500 Gallons of Hot Chocolate

In one last grand gesture for 2009, New York City is offering hot chocolate to the huddled masses -- or whoever wants it.

The Dairy Council has created a 700 foot in diameter mug containing 500 gallons of hot cocoa, They expect to give away 6,000 cups of hot chocolate today. The object of the exercise is to draw attention to the growing problem of vitamin D deficiency among Americans.

Vitamin D deficiency used to be a serious problem, with rickets -- a crippling bone disorder caused by a lack of vitamin D -- among the most severe public health issues. Fortified milk and cereals, along with an end to child labor and tenement living, had solved the problem. The two main sources of vitamin D for people in the U.S. are sunshine (which allows the body to make its own vitamin D) and fortified milk. American children played out in the sun and drank milk, and rickets retreated into history.

Now, the threat is back. But it isn't malnourished kids in dark sweat shops who are turning up with vitamin D deficiencies. It's both kids and adults who drink sodas for breakfast and spend their days indoors working at computers and playing with video games. We're more careful about sun, schools have shortened or eliminated recess as part of NCLB, fewer children go outside to play at home, and many Americans avoid dairy products for the sake of weight control.

The result is a growing problem of insufficient vitamin D.

We could go back to doses of cod liver oil, but it's more pleasant to drink cocoa.

Don't use instant mixes; it's just as fast to make your own, fresh, and you won't be drinking odd things like corn syrup solids and guar gum. Here's the recipe:

2 T cocoa powder
1 T sugar
4 cups milk (skim is fine)

Just stir the cocoa and sugar together. Scald the milk (that is, heat it till bubbles form around the edges, but don't let it boil) and stir in the cocoa and sugar. There you have it!

Get outside in the sun, too. A tramp through the snowy landscape, a little skiing or snowboarding, and you'll get vitamin D from the sun, too.

Sin Tax on Chocolate?

As the new year approaches, several states contemplate adding "sin taxes" on chocolate.

Taxes on cigarettes have helped to cut smoking in recent years, and perhaps also to defray the public costs of health care for smokers. Can a tax on sweets do the same thing?

Washington State legislators estimate that their proposed tax on candy and gum could raise $28 million next year for this cash-strapped state. Illinois got in early with a late 2009 candy tax: an extra 8% for candy -- but nothing extra for sweets containing flour. Arkansas's Joe Carter made headlines by lobbying for special taxes on vending machines and fast food.

"We have a culture that is fat, sedentary, and depressed," he says. "Our attitude is, 'I wannna eat what I want, do what I want, and get a pill to take care of it.' If we're going to reform health care, and not just argue about who writes the checks, we need to make changes." One of those changes, Carter says, ought to be taxes on junk food.

Carter also confided that he likes to make s'mores with his sons, so even he is a chocolate fan.

And that is the question: should a sin tax on empty-calorie foods include chocolate? Consider these facts:

• Dark chocolate contains ten times the antioxidants of dark fruits and vegetables.
• Chocolate is the best natural source of magnesium (highest levels), and an excellent source of many other minerals, including iron, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium.
• Cocoa butter has no negative effects on cholesterol levels, and has positive effects on dental health.
• Chocolate has a higher rate of flavonoids than red wine.
• Recent studies show beneifts for both heart and brain health in chocolate.
  

Chocolate has been classified, in the wake of new research, as a "functional food" and not as junk food. Sin taxes ought to focus on the sinful foods -- maybe things with "chocolatey coatings."

Sweetique Eggs for Fundraising

As you get ready for the new year, you're probably thinking about fundraising goals for your school, community organization, or cause.

Sweetique Eggs make great promotional items. It's easy to arrange for Sweetique Eggs with your organization's logo or message, too.

Here's all you need to do:

• Decide on the image you want: your logo, your organization’s message, the catchphrase for your marketing campaign – the possibilities are endless.
  

• Email your digital artwork to us in Adobe Illustrator EPS vector format. Size matters: your image needs to be no more than 1 7/16"tall and 1 3/16"wide. If you need assistance with this step, in either technical or artistic aspects, Sweetique can help.

• Estimate your quantities and costs using the pricing charts. There is a one-time set-up fee, the price of the chocolate specialties themselves, and the imprint fee. Since Sweetique Eggs have a shelf life of six months, you can save by planning for more than one fundraising campaign. Sweetique can help you with the calculations -- just call 888 4LOGO EGG (888 456 4634).

• Call to place your order. This is also a good time to discuss any special packaging needs.

Whether you're planning Easter fundraisers, or would like to take advantage of the perfect shape and novelty of the Sweetique Egg, this item makes a unique, memorable choice for your organization.

