When I wrote the title for this it reminded me of that Seinfeld episode when Elaine eats an antique slice of wedding cake that her boss had won in an auction. I think she ended up violently sick. That really has nothing to do with Chocolove's Chocolador box of vintage, single-origin chocolates, but it tells you a little bit more about me, doesn't it?

Chocolove's theory is that good chocolate, particularly single-origin chocolates, which seem to be the chocolate trend of the day (although I haven't been paying much attention; it could've been going on for years), change (hopefully improve) with age, like wine or cheese. So this nice-looking box contains two different vintages, 1999 and 2004, of the company's three single-origin chocolates: a 33 percent from Java, a 60 percent from Grenada and a 70 percent from Sao Tome. It also contains their basic milk and dark chocolate bars. Big bars. I tried the milk chocolate, which I normally don't like, at the Chocolate Show and fell in love with its buttery flavor.

So this is a chocolate-tasting party in a box. At least that's what I'm hoping to do with the sample they sent to me. Or it's a perfect introduction to different chocolate varietals for the chocolate-lover on your list.

Posted by Kim at 09:30 AM | Permalink

I know it's fruitcake, but let's call it retro. I didn't really like the look of the Collin Street Bakery fruitcakes when they arrived, but the pecan-apricot cake grew on me to the extent that it vanished pretty quickly (I convinced myself that fruitcake was a perfectly appropriate breakfast food one morning). The first ingredient listed is pecans, next the fruit. There's barely enough cake to hold the whole thing together, and no booze. My mother-in-law, Linda, and I discovered that if you eat it in a big, thick piece it's overwhelming and kind of cloying, but thin slices give you a cross-section of nuts, fruit and cake that's rich and dense, like a panforte. Since dried fruits and nuts are a favorite snack of mine, it was hard to keep out of these.

Three pecan cakes (pineapple, apricot and traditional fruitcake) cost $40, but shipping is free and they last up to 3 months in the fridge.

Posted by Kim at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Underneath the dust jacket of the new Woman's Day cookbook is a cover that perfectly reflects what's inside: straightforward, useful, but with a little flair that keeps it from being boring. I used to work at the magazine and after I left I proofread this freelance, and in the process I found lots of recipes to try: bulgur meatballs in tomato sauce, mocha-hazelnut granita, chickpea and sweet potato stew, nana's spoon bread. It has a well-rounded selection of about 20 slow-cooker recipes that don't all sound like the same jumble. The last chapter contains menus for different special occasions, but throughout the book there's also meatloaf, mac and cheese (which I made for August on his birthday and he loved), cheesecake, spaghetti and meatballs, chili. There's a turkey roasting time chart and a Thanksgiving planner. Of course only time will tell, but I think I'll end up reaching for this book a lot.

Posted by Kim at 07:13 AM | Permalink

It takes an amazing amount of willpower for me to give someone a sweater, a candle, a DVD for Christmas. The word "gift" to me is synonymous with "food." Everyone eats, right? And as an apartment dweller I can appreciate the value of receiving a consumable that won't take up space indefinitely. Plus people gather in large groups during the holidays, so there are plenty of opportunities for your recipient to put out something tasty.

I wanted to try everything I put on this list, which I will dole out one item a day until it's too late to sneak something else under the tree, but limited finances and time meant that some things still just sound good to me (and I'll point out which ones those are).

Before a glut of Christmas cookies makes the whole idea stale (harhar), here are a couple traditional gems that have had the opportunity to make me pretty popular this time of year.

Jam Thumbprints
I made these for a cookie exchange at work, then the editor-in-chief got the recipe from me so she could make them for the whole staff the following year.

Cream 1 1/2 cups softened butter with 1 1/2 cups white sugar and 8 ounces of softened cream cheese. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, then 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon zest. Mix together 4 1/2 cups flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, then stir into the butter mixture. Cover and chill to firm up, about 1 hour.

