Life and a Box of Chocolates

Forest Gump said that “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”   I always thought that was so simple, yet so true.  While I understood the philosophical nature of the statement, I never really understood the surface of it.  As a child I remember being so in awe of what I considered a fancy box of chocolates.  Sure, they were probably from Walgreens, wrapped in white paper with a gold bow painted on the top, but I thought the entire box was beautiful, each chocolate a mystery waiting to be solved.  Unfortunately, I was forbidden to solve any of those mysteries, forbidden to taste any of what I imagined to be gooey centers…until now!

Sure, most chocolates have soy lecithin in them as a preservative, but now that the milk allergy is gone, I feel a little splurging is necessary, especially at Christmas time.  I can finally solve some of those mysteries I’ve always been curious about.  My first chocolate did come out of a box just like I described above.  It was delicious: dark chocolate on the outside and a gooey caramel filling.  Yum.  I was at work, so I didn’t have time to savor or to think of a proper description, but “yum” seems to do the job.  I also tried one with a coconut filling that was so good that I had to try another one, so I picked a big square.  Maybe I got a bit greedy picking the biggest chocolate in the box, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was terrible!  It had what I think was toffee in the center.  It was so hard that I couldn’t even bite through it!  I ended up sucking all the chocolate off the top and then throwing the rest in the trash can. Now I completely understand the “you never know what you’re gonna get” part of the quote.  I really had no idea that some of the chocolates might actually be unpleasant (at least to my taste buds).

My husband brought home another box of Belgian chocolates that was wrapped in gold paper with a sheer fabric bow on the top.  It was really wrapped like a present!  When I finally tore through the paper, there was more wrapping and plastic covering on the inside.  I was surprised to find a paper guide to the chocolates inside.  This completely went against the quote!  There was a picture of the chocolate and a description of what the chocolate was.  Sure, this took a little bite out of the mystery, but created another one altogether.  I read the descriptions and then tried to decide which one I wanted to taste.  The mystery came in when I tried to decide if it actually tasted like the description.  The first one I chose was described as “dark chocolate with a cherry center” with a picture of a small round, dark chocolate.  Once I found the chocolate meeting this description, I pulled it out of the box and sunk my teeth in.  I searched for the cherry, but didn’t find one.  I was a bit disappointed, but I didn’t give up!  I chose another one that claimed it was “white chocolate with a creamy lemon filling.”  This description didn’t disappoint!  It was exactly that, but I was surprised at how lemony the filling actually was.  Delicious!

The moral of the story?  Even if you think know what you’re “gonna get,” you might actually get something entirely different, maybe better, maybe worse.  And so, the quote still holds true.  Whether you have a description or an idea of what you think the outcome is going to be, “Life is like a box of chocolates.”

Brrrrrr….There’s a Blizzard!

My salad hating self made an appearance last night.  You know what I’m talking about – that side of yourself that can stand vegetables, can’t stand the thought of a green leafy salad, can’t stand the idea of eating anything green unless maybe its candy coated.   Don’t pretend that you don’t have that side of yourself!  Even the healthiest of us splurge on a frozen yogurt once in a while.  Right?
No, a salad would not cut it last night.  I needed comfort food.  You know, the kind of food that makes your toes curl up and your insides go all warm and gooey just at the mere thought of the food?  That’s what I needed.  Hot from the stove chicken pot pie, crispy fried chicken, or warm buttery biscuits would have been a dream come true.  But since it is August, it is not time for fall food yet, not time for crock pots and comfort. 

Moms always have a solution and luckily mine came up with going out to eat for BBQ and fried okra.  We both had a pulled pork sandwich (merely a vehicle for BBQ sauce) and little bowls of golden fried okra.  The BBQ was OK, but the okra hit the spot.  It also became a vehicle for the BBQ sauce.  The meal was a pretty small portion, so again the Mom had a brilliant idea…

DAIRY QUEEN!  Since my transformation into being able to consume milk products, I had not ventured into a Dairy Queen and before that it was rare.  Why would I go to something with “dairy” in the title?  Exactly.  So, it was the perfect place to go last night and I’m so glad I got to share the experience with my mom.  Continuing with my 5 year old stance on life and embracing my inner id, I made my mom order for me!  She picked her favorite – the M&M Blizzard!

We didn’t wait very long before they called our number and we ran up to the counter guy like little kids.  He took our mini blizzards and turned them upside down to show how frozen they were.  I felt my eyes get big as I worried about all of that deliciousness falling to the floor, but no deliciousness was lost.  It all stayed perfectly frozen in the cup.  WOW!  Now that is impressive.

And boy was it frozen!  We went outside to eat our treats and crunched on the frozen candy (and yes there were some green M&M’s that were definitely not wasted despite their dreaded color) and cooled off in the late summer heat.  In fact, we both got a bit chilled.  And you know what?  While it froze my fingers and my taste buds, it melted my salad hating self and I think I will live to eat salad again.  Never underestimate the power of ice cream and comforting conversation from your mom.
 

