Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Chocolove Strong Dark Chocolate

ChocoloveI have a problem with the term zero visibility. Doesn't the zero negate the visibility? Shouldn't it be invisibility? Snow. It's everywhere. Teaming through the patio door, heaped up against the garage door, preventing the car from reaching the top of the driveway to escape a neighbor rapidly declining in mental health.
After spending more time trying to put on an old pair of cross country skis than skiing, I gave up, and had a bite of Chocolove Strong Dark, 70%. This was the bar I was standing my ground with at the co-op. It has a love poem inside, which I pointed out to the Bowie hair clerk to whom I was trying to justifying buying the Chocolove along with the Santander in the orange wrapper. Bowie hair regarded this small talk the way you'd regard a declined credit card. I think she knew I just had a lip wax.

ChocoloveChocolove also makes Chilies & Cherries and Crystallized Ginger chocolate bars. Shudder. I only found three Chocolove milk chocolates. Their highest cocoa content is in the Extra Strong Dark, 77% Cocoa. I guess that's strong enough.
The Strong Dark 70%, a bittersweet Belgian chocolate I purchased under duress, was a bar I planned on getting my mother to review. But she called me to say I shouldn't be on the roads today (after talking to my Aunt Eva, who called her to say she'd just talked to me, and between the two of them concluded I was stopping by to deliver soup).
See how that works? Neither rain, nor snow, nor zero visibility can stop the Blue Hair Network.
The Chocolove Strong Dark is more bitter and less smooth than the 70% Santander. But they spell cocoa the normal way and it's fun to nibble the nutty, heavy, bitter bar while reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
"A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'—" indeed.

28 comments:

  1. you mean, they make a choco-cherry with chiles and ginger? That is a "strange" combination...

    I like the love poem inside. Free gift with purchase, lol. :)

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  2. Hey Jodi, there's a new Chilies & Cherries in Dark Chocolate, and a Ginger Crystallized in Dark Chocolate. Might as well be grubs and fire ants.
    The love poem is nice.

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  3. Oh I love dark chocolate! Yum! You must have gotten some of that snow! We got exactly 0", that's right, it's all south of us. :( I'm so sad and cheated. :(

    Hey, I left something for you over at my place. :)

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  4. GAH! I've tried some candies made with chilies and other fruits and as much as I wanted to love it, (because it sounded sooo cool) I couldn't. My students always bring me candy from their countries and the Mexicans are big into the chili in their candy and food. Me? Not so much. Just like I don't like chocolate with my chili. I love chocolate and I love chili, but not together. There's this Mexican sauce called Mole and it's made of chili peppers and Mexican chocolate (cacao). I seriously tried to like it, but I couldn't. I LOVE Mexican food, so maybe I'll try it again.

    That Chocolove bar looks delish! Mmmm!

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  5. Speaking of dark chocolate. Check out number 3 on the "Top 50 Sports Bloopers Recap"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3iEd9jaEHk

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  6. Hey Lisa. Royal bananas, yum. Thanks!
    I am so trying to appreciate dark chocolate. I can not believe you didn't get anything. Nothing? The height of the snow banks are almost comical. There were people stuck on 90 for eleven hours, some out of gas, so don't feel cheated. It was crazy. Of course today was lousy with cross country skiers.

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  7. I'm with you Chrissy, not even tempted by the crystalized ginger. It's funny the kids keep bringing you stuff. So you always have a few students living with you?
    My cousin who is also Italian and Irish, married a Mexican man and they are so into the mole. I just can't get into it.
    My mother liked the Chocolove more than the Santander. It surprised me, little addict that she is. I didn't really care for this chocolate.

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  8. Did the announcer say "That dog is sick," or was I hearing things. Great find, but was it Westminster. What kind of dog was that, the sign said Weimaraner, but it didn't look like Man Ray. Pretty good reel. Are you turning into a sports fan on me, Jimmy?

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  9. I don't know if it was Westminster or not? One can only hope!
    I just happened to walk past the TV the other night at about the same time that dog was doing his thing! So naturally I started googling for it.
    I just can't watch TV when there is a computer available.
    The TV is just for background noise!

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  10. Unless Lost is on of course. Did you really write that editorial?

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  11. Yes, back in 2005 when there was a big stink about giving Tookie Williams (Notorious leader of the Crips gang) the leathal injection (AKA Dirt Nap)!
    All the bleedin heart liberals were wettin' their panties over it.
    The Star News didn't accept my first draft, so I shortened it up quite a bit and left out "Tookie's" name!!!!

    My probation officer (from my body armor fiasco) enjoyed my article so much that he cut it out and presented it to me on one of my visits! I still keep him in my email addy contacts.

    I've sent in one or two more. I'll have to see if I can find them.

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  12. Hey, Jeanna!
    We just had some students finish their stay with us not too long ago. We're in between batches of students at the moment, which is fine by me! I get to take a little breather from the 24-7 routine of teaching, activities, etc. In the interim, I'm just doing on-call supply teaching jobs...among other things. I've got projects coming out of the wazoo at the moment, plus helping Hubby with things as well.

    I've always thought the term "Strong Dark Chocolate" to be a bit redundant. To me, dark chocolate has always been strong! ;) I'm just a milk chocolate wuss! LOL!