Roll into tablespoon-sized balls, then make an indention in them and put a 1/2 teaspoon of apricot preserve in each one (you'll need about a cup of preserve). Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes, until they're starting to get golden.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons
I entered these in the only cookie contest I've ever entered and they did not win, but the test kitchen made a variation of them for their cookie cookbook the following year.

In a saucepan stir 4 egg whites, 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 2 1/2 cups coconut, then sift in 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour and stir the mixture to combine. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes; increase the heat to moderately high and cook the mixture, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes more, or until it is thickened and begins to pull away from the bottom and side of the pan. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, let it cool slightly, and chill it, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until it is just cold. Bake heaping teaspoons of the dough in a 300°F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are pale golden. Cool on a rack, then melt 8 ounces chopped chocolate and dip bottoms of macaroons in chocolate. Place on wax paper to set. I refrigerated mine to keep the chocolate from melting again.

Posted by Kim at 10:18 AM | Permalink

I've had a fantasy about August's first birthday since maybe even before he was born. A giddy baby smashing into his birthday cake, crumbs flying everywhere. Well, it turns out my boy is too demure for that. He delicately picked up his cake and took a bite out of it, then picked pieces off of it and put them in his mouth. Fortunately he smeared chocolate frosting all over his face in the process, so my fantasy was somewhat fulfilled.

What he really dug into with gusto was the baked mac and cheese I made for lunch that day. A pretty simple recipe, made with a pound of rotini and a basic bechamel with Cheddar, Monterey Jack (I wanted to make it mild-flavored for August) and locatelli. I tore up the breadcrumbs by hand because I didn't want to get out the food processor.

The chocolate frosting was actually pretty good, just a recipe off the back of the Hershey's cocoa powder container. 1/2 cup melted butter mixed with 2/3 cup cocoa powder, then 1/3 cup of milk alternately with 3 cups powdered sugar. Add powdered sugar or milk to get desired consistency, then add 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Posted by Kim at 07:15 PM | Permalink

When I want a really quickie hot chocolate, I heat 1 percent milk in the microwave and squeeze in a very generous amount of Hershey's syrup. IMHO, better than the powdered packets or Ovaltine, which I've also tried.

Posted by Kim at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

They signal to the consumer that this is serious business by taking away all the choices that Starbucks is usually known (and mocked) for. It comes in one size (in a espresso-size cup) and there's no low-foam, decaf, no-fat or flavor shots (although that could have some potential, right?). The best thing about this was the texture, kind of chalky, like a high-cocoa-percentage chocolate. It fills your mouth in a really satisfying way. I like my cocoa less sweet, though, in most cases, and it was more milky than the two recipes I've tried at home.

Posted by Kim at 09:02 PM | Permalink

So I'm standing in the Metropolitan Pavilion, hoardes of chocolate fans coursing around me (baby on one arm, chocolate-covered potato sticks in another). And more than half of these hurried New Yorkers are smiling at me, cooing at the baby. I'm handing over lavender-scented milk chocolate to junior chocoholics who can't get to the booth because of my overhung and overflowing stroller, and there's a smile on my face, too.

It's chocolate euphoria. And it has convinced me that the world would indeed be a better place if we all had our daily dose of chocolate, right along with the vitamins (instead of the vitamins?).

Maybe it's because this is where I was looking, but I noticed three things going on all over the place at the show: low-sugar, no-sugar (works because people love their bittersweet these days) and theraputic chocolates, drinking chocolate and single-origin chocolates.

What I bought:

NewTree's lavender-infused milk chocolate (part of their "mood-enhancing" line of dark and milk chocolates with botanical extracts; this was my favorite, even though I think of myself as more of a dark-chocoholic).

