My Dark Side

I have always been a chocoholic, and milk chocolate has always been my favorite. White chocolate I like just fine, but dark chocolate has never been any kind of a temptation for me. I even thought that people who preferred dark chocolate were kind of weird. Last Saturday my mom brought home a bag of Hershey’s Bliss Dark Chocolates. I had already tried these in milk chocolate, and was kind of shocked that she had chosen dark, but my curiosity (or addiction to chocolate) drove me to try one. It was love! Seriously, I am now slightly obsessed with these little morsels of heaven! It has probably been years since I have eaten any dark chocolate, so my taste buds might have changed which could explain this whole phenomenon. There is also the possibility that Hershey’s Bliss Dark Chocolates are an exceptional type of dark chocolate, meaning I still might not enjoy other dark chocolates all that well. I think I need to buy some other kind of dark chocolate and do some testing :)

*UPDATE* I bought a Dove Dark Chocolate bar to try, and I give it the thumbs up as well. I just find it more satisfying than milk chocolate right now!

Here's the recipe!

Sorry, I didn’t even think to post the recipes, so here it is:

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C. Butter or Margarine

1 1/2 C. Sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

2/3 C. cocoa

2 C. Flour

¾ C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

¾ C. White chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350*. Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add soda, salt and cocoa, mixing well. Add flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls on a cookie sheet (should make about 3 dozen); bake 9-11 minutes, until just soft. Cool slightly and move to a wire rack. Serve with milk. :)

I like a lot of chocolate chips in mine, so if you aren't a major chocoholic, you could use less! I also like to use the two different kinds, because I think it looks pretty, but you can totally just use the semi-sweet ones, and they are awesome! Since they are a chocolate based cookie, it can be hard to tell when they are done. Make sure you don’t overcook, or they are only really yummy for about an hour, and then they turn hard! Hope you like them as much as I do!

Final Presentations

Next week I have to give a presentation in my Portuguese class on Monday, and my Spanish class on Wednesday. I decided to make things a little easier by doing the same presentation in both classes, and just switching the language and tweaking things according to the requirements. So I am doing my presentations on Chocolate Chip cookies. In Portuguese I am going to explain the history of the Chocolate Chip Cookie, and then teach how to make my favorite kind, and in Spanish I will just explain how to make my favorite kind, since I am not as fluent in Spanish, so it will go a lot slower. Last night I made a batch and took step by step pictures to use as visual aids, and here they are . . .

YUM! They were good. I hope the presentation goes well, and even if it doesn’t, I am giving everyone a cookie after, so that should leave 'em happy (at least those who like chocolate!)

Funny thing happened last night. After living in a house for over 15 years, I was able to walk around when it was pitch black and not run into anything. The same can not be said for the new house. Last night I was going to bed around midnight. Everyone else was asleep, and I have to turn off the family room light from one side of the room, and walk down and around the corner to get to my room since there is not another light switch. So I turned it off and started walking without thinking. I misjudged the turn about 2 feet too early, and slammed into the wall, HARD! It was loud, and I was laughing so hard that I was worried about waking the whole family up! I need to pay a little more attention from now on!

Musings about Chocolate

Why is it that egg shaped candy tastes better than regular shaped candy? I am still working on my Easter candy (I would love to say it’s because I have a lot of self discipline, but the truth is that my candy was packed and I couldn’t find it) Today I ate a Milky Way Easter egg. Even though I enjoy Milky Way’s, I am not the type of person who really buys candy bars very often (except for Twix bars), so it had been a while since I had indulged in one. But I have to tell you . . . it was incredible! Seriously, delicious. I have wondered why an egg shaped Milky Way would taste better than a regular bar, and I have come up with two possibilities. 1- It’s shaped like an egg, and even has fun designs on the chocolate. How can that not be better? Plus, it actually easier to eat (at least for me). 2)- Because of the egg shape, the ratio of caramel to chocolate is higher in the egg, thus making it more enjoyable. Of course there is the third possibility that I am just crazy, but we’ll skip that one. Whatever it is, I really like egg shaped candy better than normal candy. It makes me sad that we only get it once a year!

(Yes, this is a picture of snickers eggs. I couldn't one of Milky Way eggs!)

Goodness . . . Heaven in a wrapper!

The Easter Bunny visited me last weekend and left me a Dove Truffle Egg. I ate it today, and I have to tell you, it was DIVINE! I am a huge chocolate fan, and though I really like most kinds, I can tell when what I am eating is good quality. The dove truffle egg is so smooth and silky. It literally melts in your mouth. I may just head over to Wal-Mart tonight to see if I can pick up a few more on clearance! (as good as they are, its unlikely there are any left, but its worth a try!)