Chocolate Monday: Cadbury Soft English Toffee bar

One of the many joys about my recent vacation in Pennsylvania, was the plethora of chocolate which just seemed to jump in front of me. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there was some sort of new chocolate experience. Whoopie pies at the farmer’s market, fudge at the railroad, chocolate/vanilla swirl soft serve at Sesame Place, and at Hershey, well, I mean, there is an entire city devoted to chocolate. Turns out Belinda Carlisle was right: heaven is a place on earth.

Now, I’m not exactly the biggest Hershey fan on the planet. A bag of their kisses will never be what I reach for when I’m having a cocoa craving (in part because I over-indulged when I was like 10, got really sick and have basically Nanceefied* kisses). Neither will their original chocolate bars. I like milk chocolate and all, but a plain chocolate bar without any bells or whistles? Not unless it’s the really, really good stuff. I have to admit I don’t even use their chocolate syrup or cocoa powder (I’m a snob, I use Penzey’s Dutch process cocoa powder because it is AMAZING). But, there was no way in the world I could stop in Hershey and NOT take a drive by Hershey’s Chocolate World. Come on, it’s called Chocolate World…I was sold.

As I said, their plain old bars don’t ring any bells for me, but I have a definite soft spot in my heart for lots of their candy bars. Heck, what right-minded, candy-lovin’ person doesn’t? This is the company that brought Reese’s, Heath, Almond Joy and a score of others to grocery store check out stands so that I could drool and plead with my mom every time she took me shopping. Speaking of the score of other bars, Skor bars are theirs too. I never realized it as a child and was in a sort of constant childhood debate between Heath and Skor. Turned out I didn’t need be. I was supporting the same family no matter which kind of toffee I wanted.

So, imagine my joy when we were in the Hershey “store” and I found not only all of my childhood favorites, but also a whole stand devoted to a slightly more grown up favorite of mine: Cadbury.

When I visited London for the first time in 2004, Cadbury saved my life. Ok, so maybe they didn’t exactly save it, but they were a reviving force without which I might have crumpled into a lifeless heap in a tube station. I was one of two adult chaperones on a summer theater trip to London. Everything I’d read about England’s weather had prepared me for balmy temps in the low 70′s. So, that is exactly what I packed for. Imagine my amazement when we arrived right smack at the start of a European heat wave. London was posting temps in the high 80′s and low 90′s and our tour guide had us on daily forced marches around town with few stops for lukewarm water and small, bland dinners.

 This is where Cadbury enters the picture. After a full day of walking and barely eating, I found candy machines in the tube stations. These glorious beacons of hope offered me life-sustaining chocolate for a mere 50 p. It was in one of those stifling hot stations, where, after riding for twenty minutes next to two men who had no concept of personal space or body odor, that I found the Caramilk. It was love at first bite.

Turns out that it was pretty much the same thing I’d been eating (and loving) back in the states, but instead of being in a shiny brown, red and gold wrapper and called a Caramello, it was in the more traditional Cadbury purple and called Caramilk. Still, there was something about eating it when half-starved and fully exhausted in London that just made it the best damn caramel filled candy bar I’d ever had.

So, when in the Hershey store, I found not only the British packed version, but also a shiny purple wrapper touting a soft English toffee, I was in chocolate heaven! I grabbed both and skipped to the register. Yes, I realize I can get the a Caramello at any ol’ gas station in the country, but not in the purple wrapper (and I swear it improves the taste). But, I’d never seen the soft toffee one before, so I figured I had to have it for comparison sake.

The soft English toffee bar is similar to the Caramello. This shouldn’t really be a shock. While what we Americans think of as  English toffee is both taste and texture wise quite different from caramel, one thing I learned while in England, is that what they often refer to as toffee, is not at all what I was used to. It is the stuff Harry Potter and his buddies talk about when they eat sticky toffee pudding. And in fact, soft toffee is a lot like caramel, at least in texture. It has that same, gooey stringiness one expects from caramel.  The difference comes in the taste. It is not, the buttery richness of American toffee. Much like another of my English favorites, treacle pudding, soft toffee also has a sort of molasses hint to it. It also has more of a burnt sugar taste to it. Far more butterscotch than butter toffee.

Cadbury’s soft toffee had not only the burnt sugar hints, but also a just a tiny hint of molasses. It reminded far more of the treacle pudding I had at a Garfield’s in London (which I’ll admit was totally because both Alice in Wonderland and the Harry Potter kids both bring up the stuff). The creaminess of the milk chocolate does help set off the slightly bitter bite the soft toffee has. It also helps to mask the difference between the super buttery toffee taste my American palette expects when it sees the word toffee and the reality of the darker, heavier, and burningly sweeter taste of the British version. It is sweeter than caramel, which is texturally what my mouth expected. It was not a bar I could eat more than six squares of at a time, which is good, since that’s a serving (although less than half the actual bar).

All in all, the bar is still toffee, and I do LOVES me some toffee. It was satisfying and rich. I think I may even like it better than it’s more American cousin, the Caramello. But, I’ll have to eat that bar to make sure. It’s only fair, right?

Overall:

Taste: 7.5/10

Price: 7/10 (it was a big bar and considering I was at a tourist attraction AND I’d never seen this one before, I thought the price of $2 wasn’t bad)

Appearance: 5/10 (it’s nothing to look at)

*Nanceefied is a term we use in honor of a dear friend who has a bad habit of eating so much of a food that she makes her self ill and then cannot be induced to eat that food again…no matter what.

Chocolate Monday: Brown County Humane Society Chocolate Chocolate fundraiser

Ok, so this might be cheating just a little bit, but I went to a chocolate festival today and thought there was no way I could let it pass without some pictures and comments. Originally when my BFF brought up the idea of going, I thought it was going to be a bit like a typical “taste” event.

If you don’t know what I mean, there are tons of towns that do these sort of events. They get local business to line up by the truckload and offer a small sampling of their wares. The ones I have been to sell tickets and then different food vendors charge different numbers of tickets for their wares. For example, two meatballs from an Italian place might cost 1 ticket (or $1). I thought this event was going to be along the same lines: local chocolate places offering up bite-sized versions of their wares. Since there was a “gate” price of $10 and a promise of 80 different kinds of chocolate to choose from, I thought maybe we’d get so many tickets to spend however we wanted.

This was not what we were greeted with when the doors finally opened though. We were instead pointed to a pile of plates and napkins all stacked in cute spiral patterns next to several banquet length tables full of circular trays loaded with chocolate treats. Each treat had a label explaining the particular bite filling it’s circumference. To my surprise, there were no bakery or chocolate shop names anywhere on the cards.