How Much Chocolate Do You Really Need?

We know that chocolate is good for our health, but it's possible that over the holidays we've been overdoing it on sweets in general. So what's the recommended daily allowance for chocolate?

Italian researchers have set it at an ounce and a half. A delicious Sweetique egg contains 1.75 ounces of chocolate, so your best plan will be to share one with a friend.

So, how can you get a Sweetique egg? We won't be shipping till February, but that gives you plenty of time to order Sweetique eggs for your Easter baskets. You can pre-order now, if you like. You can also order special custom logo eggs for your business or organization.

Chocolate Eggnog

Pull out all the stops and celebrate with this decadent drink!

5 eggs
2 c milk
1 c half and half
8 oz chocolate, grated
1/4 c creme de cacao

Beat the eggs. Scald the milk and add the chocolate to the milk, stirring to melt. Pour one cup of the hot milk into the eggs and beat briskly. Pour the egg mixture back into the hot milk and heat through, stirring, till the mixture is thick and smooth.

Remove the eggnog from the heat and stir in creme de cacao. Serve hot or cold.

Drizzle chocolate syrup down the inside of a glass and garnish with whipped cream and grated chocolate for

Storing Chocolate

If you're celebrating Christmas, your kitchen probably doesn't look like this. It probably has stacks of goodies, an overflow of ingredients, and maybe a dusting of flour.

How can you store your chocolate so it'll be at its best for holiday entertaining?

• Keep it cool. Chocolate melts if it gets warm, so that box of chocolates on the hearth is going to be a disappointment. A pantry or a cool cupboard is fine for chocolate storage.
• Don't get it too cold. If you keep your chocolate in the refrigerator, then you might end up with bloom, a whitish deposit on the surface of the chocolate. It doesn't affect the taste or the nutritional content of your chocolate, but it doesn't look pretty. Baking chocolate is okay, but chocolates that will end up on your buffet should stay out of the extreme cold.
• If you do get it cold... Maybe you keep your house at subtropical temperatures, or you bought those chocolates way ahead of time. You can freeze chocolate or refrigerate it. Just do so in an air-tight container and -- this is very important -- let it come to room temperature before you open the container. This will lessen condensation and limit bloom.
  

Investing in Chocolate

The InvestorCentric blog just announced that chocolate is a better investment than gold.

They're talking about buying stock in chocolate companies, which have performed well regardless of economic ups and downs. Buying chocolate itself as an investment isn't such a great plan.

For one thing, the price of chocolate hasn't risen steadily. Until the beginning of the 20th century, chocolate was a luxury item beyond the reach of most people. During the world wars and the depression in between, chocolate was -- per calorie -- the cheapest of the filling and reasonably nutritious foods available. The rise of the chocolate bar made it a portable food as well, and working people often chose a chocolate bar for lunch as modern workers might grab a fast food burger.

After World War II, the price of chocolate dropped sharply. While it rose again to record highs in the first years of the 21st century, chocolate has not returned to its status as a luxury available only to the wealthy.

While the more affluent European consumer chooses chocolate praline (such as the filling of the Sweetique Egg) and upscale American consumers choose higher cocoa contents, chocolate of one kind or another is available at all price points, and people of all socioeconomic levels eat about the same amounts.

Nor does the value of the chocolate you've bought increase if it's hoarded. Fine chocolate like that available from Sweetique will maintain its high quality for about 6 months if stored properly. With the volatility of chocolate prices, the replacement cost might be either higher or lower at the end of that time.

The conclusion: eat that chocolate.

Gingerbread Cottage

Get the kids together to build a gingerbread cottage. We made a rock house with Sweetique Sweet Shapes of Nature chocolate rocks. Chocolate chips on the roof and a candy doorknob complete the effect.

It's a fun party decoration and looks great on the buffet table -- or just have fun making it and then let the kids have fun eating it.

Wine and Chocolate for the Holidays

A wine and chocolate tasting is a wonderful, unusual party for Christmas, Hannukah, or Kwanzaa. Check out our basic How to Plan a Wine and Chocolate Party and Wine and Chocolate Party Shopping Tips, and add these holiday touches:

• At this hectic time of year, people often rush from work to errands to parties, and may even be fitting in more than one party in an evening. Put a pot of soup on for guests who haven't had time to eat.
• Mark wine glasses, especially if there are more guests at the party than you usually squeeze into your home. Pick up a grab bag of ribbon remnants at the craft store and tie bows on the stems of the glasses, slip seasonal charms onto old-fashioned keychains, or just write names right onto the bowls of the glasses with washable markers.
  
