Wedding Cake

This is an exciting time for me. My wedding is a year away. I am deep in the midst of planning. While for some brides, their inner bridezilla comes out; they turn green; smoke emits from their ears; and their voices get higher and louder with each expletive shouted, this is not the case for me. (At least I hope not... Ask my bridesmaids for the truth.) I love doing all the wedding planning.

The part I'm most excited for you ask? Well duh! Tasting the cake! In a few weeks, Anthony and I, and probably my mother, will get to go design and taste our wedding cake. Now here's the dilemma. Traditional wedding cakes are white. I'm having a traditional wedding. Therefore, I should have a white wedding cake... But where's the chocolate?

Do I sneak it in the between the white layers with a layer or dark chocolate fudge? Do I do a chocolate buttercream frosting? Oh the possibilities!

An upgrade?

Have you tried Reese's Select Peanut Butter Cremes? They seem to be the Lexus to the normal PB cup's Toyota. They look like a piece of chocolate you would pull out of a box of chocolates. The peanut butter is very creamy and delicious. It still has that distinct Reese's taste so traditional Reese's lovers will not be disappointed. It's hard to tell if the chocolate has been upgraded but it is certainly less waxy than the normal cup. This gets the chocolate emergency thumbs up. Solved my emergency :)

Cadbury

Well, it's happening again. My friends are supplying me with chocolate to blog about. Good friends! This time it is a coworker. She is a fellow chocoholic and we frequently discuss our latest chocolate emergencies. My friend Linda gave me a bar of chocolate the other day that came with less than impressive reviews. It was a Cadbury Royal Dark Chocolate Bar. Linda loves dark chocolate - the darker the better. So she had high hopes for this English chocolate (now made by Hershey).

This dark chocolate however, doesn't pack the punch she expected. Usually companies will put the percentage of cacao on the package. The lack of representation on this package makes me think the cocoa percentage is only 50%. (Fun Fact: In order to truly be considered dark chocolate, at least 50% cacao must be used.) Linda thought it had a more milk chocolate taste than dark.

She asked my opinion. After coercing me to try it (yeah right) I had to agree. Don't get me wrong, it is very good chocolate. But if you're looking for that powerful dark chocolate taste, you won't find it here. If you don't like your chocolate extremely bitter but still want that antioxidant goodness of dark, I recommend you try this.

Choco indulgence of the week

Last Wednesday on my way to teach the little ballerinas how to dance, I was having a true chocolate emergency. Luckily for me, there was a Sheetz along the way. What to get, what to get? I could go with an old standby like the Snickers or Milky Way, but something else caught my eye instead.

A shiny blue package full of chocolatey deliciousness. It was a Cocoa Rice Krispy Treat. Why have I not discovered this sooner? Cocoa Rice Krispies with chocolate chunks mixed in. The best part - I left it in my warm car during dance class and came out to an even better surprise. The chocolate coating along the bottom had melted and was soft and tasty. I wasn't expecting much but the chocolate was actually very good. This Treat comes with high recommendations from me!

Hiatus

Hello fellow chocoholics (If there's any of you still left out there.)

I must apologize for my absence. I'm unsure why I haven't been posting recently. But here's a little bit of what I've been up to.

1. I got engaged! Anthony and I will be tying the knot in June of 2012. I spent my summer surfing the net, looking for inspiration for planning our wedding. We've been to a couple reception halls and a bridal show. No set plans as of yet, but stay tuned and I'll keep updating. One thing that's for sure - we'll incorporate chocolate some way, somehow.
www.theknot.com/ourwedding/anthonydegerolamo&annewatkinson

2. I've started graduate school. I'm currently attending Point Park University in Downtown Pgh. I'm working towards a Masters of Education in Secondary Education. I would love to teach English on the secondary level.

3. The 2010-2011 school year has begun. I've started working with 7th and 8th grade special education student again. I was ready to go back to work after a nice summer vacation. I love what I do and am very fortunate to have such a great job.

4. Chocolate of the month: The vanilla creme truffle from Godiva (of course). This delicacy is a dark chocolate covered truffle with a dual filling inside. One side is rich coffee ganache while the other is a complementary vanilla creme. It taste like the perfect cup of coffee, topped off with some chocolate. Perfect.

Gotta Love Wedding Season

I've been to about 7 bachelorette parties and 12 weddings this summer. (No not really. I'm exaggerating a bit, but it was a lot.) They were all lovely. I love weddings. The dresses, the flowers, the dancing, the love. The best part was the favors! I was able to snag about 8 Sarris chocolate bars from one wedding. Hey, you snooze you lose, people. I didn't even need to eat any wedding cake.

Chocolate Math

Your Age by Chocolate Math.

1. First, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate. (More than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2.

3. Add 5.

4. Multiply it by 50.

5. If you have already had your birthday this year, add 1760. If not, add 1759.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number. The first digit of this was your original number - the amount of times you would like to eat chocolate per week. The next two numbers are YOUR AGE!!!

This is the only year (2010) this will work, so tell your friends!