It's All About The Chocolate

I don't know why I have this song in my head. The first (and only) time I had ever heard it was when I was teaching in Japan. I was in a karaoke bar with some friends and co-workers, when one of the Japanese managers at the school I taught at sang this song.

As we (Hubby, The Student and I) sat around the dining room table sampling chocolate this evening, this song was in my head.

Anyway, since this week is The Student's last week with us before he goes back to university, I took him to the Chocolate Works. See how excited Little One was to be going to the Chocolate Works? Okay, she gets super excited every time we go for car rides.Is it just me, or does she look like she's grown a lot in the past week!?!

The Student dropped $50 on chocolate, which is not too difficult to do. He's very thoughtful. He bought lots of chocolate for his parents. Wonder if Little One will be as thoughtful when she gets older? Just kidding.His loot consisted of everything from Tiramisu hot chocolate (I didn't see that! I would have bought some if I had!) to Tickle Berries. In case you're wondering, Tickle Berries are chocolate covered cherries, raspberries, blueberries and cranberries! They are YUMMY!!!

Since it is my personal quest to try every single type of chocolate that the Chocolate Works makes, this week I present to you...
Almond Cranberry Bark (white chocolate), Almond Cranberry Bark (milk chocolate) and S'more Bark.First up is the white chocolate Almond Cranberry Bark. If you know me well, you'll know that I am a white chocolate lover. There's just something about that milky, sweet taste that reminds me of the white chocolate Easter bunnies I used to get as a kid at Easter. I guess I just love everything that reminds me of my childhood! White chocolate brings me back to those days of running around the backyard with my brothers and cousins, looking for Easter eggs on a nice, cool, crisp, sunny Spring day.

I just love this almond cranberry bark. The cranberry is really noticeable with the white chocolate. The almonds add a really nice crunch.I was kind of torn between which I liked better. It was a tough decision, because the milk chocolate almond cranberry bark was equally delicious. Subtle, smooth, silky, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate with the sweet yet tart cranberry and the crunchy almonds...who could resist that? I may like this bark better than the white chocolate bark, but for contrasting flavours, you can really notice the cranberries with the white chocolate bark. Last up is the S'more Bark. I got this one with Hubby in mind. When we had ESL students the summer before Little One was born, Hubby had a camp fire and made S'mores for the students from South Korea. S'mores remind me of being a kid and camping in my friend's backyard. S'mores are the quintessential childhood treats! My students were glad that they were introduced to S'mores.

The S'mores bark made me think of my husband, I brought some home for him.Yup! Just as delicious as the original S'mores treat! Silky milk chocolate covering mini marshmallows and graham cracker crumbles were absolutely divine! Two thumbs up for this one!

This evening was all about chocolate. If you happen to live near me, you'll be seeing me walking up and down our highway with Little One or doing some sort of manual labour in hopes of working off tonight's chocolate! ;)


It's all about the dum dum duh dee dum dum...

Sugar Rush

There's a new kid in town, and this new kid is Boo-Bah-Lou Candy Cabin. I used to get my fix of candy from my childhood from my enabler/promoter of bad habits, Jeanna. Just kidding, Jeanna! ;)

Boo-Bah-Lou has all the candy from my childhood, as well as novelty items. Since this week is The Student's last week with us, we went for a drive and hit up Boo-Bah-Lou for a sugar fix.

Now I know where the phrase "Like a kid in a candy shop" came from! Adults, teens, and kids of all ages were going gaga for candy. It's amazing how much candy The Student and I purchased even though we don't normally eat much candy! I guess it's a novelty thing.

The Student purchased items he had never tried before. He said that as a kid, he LOVED Nerds. This particular combination of Nerds was new to him. He was also curious about Razzles. I think the part about it being the candy that turns into gum was particularly interesting to him. Oh, and isn't that the biggest Tootsie Roll you've ever seen?
I purchased Whoppers for Hubby, Cow Tales for my friend's Mom, and a few other confectionery delights to share and sample with everyone in the household.

The Student and I are both big Chronicles of Narnia fans. In the book, there is mention of Turkish Delight. Of course, being in a candy store one would probably find Turkish Delight. There it was, so we had to get some.