As we made our way around the table, we started plucking yummy sounding flavor combinations off of the trays and piling them on our plates. I made grabs for several types of brownies (including German chocolate, mint, turtle and double fudge) as well as some fun sounding truffles (turtle cheesecake, chocolate peanut butter and something or other raspberry). I also snagged a cake sample, some toffee, and some sort of raspberry cookie looking thing. My plate was getting pretty full and I felt a momentary stab of guilt. I mean, the event had just started and there were three more hours to go, and here I was hogging everything I could. Then I looked at my BFF’s plate and it was stacked just as high. So was everyone else’s. I felt a tad better.

We decided to stake our claim to seats. We headed for the back tables where we’d be less likely to have to make small talk with strangers. Not that either of us are anti-social per say, but neither of us relish the idea of discussing someone’s grandchildren or ailments. We just wanted to snarf down some chocolate and enjoy a day out. On our way to the back, we spotted a chocolate fountain and after dropping our plates at an empty table, we headed back for second plates to get some angel food cake and strawberries to dip. We also stopped at the beverage station where we got some non-alcoholic champagne (read sparkling grape juice). My BFF was appalled to see they also had both milk and chocolate milk sitting out slowly warming to room temperature. We quickly walked away before she lost her super yummy lunch.

After my first bite of German chocolate brownie bite, I realized why there were no confectionary names on those little cards: they weren’t from local sweet shops at all. The chocolate tidbits were obviously made by volunteers, then cut into tiny pieces and placed in cute little wrappers. I was expecting to get a taste of local chocolates, and I did. I just wasn’t expecting them to come directly from the homes of those locals. 

Now, I’m not mocking some no doubt very sweet animal lovers, whose hearts are no doubt in the right places. I’m just saying I didn’t get what I expected (or wanted). Every item was obviously made with cheap chocolate and inexpensive ingredients. The mint brownie for example, which looked a bit like a Mint Meltaway from Fannie May, was a very bland brownie (no real cocoa flavor to speak of) with an overly artificial mint flavoring nestled between it and the thin layer of what tasted like Hershey’s fudge on top. The peanut butter truffle, which actually was a nice mix of chocolate and peanut butter (even though it had a decidedly stretchy, non-truffle texture), was doused in what I’m pretty sure was just Hershey’s Cocoa powder (or possibly an even lower rent knock-off version of the stuff) and the slightly tinny tasting powder took a lot of the joy away from the candy.

The fondue was not even remotely warm, so biting in to the angel food cake was very odd. The chocolate was not the creamy milk I expected, but rather a watery semi-sweet which I think might have had some oil added to thin it out even more. There was nothing wrong with the cake or the strawberry dipped in it, but once again, I expected milk chocolate and got a slightly bitter semi-sweet. And by the way, what the hell is with people using semi-sweet in chocolate fountains? I know it’s cheaper in a lot of cases, but there is a reason for that. When there is a chocolate fountain, people want warm, creamy milk chocolate to dip their goodies in. If you can’t give it to them, don’t even bother with the fountain!

I will say the ambience was great. It was very elegant looking (considering it was in a room with Kountry Krap and antlers hanging on the walls). The soft music was a nice touch. So was the “champagne”–and they did have a cash bar as well. The people at my table, who did not seem to have any sort of refined chocolate pallet, really liked the food. They had piles which put mine to shame and gobbled it without any real thought. My BFF and I were quietly analyzing each piece.

Even though the chocolate wasn’t exactly top shelf, it was still a fun event. And, it was for a good cause, so I have to be ok with the $10 I dropped to get in. I thought it was a great idea for a fundraiser and now that I know what I’m getting in to, I’d definitely do it again. It was nice, after all, to have a day out with my BFF (we not only had chocolate, but a nice lunch at a place I almost never get to go to and we got to do some shopping). It was a bit of a drive, but that just meant more time to talk. Heck, good company and a good cause helps negate the mediocre chocolate.

Overall:

Taste: 4/10

Appearance: 7/10 (most items looked quite good but didn’t deliver on taste)

Value: 7/10 (since it was all you can eat and plates were piled high, I have to give it credit for filling me up).

Chocolate Monday: Vosges Holiday Truffle collection

One of my true joys in life is a shopping trip with my best friend. While I’m perfectly content to spend our time tooling around one of the local malls or on nicer days heading downtown to hit some of the trendier one of a kind shops, my absolute favorite place to go with her is Armitage Street in Chicago. This is due in part to the absolutely fun shops and often great finds there. It is due in part to an amazing little pasta place we stumbled on one year (Pasta Pallazo–we go every single trip). And it is due in part to the 10-12 hours of pure bonding time we have. It never ceases to amaze me that even after something like 16 years of friendship (wow, it really has been that long), we can still spend that much time with each other and never run out of things to say. In fact, on this recent trip my voice actually gave out from talking so much (might have also been the cold I was in the grip of).

One major draw of Armitage used to be the dueling chocolate shops on the opposite ends of our favorite street. I’ll be honest, I looked forward to Ethel M’s far more than Vosges, but I learned to appreciate each for its unique contribution to our visit. I loved coming home absolutely laden with chocolate goodies.

Sadly, Ethel M’s closed up shop about two years ago. Each time we visit, we glance at the fading brown and pink awning, hoping our shop has miraculously returned. Each time, we are devastated all over again. I’d be nice if they could rent the shop to anything else so we wouldn’t have that bitter reminder of what we could have had. I’d actually be happy if they just took the awning down so it wouldn’t mock me. But alas, Chicago is a cruel mistress and likes to taunt me with precious sugary memories.

Now, we tend to save Vosges as our last stop. We stuff ourselves until we are nearly sick on fantastic pasta and even though we really want to try one of their delicious sounding desserts, we abstain, knowing that chocolate bliss is not that far away.

Not only does Vosges have some tasty combinations I love, but their shop is filled with little sample bowls. I’ve never been in there when there are less than three items being sampled. Plus, they’ll let you try just about anything boxed (except the truffles).  This last trip came just after the holidays, so they had some great sales and half a dozen samples, including two candy bars I was rather excited to try.

My goal wasn’t just the bars though (I did end up taking advantage of the buy 5, get one free deal). I was hoping to get my mitts on a small box of the holiday collection. I knew that since it was 3 days post-Christmas they might already be gone. And I was almost right. They were completely out of the “reasonably” priced 8 piece box I wanted to sample. They did have the 32 piece box left though. There was no way I was willing to dump that much change on a variety of four truffles I might not like.

Luckily they had something even better than my 8 piece box: a four piecer with one of each new truffle in it. I was stoked! This way I could try them all. If I found any new loves, I’d know what to stock up on next year. If not, I only had four chocolates to suffer through. I had the cashier add one to my bag and we were off.

We’d sampled so much in the store that I couldn’t bring myself to try one that same day. It was probably for the best as I was driving and had nothing to take notes on (yes, I do take copious notes over my chocolate consumption–I sometimes fear that if the wrong person finds them they will think I have a serious problem…wait, maybe I do).

