Want Some Chocolate? Read On...
We went to Chicago last weekend for a quick anniversary trip, a little pre-summer vacation, and that's well timed as my first Blaze anthology story, "No Reservations," in the What I Did For My Summer Vacation collection is currently available online and will be in stores soon. However, had I known one fact about Chicago ahead of time, I may very well have set my summer Blaze there, and this is why:
One of the things I discovered (in addition to the fact that I may have to split my baseball loyalty between the Red Sox and the White Sox), is that Chicago is the chocolate center of the US. I haven't fact-checked on this, so forgive me, but a food tour guide we had told us that Chicago has more chocolate shops than any other city in the US. I was kind of shocked, until I looked around, and realized there were at least 6 of them (maybe more) w/in 4 mile tour we took.
There is a huge Ghiradelli right across the street from a Hershey's factory, and then many, many small boutique and old Chicago shops. We went to several, and tasted everything from handmade milk chocolate brickle, exotic combo chocolate bars (curry, red peppers in there, etc) to designer chocolates where you sit at a table and they serve you the chocolates one at a time and explain what they are -- providing water in between each tasting. Our food tour included a variety of things, but I saw that Chicago offers a chocolate only tour, as well. Maybe I'll try that next time, but I also wonder, given this affection for chocolate, why RWA hasn't scheduled a Nationals conference in Chicago? It would seem like a natural fit...maybe because everyone would be out at the chocolate shops....
Anyway, I enjoy chocolate, though I can't eat milk chocolate due to lactose intolerance, but Chicago offered a solution: Vosges deep milk chocolate -- it mixes milk and dark, so you have the taste/benefits of dark with the creamy texture of milk chocolate, but it doesn't seem to bother my dairy allergies.
Here in Syracuse the chocolate choices are limited to what we can get at Wegmans, especially since our Godiva store closed, and our local little chocolate shop, Hercules Chocolate, which is very much like Chicago's small family chocolate shop in Old Town, The Fudge Pot (no website, you have to go there). However, my chocolate horizons have expanded. My favorite chocolate that I discovered in Chicago came from a designer boutique named Vosges -- and I am split between their Goji Bar and their Red Fire Bar -- they also have chocolate covered tortilla chips that look very tempting, but I have yet to try them. I haven't tried the Oaxaca bar pictured, and they also have one called "Mo's Bacon Bar" that I want to try -- I can't think of anything bad about putting bacon in chocolate, but maybe that's me. *G*
However, I enjoyed the small family atmosphere of The Fudge Pot, and the sitdown tasting at ethel's -- it's difficult to find anything bad about chocolate or the places that sell it.
I have to admit, while we have some variety and can order offline, I envy Chicago their chocolate heaven. Do you have a favorite kind of chocolate, a favorite chocolate shop, bar, place, city, or tradition? Any summer vacation plans that include chocolate, from chocolate tours like a Hershey PA visit or a Chicago tour to making s'mores around the campfire?
Share, and on Friday I'll pick THREE winners from registered users to receive a signed copy of my summer release AND a Vosges designer chocolate bar (but it will be a surprise which one!).
Ahh . . . chocolate
One of my favorite topics. We had a local candy and confections store that just recently closed much to my dismay. My favorite item to purchase at the shop were Marshmallow Pecan Squares. Basically, large marshmallows dipped in a pecan-chocolate coating. Delicious and addictive. I never bought more than a half-pound at a time because I couldn't stop eating them once I started.
Ohhhh...
Vosges makes a chocolate covered caramel marshmallow, and I think it has nuts, too -- look on the webpage. Marshmallows aren't a huge fave of mine, but I was even tempted... all that goo!
Sam
We had a Hershey Factory nearby...
when I was a kid and we went on a field trip to it. I was absolutely sure just the air would kill me, lol, but the thing I loved was that you could smell chocolate for miles from the place.
Now I'm gonna expect the same thing from Chicago, lol.
Oh, the reason being that folks might not want to go to Chicago for Nats is how many fear the landing at O'Hare. Ironic since most everyone has to connect through there. I hate it every time. Not that I've ever left the airport, but for a person who is terrified of landings, lol, O'Hare is no picnic.
Dee
Really?