Chocolats Pralus tower of single-origin chocolates, since my palate was so chocolate-fatigued that I couldn't taste the difference between most of these varietals and I wanted to do a proper chocolate tasting. E. Guittard had a nice collection of single-origin chocolates, too, that I could not taste the difference between. Chocolove had a collection of single-origin, 2004 vintage chocolates in three different cacao concentrations: 70 percent, from Sao Tome; 60 percent, from Grenada; and 33 percent, from Java. The last chocolate had a smooth, buttery flavor that surprised me. The woman working the booth said that the flavors of the various varietals will develop and change with time, like wine (the bitterness of the 70 percent smoothing out, the 33 percent developing more coconut flavor). I was already a fan of Chocolove's Ginger chocolate so it was fun to try some other flavors.

A Michel Cluizel bittersweet chocolate round with different nuts and dried fruit on it (pictured).

What I wish I had bought:

Schokinag's mint and Dagoba's Xocolatl hot chocolate with chiles and cinnamon (it's one of their new line of hot chocolates; I've used this flavor chocolate bar, with chilies and cocoa nibs, to make hot chocolate, and it's fantastic). Schokinag also had a Moroccan spice that wasn't quite spicy enough for me (maybe it was the milk to mix ratio they used when they made it).

Galler's no-sugar dark chocolate with toasted walnuts. The warm, toasty nut taste mellowed the bitterness of the chocolate so you didn't miss the sugar at all.

Vere's collection of stacks, particularly to try the seed stack: dark-chocolate covered toasted pumpkin, poppy and sesame seeds. This is a new company with a factory in Manhattan that sources milk from a local dairy (Ronnybrook) and beans from Equador, then processes them in a way to double the antioxidents and mellow the bitterness so less sugar is needed. Their chocolates are unofficially diabetics-friendly and officially gluten-free (the dense, rich brownie I sampled was made with almond flour), and their packaging is simple and modern.

Posted by Kim at 07:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I made the Cook's Illustrated version of hot cocoa, but I feel like I need to do it again, not because it didn't turn out well, but because I was missing a couple of ingredients so I made some substitutions. While some authors might approve of my tinkering, that's not really of the whole Cook's Illustrated spirit.

The Cook's Illustrated recipe called for Dutched cocoa and I used regular. After reading the Zingerman's description of the differences between the two (the dutching process smooths out the acidity of the cocoa and results in a less-strong flavor) I feel like maybe I'll like the natural cocoa powder better anyway. Only one way to find out.

I also omitted the shot of half-and-half the Cook's Illustrated takes at the end, only because I didn't have any. I liked what I ended up with, though. It's very similar in process to the recipe from Bittersweet and the results are about the same (maybe a bit less rich and a bit more bite), plus it's a little bit easier because there's no chocolate to chop.

Whisk together 3 tablespoons of natural cocoa, 2 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk in 1/2 cup water and simmer, whisking, for a couple of minutes (they say this cooks the cocoa and allows it to bloom, releasing the fruit, chocolate and coffee flavors and giving it a toasty undertone). Add 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk and heat until bubbles form around the edge (do not boil). Stir in a dash of vanilla extract.

Posted by Kim at 09:10 AM | Permalink

I made quiche today, a very ladies-luncheon thing to serve one of my mom-friends who's expecting her second. Spinach for folic acid, an aged jack cheese for a salty sharpness, omega-3-fortified eggs for that little developing brain. I used a mixture of milk and half-and-half to get some richness without too much fat and a prepared refrigerated crust and frozen chopped spinach because my baby boy is teething and not the most reliable napper lately (timesavers).

I parbaked the crust in a 9-inch pie plate in a 450 degree oven, under foil and pie weights (rice, because I love the toasty rice smell it makes) for 9 minutes and 4 minutes without. Then I turned the oven down to 325 degrees. Meanwhile I mixed 3/4 cup each milk and half-and-half with 3 eggs, salt, nutmeg and thawed frozen chopped spinach I had squeezed dry. Added about a cup of shredded cheese that I had tossed with about a tablespoon of flour. Poured that into the still-warm crust and baked it at the lower temperature for almost an hour. I had to cover the edge of the crust with foil to keep it from burning (starting to think a pie shield would be a good idea). It turned out pretty good, kind of a soft set custard with lots of spinach.

Posted by Kim at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)