    Don't you just love how in Japan they've got Men's chocolate??? It's a dark chocolate. I guess they think men are 'stronger'? It's too funny. What's even funnier is that Hubby actually likes "Men's" chocolate. Pocky's got a Men's Pocky (chocolate flavoured pretzel-type thingies). I'm partial to Strawberry or Tahitian Vanilla. Gosh, that makes me sound like such a girlie girl! LOL!

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  13. Okay, before I type another word, you're going to have to explain the whole body armor fiasco to me.

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  14. C., did you know this one was such a bad boy?
    Men's chocolate, eh? Why do I picture a urinal cake. I gave my aunt a pair of chocolate false teeth and my cousin a large chocolate asprin for their birthdays last night.
    I'm a milk chocolate wuss myself. Strawberry and Tahitian Vanilla sounds scrumptious.
    Glad you finally got a moment.

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  15. Men's Pocky, lol. I give it to my cp. He thinks it's funny as all hell. It comes in a bigger box (the opportunity for jokes here...) and has a thicker stick.
    I like the chocolate almond mousse and black sesame.

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  16. I've never heard of Poky, but will try to snag a box somewhere. A bigger stick you say? Sounds like a nice variety of flavors to choose from.

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  17. LOL@ Urinal Cake ...

    That dark chocolate looked so good, that I licked my monitor. (Not so good)
    I am in Minnesota. You can toss a cup af water off the deck and it freezes before hitting the ground!!

    Hello from Speedcat Hollydale :)
    http://speedcathollydale.blogspot.com/

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  18. Hey Neighbor to the North! I believe it. People just don't understand that you also have to scrape the inside of the windshield. That you can't lick your teeth or they'll crack, and that all sweat turns into a thin layer of ice. If you even think warm thoughts they become condensation and freeze.
    Speaking of Gunslingers, I saw 3:10 to Yuma last night, and although it started out slowly, turned out to be a decent flick. You might like it.

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  19. Jodi! LOL! The bigger stick! It's so true! The Men's Pocky sticks are even THICKER! LOL! OMG! You're right about the bigger boxes too. Too funny!

    Jeanna, can you get Pocky where you are or would you like me to send you some?

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  20. Hey Kid, I might hit the Asian market on my way to the Parental Units today. Maybe they have some good vegetarian selections.
    Can you give me any good recipes or advice on meals to make for my dad? He's got gout and is so picky. I've had to grab ice cream cones out of his hand and take meat from his plate.
    He is not happy.
    The doc said vegan meals short term, but there needs to be a long term diet change. I'm a meat eater from way back.
    Grunt.
    Thanks for the offer, sweetie, let me check first. I got two candy care packages in the last few days. Hardly know where to start. Okay, I do, the licorice from Australia. Yum, so good.

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  21. Just on my way out, but wanted to tell you that my grandfather had gout. The main thing is to not have too much meat (especially pork). He was NOT a happy camper when he was told to stay away from many of his favourite foods!

    Try these:
    http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/salloum103.html
    http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/specex/msg0600385230309.html

    There are recipes for Stuffed Jalapenos, lasagna and sweet potato pie here: http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20011104gout1104fnp3.asp

    There are lots of recipes and foods that your dad can enjoy that won't make him feel like he's being deprived of his favourite things :)

    Alrighty, I'm gonna bail now. Sorry for this long a$$ comment! ;)

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  22. One last thing:
    I've got a recipe on my blog (look in the recipes or food section). If you cook a lot of veggies and add just a little meat for flavouring instead of making it the main part of the dish, the gout shouldn't flare up. The recipe that comes to mind is the butternut squash and green bean and onion stir-fry with a hint of bacon. I know bacon's not good for gout sufferers (heck, it's not good for anyone in big doses) but you only need a little bit just to flavour the dish. I take a few slices and cut them into small pieces, cook them and then cook the veggies in the wok/pan with them. A little black pepper to season and you're good to go.

    I've done this without the meat and it's still a good dish. It's colourful and good for you (especially if you do the vegetarian option).

    I bake the butternut squash first and then when it's soft enough, I cube them and then toss them in to the pan with the onion and green beans.

    Okay, hope this helped :)

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  23. Whoa, poetry in motion! I love how the bar looks, I always appreciate a nice design like that!

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  24. Hey Chrissy, I wasn't sure about things such as pasta or sweets. The list I got from About.com refers to a Johns Hopkins study, but it doesn't seem right. Turkey is as bad as liver? Hmmm. You should have seen him tonight, he was all "Yahhhhhh."
    I will try the squash recipe, you make your veges look so delectable.
    After a mere two days of this I got the best looking t-bone I could find and devoured most of it while watching the Grammy's. Still watching. Why can't Brittany take a page from Beyonce's book? And how cool was Keeley and Kid Rock?
    You write as much or as little as you'd like girl. I'll be roaming around on your blog soon.

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  25. Hey cakespy. Did you see the show on the dessert expo in Vegas?

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  26. I sent you a sort novel on the Body Armor fiasco.
    So, you ready to help me write my book?
    "Selling Body Armor on Ebay for Dummies"

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  27. Dang it.....Short novel!!!!!

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  28. Okay, I'll be on the look out for it. Maybe we can get Ms. M. or Cakespy to do the illustrations.

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