You know, the weird thing is that I didn't smell much chocolate -- and I was surprised to find out it was a chocolate center. We had a chocolate factory here in Fulton, too, though, so I know what you mean -- when I used to teach in Oswego, I'd drive through there, and it was like driving through a cup of hot chocolate. :)
Mike and I've been through O'Hare quite a few times (him more than me, but I've gone through there maybe half a dozen times), and I used to be a nervous flier, but I never noticed anything too crazy about landing there...?
The worse landing I ever had was coming into Syracuse from Charlotte in a storm, and the one that made me the most nervous was San Diego... just didn't like looking down at how the runways are all along the water...
Interesting, but I had no idea people were so fearful of Chicago, but I actually nodded off on our landing there this last trip, so I can assure people it's fine. ;) If I can do it, anyone can... *G*
Sam
Oh, totally...
afraid of O'Hare. Have you ever come in on a really windy day? When you land there, the runways are short and the cross winds are high, so the pilots have to do this repeating drop manuever that leaves your stomach lurching about four times before you hit the runway.
Ugh. I need pepto thinking about it.
Dee
It's always windy, LOL
Maybe it's a west coast/east coast thing, LOL. When we went in on Friday, the winds were so stiff they worried they might have to cancel the game. ;)
I didn't notice anything funky about the landing. Checked with Mike, who's been through there about 100 times on business, and he shakes his head as well, so I think maybe we northeasterners might just be used to it. ;)
Sam
Free book AND chocolate?
Wow - I'm so in for this one! My sisters and I take an annual vacation together; this fall we're going to Chicago later and I'm sure I can talk them into a few trips to specialty chocolate shops.
I'm partial to Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC (owned by Ralph Lauren's daughter). There was a fabulous local in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, that handmade gorgeous Grand Marnier truffles, but they closed and I'm very sad.
Yum
I'll have to check out Dylan's next time... love Grand Marnier -- Mike uses it in his chocolate covered candied orange peels at xmas. :)
Also, it was funny, at the Fudge Pot, we were listening to their presentation, and they said "never put your chocolate in the refrigerator" -- it's bad for it and causes it to turn pasty and chalky white -- but no one at the shop knew why! I thought Mike was going to burst, because he did know why (condensation -- water leeches our of the chocolate, and with it, some fats, and so it messes up the chocolate and makes it look funky -- happens if the chocolate isn't tempered, too), and finally he just had to say the answer, LOL. So he actually ended up talking to the chocolate guys on the way out, LOL. They wanted to know how he knew so much -- and here they had been making chocolate for decades, but the kid on duty was young -- maybe one of his parents or grandparents would have known...
Sam
Yum!
Ahh.... chocolate! Growing up in California, we got lots of Sees... going into the shops is always a treat, and of course, we loved the free samples with our purchases :) More recently, my husband splurged on some Leonidas, which was incredibly delicious, too. I've heard of Vosges but haven't tried it yet. No summer plans that involve chocolate as far as I know... we've got some friends in PA though--maybe we ought to go visit them and Hershey!
Sees
I have seen Sees here at the Lord and Taylor, but never bought any. What do they specialize in?
Sam
Sees is all around candy
No particular specialization that I'm aware of. They're excellent with nutty chocolates, but then again, it's been about 8 years since I've had any. Still, they are arguably the best choco in California. (My sis and I have arguments, anyway. I'm still a Godiva fan.)
Dee
Mmm...
Yep, their nutty ones are good; I also really like their chocolate covered nougats and brittles. Dee, Godiva's pretty amazing, too...
Wilburs Buds
If you're going to PA check out Wilburs Chocolate.
Wilbur Chocolate Company
48 North Broad Street
Lititz, PA 17543
A friend who lives nearby shared some Wilburs Buds with me once and Mmmm. Really good! Available in dark and milk chocolate.
ani
Yuuuuummmmm......
I haven't met a piece of chocolate I didn't like! We actually went on a chocolate tour of Newburyport about a month ago, but it was rather disappointing; some chocolate cookies, chocolate-dipped Pringles, some Lindt balls, and some other goodies, but nothing especially memorable.
When I lived in Germany, we always had chocolate in the house (well, at least until I devoured it); Ritter Sport from Germany, Mozartkugeln chocolate balls from Austria, Guylian chocolates from Belgium and Swiss Toblerone were staples!
Personally, I love mint chocolate. Or orange-infused chocolate. I prefer the taste of dark chocolate, but do like the creaminess of milk chocolate, so the Vosges deep chocolate sounds like a perfect mix!
