Good News and Bad News

I have been working hard painting and cleaning a rental house that my daughter and her husband (a bonafide chocoholic if I've ever known one) own. I got a little break from all of the dust and smokiness by driving my sister and her husband to the airport.

Just as my sister (a fairly decent chocoholic) was getting out of the car, she tossed one these my way:



That's the good news!

The bad news is that when I arrived home, tired and beat, I realized that I left the box in the refrigerator of the rental house 11 miles away.

Waaaaaaaaaaah.

Where Is It?

Do you have a nose for chocolate? Do you just know if there's some hidden in the house? Not only do I know, but I actually hear it calling my name. And who can ignore the sound of their name being called? Not me!

When a holiday is coming up and I know The Enabler will be giving me chocolate (you know, for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, your birthday, the 4th of July, the first day of fall, the 47th Saturday of the year - special days like that!), I ask him to hide it. Otherwise, I'm simply tempted beyond that which I'm able to bear. But then again, knowing it's hidden is almost even more attractive because then I can put my detective skills to good use AND get something sweet out of the deal.

Once when a bunch of ladies were sitting around gabbing, the subject of chocolate came up. Someone asked if anyone else hid theirs to keep it away from the kids. One of my hilarious friends said she did, in fact, hide it and it was in a really good place that none of her 4 sons would dare look -- in a box of "feminine supplies"! I'm pretty certain that was more than 20 years ago and I've never forgotten it.
I wouldn't dare admit any of my hiding places. I do have family members that peak in here every now and again, so it would simply be too risky. Unfortunately, I don't have any hidden at the moment, so I think it's high time I made a little run to the corner market and stock up.

Don't you?

Dad is Great! Give Us Chocolate Cake!

I grew up listening to Bill Cosby on LP records. I especially remember his routine about his brother Russell sleeping in the bed. Several weeks ago our family took a road trip to the land of my nativity and we spent more time driving there and back than we actually spent out of the car.

Fortunately, we had thought ahead and checked out CDs from the library to keep our minds occupied while we ate up the pavement between here and Portland. We heard Bill tell us about when he got his appendix out, about the winos on the New York Subway, and of course we heard about Noah and the Lord carrying on about the ark.

We did a lot of laughing along with the driving, and it helped pass the time. Bless Bill's sweet heart.

So, now I'd like to present Bill having a little fun feeding his children breakfast. Sorry that the sound is a little out of sync with the video, but Bill is so entertaining that it's worth staying with it.

Enjoy!

I'm All Ears

Yesterday I went and saw Judy. I really like Judy because she makes my back feel so much better, and she does it without any cracking or popping, or whatever else usually takes place to get your spine back in alignment.

And now I know you're wondering what on earth this has to do with ears, let alone what it might have to do with chocolate. Stick with me, I'm getting there.

Back to Judy. Usually when I go in, she follows my session with a little reflexology on my feet. Oh, how I love that rubbing and pressure, although I was never one to have my feet touched, and most definitely not to have them tickled. (My dad actually PAID us to "tickle" his feet when he got home from work, which I would do. Me? NO THANK YOU! There could be a whole other post just on that subject alone.) But yesterday Judy informed me that they were having a "special deal," and this is what it was. Instead of the usual reflexology, I could have a bit of auricular therapy instead.



In other words, I could get Happy Dots!

What?

I kid you not. In fact, there was a giant yellow banner strung across the place suggesting that anyone and everyone could come in and get Happy Dots.

Judy explained all about auricular therapy (and how it acts like a natural anti-depressant) and then proceeded to place the dots in my ears. And do you want to know what she said whilst she did so? This is precisely what came spilling out of her mouth:

"You have a fondness for smooth chocolate and sweet things."

Oops. I wasn't hiding that as well as I thought. It was the ears that gave me away, and I didn't even have any chocolate stashed there. Who knew???

So today I will continue to stimulate the meridian points by massaging my ear lobe and outer edge of my ear. In fact, if I'd specifically like to stop a craving in it's nasty little tracks, that is exactly the procedure.

But I'll only do it AFTER consuming a few tasty morsels of smooth brown sweet creaminess!

Please. Don't. Tell. Judy.

Ding Dong Chocolate

Have you ever heard of the Law of Attraction? The simple explanation is that we're made up of energy and we all have a vibration. Whatever vibration we're holding will attract things of a similar vibration (like attracts like). What you think about, consciously or sub-consciously, has everything to do with what you'll vibrate. Are you following me here?

Maybe this will explain why yesterday and the day before, just as I was working frantically to get this site ready to go (read many chocolate thoughts), I heard DING DONG and discovered there was nothing less than chocolate goodies being delivered by lovely friends. But before you get yourself all excited and awed over this, I must admit that neither time were those plates of delectables aimed directly at me.

The first DING DONG was a couple of my daughter's friends. They didn't have a lot going on, so they made a batch of most delicious (read warm, chewy, scrumptious) chocolate chip cookies and brought 'em on by. Being the really helpful mom that I am, I offered to taste test them. They passed.

Then yesterday, quite out of the blue, there it was again. DING DONG. This time it was a sweet neighbor who wanted to feel better about something she'd said, so she whipped out a batch of home made Oreos and brought them to my husband. Yesssirreeee! And being the really supportive wife that I am, I offered to give those babies a little spin in my mouth. They not only passed, they rocked!



Think chocolate thoughts and what happens? DING DONG chocolate.


Here's the more "gourmet" version. Soon I'll share the kid-friendly one.

Home Made Oreos

The cookie part:
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 c. plus 2 T. (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 egg

The creamy filling:
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
2 c. sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 t. real vanilla extract

1. Place two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie (or use a spoon and a whole lot of patience). Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
6. Gobble them down quick!
   

The Enabler (that would be my husband) wondered how they might taste frozen. I think I'll have to whip out a batch and find that out. I wouldn't want to leave him to wonder for long, that's for sure!

12 Step Program

I can't think of a better way to launch a chocolate blog than for us all to identify our motives. What exactly would bring you here other than a controlled love of chocolate? I know. It's not that, it's this: An UNCONTROLLED love of chocolate.

You, me, and almost everybody we know would agree. So let's get to it and see if you just might have an addiction, er chocolate problem.

Take this short quiz and see the truth for yourself:

1. Do you have chocolate brown-outs (i.e. forget that you just consumed an entire pan of brownies)?

2. Do you lie in bed thinking about your next chocolate adventure?

3. When you're enjoying chocolate out with your friends, do you find that you want to eat even more of it when you get home (i.e. get in the freezer and find the Ben & Jerry's)?

4. Do you eat chocolate daily?(Is your motto something like, "A day without chocolate just isn't a day at all.")?

5. Do you have chocolate binges on the weekends? (a chocolate party here, a potluck with a fabulous dessert table there, a swing by the candy aisle here, a raiding of the chocolate chip bag there)?

6. Is your primary reason for eating chocolate because you LIKE IT?

If you answered yes, Yes, or YES to any of these, you're most likely a chocoholic and need the 12 Step Program.

So here it is (please memorize):




Never be more than 12 steps away from some form of chocolate. Never.