The Student and I gave it two thumbs down. I don't get it! The candy wrapper says that it's "Full of Eastern Promise"! It's full of awful jelly ickiness! Perhaps jelly candies are an acquired taste. I'll tell ya, it's a taste I haven't acquired. Not a fan. It wasn't just the jelly texture that threw me off. It was the actual taste. I couldn't make out if it tasted more like roses or cherry to me. This is weird, because I have a very acute sense of smell and taste.

Two thumbs down!!!

Hubby had never seen Popeye Candy Cigarettes before. What?!?! As a kid, we used to get those all the time! Well, not all the time. Every once in a while, we'd save our allowance and head to the corner store (depanneur, in French...since we grew up in Montreal). We'd pay 50 cents for 50 Swedish berries or 50 gummy bears or gummy worms. We'd also load up on various flavours of licorice (both the flat kind and the shoe string kind). I think my fave was the grape, followed by mint.

I also purchased Bubble Yum bubble gum in Hershey's chocolate flavour at Boo-Bah-Lou's. Chocolate flavoured gum seems just so different to me. I haven't tried it yet.
Of course, I'm a sucker for novelty items and had to get this Tootsie Roll lip balm. I can tell ya that it smells just like Tootsie Roll! You almost want to eat it. Not sure if it's a good idea though, because Little One keeps trying to eat her mama's mouth!
Not a big fan of jelly beans, but I do like Jelly Belly jelly beans. I think it's the whole gourmet flavoured aspect of it. It's not your ordinary jelly bean flavours. Remember I told you about my acute sense of smell and taste? Well, you can blindfold me and let me guess which flavour of Jelly Belly jelly beans I'm sampling and 99% of the time I will get it right. My ESL students find it amusing and amazing to witness that. Yes, it's one of my many hidden talents. LOL! The Fun Dip and the Fuzzy Peaches didn't last long at all. The Nieces were over for a movie night and devoured the candy! A night of Twilight and Fuzzy Peaches...how much more can you ask for?
Little One wanted in on the candy action too. She's a cheeky little monkey! She was inching her way towards the candy! She was originally placed on the play mat with her head in the opposite direction and she was on her back.

Crazy for Craisinets!

Fresh from Wisconsin...
It's four different flavours of Pixy Stix, Harry Potter Drooble's Best Blowing Gum (turns your mouth blue!), and Craisinets!

Jeanna is always such a doll with her witty comments and wicked sense of humour. She's also known for her far reaching knowledge of candy and chocolate (and all that other good stuff). When Jeanna asked who would like to review Craisnets, I jumped at the opportunity. Who am I to refuse chocolate?I almost didn't get my hands on the Craisinets, since Little One's pudgy little baby hands went straight for the package of milk chocolate covered "craisins"!!
Oooooh! I had to rescue the lovely drool soaked packet.
First off, I LOVE cranberries. I LOVE craisins. I LOVE chocolate (as long as it's not tooooo sweet and not tooooo much). Craisins + Chocolate = a match made in Heaven! Right?
Well, the Craisins sort of survived the trip across the border. They were pretty much "intact" still, but sort of looked like melted bunny droppings by the time they arrived at my house.
Here's a close up for your viewing enjoyment. See? They really do look like bunny poop! Hubby claims they look like deer droppings. Either way, don't let their appearance fool you.
Brought to you by the famous NESTLÉ company are these tiny bundles of goodness. I remember as a kid, we'd get NESTLÉ RAISINETS as a treat once in a while. I think my grandparents and my Mom would sometimes trick us into thinking we were having the real thing. I think most of the time they just got chocolate covered raisins or yogurt covered raisins from the Bulk Barn. Anyway, chocolate or yogurt covered raisins were always a favourite of mine.

While I generally like NESTLÉ products, this one wasn't on top of my list. The chocolate was good, but not stellar, and the craisins were just okay. Perhaps I have been a tad spoiled by having our local chocolatier (The Manitoulin Chocolate Works) so close by. I have a confession. I am a chocolate snob. The Craisinets get a 3 out of 5 stars for me. Am I being too harsh?

Can't wait to test out the Harry Potter Drooble's gum! It's cotton candy bubble gum! The package claims that it turns your mouth blue!

Thanks, Jeanna! You da best!