Anyway, I started this collection with the Peppermint Candy Cane piece. Now, my best friend and I argue this all the time, but I have always been a save the best for last kind of gal (she gives in to her hedonistic pleasure and indulges in her favorite right away. I’m ok with delayed gratification). I like peppermint and chocolate just fine. Sometimes I love it (like in really squishy Junior Mints). However, this was a dark chocolate piece and if there is one thing I’ve learned about Vosges: their dark chocolate is very dark, and often rather bitter. I often do not enjoy it nearly as much as I want to.

This piece was no exception. The top was very pretty. I really loved the almost iridescent candy cane pieces on the top. Or at least I think that’s what they were. I’ve never seen a magenta candy cane before. The center was very creamy and the usual harshness of the dark chocolate was toned down a bit by the mint. However, the mint seemed less candy cane and more Schnapps to me (and I had a brief but icky flashback to a drunken party sophomore year of college). It also had an overly sweet after taste that to me seemed like the maker trying to balance the bite of the dark chocolate. It was ok, but not a mint I want to try again.

I tried the second dark piece next. Being a gourmet company (and a bit pretentious), Vosges really loves their dark pieces. I think over half of their pieces are dark. I know that many people claim you can’t really appreciate chocolate unless you like the dark stuff, but after all these years and hundreds of pieces of chocolate, I still struggle. To me the Holiday Plum Pudding had a very bitter dark chocolate taste. I thought the edible silver leaf on top was not only festive but also pretty. The truffle filling though had a taste that was almost alcoholic in nature. I think it might have been the marzipan paste. I’ve had marzipan before and I’m not a huge fan. What was most disappointing to me though, was the complete lack of plum sweetness. I think a bit more plum could have really softened the piece up. On the other hand, I’ve never had actual plum pudding, so I’m not sure how much plummy goodness one usually gets from it.

I knew things would look up when I lifted the white chocolate piece out of the box. The Eggnog and Jamaican Rum was appealing to me from the first sniff. As usual, the white chocolate was quite creamy. The eggnog filling added an even deeper level of creaminess to the candy. It reminded me of actually drinking eggnog, only without that overly sweet taste most store-bought gallons have. There was just the mildest hint of rum, which was fine by me as I am not a huge fan of the way many alcohols make truffles taste (far more like rubbing alcohol than the flavor they are going for). There was no alcohol aftertaste to this one at all. There was, however, a slightly odd textural effect. It reminded me just a tad of actual eggs. What I mean is that I got the slightest reminder of the scrambled eggs I’d had for breakfast as I was eating the candy. And not the taste either…just the texture. It was odd, but still pretty good.

My best for last pieces was the Marscapone and Ceylon Cinnamon Snap. I was right on the money; it was my favorite treat. The marscapone made the inside extra creamy. The cinnamon was not overpowering, although to be honest, I didn’t taste anything special about it and I have used Ceylon cinnamon at home many times. The taste of the truffle actually did remind me a bit of a cookie.

I’m glad I tried the new collection, although I wouldn’t say I found gems this year. I found tastes I liked, but nothing to rave about. I doubt I’d spend my money on it again, even if it was the small size. Afterall, those four truffles were a whopping $12 (although the box was very pretty).

Overall:

Taste: 6/10

Appearance: 8.5/10

Value: 5/10

Chocolate Monday: Vosges Haut-Chocolat truffles

Every year my bff and I make bi-annual pilgrimages to Chicago. We make the round trip in one day, and it’s just far enough away that going more than that is not only exhausting, but also a bit extravagant. But we love the shops on Armitage so much that we just can’t go more than about 6 months without hitting them, credit cards in hand. If the draw of Lush, Art Effect, Aroma Workshop and the best damn Italian place around (I am totally spacing the name right now) weren’t enough, there is also a chocolate bonus for us: Vosges Haut-Chocolat. Actually, when we first started frequenting Armitage (and I’ll admit, it was the Lush that reeled us in), we actually came home twice as laden with cocoa treats as there also used to be an Ethel M’s at the end of the block. Sadly they are now gone, so we make up for it by spending more at Vosges.

Over the past few years, I’ve tried several pieces from their collection. While I don’t mind shopping their online catalog, the summer shipping (a whopping $19.95) is a bit too much for me to swallow. Plus, while I like several of the truffles in each of their collections, Vosges is a bit dark chocolate heavy for me, so I often find at least 1/3 of the pieces I’m not as fond of. The great thing about visiting the store is that I can put together my own custom box of chocolates with only milk pieces (and every now and then a dark one).

And that’s just what I did when my bff and I got our geek on at Comic Con last month. Yes, you did read that right. I am a geek on so very many levels.

In addition to my favorite caramels and the peanut butter bon bons my husband adores, I decided to make my own box of nine truffles. There were only seven I was super gung-ho about this visit (they do change their truffles out every now and then, which is fun when they have featured pieces from new collections), so I doubled up on two I knew I liked.

My personal collection started of with a Balsamico. This is the one dark chocolate piece I threw in. I was a bit wary since Vosges dark chocolate tends to be very dark, and often just a tad bitter. Since they are a rather upscale chocolatier, they are a bit snobby about their dark chocolate (as  a great many chocolate purists are). Over half of their pieces are done in dark chocolate and they are often paired with exotic spices that don’t hold much appeal for me (for example, one dark pieces incorporates wasabi, another a black tea). The Balsamico was definitely a bitter dark, but the center, which has more than a splash of balsamic vinegar (hence the name), really tempered the bitter for a sweet effect. There was no acidy bite like the actual vinegar, just the tangy sweetness you get when you reduce vinegar with a bit of sugar. I am a big fan of the center, just not the shell.

Next I opted for the Dulce de Leche. This one was a decidedly smoother chocolate, which was refreshing. It had a sweet liquidy caramel filling that oozed into my mouth with the first bite. It was a welcome addition to the milk chocolate shell.

Field Songs, which used to be in their “musical” collection was inspired by African tribal music. I’m not entirely sure what about it is tribally inspired, but the truffle itself has a sort of mousse-like filling. It felt spongy, which I wasn’t expecting, especially since the first two had fairly liquid centers. There was a millisecond of crunch from what I think are some sort of field grains on the top. That tiny crunch gave it a slightly peppery taste. I enjoyed it, although not quite as much as the last one.

I knew I was going to like the next one, because I’d tried the candy bar form of this one before. The Olivio is white chocolate, so I knew there was no chance it would be bitter (a real plus in my book). In every bite I got a hint of the bits of dried olives on the top of the truffle. Yeah, I know, it sounds odd. What they actually add is a rich, salty flavor, similar to any sort of salted chocolate (which do seem to be all the rage these days), but with the novelty of olives instead of pure salt. The white chocolate shell is creamy and delicate, just like I expected. Vosges prides themselves on their unique and sometimes extreme flavor combinations, which I think is why this one uses olives rather than just salt. It may sound odd, but it is surprisingly tasty. There is a slightly briny after taste, but I think it’s worth it.

