Saturday, November 28, 2009

My Favorite Chocolate Things


Yep, any day with chocolate is a lucky day.

Raindrops and roses and whiskers and kittens? Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens? Seriously, Maria? How is chocolate nowhere on her list of favorite things?? Good song though, good song.

Anyway, let me tell you my favorite chocolate things (...nice segway). Granted the actual list might be too long, here's the appetizer version.

1. Emerald Cocoa Roast Dark Chocolate Almonds
Remember when you met your best friend for the first time and you got along so well you felt like you've known her all your life? I imagine that's how nuts and chocolate felt the first time they got together—they clicked. I'm a huge fan of chocolate-covered almonds and I can easily pop 'em in my mouth all day and not care about getting fat, but, well, I do. So thank God for these because they make an awesome substitute! I would've wanted it to be more chocolate-y but what hooked me in was the nice bold, roasted flavor. I buy the 100-calorie packs... but eat them two at a time. 

2. Meiji 's YanYan
I grew up thinking these were the best things ever as a kid. Now that I'm a big kid, eating Yanyan is like the equivalent of cooking stuff with extra virgin olive oil. It's simple, but it's a snack on a pedestal, saved for special occasions. Meiji has very rarely, if at all, let me down. There's something about Japanese chocolate that I can't quite put a finger on, but it's always, always, perfectly smooth and creamy without being too milky. It's the kind of chocolate that goes down easy—the dangerous kind—that makes you forget they should be eaten in moderation. Rrrrrr. Classic good stuff.

3. Dark Chocolate-Covered Soy Beans
This special little guy got my heart beating fast! I met him by chance in a can of Planter's Energy Mix and I was immediately intrigued (and naturally started picking them out). To begin with, dark chocolate tends to be the fastest way to my heart, but the soy nut carried a charm of its own. Delicately sweet and crunchy, it's kind of like eating chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, but they were lighter and less nutty (and tinier of course). Apparently the South Beach Diet approves of them so that's extra brownie points too. Seriously, if you want to get me a gift this Christmas, this would make me very happy.  

I'm spending the holidays away from home this year and I'm pretty bummed about it, but you know how the song goes.. "I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad.."

That said, this lonely chocoholic is now accepting chocolates for Christmas.

- Kris Alcantara

3 comments:

  1. Yan Yan's are amazing :) They have so many good childhood memories tied to it. :)

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  2. Kris, have you tried the Yan Yan Hazelnut Chocolate? It's made of AWESOME. Why was this unavailable when I was a kid?

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