Lindt balls?
Are they fuzzy? LOL
I love orange and chocolate, too -- but Amaretto and chocolate -- yum!
BTW, the guy who invented the Pringles can passed away, and it was his request to have his ashes buried in... a Pringles can. Not kidding.
;)
Chocolate and salt is probably my favorite combo, though -- and Vosges has salt in a couple of their bars. It's interesting, because I am not a salt person. I use it in some seasoning, but I don't use it on my foods, etc in general. The salt shakers in our house rarely get used, but I LOVE anything salty with chocolate...
Sam
Lindt- not fuzzy
I finally decided to check out this site and low and behold chocalate is the piont of discusion , a womans best friend in times of woe and joy ! I live in Australia so many brands you have talked about we don't get here but Lindt we do get and is my FAVORITE !!! So creamy and melts in my mouth. Love reading your stories and stay up late at night reading them ( drives my boyfriend crazy) thanks for the stories and the happy endings. My sister lives near Chicargo so I'll mention this site to her !
Cheryl welcome!
Great to have you here! Make sure you register so you can be counted in for contests, but oh, I know about the Lindt (I was just teasing Karen! LOL). She actually gave me a whole box of the things when we met in Boston, and uh, let's just say they didn't make it out of the hotel room when we left...all that was left was the empty box! They were great!
Thanks so much for the kind words, and driving your boyfriend crazy is what it's all about! *G*
Sam
Big waves!
Mint chocolate is my fav, too, Karen! I love those little Andes mints, and my favorite ice cream, back when I could eat ice cream, was Ben and Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie!
Margaret
the only chocolate tours we
the only chocolate tours we will be doing is touring our fire pit in our back yard whilst making S'Mores this summer; our new friend's 3 kids loving toasting marshmallows so we have to please them and make them happy, right?!!
I love chocolate of almost any kind; my favs over the years have been Crispy Crunch, Turkish Delight,
Coconut bars, Cuban Lunch, Snickers, Coffee Crunch.
Smores count!
We bought a little firepit, and Mike just had his first s'more a few weeks ago. :) It was fun. :)
It's hard to beat a Snickers bar, really.
Sam
Chocolate. . . of course,
Chocolate. . . of course, that's a title that got my attention. :) But then that's why you put it just like that, for maximum effect. LOL I love any chocolate, Hershey's, European, milk, dark, plain, with peanut butter. . . I'm very nearly equal opportunity chocolate eater. I say very nearly because I can do without white. To be, it just not chocolate. But anyway. . . to go to a vacation spot with chocolate, I'd love to go to Paris (bound to be something there! LOL), and maybe Switzerland. Oh, and maybe Germany has something, unless Black Forest chocolate cake is just a cute name. Whatever, I'll take it, I'm not picky. :)
Lois, who's idea of vacation now is when we can go out to eat, but sure love Olive Garden's chocolate mousse cake. . . oh, and then there's Junior's cheesecake that I had once when we went to NYC. Nice and full of chocolate. . . :)
LOL
Black Forest cake really does have chocolate... I make a good one, and had one for a cookout the other night. ;)
I sometimes like white chocolate, but not too often. It has to be good stuff. I don't think it's really chocolate, though, in the strictest sense -- no cocoa beans?
Sam
Right...
It's the wax on the outside of the bean, I'm told. Or some go with Almond bark, thinking it's the same.
It's not. LOL!
Mmmm Chocolate
Growing up, I always preferred vanilla to chocolate. (Sacrilege, I know!) But some time between now and then, I discovered a taste for chocolate. In college, my very kind older sister sent me a few care packages, and one included a Scharffen Berger chocolate bar. Another, a Valrhona bar. I was sold. Immediate, and irrevocably. "Regular" chocolate was no longer the same. Hershey's chocolate (unfortunately) was like eating chocolate scented wax. My sister had created a monster - and a chocolate snob. Recently I've discovered L.A. Burdick Chocolates - they're cute, and delicious.
Although - ironically, I like milk chocolate more than dark. But I like the most possible cocoa in my chocolate before it's labeled "dark" - for some reason I feel like dark has a slightly sour taste, that I just don't like. [The bitter I'm ok with.] However, even before all this, I was obsessed with the show Chocolate with Jacques Torres. If he had a son, I wanted to marry him.
