have been processed a lot and have a lot of added sugar and so they are not so healthy as the ones which are less processed and have lower sugar levels. Some have a higher cocoa percentage than others as well. Check the labels of the chocolate to find out the ingredients and calculate which you think will be the best for you.

It is best to look out for the ones which have low sugar and high cocoa and as few other additives as possible. There are some bars which contain raw unprocessed cocoa and these are likely to be the best healthy dark chocolate.

Chocolate Cream Eggs

Ah - the cream egg in all its variations! We have to start with the most beloved, classic Cadbury Egg - first in its standard size:

And then in the mini size:

I swear I thought the "yolks" used to be more yellow, but that might just be a childhood memory/delusion:

What can I say?  These are awesome - the chocolate is that delicious, creamy Cadbury chocolate.  The filling is a little bit rich for me, but they are good.  I find the little ones are a lot easier to eat - the big one is just too much.  But, hey - they rule the creme egg category rule and I don't think Cadbury should change a thing!

Russell Stover continues to suck.  The chocolate can't even come close to Cadbury's and this strawberry cream has little strawberry taste - just sweet and fluffy rather than creamy (like Cadbury).  Kinda gross:

The raspberry - in dark chocolate rather than milk, but still in that thin, crummy RS chocolate was better:

Better because the dark chocolate offsets the super sweetness of the "whip" and the raspberry taste was stronger than the strawberry.  But not something very good.

This was the worst of the three - just way too sweet (and the chocolate is not so good):

Of course, RS is better than Palmer because while their chocolate can't hold a candle to Cadbury's, it's way better than Palmer's.  I didn't even try these - the chocolate is so thick and so bad, no filling can save it:

But the flower is cute!

Sorry, Palmer.

These Kisses are special for Easter/spring and are buttercreme:

You all know I tend to really like Hershey's Kisses. But these I do not like. I do not like them, when I dream, I do not like the buttercreme. They have a kind of weird flavor to me - I guess I don't like buttercreme. The chocolate overpowers the weird taste after a minute, but why go there at all? I wouldn't waste my time with these if I were you. Sooooo many better options.

See's has a ton of eggs at Easter (last year they sent me some to review).  I wanted to try some I hadn't so I got this little egg assortment:

This one is chocolate butter:

I thought it was kind of dry.  Basically this is chocolate fudge covered in chocolate.  It really didn't do much for me.

This one is vanilla chip:

I thought this one was kind of dry too.  The filling was like vanilla fudge with some chocolate chips (which I thought would be good) but it wasn't.  Think dried out fudge - not so good.

This is Bordeaux:

This was the best of the three and Bordeaux is kind of like a brown sugar fudge coated in chocolate. 

See's has tons of larger eggs - these are sightly less than twice the size of a real egg.  The chocolate butter in the larger egg has walnuts:

And while I MUCH prefer this egg with the walnuts, it just doesn't blow me away.  For some reason all these eggs were kind of dry - dried out fudge is just no good.  The Bordeaux eggs were not dry, though.  Another mystery.

This is the big version of Bordeaux:

I like the addition of the sprinkles:

But, at the end of the day, this just doesn't do it for me.  Butter cream and brown sugar is too rich and sweet, I'd rather have peanut butter or caramel.

I haven't had great luck with Sanders in the past, but this egg surprised me:

I like maple and this had a great maple flavor with little bits of pecan coated in dark chocolate.  It's VERY rich though - like maple pecan fudge. 

As usual, this sucked:

Fluffy, sugary, vaguely mapley stuff inside a thin layer of crappy chocolate.  Glack!

Sanders also had a dark chocolate cherry egg:

But it wasn't very good - not much cherry taste.  The dark chocolate overpowered what little cherry flavor there was.  Not so good.

This is my favorite of all the creme eggs - See's Mayfair:

Hunks of cherry and pecans and wrapped in dark chocolate - I love this egg!  For me, all these flavors and textures work wonderfully together.  It is really delicious!!

I have to confess, after this, I'm just not buying anymore butter cream eggs.  They are too rich and kind of creep me out.  I do not like them in a box, I do not like them in my socks, I do not like them in a jar, I do not like them in my car, I'd rather have a chocolate bar.

Men are from Mars, Shortbread is from Heaven

You know, some days are great and some days are not so great. Today was going pretty good until I spoke with a guy from match.com. Yep, I'm still on (and off) match.com. It seems to be the only way I ever meet any men, so I just can't seem to tear myself away.  But (as many of you know) my results have been far less than stellar. Obviously I am insane and keep doing the same thing expecting a different result. Am I any less insane if I realize it?

Anyway, the guy today wanted me to drop all my plans so I could have dinner with him tonight - I told him I was booked up until the weekend, why didn't we plan something for then? He said he didn't plan that far in advance. That I should cancel my plans to hit the gym - after all, he might be the man of my dreams. I said the man of my dreams wouldn't expect me to drop my plans at the last minute and would want to date a woman who actually had a life.

