Happiness is Chocolate + Mint

While in Costa Rica, I picked up a package of Chiclets Fusion gum — a luscious blend of chocolate and mint.  After consuming the last piece of my stash today, I turned to the web to find out where I might find more.  Alas, it appears this gum flavor is only sold in Latin America.  However, I did stumble across this commercial for Fusion, which perfectly captures the mint and chocolate experience (21 seconds).

Warning — sensuality and chocolate flow freely here!

Does the Spanish-speaking world know how to advertise gum, or what?!

I may just have to return to Costa Rica to pick up some more…. 

Happiness is Good Airplane Food – and Chocolate Dessert!

In two days I’ve spent a total of 23.75 hours on a plane, most of that on two Japan Airlines (JAL) flights from Chicago O’Hare to Narita International in Tokyo and then from Tokyo to Singapore.  I’ve been unconditionally delighted with the meals four meals I’ve had thus far.

I’m a vegetarian, and so am careful to make note of that when I make air reservations, lest I be forced to eat crispy chicken tenders (ick).  Unfortunately, many airlines (and restaurants, for that matter) still think that sliced tomatoes and iceberg lettuce on (soggy) whole wheat bread constitutes appropriate vegetarian fare.  It’s always a gamble.

I’m so happy that the gamble this time paid off handsomely.  JAL has produced several four-course meals that I would gladly accept at an on-ground restaurant.

Entrees have included mini-spiral pasta with toothpick vegetables in a light alfredo; ricotta and parsley-filled ravioli with a roasted-tomato sauce; and spinach fettucini (pictured) with brocolli, mushrooms and diced peppers with a dollop each of marinara and cream sauce.  All were served hot and fresh.

I’m so amused by the ingenuity of airplane food chefs, who must figure out how to design food that can be compacted into tiny containers, stay fresh for hours, and look fabulous when served.  In my past 48 hours I’ve enjoyed:

• a salad of slivered romaine mixed with slivered radish, red & yellow peppers, and cucumbers;
• a mixed salad with fresh baby greens, grape tomato and thinly-sliced radish; a fruit salad comprised of thinly sliced honeydew, strawberry, and kiwi, with an orange section and two blueberries; and
• a delightful veggie ‘tray’ with crisp slices of red & gold peppers, grape tomato with a basil pesto, asparagus tips, a slice of fresh mango, a dollop of cottage cheese.

Each of these culinary delights was artfully crammed into a delicate ¾ cup oval serving container.

A note on eating from tiny dishes – chopsticks are a must.

By far my favorite, however, was the adorable chocolate dessert I had on Tuesday afternoon’s flight.  This Dark Chocolate temptation consisted of two layers of flourless chocolate cake, filled and topped with a chocolate ganache, and then dusted with cocoa, served in an elegant little dish.

Happiness is receiving unexpected dark chocolate!

“Too Much” Dark Chocolate? Impossible!

“Do you really need that?” my wife asked as I dropped a dark chocolate bar into the grocery cart.

“One can never have too much dark chocolate,” I countered.  She gave me a look…. “I think you have an ample supply,” she offered, grimly.  Hmmm.

Curious, I set out to learn just how much chocolate I possess right now.  Here is my inventory.

In the refrigerator:

• 3 bottles of Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino
• 3 of Dark Chocolate Raspberry Frappuccino  (well, as long as I’m here…make that 2)
• 2 bottles Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout (excellent when served with.. Dark Chocolate!)

In the freezer:

• 1 remaining sleeve of Thin Mints Girl Scout Cookies (I freeze them so they last all year — I should finish these just about the time the 2009 cookie sale commences!)

On the counter in my office:

• 6 bars of Lake Champlain 54% Dark Chocolate bars in various stages of consumption, including Peppermint Crunch, Raspberry Truffle, Coffee Truffle, Dark Chocolate Truffle, Dark Chocolate with Almonds, and just a plain Dark Chocolate Bar
• (correction.  The Dark Chocolate Truffle bar is now history.  I needed something to eat with the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Frappuccino…)

In my desk drawer:

• 1 box Altoids Dark Chocolate Dipped Peppermints
• 1 tin Choxie Dark Chocolate Espresso Beans
• 1/2 bag Starbucks Dark Chocolate covered Dried Cherries
• 2 bars Cocoa Via Original Chocolate Bar. This is a mini-bar — only 100 calories — that sports the tagline, “Promotes a Healthy Heart(tm),” so it’s really Health Food

In the pantry:

• 1 half-eaten Godiva Dark and White Chocolate bar
• Part of a 85% Dark Chocolate bar from Russia (I can’t recall the manufacturer — but it’s awesome!)
• 1 nearly empty container of Trader Joe’s Belgian Dark Chocolate Mini Grahams (I bought those for Christmas)
• 1 half-full container Trader Joes’ Dark Chocolate covered Australian Crystallized Ginger (technically, these are a vegetarian, low-sodium food!)
• 3 Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bars
• 2 bars Larabar Jocolat (chocolate) pure organic chocolate food bar (fabulous!  made with dates, almonds, walnuts, cashews and cocoa)
• Part of a Chuao Spicy Maya — 60% dark chocolate bar infused with pasilla chile and cayenne pepper
• 1 jar Love Street Living Foods 100% organic Raw Vegan Chocolate Spread w/ Agave Nectar **This truly IS a healthy food!**
• 1 half-full Jar Nutella hazelnut and cocoa spread
• 1 jar Pure Ohio Creamed Honey Spread, Chocolate flavor, from Ambrose Honeyworks, a local bee farm
• 1 Trader Joe’s 72% DARK Belgian Chocolate bar
• 1 Endangered Species Chocolate bar; 70% Dark Chocolate w/ Raspberries
• 1 bag Dark Chocolate covered Pretzels from Bella Chocolates (a local chocolatier)

In my Coffee Corner:

• 1 Tin Trader Joe’s Sipping Chocolate mix
• 1 nearly-empty tin of Starbucks Mocha Powder (sporting the tagline: “when coffee dreams, it dreams of chocolate”)

Oh, and this inventory does not count the tin of Hershey’s Cocoa or the bag of Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips, because they are technically not for eating — just for cooking.

Is it possible to have too much dark chocolate?

“Too much,” I think, is an assessment.  It feels like an arbitrary judgment.  My wife is a sports fanatic.  Is it possible, I might ask, to watch “too much” football or “too much” baseball?  She would, of course, respond that it is not possible.

Exactly.

She is a consumer of sports, I am a consumer of Dark Chocolate.  Sports is her Vice of Choice, while Dark Chocolate is mine.  I call that a tie!

Besides, if there was NO Dark Chocolate in the house, I would feel insecure and anxious.  What if there’s a snowstorm, and we can’t get to the store for several days, you know what I mean?  Having SOME Dark Chocolate in the house makes me feel warm and secure and content.  I’m a better husband, coach, parent, and Human Being when I consume Dark Chocolate.

So I conclude that the amount of Dark Chocolate in the house is…. Just Right.  And that makes me very happy. 

Chocolate Speaks Louder Than Words

So, I get a package in the mail from a Happiness Coaching client.   No idea what’s in it.  I open the box and… it’s full of Chocolate!  A RAINBOW of Lake Champlain chocolates.

The coolest part:  The logo on the side of the bars.  I dunno if you can see it on your screen — it reads, “Let Chocolate Change Your World”

No note.

Chocolate, you see, speaks louder than words!