Chocolate: Randomness

The holidays are gone, but not the memories...of random chocolate, that is. While at work last month, someone brought in Trader Joe's French Truffles as an after lunch treat. I'm usually at home when I get my chocolate so I didn't hesitate to try them. I don't know why they tasted so good especially after reading this review (great pictures of the product), but I bought myself a box. I still have the box. I realize that they are perfect as a "hit" right after a meal when you're just craving something sweet. The serving size is 5 pieces for a nice hefty 250 calories. It is a sacrifice when the first ingredient is palm oil and not chocolate or cocoa.

Another chocolate item I've indulged in arrived with the Christmas gifts, a box of mint chocolate cookies. They were by no means quality, but I couldn't keep my hands off the box. Each was a chocolate cookie center with a thin layer of mint and covered with chocolate. I have no idea who makes them. The box was one of those fancy wrapped gift boxes you could pick up anywhere. Anyway it brought in memories of Keebler's Grasshoppers or Girl Scout Thin Mints. Since I'm not in the cookie aisle of a grocery store at the moment, I had to do a search for cookies and found several interesting tidbits. I've got Girl Scout moms out there who will appreciate the business considering this bit. But I was also intrigued with this bit about making your own healthier version (FYI, the author wasn't so nice about Girl Scouts).

I don't know if any of you noticed the profile pic change for a couple of weeks. A giant hint to where I spent my holidays:) While there we picked up the requisite Moana Loa Macadamia Nut chocolates. I saved the pretty wrapped boxes for coworkers and bought a bag of the "flops" for us. They were the chocolates that weren't good enough for the box. I found the chocolate very sweet and not enough nut. I'm not sure if that is why they were flops, but I think I would have enjoyed the chocolate more if there was more macadamia in them. For once my family got to eat more chocolate than I did.

Lastly, I found a milk chocolate lover who couldn't understand why I was eating a dark chocolate. So I bought her a bar of my favorite dark. She loved it and is hooked. The calories aren't much better than TJ's French Truffles, but at least the first ingredient is chocolate.