Cheesecake and its Factory

My husband and I are visiting our old stomping grounds in Orange County, CA. We are here to remember the life of a very special person who lost her battle with cancer. While the circumstances of our trip are not the happiest, we still wanted to catch up with friends and visit the places we used to enjoy. The Cheesecake Factory was at the top of the list.

I have always loved the Cheesecake Factory. I have tried their Orange Chicken, Navajo Sandwich, Fried Chicken Sandwich, and even a special BBQ Salmon with crunchy onion straws on the top as well as a number of other delightfully delicious dishes. However, I've never tried what they are truly famous for, what they are named for: their cheesecake. That is until last last night!

My husband and I had dinner with his best friend and his lovely girlfriend. When my husband and I had finished eating our fried shrimp basket, I was happy to see that our friends had requested a dessert menu. Talk about a menu! Two pages of different types of cheesecake! His friends ordered the Tuxedo Cheesecake and the Oreo Cheesecake. After some deliberation, (they had more than one kind of peanut butter cheesecake!) my husband and I decided to split the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cheesecake.

First, the Cheesecake Factory gets an A+ for presentation. The plate was absolutely beautiful, a work of art, really. It had two huge dollops of whipped cream at either end of the generously cut slice and carmel drizzled over the entire plate. I almost didn't get a picture because I wanted to dig in!

The taste? Divine. There were so many different flavors all divine in their own right that the combination made it even more so. The crust was a thin blonde brownie topped with a thin layer of chocolate brownie. This would have been a great dessert on its own, but was made better with a thick layer of white chocolate cheesecake peppered with macadamia nut pieces. Did you know that cheesecake tastes nothing like cheese, not even cream cheese? It is simply and sweetly divine. And what could enhance this even more, but the airy sweetness of whipped cream and the buttery goodness of caramel?

A divine dessert and the company of two fantastic friends made us forget the sadness that brought us back to CA, made us relish the life we have, appreciate the small joys that make the hardships we face worth enduring. The next time I visit the Cheeecake Factory, I won't be sharing with my husband.

Peppermint Patties

Have you ever had one of these delightful drinks?  I had never heard of them until my husband suggested that we make them.  And I’m glad that he did because they quickly became my favorite holiday drink.  They’re actually quite simple to make too: hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps.  If you have a sweet tooth like I do, you can add marshmallows on the top and a candy cane for garnish and extra peppermint flavor.

I asked my husband how he would describe the taste of these and said, “It’s like a cool breath of fresh air.”  (He also recited a commercial for York Peppermint Patties about the winds rushing from the gale or something.) He’s right about the breath of fresh air though!  Remember, it’s hot chocolate!  Not  that anyone could ever forget about hot chocolate.  I even remember its sweet taste from when I would sneak a cup when I was little.  It gives you that warm comfy feeling that makes you scrunch up your nose, shrug your shoulders, and simply smile. 

Now, as an adult I can appreciate the added zing of the peppermint schnapps.  It’s strange, but the flavor reminds me of camping, of sitting next to a blazing fire at night, stars twinkling above, a cool breeze that chills your nose, a calm breath of the cool mountain air, a moment of clarity where nothing exists but that breath of air and chocolate.

Wishing you all that moment this holiday season.  Merry Christmas!

Fudge

Fine.  I will admit it.  I used to sneak fudge out of the pan after my Mom had cooled it and hide under my bed to savor in its delicious fudginess.   And no, this wasn’t last year!  I was so little that I don’t know how old I was.  I just remember it was worth hiding and later itching and scratching from the allergic reaction.

But that was then and I don’t remember what it tasted like.  All I have is now.  Fudge tastes like a chocolate marshmallow dream; a dream because it’s so creamy and melts in your mouth so quickly that you have to wonder if you imagined it happening at all.  The only way to find out is to eat another piece and start the process all over again and repeat until you are left with an empty tin.

Now sure this is a problem because of all the calories, but for me it's a problem because store bought chocolate including baking chocolate has soy in it.  I've read different accounts regarding the degree that people are allergic to soy lecithin.  Some experts say that people are only allergic to soy protein and not the oil or lecithin; however, other experts disagree.  I'm not an expert and I'm not going to pretend to have the answer, so I just have to be careful and not over do it. 

As with my first admission, I'm still sneaking fudge.  I'm just not hiding under the bed to eat it!

Celebrate with Cake

Have you ever noticed that just about every milestone we come to we celebrate with cake?  Weddings, birthdays, and even other holidays all marked with the surgery confection we call cake.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining!  I’ll make up a milestone if it means there will be cake.  Luckily, I don’t have to as I have a lot to celebrate!