Next I had a Woolloomooloo. I simply adore the coconut covered top! I know this one claims to be part of their milk chocolate collection, but in keeping with their love of dark chocolate, even their milk chocolate is about 6% darker than what most people consider milk chocolate. The slightly darker chocolate is very apparent in this one. However, the sweetness of the coconut helps make it creamy. This one was quite good.

While I technically had four truffles left, I only had two different kinds. I had a Wink of the Rabbit, which is a very tasty caramel. The walnut on top is not my favorite. I think they are boring, flavorless nuts and hate when they are used in candy making. Usually they go all soft and mushy. this one wasn’t too mushy, but it did nothing for the truffle. Luckily the caramel is rich and creamy, which actually made it one of my favorites.

My last truffle was the Naga. Now, I’ll admit, I was saving this one for last because I know I love it. Naga is a blend of chocolate and curry powder. Yep, another exotic and odd combination. I love the curry dust on top of the truffle. It makes it bright and lively. It also helps this truffle taste a bit like a spicier pumpkin pie. There is a definite curry smell, but it is surprising hint of sweet. They actually make an ice cream version of this truffle and I also really love it. I know, I know, curry chocolate sounds way out there, but it works, it really does.

Will I go there again? Without a doubt. I’ve been doing it for about three years now, and they keep introducing new tasties to peek my interest. In fact, I just got a catalog in the mail yesterday and if it weren’t for that outrageous shipping, I’d have placed an order after only one look. But, as it will cost me about that much in gas to get there and spend the day shopping with my bff, I think I’ll wait a month or two until we can both take time off.

Overall:

Taste: 8/10

Appearance: 9.5/10

Value: 6/10 (at $26 for 9, they are about $2.80 a truffle, which is steep, especially since they are much smaller than Godiva)

Chocolate Monday: Gigi’s Cupcakes

Oh no, I’m in big trouble once again. I found another cupcake place. It’s close to my house. And, well, I really, really like them. This does not bode well for the diet I really need to be on in order to lose that baby weight. The baby is four months old, so it’s probably time to shed more than the 10 non-baby pounds I’ve gotten rid of so far. But man, people keep putting me right in the path of chocolate, and my will power has never been what you might call strong.

I blame this particular event on my BFF. My son was staying with my folks and she thought it would be a good day to visit a cafe we both love, but is way too small to handle my son’s boisterous personality. After a delicious lunch, she just happened to mention there was a new cupcake place in the shopping center right across the street. Despite the delicious cinnamony potato bread we’d just consumed, I knew we just had to drop in. Neither of us planned to eat anything right away, so it would just be a look and maybe one cupcake, right?

I should know myself better. When we got inside Gigi’s Cupcakes, there were a dozen cupcakes on display. The store itself was small, but cute and the cupcake trays were filled to the hilt. Like all fancy shmancy cupcakes these days, they had cutesy names and frosting piled a mile high. Actually, these cakes had frosting piled way higher than any other place I’ve visited: at least two miles high. To me, this was an instant drawback, but being the cake lover I am, I figured I could take one for the blogging team, scrape the extra frosting off and just savor the cake.

I wasn’t too thrilled about several of the flavors being offered that day. I was even more disappointed when I picked up the really pretty full color brochure to see what flavors they rotated during the week. Turns out the very next day had about ten flavors I wanted to try, but at the moment I was a bit stuck. So I picked a few from the case and figured I’d give ‘em a whirl. I was kind of happy to see that they did have some with what I considered “normal” heaps of  frosting, so I grabbed a turtle (not on the regular menu) and a Southern Comfort. I also snagged a Peanut Butter Cup for my husband. My final one was tough since I wasn’t thrilled about any of the others, but since it’s a chocolate blog, I asked for a Midnight Magic in chocolate.

Turns out I tried a cupcake sooner than I thought I would. I got several pieces of bad news later that day and figured I deserved a cupcake to help me cope (this is why I am bad with diets). The Midnight Magic was the one I grabbed since it was the biggest and most decadent looking. If I was going off the diet reservation, I was going way the hell off. At first I was a little concerned about how to eat it. There was no way I could take an actual bite of it. I know I’ve been told I have a big mouth (usually followed by some hint to shut it), but I would have to have a snake-like ability to unhinge my jaw to actually get a bite of this monster in my mouth. So, I scraped the frosting off and decided to eat it with a fork.

First I tried the cake. I like to eat them separately (even when I don’t have to), so I can get a feel for the actual cake. It was fairly moist, although just a hint chewy. It also wasn’t overly chocolate, despite being touted as a devil’s food. It was a sort of mellow chocolate, but it was perfectly good. Just not great. However, when I bit into the frosting, I understood why the chocolate of the cake was understated. I was expecting the coarse sugary consistency of most decorative buttercreams. What I actually got was a rich, fudge like cream. I was expecting to scrap 99% of the frosting, but I ended up shoveling it in my mouth until I felt almost sick. When I got a bite of cake with the frosting, it was full of chocolatey goodness.

My thoughts about frosting had started to turn a bit.

Because I needed to do something nice as a pick me up for a friend, I went back to Gigi’s the next day. Some people console with flowers or balloons; I do it with chocolate. I brought a sick friend four cupcakes and since I was there, I figured I’d pick up a few more for me to try. Turns out Thursday had a whole bunch of flavors I thought looked pretty damn tasty.

My second cupcake encounter was the Cherry Cordial. Now, as a kid I adored the candy version. As an adult, they make my teeth hurt and I can’t stomach them. This cupcake version intrigued me because it looked like an ice cream sundae. The chocolate ganache covered frosting was too cool sounding to pass up. I am so glad my inner child won out. This was awesome. Instead of a buttercream, this one had a cream cheese frosting, and it was creamy. Not quite as creamy as the ice cream it looked like, but I didn’t care. Once again, the cake seemed to be lacking a bit. It wasn’t overly cherry, but when I mixed it with the taste of the frosting, I was hooked. The ganache dip was subtle and mixed really well. It reminded me of a DQ dipped cone and I vowed I would get another, soon.

Next, I tried the Turtle one. I am a huge fan of most things turtle. This one had appealed to me initially because it had normal sized frosting. When I tried to eat it, I encountered a problem. My hands were immediately sticky from the caramel. The frosting had definite nice, rich caramel flavor and I liked the lacey pattern of the frosting. The cake was very dense and a little dry. Not full of chocolate flavor like I thought it would be, but it was creamy when combined with the frosting. It was a nice homage to the candy, but the candies are still the best way to eat this treat.

