Trader Joe's

This time it's my BPAF (Best Pennsylvania Friend) Brittany to supply me with the goods to enjoy and post about.

I've tasted the Dark Chocolate Bar with caramel and black sea salt. I've seen this combination before. Most deliciously at the Milkshake Factory dahn in the Sahside (South Side - for you non-burghers.) While theirs is a piece of candy, this is a bar.

Made by Trader Joe's, thin 70% cacao squares surround runny caramel. The caramel is a dark milk caramel that tastes very sweet and buttery. The sweet caramel nicely offsets the bitter chocolate. The sea salt is a very nice and welcome spurt of flavor. It's a great complement. The salt comes from the seawater that surrounds the Hawaiian Islands.

The only problem with the bar? After breaking apart the squares, the caramel runs out and coats the packaging and outside of the chocolate. - Not that I'm complaining about licking it off my fingers, but it gets a little messy.

Bonus - I love creative copywriting. The last sentence on the back of the package says, "... pairs well with a lei, Hawaiian shirt and a grass skirt." Good one. This choco treat comes highly recommended from moi.

Cake Tasting!

Anthony and I have our cake tasting today for the wedding! We I have requested to taste the chocolate batter and chocolate fudge filling. Very exciting. Stay tuned!

Grandma Betty's Eclairs

Yesterday I had a girls' night with some good friends. On the menu was cookout food, mojitos, and of course dessert. And as you all know my motto: "If it ain't chocolate, it ain't dessert." It was chocolate. Eclairs drizzled with dark chocolate to be exact.

This recipe comes from Yasmina's Grandma Betty. These are not the eclairs you get in the freezer section! These exlairs are the size of muffins. They taste deliciously homemade.

We started off with an egg dough that rises in the oven, then cut the top off after they cool. We filled them with vanilla pudding mixed with heavy cream. (You can use any flavor pudding mix; cheesecake, pistachio, CHOCOLATE.) This pudding was good enough to eat right from the bowl. I would know. I had a spoonful when we were filling them just to make sure it was okay. Don't worry. I double checked. We filled them with as much pudding as would fill in the little big pastries.

Lastly and most importantly we melted dark chocolate in a double boiler and dolloped, dipped, and drizzled the eclairs! So much fun to make and even more fun to eat. Thanks Jazzy and Grandma Betty!

Hazy, Hot, and Handels!

Ladies and gentlemen we have arrived to the dog days of summer. It is hot. It is humid, and that can only mean one thing - Ice cream season!

Anthony and I needed an ice cream fix today. We were tired of the traditional Bruster's or Dairy Queen (I'm not hating; I love their ice cream; I just wanted a change.) so Anthony found Handel's Homemade Ice Cream in West Mifflin, a measly 2 miles from our new home. This quaint little shop happens to be open year-round for those of us who don't just crave ice cream in the summer.

When Anthony and I arrived it was hard to make a decision due to the fact that they have over 100 different menu options. The flavors themselves were all tempting. We had to inquire about the flavor "spouse in my house." It is a vanilla malt base with caramel swirl and peanut butter filled pretzels. um yum!

Anthony chose a black raspberry waffle cone. I (duh) opted for the chocolate peanut butter brownie. IT WAS DELISH! Although it is hard ice cream it was so soft - and not just because of the heat. It didn't have an icy texture like a lot of hard ice creams; this was very smooth and delicious. I even liked Anthony's and I'm not usually one for fruity ice cream.

Certainly gets the Chocolate Emergency seal of approval!

Christmas in June

So I was rummaging around the chocolate drawer (yes, I have one entire drawer in my kitchen devoted to chocolate. don't judge me.) when I found something surprising. I found a Ghirardelli peppermint bark square hiding from December. Now some might say, "Oh that chocolate is six months old!" I say, "Sweet!" And we can't let a good piece of chocolate go to waste.

It is quite the piece of eye candy. Pretty pink peppermint bits glitter the top of the white chocolate. The chocolate itself is half milk chocolate and half white chocolate. This is not what I expected. This may be good for those who aren't a big fan of white chocolate. But to me that isn't traditional peppermint bark. I want all sweet, white chocolate. I would have also liked if the peppermint bits were bigger. They weren't bits of candy canes. However, in the chocolate's defense, it's called "peppermint bark" not "candy cane bark." But I like the crunch and burst of mint from the candy.

Overall a good piece of chocolate and a lucky find!

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 :)