Wedding Cake   

My husband and I just celebrated our first anniversary.  You know what that means? We got to eat the cake top!  (Oh yeah, and we love each other.)  That cake top dominated our freezer for an entire year, but more than that it dominated our thoughts and the desire for that yummy butter cream frosting on our taste buds.  OK, so it didn’t dominate our entire lives or anything that dramatic, but when we reached our first year milestone we were ready to celebrate – with cake.

For those of you who have frozen your cake tops, you probably now that you are supposed to wrap the cake.  I didn’t know this.  Give me a break – I’ve never been married before!  So…the cake sat in a box free to breathe in all the other freezer foods.  You can image what our cake top tasted like – freezer burned!  The frosting is my favorite part of cake, so you know it had to be pretty bad when I scraped it off and refused to eat it.

The cake itself even a year after its creation was still as divine as it was on our wedding day – a taste of heaven and a reminder of all the happy moments from our special day.  White wedding cake – firm yet spongy, sweet yet not overpowering – with a whipped raspberry filling that complimented that cake perfectly. 

Birthday Cake 

My mom just celebrated a very big birthday.  The world has been lucky to have her for 60 years!  We obviously needed a special cake to celebrate this very special lady, a special bakery bought German Chocolate cake.  German Chocolate is her favorite and I can see why.  I’m not usually a fan of chocolate cake, but German Chocolate seems to be sweeter than other chocolate and the cake itself seems to be lighter. But it isn’t the cake that makes this dessert so special, it’s the icing: chunky coconut blended with milk, sugar, and pecans. One taste made me completely understand the phrase “icing on the cake” and instantly reaffirmed my belief that the frosting really is the best part of cake.

This cake was so delicious, that it not only excited my sense of taste but my curiosity as well.  I couldn’t just leave it at “oh, that tastes good.”  That’s not really my style.  No, I decided to do a bit of research on German Chocolate cake and discovered that the chocolate isn’t from Germany as I expected!  Instead, it’s named after a person with the last name German who was hired by Baker’s chocolate to develop a sweet chocolate in the 1852, hence the name German Chocolate.  The cake wasn’t made popular until the 1950’s when recipes started appearing in magazines and newspapers.  For more information, check Wikipedia.

Thank you, Mom, for letting us share in your birthday celebration and thank you for sharing your favorite cake with us! My favorite is still the white cake with butter cream frosting, but German Chocolate is a close second.

Celebrate with Cake

I tasted cake before I discovered that I’m not allergic to milk and eggs – a splurge here and there. Again, what celebration isn’t complete without cake?  But now I can enjoy it without having to worry about any reactions later on.  I can “have my cake and eat it too” – enjoy my dessert and the celebration.  I’m not sure why we celebrate with cake, but I’m sure glad that we do.

Birthday Brownies

My mother-in-law made me her famous brownies for my birthday.  I didn’t think I liked chocolate until now.  These brownies were so delicious that I think they would make anyone a believer in the emotional healing powers of chocolate.  Hard day at work?  One  of these brownies will make you forget that work exists.  Headache? One of these tasty morsels will completely cure it.  (OK, so this isn’t scientifically proven, but I like to believe it anyway!)

Has anything ever made you want to curl into your own toes and just stay there to revel in the bliss?  The sweet taste of sugar mixed with a bit of butter flavor along with the deep, richness of this chocolate brownie will do it.  It’s bliss from the taste buds to the toes.

Whoever invented the brownie is a culinary genius.  My mother-in-law is a culinary genius for adding her special touch on a delightful dessert.

(All brownies were eaten before I could snap a picture!  The brownie may be an endangered species rarely left alone on a plate and rarely captured on film.)

Coke Floats

The coke float may be one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.  I’ve been thinking of ways to describe it for over a week now and nothing seems to fit exactly.  Every simile and every metaphor are too much of a cliché,  How do you describe a taste that makes you forget about tasting anything at all and instead transforms you into the very cloud you were hoping to savor, a cloud to float carelessly and carefree above the earth?  That’s how powerful and flavorful a coke float is.  It’s pure happiness in a glass. 

But how does it taste? It is the perfect blend of flavor – cool vanilla cream with the sweet zip of carbonated coca cola.  When the ice cream starts to melt into the coke, the flavors fold into one another just as if that was the desired effect.  The coke and the ice cream are that perfect couple who bring out the best in each other: the cool, calm, and collected character side by side with an interesting, inspiring, and intoxicating individual. Perfection.

I’ve tried two different types of ice cream in my floats: Dreyer’s Vanilla and Blue Bell Country Vanilla.  They are both extremely creamy, but in different ways.  Dreyer’s has that soft serve texture that just melts in your mouth (and your coke!) and has a clean vanilla taste.  Blue Bell has a much richer vanilla flavor that makes me wonder why I never splurged on ice cream more often.  It makes me regret missing out on these delicious flavors for most of my life.  But that’s ok.  I plan on making up for it this summer!