Scarlett’s Red Velvet was next on my list. As a rule of thumb, I always try a red velvet everywhere I go. I think it’s a true test of a company’s baking prowess. This one had that two mile high thick cream cheese frosting I’d already fallen in love with. It also had a few surprises. The candy sprinkles on top gave it a fun crunch which I don’t usually associate with red velvet. The cake was moist with a small, and I do mean small hint of cocoa. It also had the second twist, a vanilla cream center, which makes the cake taste really creamy. It was good. I definitely like it, but I’ll have to admit, I keep waiting for any cupcake place to really wow me with a red velvet. My husband, however, said it was the best cake he thought he’d ever eaten (and as the baker of his last 8 birthday cakes or so, I was only a tad bit hurt).

The Coconut Snowball had extra creamy frosting. I loved the coconut mixed not only in the frosting, but also in the cake. It made it moist and creamy like Southern coconut icebox cake. The cake had a rich vanilla taste to it. Since this one had so little frosting (in comparison), it was important for the cake to be good, and it was.

The last one I tried was the Mellow Cream. It looked like a designer Hostess Cupcake. And to be quite honest, that’s what it tasted like. Instead of that almost plastic chocolate “frosting” Hostess makes, this one had a rich ganache (which was much better). Instead of the sometimes dry cake Hostess delivers, this one was moist and had a good cocoa flavor. Instead of the also sort of plasticky cream that someone once joked was one ingredient shy of polyester, this one had a rich, creamy marshmallow center (although it tasted a bit vanillay to me). It was the grown up, mature version, even though it left my hands just as messy as the Hostess ones did when I was a kid. I loved every second of it.

So, overall, I am quite impressed with Gigi’s. I am assuming that because the consistency of everything is so uniform, they are making their cakes and frostings from a mix, but I don’t care. They’ve gotten me to really, really like cake frosting, and that is great. I actually find myself willing to make myself a little ill from all the sugar just because I don’t want to stop eating the frosting. In fact, I found cutting them in half was the only way I could not go into a sugar coma after eating one, but it was well worth it.

Overall:

Taste: 9/10

Appearance: 9/10

Value: 9/10

Chocolate Monday: Godiva Truffles

A few weeks ago, my BFF and I realized we’d been missing out on free chocolate. When we signed up for the Godiva rewards card months ago, one of the most exciting perks was that we could go in once a month and they’d give us a free piece of candy, just for having the little plastic rectangle, even if we didn’t buy anything else. Heck, we didn’t even have to have our cards on us since they could look us up in the system. Yeah, I know, computer systems of big companies are tracking me, but they are also giving me free chocolate, so I’m ok with it.

For the first several months we were diligent. We went in and got our free chocolate booty no matter what. But for some reason we got all caught up in life and missed a few months. Sure, I might have been recovering from giving birth, but I’m not sure that is a good enough excuse for missing free chocolate.

So when we decided to turn our Saturday afternoon into a shopping trip too, I knew a trip to Godiva was long, long overdue. In fact, I’d been thinking about going, especially after I ordered my sister’s birthday present online and saw they had a new line of chocolate bars, centered around their ice cream line AND a line of large bars with fun new flavors.

Imagine my extreme delight when not only did they have the large bars on sale, but they also had three truffles I’d never tried before. Within moments, I’d grabbed one of each bar I wanted to try, and made my way up to the counter to put my claim on some new truffle goodness.

Or at least that is what I was hoping would happen. The three new truffles are pistachio, lemon chiffon and rocky road. I wasn’t nearly as excited about the pistachio as my BFF was, but I knew my husband would kill me if I didn’t at least get one for him to try (he adores pistachios–they are his favorite nut), and if I was going to get one for him, I knew I had to get one for me too. I was far more interested in the lemon chiffon, as I’ve been heartily impressed with all the lemon pieces I’ve had from Godiva. They know how to get a really great mix of chocolate and tart that just puckers my mouth slightly and reminds me of childhood when I would get my mom to buy me lemons at the store so that I could peel them like an orange and pop the slices in my mouth. I was also kind of jazzed about the rocky road one since one of the first candies I learned to make was a rocky road variety.

When I brought the bag of goodies home and handed my husband his pistachio treat, he beamed at me. Since our son was still napping, my husband decided to pop it in his mouth right away. I was planning to save mine for later, but his happy cries from the living room made me rethink my plan. He kept calling to me, “babe, this is awesome. You have to try it. Seriously, this is the best truffle I’ve ever eaten.” So, I tried it.

Now, my husband is no chocolate expert, but I think he might be right on the money here. I was a bit wary of the bright green exterior. It reminded me of the pistachio nuts my step-dad used to get at the store that had those dyed red shells. True, this one was green and not red, but it was an unnatural minty green that just looked fake. The taste though, was anything but. The filling tasted so light and airy, it almost seemed to be whipped. The creamy texture was undeniable. It had a rich, slightly salty taste (thanks to the nuts on top, which also provided a nice slight crunch to the texture). It tasted like it had been filled with pistachio mousse. It was amazing. I think this is my new favorite Godiva truffle, and that’s saying a lot since I practically worship the spring raspberry, strawberry and cream and cranberry ones.

This made me super excited to try the lemon chiffon. When they did their “foreign” truffle line last year, they had a lemon that was exquisite and I expected a bright, lemon..something akin to the filling in a lemon meringue pie. What I got was a truffle with a slight hint of lemon. There was no tartness, no crispy lemon bite. It was creamy, but that was due to the white chocolate, and it had a faint hint of citrus, but I’m not sure it was even a lemony citrus. It really just sort of tasted like creamy white chocolate in a pretty yellow white chocolate shell. Disappointed is not a strong enough word.

I was a bit reluctant to try the rocky road. I didn’t want to get let down again. I was hoping that it would surprise me like the pistachio did, but I felt it was more in line with the lemon chiffon truffle. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty, but it was hard to place the flavor exactly. I know, you’re thinking, well, duh, it’s rocky road, but it didn’t really  have a marshmallow flavor. It just tasted like chocolate, maybe with a hint of hazelnut, but certainly not the peanuts I’m used to in rocky road. It was very creamy (as are just about all their truffles), and the nuts did add a nice crunch, but I just felt sort of warm to it. Not excited about it, that’s for sure. It was the chocolate equivalent of one of those 5 minute chair massages at the mall. Sure, it’s good while it lasts, but all you can think about afterwards is how good a real massage would be.

Overall, I was a little unhappy with the new truffles. Not that I’ve always liked everything Godiva has put out, but I wanted to like the flavors here so badly. They should have been direct hits, but aside from the pistachio, they didn’t make their marks. But that pistachio one, man, bullseye!