I love making chocolate fondue - it's something I did with friends a lot in college and I'm planning on having a few fondue get togethers this summer. I miss making s'mores at a campfire - and may try to incorporate that into the 4th of July BBQ. I'd also love to visit Chicago - thanks for sharing with us about Vosges, and all the other fabulous places in Chi-town. ;) I can't decide if it would be a good thing, or bad thing to visit during restaurant week, because it'd be an issue of too much goodness! (And too little time!)
I like Milk Chocolate, too
If I weren't lactose intolerant, and trying to be healthy, I would eat milk chocolate all the time -- the good stuff is amazing. But that's why I like the Vosges deep milk -- has the creamy texture, but not the high dairy content...
I only visited a smattering of spots in Chicago, but I plan to go back, and if you go, let me know if you find any more new ones... I know they're there!
Oh, and not chocolate, but if any of you do go to Chicago, check out The Spice Merchant and Old Town Oil in the Old Town neighborhood -- we got some amazing spices there, a rub for ribs that was amazing, and once you taste the balsamic vinegars at Old Town Oil, you'll never be able to have anything else!
Sam
Chocolate
I haven't been to a chocolate shop in some time but there is a fudge store we go to sometimes when visiting my parents and it is amazing.
Ahhh...
Fudge is a whole other world isn't it? Love fudge. We find it home made around here at fairs and festivals, and I could eat myself sick on the stuff... just a basic chocolate walnut with plenty of vanilla, or a nice maple is good by me!
sam
mmmm...chocolate
I don't think there's anything that can't be improved by shaved chocolate, carmelized onion, or bacon, but possibly not in combination...
When I go back to England I always take Hershey's Kisses as gifts, because you can't get them there, altho I don't think Hershey's chocolate otherwise is very good.
And lots of people I know here are crazy about English chocolate, although most of it is inferior chocolate because of it's low cocoa (?I think) content. NOTHING, in my opinion, beats a Cadbury's Flake. A Cadbury's Flake in a soft vanilla ice cream cone? Heaven, just heaven.
Hey Janet! Nice to see you
I'm still dying to try the Mo's Bacon bar from Vosges... Carmelized onion, no, I don't think that would work, LOL.
Hershey's kisses definitely have their place -- and they make dark chocolate ones now, that I like to get around the holidays...
Sam
Mmmm.. Chocolate
I love chocolate. My favorites are Godiva, Ghiradelli and Dove. No travel plans involving chocolate but I think it would be fun to visit Hersheys.
Toblerone
My favorite is Toblerone. I also love Maltesers and See's Peanut Brittle. Maltesers are similar to Whoppers. I don't have a favorite chocolate shop. I didn't know Chicago is chocolate city. When I was in Chicago, I was busy stuffing myself with popcorn from Garrett's.
Ohhh...
Toblerones are in a class by themselves -- LOVE them.
Garrett's popcorn, huh? Is that caramel by any chance? I am obsessed with caramel corn -- we have a place here in downtown Syracuse that makes it, and I don't go to often -- it's fresh, and I can eat a barrel full, LOL.
Mike has a chocolate tempering machine, and we keep meaning to get some and dip it in the chocolate -- one of these days!
Sam
Okay, I have to ask....
Just what is a chocolate tempering machine???
It melts chocolate w/out
It melts chocolate w/out overheating it and keeps it at a specific temperature so that when you make your chocolates they stay shiny and hard, not sticky or glazed on the outside. So it looks like candy store candy. :)
Sam
We have a store here that
We have a store here that sells Godiva but in very limited amounts. Otherwise the only place to buy chocolate is at drug stores or grocery stores. I love mint chocolate, chocolate with peanut butter, any Hershey's kissess, and really anything sweet covered with chocolate except coconut. When I travel if there is a chocolate store around I visit it.
Yummers
I actually love coconut clusters... let's face it. I'm a chocolate whore, apparently -- I love all of it. LOL
But while I like peanut butter cups, one of my less classy loves is the old Mallow Cup. It has coconut on it. LOL Grosses Mike out, but I love them. I don't like marshmallows much, but I love Mallow Cups...
Sam
Chocolate Tea
There used to be a place nearby called La-La-Land Chocolates which featured a Chocolate Tea. I was lucky enough to be taken there for my birthday once.
It was a regular high tea with little sandwiches (smoked salmon, cucumber and mint, and a Cougar Gold cheddar --locally made-- and tomato).
Homemade scones as big as your head served with clotted cream.