He was pretty put off by this and couldn't believe I would choose to go to the gym over having dinner with him. I said, "I don't even know you - why should I change my plans? I'll be glad to meet you this weekend or some other time that works for you." Nope, he couldn't make a plan that far in advance and somehow after we hung up, I felt like the inflexible, problematic one.

Then the UPS man came and the heavens opened:

Walker's Shortbread sent me a box of products to review!  Do you hear the angels singing?  I LOVE Walker's Shortbread!  My day is sooooo much better now!  And I can't wait to try these flavors!

These cookies brought me back to myself and reminded me that giving up what's important to you for anybody else is crazy.  And anybody who wants you to is not worth getting to know - they've already shown you who they are.  Maybe I'm not so insane after all.

Yay for Walker's!!  Yay for cookies!!  Boo for jerks!!

Chocolate and the Bathing Suit Body

Everywhere I look I see some weight loss ad encouraging us all to get our fat, pale winter bodies in shape for the beach. Apparently after living under a rock for the last 8 months we are all going to spend our summer romping in the waves half naked.

And to be ready, we have to be so weak from hunger that romping will be impossible. But what the hell, I'll go with the fantasy. Have you seen any of the marketing for these? I wonder what took them so long? Of course, if these are a hit, we'll probably start seeing Cheerios in every flavor under the sun:



Love the "may reduce the risk of heart disease" message. The FDA is soooo going to pull the plug on that BS. I have to confess, I've always thought Cheerios were the most boring cereal on the face of the Earth. Their best use seems to be to give to small children who leave a trail of them in their grubby little wakes. So small children of the world - rejoice! These are WAY better than regular Cheerios! Yay!

But if you are an adult and you are eating cereal to be healthy - step away from the Cheerios and get thee some cereal with fiber! I'm not kidding - to me the whole point of eating cereal is to incorporate some fiber into my diet and Cheerios ain't doing it. They have 1 gram of fiber. Slap yourself if you are wasting your cereal quotient with this. I'd recommend Fiber One's frosted shredded wheat if you want something sweet (9 grams of fiber) or Fiber One's raisin bran clusters (11 grams of fiber). And I actually like both of these better than boring Cheerios - even the chocolate ones. zzzzzzzzz

And how about this? Chocolatey delight Special K:

And check this out - take the Special K Challenge (pretty much eating nothing but their products) and lose 6 pounds in two weeks! Please.

The first scoop I pulled out had zero chocolate chunks in it - and I did shake the box before scooping. I had to fish out some chocolate for the photo:

That's what the chunks look like - pretty big, huh?

Well - if you carefully divide up the chocolate chunks to make sure you get some in every bite, this is pretty good. It ads some zip to the second most bring cereal on the face of the earth. But again, I say - get some damn fiber! This also has 1 gram of fiber.

So bottom line - if you like really boring cereal made slightly less boring by the addition of some chocolate, these are for you! And while a better health choice than eating a sugary kid's cereal, I think you should eat a better tasting and better for you adult cereal if your top concern is your health. Also fiber is more filling if you're trying to lose weight.

Now here's something I was delighted to see! Chocolate Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt is even better for you than regular yogurt - it has more protein. For 110 calories, this little yogurt has 10 grams of protein:

And the best part? It tastes GREAT! Most chocolate yogurts I've had were either high in calories or not that great, but this one is perfect when you want a creamy chocolate fix. Now don't get me wrong, if you don't like yogurt, you won't like this - it's still yogurt. But it's a great chocolate yogurt - healthy AND good! Yay!

It also came in caramel:

I didn't like this one as much - I've found that caramel doesn't seem to translate so well into dairy treats. I don't like Skinny Cow's caramel ice cream bar either - they just taste kinda weird. Now I'm not talking about ice cream with a real caramel ribbon - that's a whole different matter! But these low fat caramel things aren't as good as you would expect. And I love caramel and yogurt (and ice cream - there isn't much I wouldn't do for ice cream), so you can take my word for it on this one.

See how creamy and chocolaty? Caramel on the left, chocolate on the right.

The takeaway? It's great to see some healthy food incorporating chocolate, but just know your goal. If you're eating cereal to be healthier - take a look at the nutrition panel and look for something with some fiber. If you just want something that tastes good - try some different things and see what you like best. Same for yogurt - if you don't like it, don't eat it. But if you're trying to be healthier or lose weight, finding a low-fat, low calorie alternative to ice cream is a must. Or just don't eat the whole carton! But who can do that? Gandhi?

And, what is probably the most important - don't worry about having the perfect bathing suit body - please. The most beautiful people at the beach are those who are having fun and are filled with joy and laughter. (And just maybe, chocolate!)