As we get closer to Valentine’s Day, many of us start thinking about chocolate covered strawberries. Because it can be hard to find them locally, I usually end up ordering mine online. However, I recently discovered that not all chocolate covered strawberries are the same. In fact, some of them are actually fake chocolate!
I’m not going to go into specific brands, but I think this is important information for those of you who might be ordering chocolate covered strawberries online. The last time that you shopped online for chocolate covered strawberries, what was the actual description of the product advertised. Did it include the word “chocolate” in the ingredients? I’ve recently found out that many of them do not. Many say things like “hand dipped strawberries” or “covered strawberries.” Chocolate isn’t mentioned when you look closely. Why is that? Because those companies are not using real chocolate and the FDA won’t allow them to say “chocolate covered” unless they truly are.
I talked to the owner of ccberries.com to get educated about the differences. Apparently most companies use a candy coating rather than chocolate on their strawberries. In order to be advertised as “chocolate,” the coating must contain cocoa butter…and a lot of cheaper coatings do not. Instead, they use vegetable oil as a cheaper filler.
So if you are looking for chocolate covered strawberries this Valentine’s Day, educate yourself and make sure that you are getting what you pay for. Read descriptions of products called “hand dipped strawberries” carefully and check out their ingredients. Find sites like ccberries.com that actually sell real chocolate covered strawberries so that you or your recipient will not be disappointed.
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Looking for a terrific Valentine’s Day gift for a chocolate lover? Rosa Regale and chocolate would be at the top of my list! Rosa Regale is probably my favorite wine, and nothing says “Valentine’s Day” like chocolate covered fruit. wine.com has a set that sells for only $29.99 and includes Godiva Chocoiste Dark Chocolate Raspberries and Almonds.
What makes this combination especially perfect for Valentine’s Day is that the wine is sparkling but not traditional champagne. It pairs beautifully with chocolate, especially dark chocolate. The wine has a slight raspberry flavor that would also go well with fresh chocolate covered strawberries.
I first tasted Rosa Regale on a Disney Cruise at Palo and they brought it to us with little pieces of dark chocolate. It was heavenly! I’ve seen it priced everywhere from $15 to $40. Read more about it at wine.com:
Chocolate is everywhere during the holidays, even in the drinks. I’m a sucker for a good chocolate martini and have been trying out a number of different recipes to find just the right one for the holidays. Here are a few of my favorites. If you have a favorite of your own, leave a comment to share it with everyone else!
Godiva Chocolate Martini (the classic)
1 oz. Godiva Liqueur
1 oz. Smirnoff Vodka
Godiva Cranberry Martini
1 oz. Godiva Liqueur
1 oz. Smirnoff Vodka
1/2 oz. cranberry juice
Mint Patty martini (from Martiniart.com)
3 ounces of freezing Absolut Pepar vodka
2 ounces of White Creme de Menthe
1 tablespoon of Peppermint Schnapps
1 ounce of Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur
1 Starlight mint
2 freezing martini glasses
Add your vodka, Creme de Menthe, and Starlight mint to a cocktail shaker 1/2 full of ice and let the shaker stand for a minute.
Give ten good shakes, and add your Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and give another fifteen shakes.
Strain your cocktail into the martini glasses.
Top each glass with half of the Peppermint Schnapps.
Need a little more help? Check out this chocolate martini video for some hands-on advice.
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Mrs. Prindable’s 24 Treat Size Holiday Apples
Price: $31.14
Savor the sweet flavors of fall with this selection of treat-sized gourmet apples. Dipped in caramel, each is rolled in tasty holiday sprinkles, then individually packaged in holiday wrapping. Perfect for favors at your next mixer! From Mrs. Prindable’s.
I’ve been a big fan of Mrs. Prindables for some time and had no idea that you could get such great deals on Mrs. Prindables products on QVC. Check out this Christmas gift idea–24 treat sized apples for only 31.14. This would be perfect for making up small baskets or bags to give to friends, teachers, and family. These particular apples are dipped in caramel and then rolled in holiday sprinkles.
While you are at QVC, check out the other 30+ Mrs. Prindables products they have. Some of them are not even available on the Mrs. Prindables website itself. I am partial to the dark chocolate but wouldn’t turn up my nose to any of them.
Although I’m a big chocolate fan, I’m not really a big chocolate candy bar eater. In particular, I don’t really enjoy the nutty chocolate bars. A few years ago, my husband and I bought Halloween bags of Snickers, Baby Ruth, and 3 Musketeers just to taste test them against each other. It’s been a while and I can’t even remember what we decided. So I decided to steal some of the kids’ Halloween candy and give it a shot again.
Snickers: This is the one that I always think about when I think about nuts in a candy bar. It contains peanut butter nougat, which I don’t particularly enjoy. I do, however, like the peanuts and the caramel.
3 Musketeers: The filling in the middle of the 3 Musketeers is a fluffy, light chocolate. So it’s essentially chocolate on top of chocolate. What’s not to like about that? It’s very sweet for its little size. I think this is a candy bar that I could eat a lot more of. Why did I think that it had nuts?
Baby Ruth: This is a complex candy bar with a lot going on–chocolate covered peanuts, caramel, and nougat. I had to eat more of this one than the others to even figure out of I liked it or not. It’s very sweet. And I like the nougat better than in the Snickers. But I don’t think I like the peanuts as much.
In the end, I decided that while I like them all, I’m still not going to start eating any of them on a regular basis. Candy bars are just not my first choice in chocolate. Keep in mind that my findings are based only on the “fun size” of each of these candy bars. Much more than that and I would be sick to my stomach!