Taste: 5/10 (except for pistachio, which is a clear 10/10)

Appearance: 7/10

Value: 6/10 (again, pistachio excepted, which is a 10/10)

Vacation Top 5

Last week was spent with my in-laws at the beach. I grew up on one coast and lived for a very short time on the other, so the beach is not something which easily impresses me. In fact, thanks to genetics, I have my mother’s very pale skin and light eyes, so that a day at the beach means either a can of 50 SPF sunblock or the ridiculous pain of a sunburn. And I hate putting sunblock on my face…it feels so very greasy.

But since my MIL really wanted to have all of her grandchildren under one roof for the week and the trip would only cost the price of gas and one meal for the family, the trip was basically free. How in the world could I deny my son his first trip to the beach, even if I wasn’t thrilled about getting sand in everything and sweating under the South Carolina heat?

The trip definitely had its ups and downs. There were some parts that were fantastic, and some that, well, brought me to the verge of throwing a tantrum myself. So, here is my tribute to vacation, the top 5 highlights (in no actual order):

RAVES

1) My husband’s homemade frozen custard

My husband doesn’t do much in the way of cooking, but one thing he does amazingly well, is make frozen custard. A few years ago his folks gave him an ice cream churn that had belonged to his grandparents. It has a wooden tub and a metal dasher that everyone vies for in order to lick it when things are mixed and done. His mother insisted he bring it along with us to the beach, and somehow we managed to find just enough room for it (and it wasn’t easy, there was not an inch of space left in that trunk).

Like I said before, my husband doesn’t experiment with much in the way of the kitchen, but he does go a little wild with the custard. I think the first batch he made was strawberry and it was good. Then he wanted to try blueberry, peach and rum raisin. The rum raisin was so powerful that it nearly knocked me out. Not something I’d want to serve to children, but all our friends wanted seconds.

When his mom first mentioned the churn, I offered up some of these great flavors. What’s better in summertime than fresh fruit ice cream? However, in an attempt to make everyone happy, my MIL insisted on plain old vanilla. I was particularly disappointed since South Carolina is known for its peaches and we had a ton of fresh ones sitting right on the counter. But, there is no reasoning with her sometimes, so vanilla it was. I did get to add some hot fudge to it and that was great. But even without it, the custard was superb.

And, a few nights later, we got our way and I started chopping peaches. I make a mean peach syrup to mix in with the custard and with some diced peaches to boot, it was the best possible treat. Everyone in the family raved about it.

2) Playing in the pool with my son. Another thing my MIL insisted upon was my son wearing the floaty bathing suit she bought him. It was pretty cute since it matched the one she bought one of his cousins. He didn’t actually need one since we had a floaty vest for him already, but she wanted to see him in it, so we agreed. I was actually upstairs with the baby when he first got in the pool but when I went down a few minutes later, my SIL was thrilled to take the little nipper and let me jump in.

My son was so adorable! He not only had the floaty bathing suit on, but he also was in a floaty ring with a snorkel in his mouth and goggles on his head (not his eyes). He refused to talk except through the snorkel, which while hard to understand, was really, really funny! I’ve never gotten to play in the pool with him before. Usually my husband takes him in, but this time, we were both in and splashing around with him. He pushed off us, “swam” to the toys we threw for him and just generally had a ball laughing and playing with us. I’m not sure we’ve ever had more fun together.

3) RB’s restaurant. The only goal my husband had for the trip was to get some good seafood. He grew up in North Carolina and fell in love with what he calls the “fish camps,” which are fairly cheap fried seafood places. The plates come piled high with shrimp, oysters, clams, fries and hushpuppies. I don’t think his BIL quite understood what he meant when he said “fish camp,” since it definitely wasn’t a cheap place to eat, but despite that, the food was stellar. My husband stuck to fried shrimp and I had a mix of shrimp and oysters.

Before we even left for the place, he told me he wanted shark for dinner. I knew there wasn’t going to be shark on the kid’s menu, but we ordered it while pointing to fried fish on the menu. The trick worked, because as soon as we got back to the beach house, all he could talk about was the yummy shark he had for dinner. We quietly told everyone the real story, which got laughs from all.

The food was quite tasty. My favorite part was definitely the hush puppies. I’d had them plenty of times in my childhood, but growing up in the Midwest, my only exposure was Long John Silvers. It wasn’t until I went to one of these “fish camps” with my husband that I found out the true joy of sweet Southern hush puppies. It’s a good thing they only brought us one basket full, because my son claimed he didn’t like them and I might have eaten my body weight in them if given the chance!

4) Watching my son play with his cousins. While I was not always enamored with the noise created by seven kids under the age of 10, especially the noise made before 7 am each morning that woke us up, my son really bonded with his cousins. Well, at least one of them. He is smack dab in the middle of my family’s group of cousins. There are three older and three younger. Even though he was nice to his younger cousins, he quite obviously thought they were babies and while he wanted to play with their toys, he wasn’t as interested in playing with the actual kids.

I think he did sort of fall in love with his only female cousin, who is 2 1/2 years older than he is. They were thick as thieves. Every game they played together. Every time one went in the pool, the other had to go in too. There were constant calls to either myself or my SIL for one to do something with the other. And, it seems to be a cry that has carried over into our non-vacation lives. Since they only live about 15 minutes from us, my son and my niece are constantly asking to play with each other. It’s really pretty cute.

5) And last, but not least: game night. I have great memories from my childhood of staying up late playing games with my folks and my grandparents. Every time we went to visit my grandparents, we ended up playing Pictionary or Chinese Checkers or some kind of card game. Many of the greatest moments from my childhood happened around my grandparents’ dining room table.

At the beach, my SIL brought a copy of Scrabble. I hadn’t played in years, but got in on the first game. That night we started the frenzy. Since there were so many of us, we had to play in teams. I partnered up with my husband and the second night we kicked some major booty. The next night I played by myself and also took home the gold. The last night we played didn’t go quite as well. I joined the game already in progress (I was putting my son to bed). My husband had played a few rounds without me and he is just not quite the strategic player I am. He’s more about the words than the score. Once I got into the grove though, I pulled us up from last place. It was neck and neck. We ended up coming in second, losing by 3 points. It was a bit disappointing, but at least we gave it our all.

Plus, I finally got them to stop consulting the dictionary before they laid their words down. Of course, I did almost have a throw down with my BIL when I mentioned to him (and his teammate my MIL) that they couldn’t use contractions or slang. He got quite annoyed with me, but luckily I had the support of all the other players, so that helped. I didn’t want to harp on the rules, but there are some basic ones that just have to be followed. And, since he is usually the rules police, I kind of liked setting him straight this time.