A cookie dipped in chocolate. All of these were served with your choice of many different teas or coffee.
But, then, you had your choice of a fist sized chocolate truffle--handmade.
When I went, my friend and I both sampled some teas but when they brought out the cookies (which we took home with us), we switched over to their Mayan Hot Chocolate. Oh. My. G-d!! It was hot chocolate made with white pepper and habanero peppers so it had a kick to it, but it was yummy!!
I chose a Mayan truffle and bought a couple of others to take home with me, also.
They opened a place in the mall, then. No tea but they had a chocolate fountain. It quickly went out of business though and, sadly, so did the place where they held their Chocolate Teas.
I'm bitterly disappointed as I had wanted to take my mother but it never worked out for us to go together.
I like to search our World Market for fun chocolate bars now. I picked up a dark chocolate and pomegranate the other day. Surprisingly, it had a bit of bite to it.
Otherwise, its Dove Caramel Promises for me.
ani
Oh, this sounds great...
Chocolate tea sounds amazing... And chocolate pomegranate? Pom is one of my favorite things. I love to sit with one and pick the seeds out and one of the vinegars I brought home from Chi was a Pomegranate Balsamic... Dark chocolate and pomegranate sounds amazing...
Sam
Any kind of chocolate is my
Any kind of chocolate is my favorite.
Yummy
I have to say you are now discussing my fav. subject... I love any chocolate and I once begged my family to take a tour in a french confiserie... but they had other plans and thought a museum was more entertaining! Of course, I have to agree with that but I am curious about all the process :)
I love any kind of chocolate and love to discover newer flavours/brands!
Chocolate!
I was not aware that Chicago was a chocolate city... I just need to visit it now :)
I love truffles, and the godiva ones are divine!
Hi Sam--What a yummy topic.
Hi Sam--What a yummy topic. I've been thinking about going to Ghiradeli's when I go to Nationals, but figure I'll be so busy while I'm there I may save it for another visit. So, I'll have to content myself with a Starbucks Truffle after tea in the evenings. The Starbucks chocolates are very good, by the way. I like the Mocha Truffel and the Espresso one.
I love how you say *a* Truffle... ;)
That's what we do, too, though -- except in some situations (like when Karen Foley hands me a box of chocolates that we're alone with in a hotel room), and the holidays, Mike and I are pretty controlled in our consumption. we like it a lot, but one of those Vosges candy bars will last us 3 days -- one square each at night, that's it.
Sometimes we'll be naughty and have two, or one in the afternoon, but it's the exception. On one of my book contracts I celebrated by buying the larger box of designer Godiva chocolates, and we would each pick one each evening... it lasted for weeks. :)
Of course, PMS and a bad day can also send those otherwise controlled treats haywire, LOL.
Sam
Chocolate
Hershey make the very best Chocolate!!!
There is no candy making places around where I live and I have never been on a tour of a chocolate factory.
Although I think we do have a few Wild Turkey factories around close but not sure where they are at.
Hershey is fun
We did that when we were kids, went there -- you should try it someday if you are into Hersheys. :)
Sam
I'd like to pay a visit to
I'd like to pay a visit to Vosges. Yum! I haven't found many types of chocolate that I didn't like. One of the ones at the top is See's. I first found them on a vacation in Arizona and just recently they opened up a shop nearby. I'm going to have to try and control myself so I don't turn into a pumpkin by the fall. lol
lvoe hersey and kisses
lvoe hersey and kisses candy. love sees candy, always recevied it from work for christmas.
Oh wow, I love chocolate.
Oh wow, I love chocolate. Any kind and every kind. We have a specialty shop in town where I live and they make it on the premises. Chocolate strawberries, Caramel candy apples covered in chocolate and nuts, chocolate covered pretzels, and amazing, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate truffles. I can't pick just one. But if you're ever in Ontario, come see me and I'll take you. Promise. :)
J.K. Coi
Immortals To Die For
www.jkcoi.com
It's a deal!
Always happy to find a new place. :) Chocolate covered pretzels were one of my first "exotic" discoveries way back when, so I have a fondness for them. :)
Sam
CHOCOLATE
Chocolate is a favorite indulgence since it is soothing and delectable. I love chocolate mousse since it is light and no effort to enjoy. We have many delightful places here in town for chocolate lovers. Buffetts, fudge shops which are another special place I enjoy visiting.