Chocolate Bytes: For the Love of Chocolate

July 24th, 2008

The Lifestyles Channel Summer Picnic

This month, the Lifestyles channel decided to have a little fun with one of summer’s favorite pastimes - a picnic!

Let’s start with dessert first!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch by Robust Cooking

Watermelon Raspberry Lemonade at All Holiday Cafe

Rice Krispie Treats at Keeping the Castle

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream at Chocolate Bytes

Cool Summer Snacking at Inside Motherhood

Baking Delights is bringing enough chocolate for everyone to catch a chocobuzz with her favorite brownies

Nothing like sweet tea on a hot, summer day…Wait..I taste lime..mint…is that a non-alcoholic Mojito?  Kettle and Cup has the answer.

Blogfabulous is serving up a super easy, keep your butt out of the hot kitchen solution to Hors’ devours.

Weary Parent is serving Chocolate Puppy Chow, a snack that’s bound to be popular with the kids

Offbeat Homes is sharing details on how to hold an offbeat picnic in four easy steps.

Tree Hugging Family shares 10 tips for an easy green picnic or green potluck

Just because you choose to live thrifty doesn’t mean you have to throw a thrifty picnic.  Simply Thrifty shares tips for an elegant and inexpensive potluck

What fun is a summer BBQ if you feel disorganized and in disarray?  Declutter It shares five tips to help you organize your summer BBQ.

10 Summer party ideas and themes for your next backyard barbecue, or potluck.

Add some backyard Olympic games to your next barbecue, in honor of the Summer Olympics

And speaking of games, Marriage Actually is bringing a fun game for the grownups.  Life Stories - a fun way to find out more about your spouse, friends and extended family.

Cyndi won’t go anyplace to picnic unless she can grill, but she doesn’t want to spend all day doing it.  Try her tips for Grilling Chicken Fast, and get a jumpstart on your next picnic!

Who says picnics have to be complicated affairs?  Keep it simple with cheeses, meats and homemade bread.  Brewha-ha.com has a few suggestions - including a recipe for Polish beer rye bread

Whether you’re having a picnic, a barbecue or just looking for a fun activity to do with your kids outside, Susan at PlayLibrary offers a list of 50 outdoor toys and games that are perfect for summer.

This time of year there are bugs everywhere, don’t forget to bring the bug repellent along with your favorite dish to your next cookout.

Christine at Mad Cropper not only shares her favourite winter or summer recipe but also shares that you can turn recipes into creative works of arts. Find out how!

And while you’re out having all the fun and good food you can handle, don’t forget your pets - they enjoy special summer treats too!

At Quilting and Patchwork enjoy an array of potluck foods and memories from the Food Bloggers.

You never know what medical emergency could happen while your are picnicking…Marye at Simply Home Remedies is bringing the antidote for nearly anything!

Eliza at Babylune provides a checklist of tips to consider when taking baby picnicking.

Finally, when it’s all said and done, kick back with a nice frozen beverage.  MomGadget prefers the Dominican Coco Loco

[image: flickr]

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July 22nd, 2008

Perfect Picnic Fare: Homemade Oreo Ice Cream

What better way to end a summer picnic than with a nice big batch of homemade ice cream? A mix-in of chopped and crushed Oreo cookies makes it extra special. Keep it tucked inside the cooler with a lot of ice or ice packs and it should be just about right for dessert!

I use about six cookies total for a 1.5 quart batch of ice cream. I like to quarter about three of the cookies for some nice chunks, and then crush the rest with a mallet to make sure there are cookies throughout all the ice cream! Hot pink bowl is optional. :)

Oreo Ice Cream

2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup Egg Beaters)
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 chopped/crushed Oreo cookies

Put the chopped Oreo cookies in the fridge. In the meantime, whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl for about one minute until light and fluffy, add sugar a little bit at a time until dissolved and continue whisking another minute. Pour in cream, milk and vanilla and whisk to blend. Pour into prepared ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s directions. During the last two minutes of the cycle add the chilled Oreos.

I actually forgot the vanilla the last time I made this and the ice cream was so delicious that I don’t think I’m going to use it again! It produced a simple, sweet cream ice cream - a really nice, refreshing change from vanilla. And of course, the Oreos add a bit of flavor anyway!

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By Heather -- 3 comments

July 22nd, 2008

Lindt Lindor 60% Extra Dark Chocolate Truffles

[image: lindor product photo]

Lindt considers their 60% truffles “extra” dark and ok, more power to them! (They’re definitely dark but not necessarily extra!) The Extra Dark truffles are a limited edition addition to their truffle line, which already includes milk, dark, peanut butter and a few seasonal versions.

I’ve had the milk and dark Lindor Truffles before and enjoyed them, so I’m thinking I must have picked up a package of Extra Dark that was near the end of its shelf life or sat in the delivery truck too long. Each truffle had already bloomed, and most were just flat-out deformed - not one looked like this!

At room temperature they were a gooey, melted mess and after I put them in the fridge for a bit I felt like I was going to break a tooth when I tried them. It’s become a balancing act between fridge and counter!

The smooth center stayed pretty solid (unless it was fully at room temperature, then the whole thing was smooth!) and after cutting into it a bit more it was obvious that it had probably been affected by the heat:

So, overall and despite the appearance of the truffles, which was pretty bad, they were really tasty. Lindt makes some smooth chocolate and the 60% truffles had a hint of bitterness, which I like. There was no waxy mouth feel and they have a light, almost fruity aftertaste.

I found the 8.5oz bag at Cost Plus World Market for about $5.

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July 19th, 2008

Chocolate Martini

It’s the weekend - kick your feet up and relax with a chocolate martini!

It couldn’t be any easier to make. All you need is 6 parts vodka, 1 part chocolate liqueur, garnish of choice.

Combine the vodka and liqueur in a mixing glass with ice cubes and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a chocolate curl, strawberry, or chocolate powder. That’s it!

[image: flickr]

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July 18th, 2008

Do-It-Yourself Gigantic Kit Kat Bar

This is fantastic: these guys decided that if you’re going to take a break, take a BIG break and while you’re at it, make it yourself!

They gathered 30 packages of Saisbury’s Luxury Belgian Milk Chocolate, 3 ScotBlok Chocolate Flavour Cake Coverings and 6 packages Loacker Quadratini chocolate wafers, and with the help of a wallpaper trough and a floor tile made a humongous Kit Kat bar!

The end product actually looks pretty tasty and you can see how proud they are of it too! Would you attempt something like this?

[image: sxc]

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By Heather -- 2 comments

July 17th, 2008

Have You Stopped Buying Chocolate?

A recent article mentions that the once thought-to-be-immune chocolate market is taking a hit from the weak economy.

It cites the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Colorado as its main source, who says they’ve had to cut nearly 60 employees from their already modest workforce.

Have your chocolate buying habits changed? I can tell you mine haven’t! I have noticed some favorites have gone up a little in price but as long as it doesn’t get ridiculous I feel good chocolate is worth a little more anyway. What do you think?

[image: flickr]

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By Heather -- 2 comments