All in all, it was an interesting trip. As a kid we never really went on vacations with my aunts and uncles, so it was a new experience for me. I won’t say I wasn’t thrilled to be home, because to go with my top 5 list, I could probably make a top 10 annoying things about vacation list (and may still). There is, after all, no place like home.

Chocolate Monday: World Market Blood Orange Chocolate Bar

I love World Market. I love their funky furniture (including my gorgeous dinning room table), their fun kitchen accessories, their wacky kids’ toys and I really, really love the unique foods from around the world. Every year at Christmas I spend hours there looking for fun (and tasty) stocking stuffers.

However, despite my love of the place, it never dawned on me that WM might just be the place to get some exotic chocolates to nibble and review here. I just happened to be there last week killing time with my BFF, when I was reminded of the HUGE aisle practically devoted to chocolate.

Perusing the shelves, I wasn’t sure where to start. I only wanted to get one or two items since I like my reviews to be fresh. Nothing like commenting on month old chocolate, right? Each shelf held a cornucopia of chocolatey happiness from just about every country. My eyes were racing and my mouth was watering. My brain was pounding…I had far too many choices.

Then, I saw it: Blood Orange. World Market actually has their own line of chocolate bars and the first one I laid eyes on was a milk and blood orange combination. My decision was made.

I first had a blood orange (also called Moro oranges) at the incredibly rural school I teach at. It was not at all the place I expected to find something so exotic, but every year our FFA sells boxes of fruit as a fundraiser. I didn’t actually buy any of the fruit as their smallest box was like 10 lbs and it was just my husband and I back then (I stuck to the caramel corn, which is fantastic as well), but I guess they had over ordered and as a treat for the faculty, the sponsor left a fruit tray in the lounge.

When I saw the oranges which actually looked as if someone had beaten them, I was a little wary. The grapefruit, navels and red apples were being gobbled up, but everyone seemed afraid of these horror film rejects. But, as I am a bit of an adventurous eater, I figured what the heck, threw caution to the wind and grabbed a slice. Then I grabbed another, and another. It was the best damn orange I’d ever had. It was sweet and tart and juicy and, well, the best damn orange ever.

From that moment on, the allure of blood oranges has been to strong for me. Whenever I see anything associated with blood oranges (including the kick ass caramel made by Vosages), I must have it. So, I grabbed a bar and headed for the check out.

When I unwrapped it, I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t smell any citrus. Not that I expected the chocolate to smell like an orange, but I thought there might be some hint of the sweet tartness to come. There wasn’t.

The first bite wasn’t what I was expecting either: it was crunchy. Yes, that’s right, it was crunchy. Not in a Nestle Crunch sort of way. It tasted like it had seeds in it, which was very odd to me since oranges aren’t very seedy fruits. I quickly turned the wrapping over to look at the ingredients and found the culprit: blood orange peel. Still, I was unnerved because orange peel isn’t usually crunchy either. My guess is that it was dried and then mixed in with the chocolate. As I continued looking at the ingredients, I notice the only one actually associated with a blood orange was the peel.

This was a particularly bad find since peel often adds a slightly bitter taste in cooking. And in this candy it definitely did. There was none of the sweet tartness I’ve come to know in a blood orange. The chocolate actually tasted more like it was infused with grapefruit. Not overly citrusy, but a slight bitter citrus after taste I’ve always attributed to grapefruit. I don’t care if it’s good for me, I don’t like grapefruit.

The slight bitterness was especially well, bitter, since it was milk and not dark chocolate. The combination of flavors though, reminded me of a dark chocolate, which was very disappointing to me. I’ve had other, orange chocolates which haven’t tried to sucker me in by claiming a blood orange connection. I both like and respect those chocolates far more than this one.

I went in to this taste experiencing expecting greatness. My tongue was primed and my mouth watering, but I could only finish three of the 15 squares offered me because I just didn’t like it. I’m going to try to sneak the rest of it in my husband’s lunchbox as a treat. He’s not at all picky about anything food related, so he might actually see it as a treat and not me wanting to alleviate my guilt over spending too much on bad candy.

Overall:

Taste: 3/10

Appearance: 3/10 (nothing special about it)

Value: 3/10

Chocolate Monday: Ghyslain at the Sanctuary

No, I haven’t made chocolate my religion yet, although that’s probably coming before too long. The Sanctuary is actually the name of an old church turned art gallery which happens to house the cafe where Ghyslain Maurais sell his chocolates and pastries. Of course, I didn’t know any of this when I first heard of Ghyslain.

A friend of mine does some freelance work for a magazine. As some sort of corporate gift, his boss got a box of Ghyslain chocolates. Knowing of my love for all things cocoa, he asked if I’d ever heard of them. When I expressed my ignorance of a chocolatier practically in my backyard, he told me to check them out online, which I did.

From the moment I clicked on the chocolate link, I was intrigued. The candies themselves are beautiful. Unlike most of the art which hangs in the Sanctuary, these little bundles of sugar are works of art. Just going in to the gallery, I was mesmerized. I was so excited about the individual chocolates that I almost forgot the true purpose of our visit: the pastries!

My BFF and I have birthdays about a week apart. So every year, as part of our celebration, we have at least one big day out. This year I was not only celebrating my birthday, but also my first real girls’ day out since my daughter was born. Well, not just my first girls’ day out, really it was my first time out without a child in nearly two months. I definitely needed some adult time.

We started off with brunch at a fancy cafe we both just discovered and love. Next, we got manicures and pedicures. Since we had some time to kill, we headed over to the mall to pamper ourselves with some treats from the Body Shop. Then, to round off our day, we made our way to the Sanctuary for dessert.

After purusing the menu, I was a bit sad we hadn’t chosen to make the cafe our lunch spot. The sounded wonderful and the plates I saw on neighboring tables looked tasty. We vowed to come back again to try out the real food, but we knew never took our eyes off the prize: dessert.

We had a rather late reservation, so the dessert case, which usually stocks about three dozen different pastries, was fairly empty. Still, it wasn’t easy to decide. I had it narrowed to two: Sacher, which is “a decadent combination of fresh raspberry puree and dark chocolate mousse layered on raspberry infused chocolate genoise” and one that had a slightly mythological sounding name I can’t quite remember which was a sweet, buttery tart shell filled with key lime custard and topped with a berry mousse dome, centered with an almondy coulis. Glazed with a berry mirror. Finished with dark chocolate decorations.* I hemmed and hawed about it, but finally gave in and went for the one with the glazed berry mirror:

Now, I realize the actual dessert had very little chocolate in it, but it was so pretty to look at, and the berries were calling me. The little “disk and straw” on top of the dessert are made entirely from white chocolate, which just amazes me. The dessert is a work of art, right down to the decorations on top of it. And, the disk and straw were rich and creamy, just like good white chocolate should be.