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Nothing says fall to me like s’mores. Give me a lightly toasted marshmallow, bar of chocolate, and crunchy graham cracker and I am in heaven. According to Wikipedia, the first recorded s’more recipe was the Girlscout Handbook of 1927. Not much is known about the origin of the name “s’more,” but who really cares? They are one of the yummiest treats on the planet, especially when the chocolate melts just right….
If you are a fan of the s’mores as I am and would like to enjoy some variations (besides just making them in the microwave or on a baking sheet in the oven), I have two for you. The first is S’more Pudding. We just made this up at our house. Take the cook and serve chocolate pudding (sugar free for us) and pour it into the bowl while warm. Top it with a handful of mini-marshmallows and crushed up graham crackers. My girls love this! If I want a lower calorie treat that is similar, I substitute sugar free Cool Whip for the marshmallows.
My other favorite s’mores treat is the S’more Brownie. You’ll find lots of different recipes for these online, but they are essentially just cooking up a pan of brownies and topping them with a mixture of mini-marshmallows and graham crackers during the last few minutes of baking. You can then drizzle them with a little chocolate syrup at the very end. I originally saw these as a Weight Watchers recipe where you use the low fat brownie mix, low fat graham crackers, marshmallows, and sugar free chocolate syrup.
We’ve got another few good weeks of s’mores weather here in the midwest. I will certainly be eating my fill!
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I’m always skeptical when I see chocolate and it isn’t expensive. (I’ve mentioned before that I am a bit of a chocolate snob). So I had low expectations for the Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Corn from The Popcorn Factory. I figured the popcorn would be fine (because that’s their specialty) but that the chocolate would taste cheap. I could not have been more wrong!
I had ordered a variety pack of different types of popcorn, candies, and cookies. As soon as I opened the tin, I headed straight for the chocolate. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t even share with my kids. I actually ate the entire bag of it before anyone else even knew I had it! I seriously thought about ordering more immediately so that I could have it by the next weekend. The contrast of the chocolate and the popcorn made it an addictive combination that I couldn’t manage to put down.
What I love about The Popcorn Factory is that you can find an assortment for any occasion. You can order plain old bags when it is just for snacking. Or you can order tins and baskets for any holiday. Their shipping is fast and reasonable. Whether you are looking for a treat for your family or a gift for friends, you should absolutely give the Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Corn a chance.
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I’m always looking for ways to satisfy my chocolate sweet tooth without packing on the pounds. Today I saw JELL-O Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Pudding Snacks. At 60 calories and only 1.5g of fat, I knew that I had to try it.
The pudding snacks come 6 to a package and must stay refridgerated. Although I often eat my pudding with a dollop of fat free Cool Whip, I decided to eat the dark chocolate pudding straight so that I could appreciate the flavor. Good choice! The pudding was creamy and thick–perfect for someone who craves chocolate after almost every meal. Although I can’t say that it was much different than their regular sugar free chocolate pudding, it definitely seemed a little darker, a little less sweet.
If you are watching your sugar intake or your waistline but still love chocolate, you should definitely check out the newest sugar free treats from JELL-O. You can indulge every day and not feel the least bit guilty.
P.S. The Dark Chocolate Raspberry was as delicious as the Dark Chocolate!
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It’s hard to think about chocolate without thinking of the classic I Love Lucy episode “Job Switching.” Although it was filmed in 1952, it still stands out as one of the all-time best known chocolate scenes.
In this clip, Lucy and her best friend, Ethel, are trying not to lose their jobs in a chocolate factory. It seems easy enough at first to wrap the chocolates as they come across the conveyor belt. However, the chocolate gets the best of them!
I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine sitting next to a chocolate conveyor belt and NOT eating the chocolate. However, I have a feeling after watching as much chocolate come across as Lucy and Ethel did, they didn’t want to eat chocolate for a LONG time!
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I have been seeing Target’s chocolate collection, choxie, for months but never tried it. The other day on a whim I decided to grab a sampler and see how it compared to more expensive chocolates.
I bought the Cocktail Truffle Collection, which contained 6 different flavors: Milk Chocolate Cosmo, White Chocolate Pina Colada, Dark Chocolate Appletini, Milk Chocolate Margarita, Dark Chocolate Peach Bellini, and Dark Chocolate Martini.
The box itself was nice looking but not expensive. Nice enough to give along with another gift or as a little “thank you” gift but not Valentine’s Day quality or anything like that. The inside of the box was a little bit cheaper looking.
I started with the Dark Chocolate Peach Bellini because dark chocolate and peach bellinis are, separately, two of my favorite things. It was really good. Not cheap tasting at all. And a nice mix of flavors. It was probably my favorite in the box. I was least looking forward to the White Chocolate Pina Colada because I’m not much of a white chocolate eater. But the sprinkle of coconut on the top helped me overlook the white chocolate. The only one that I was not too pleased with was the Milk Chocolate Margarita. They tried to capture the salt taste and it just didn’t work for me.
Overall, I have to say that I would buy them again and would buy them for a friend. The “alcohol” flavor in each was minimal, especially compared to true liquor filled truffles. Each was topped with either a sprinkle or a dusting of something, making each individual piece look special.
I haven’t seen these available online, so you would not be able to order them for a gift. But I would assume you can pick them up in any Target store (mine was a Super Target). Next time I will try a different assortment of more traditional flavors…maybe some caramel and pecan. I am certain that I will be eating choxie again!
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