Friday, December 07, 2007

Mark your calendars! Dec. 16 is National Chocolate Covered ANYTHING Day

It had to happen, didn't it? A day devoted to smothering, drizzling, slapping, sluicing, encrusting, encasing, ANYTHING with chocolate. We humans do love our cacao.

Every couple of months I leave a metaphorical skid mark outside Chuao Chocolatier's in Southern CA. Trust me, they smolder in chocolate, of the Venezuelan variety. But what's a Coloradan, 1,600 miles away, to do? 

Why... mail order, of course! at www.chuaochocolatier.com. Chuao coddles their fresh truffles and bonbons inside candy boxes and ships them overnight in an innovative cold pack. And their pairings and flavorings are sumptuous. Too many personal favorites to list, but here's a sampling: 
  1. Chevere: goat cheese, pear Williams and crushed black pepper buttercream. 
  2. Mondena: strawberry caramel with balsamic vinegar,   
  3. Picante: California raisin fondue and Napa Valley cabernet, spiced with pasilla chili and cayenne pepper.  
 Purrrrrrr.  Every couple of months I place my internet order for a box of dark bonbons from Chuao. ( I love the word BONBON, don't you? I love it so much that I think it will be the title of my next children's book. Doesn't it conjure up a lazy day spent on the couch? In pink spongey curlers?)

Okay... the rumor is true, there's another reason why National Chocolate Covered Anything Day snagged my attention. I have a history with chocolate covered cherries a.k.a. cherry cordials.  I use to hand make them for my family back when maraschinos were synonymous with the words "covered" and "chocolate." Now, like everyone else, I cover candied ginger and fresh strawberries, and brussel sprouts... not really.

I recall a shhhocking scene in the movie Chocolat when Vivian blends dark chocolate shavings into the gravy (oh my!) and serves to her partisans over pork (or was that beef.)  Those French!!  I wonder how many folks will celebrate National Chocolate Covered Anything Day that way?

Not me!  I don't eat red meat.  But I do eat chicken.... hmmmmm.


(Thanks to  Kristie for introducing my sister to Chuao, who later introduced ME... the fanatic.)


3 comments:

Thea said...

We should have known that these were going to be very special chocolates, when every time Kristie went to buy me a small box she would end up eating the entire contents herself! Luckily, after a few tries at sending them to me, she finally had enough :) and then I got to find out what why she was so crazy about them. Truly people, you have NOT tasted chocolates until you have tasted these. It's easy to eat a small box in one day, and you SHOULD, because these babies are preservative free and meant to be devoured fresh.

Carmela LaVigna Coyle said...

Boy-oh-boy! To think we may never have met Chuao... it was fate!
Speaking of chocolate-- I found a sumptuous recipe for peppermint paddies in Dec. Gourmet. Let's kidnap mom on Sunday (to heck with pasta...) and make some new treats together in my Italian country kitchen. Say you??

idil o. calvero said...

thank you very much!
i loved the series! inspiring ;)
would a princess inspire? hmm. (yes)