As for the actual dessert, I can say without a doubt, it is one of the top 5 desserts I’ve ever eaten. Every bite was a little bit of heaven! The key lime custard was light and perfectly tart. It reminded me a bit of the center of the Godiva key lime truffles, but it was even lighter and airier. The berry mousse in the middle was sweet, but not overly so. It reminded me of fluff. It was whipped perfectly and practically melted on my tongue. The almondy center was not very noticeable and only added a slight crunch, which despite what it may seem at first, was not an odd texture at all. It blended. The top glaze didn’t actually have much of a flavor, but it looked so pretty I could hardly fault it. Each bite was so good that for once, I actually managed to finish a “meal” after my BFF, who generally takes bird sized bites, which make me feel like a pig.

Now, since this is a chocolate blog, I should mention that I did try one of the chocolate desserts as well. My BFF got the Sicilian, which was loaded with chocolatey goodness. This is a bit of a role reversal for us. While she does like chocolate, she’s usually far more likely to grab something fruity while I devour the cocoa goodies, especially when there is dark chocolate involved. Hers was, “moist chocolate moelleux cake topped with hazelnut custard, praline hazelnut, orange marmalade, pistachio mousse, and covered with dark chocolate ganache. Decorated on the sides with hand painted chocolate squares and finished with chocolate decorations and gold flakes.” I only had one taste of it, but the dark chocolate ganache was rich. It reminded me a bit of brownie batter, which was a real plus since dark chocolate is notorious for being bitter and ganache can often be too thick for my taste. The pistachio mousse was the real star here. Just like it’s berry counterpart, it was light, airy and creamy. I didn’t really taste the orange marmalade or hazelnut, which is for the best since I’m not a huge fan of either. My guess is that the pistachio and ganache just overpowered those flavors in my small bite. Just like my piece though, it was a work of art. The squares on the side of the dessert are hand painted chocolate, which is both tasty and gorgeous!

Before we even left the cafe, we’d decided we had to come back. Next time we plan to be there earlier so we have more pastries to choose from. In the week since we went, I’ve already told half a dozen people about the cafe and urged them to go. I know I don’t want to wait much longer before my next visit. We did get some chocolates on our way out, but that review will have to wait for another post.

Overall:

Taste: 10/10

Appearance: 10/10

Price: 9/10 (each one was $7, which is a bit pricey, but considering the taste, worth every penny. And they are big enough they could be shared…if you are willing to part with the amazingness. I say get your own!)

*not in quotes, b/c I couldn’t find the actual description online

**We did go back and have lunch today. It was GREAT! I had the chicken salad, which was really tasty, as well as a side of southwest sweet potato salad. I also went ahead and got the Sacher, which was amazing. The chocolate was very rich and blended perfectly with the slightly tart raspberry. The raspberry wasn’t overly tart like I usually like, but the chocolate mousse also wasn’t dark, so it blended perfectly. If I hadn’t been so full I could burst, I would have eaten two!

This one is the Carribean, which one of my friends tried. It had the lightest, fluffiest custard filling I’ve ever tasted!

Library Nonsense

Yesterday my BFF reminded me that the library was having it’s semi-annual used book sale. Not too far from the heart of town is a book repository of sorts where all the libraries in the county take their “extra” books.

I’m not entirely sure how a book makes it to these space. I’ve been going to this sale for years and while every now and then I get a book that has a ripped page (taped back together) or a cover starting to fall off, for the most part the books have slight wear and tear. I actually have a copy of The Ladies of Grace Adieu sitting right in front of me which I bought at last year’s sale, and aside from an old library card holder in the back and some library bar codes, I can’t find a single reason this book was withdrawn. It is in great condition. My only real guess is that at one point it had a dust jacket and someone damaged it, so they replaced this copy. Or maybe they had multiple copies and after the thrill of it wore off, they needed to make room for newer, shinier books. Who knows.

My point, is that aside from the children’s books I’ve gotten there, the ones I’ve bought have been in good shape and totally worth the $1-$2 price tag. Because the prices are so cheap and the books are so good, I usually come home with a back jammed full of fun finds, some for me, some for my son and some for my classroom.

This time around though, my bag was a bit emptier than usual. In part because I already have a stack of books I need to read and in part because I’m currently so honked off about the pay freeze and HUGE insurance hike we are going to be forced to take next year (which will actually mean I’m making less than I did this year), I sort of have a “screw anything extra for school attitude.”

But as usual, I digress.

See, despite the fact that all the shelves are bursting with books, the room that is lined with those shelves is not all that big. And, since the sale is open to the public, even arriving five minutes after the doors open means you have to elbow your way through a sea of bodies.

Since I know space is at a premium, I’ve learned to make myself as small as possible. I hug the books I’m carrying to my chest so that I don’t accidently hit people with a bag full of them. I strain my neck almost to the point of injury to see around people so that I don’t have to hover or get in anyone’s way. I go in with a list of author’s to check for and instead of looking at each book on the shelf, if I don’t see what I want, I move on.

My BFF has basically the same philosophy. Apparently though, we are the only ones who do.

The sale is a mad house. It’s not the shear number of bodies that is the problem, but rather the absolute disregard for anyone else most of these bodies seem to possess. I don’t know how many times I was hit by someone’s giant bag today (some of which were not even filled with books, but just large purses). I was bonked on the head when I was crouching to look at books on the bottom shelf. I had two different people turn quickly and swing bags into my back. I was backed into and nearly stepped on.

My personal safety aside, it also amazes me at how many people do not seem to understand the polite use of the words “excuse me.” I said it several times hoping to part bodies who were standing several feet away from the shelves they were perusing, so that I could get through. My tiny BFF was able to squeeze through a couple of the holes left (none of them, of course, budged for her at all), but as I not only just had a baby but am also naturally bigger than she was, I found myself turning around and attempting three other aisles before I could find a break in the bodies that would let me catch up to her in the nature section.

As soon as I reached her and started looking for books, I noticed an exceptionally large woman (with an even bigger bag) coming our way. She had that look of someone trying to find a way through, so I excused myself, sucked in my breath and cuddled up to the bookcase. I guess I read her wrong. Instead of moving through, she stopped, right where I had just been and decided to browse the books I wanted to look at. The worst part was that I was trapped. A small boy, who’d obviously been told to sit on one of the book shelves and not move was on one side of me and a HUGE purple bag filled with books was on the other. The gianormous woman was directly behind me, wedged in between several other people. There was no escaping until she realized they had nothing she wanted and moved on.

I also didn’t find anything in that section, mostly because the books I wanted to look at were right behind the boy sitting on the shelf and he also wasn’t moving. I finally gave up, gave my BFF a look of desperation and we both headed for the check out.

Now, I realize for a lot of people books priced between .25 and $2 are the only real chance they have to get new books to read. And while I do want to encourage everyone to read more, I wish a few of them would pick up some books on manners.