NEW- Hershey BLISSful holiday packaging!

I love this time of year- when all the chocolate co's roll out their fancy Holiday packaging and Special Limited Edition products. Hershey has dressed up their Bliss choc bags & foil wrappers (milk, dark, and meltaway center flavors), and they are beautiful! I love the colors- when you mix them all together, the evergreen, burgundy & gold color foils make for a very festive holiday bowl for a party or at work . Had trouble getting the right lighting but hopefully you can tell how pretty these are...

It's Brownie-palooza!

Every now and then I get on a brownie kick- especially when I notice a few new varieties pop up on the shelves. So now is that time- there are some really great new box brownie mixes out that I just had to try, but this is only a starter list. There are many more and ultimatly I plan to do a full scale taste test between Organic and regular brands. The pics here show the latest offerings from Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, Ghiradelli, and generic Hannaford. Im especially fond of the Cookie-Brownie bars and all of the Dark choc varieties- VERY rich & deep dark chocolatey....what brownie dreams are made of (especially warm and served with cold vanilla ice cream!)

NEW- Hershey Cacao Reserve Truffle Crunch!

Oh my, what do we have here? Hershey has expanded the Cacao Reserve line to include crunchy truffles, and they are truly delicious. The packaging really says it all, with a cross section picture and describing them as "Chocolate Truffle Crunch- a three layered tasting experience- rich chocolate, creamy truffle filling, and cacao bit crunch- the heart of the cacao bean". Plus they are beautifully wrapped in bright blue (milk) and purple (dark) foil so they are fun to share and leave as a surprise treat for someone! Highly recommended- currently found at Target.

NEW- Ghirardelli Luxe Milk bars!

So now that Dark chocolate has been thoroughly celebrated and elevated to "chic" & healthy status, I think Milk chocolate is going to try to make a comeback. Here is example one- Luxe Milk bars from Ghirardelli. They are in beautiful slick packaging and have fancy add-ins like deep-roasted hazelnuts & natural toasted almonds. They are described as Rich, Creamy, and Heavenly milk choc, made with the "finest cocoa beans". Does the taste live up to all that? Absolutely, and Im not a big milk choc fan by itself, but I do love these- especially with the nuts. I prefer to pair it with some dark choc too- that Duet bar is just perfection. Well worth the price and calories!

NEW- Reese's Crunchy is back!

So cool- they brought my favorite Reese's back- Crunchy! Filled with yummy crunchy peanut butter, they were last seen more than 10 years ago I think- and I always wondered why they were discontinued? Crunchy rocks! Welcome back!

NEW- Stirs the Soul Organic Raw Chocolate!

Here is a product from my hometown- Portland, OR, that is as special, exciting, and unique as that great city! In true Oregon fashion, this chocolate is Organic and Raw- meaning it is very simply un-roasted cacao beans (preserving the maximum antioxidants & nutrients), raw cocoa butter, raw amber agave nectar (for natural sweetness), vanilla, and Himalayan crystal salt. And it is Fair Trade certified, vegan, low glycemic, and allergy free. This is chocolate for the purist and those trying to break an addiction to refined sugar sweetness (like me, sad to say). It is just a very wonderful, intense, strong, healthy blast of real chocolate flavor, and they have 5 or 6 different varieties- see the entire line at STIRSTHESOUL.COM - available in Natural food stores and by mail order. Thanx mom!!

More Halloween M&Ms and fun treats to make!

Here are some very specially packaged Halloween M&Ms -10 packs of the regular size bags. And some very fun colorful treats you can make with all the M&Ms you get for Halloween- Rice Krispy Treats made with cereal, marshmallow, REFRIGERATED M&Ms, and butter. Just take a BIG plastic or glass bowl, put 1 TB butter in the bottom and fill it with one bag of marshmallows. Heat in microwave till its all puffed up to top of the bowl. Add 1/2 box of crispy rice cereal and mix, then when its all coated in marshmallow, add the cold M&Ms (if not cooled they will start to melt & break apart), mix it all up- then spread it out in large greased pan and cool for a bit- then cut in squares & enjoy!