• Add to the festive feeling by asking people to bring a wrapped white elephant from home for a White Elephant Exchange. Whether you know this game as Yankee Swap, Dirty Santa, or Rob Your Neighbor, it makes a fun end to the evening. Set all the wrapped gifts in a central place. The first player chooses one and opens it. The next player can take the open gift, or a new, unopened one. Continue around the group in this way. Remember, once a gift has been chosen three times by any player, it is "retired" and can't be stolen again. The sillier the gifts, the more fun the game.
• Have something non-alcoholic to offer guests -- sparkling water and juices are perfect.
• Do you stress out about holiday entertaining, worrying that your decorations won't measure up to the magazine pictures? Give that up right now! When you have fun, your guests will have fun, too.
  

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

December 16th is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day.

There are probably limits. Fruit, marshmallows, nuts, caramel -- anything along those lines is a safe bet. Pretzels and crackers and even potato chips have their fans.

Non-edible things like cell phones and wrenches? We'd say not.

However we have told you before how to cover things in chocolate and also the details of chocolate fondue.

You're probably set now and can observe this all-important holiday with panache.

DNA Damage Reversed by Chocolate

Chocolate continues to rack up points in the Miracle Food category. The latest news: Italian researchers have announced that chocolate reverses oxidative stress damage in DNA.

Oxidative stress is what happens when cells can't repair themselves fast enough to keep up with the damage taking place in the cell. Various parts of cells can be damaged, including the DNA, which is the place where information is stored. Without good information from the DNA about how the cell is supposed to be, repairs can't be done correctly.

Much of human aging is thought to be the result of this phenomenon. Alzheimer's disease, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, and atherosclerosis are just a few of the diseases attributed to oxidative stress.

Healthy subjects with a balanced diet were fed 45 grams of dark chocolate, and two hours later showed a reversal of damage to the DNA in their blood cells. A control group fed white chocolate showed no such result. The results lasted for about 22 hours, so researchers think a daily dose would do the trick.

Fundraising 101: the End of the Year Wrap Up

Many organizations at this time of year are reviewing their holiday fundraisers. The silent auctions are over, the open house and the gala have been completed, the cookie dough and wrapping paper have been distributed and their calculations made.

It's tempting to forget all about it now -- but it's a good idea to resist that temptation. Taking a little time now to reflect on this year's efforts and get your ducks in a row for next year can be time very well spent.

What worked and what needs work?

Right now, when everyone clearly remembers how much trouble this year's fundraising was, is the time to decide what went well and what really needs to be changed for next year. Some of the most common pitfalls:

• Not starting soon enough. A fresh new committee can easily underestimate the amount of time needed to get together volunteers, research options, make decisions, and then actually do the work. Now, while the battle-scarred veterans are still around, work out what the timetable should have been and get some dates on next year's calendar.
• Choosing the wrong target audience. It's surprising how many non-profits consistently go only to their own members for fundraising. Your members will support you, assuming you're doing a good job of supporting the cause, so fundraisers are a great time to step outside the membership. Reaching new people with your message will not only provide new sources of revenue for the fundraising campaign, but can also lead to new members and supporters over the long term. Look now while someone still knows where the files are and see how many new people your campaign reached.
  
• Underestimating the costs. We've heard a lot of fundraising horror stories this season, and most of them had this theme. The meeting where someone says, "It shouldn't cost very much..." and the decision was made without firm figures or the group of volunteers who punked out at the last minute and had to be replaced by paid staff are particularly common complaints. Get a complete accounting of all the costs right now before people forget.

What were the side effects?

A good fundraiser reaches its financial goals without excessive costs. A great fundraiser does more than that:

• Increase community awareness of your organization and its work. A fundraising item with no tie-in to your organization and no place to add a message can bring in funds without making people more aware of the cause you support. In the current economy, a lavish event can actually make for negative press if people question whether the money could have better spent. Check press and online media (including social media like Twitter) to see community response. By decision-making time next year, it'll be too late.
• Bring volunteers together. A well-run fundraising event can be a boost for the members of your organization. Keeping it fun, dividing work well enough to avoid burnout among key workers, and communicating the success of the campaign can all serve to increase commitment.
• Bring ongoing benefits. Look for opportunities to partner with other organizations in the community, offer ongoing sales of the fundraiser items, or build on previous successes with advance sales or subscriptions.
  

Write down the answers to your questions. Having done this, you can end the fundraising season with a quiet conscience and enjoy the holidays.

You Want Chocolate-Filled Eggs?

Today is the last day for wholesale orders of Sweetique's natural eggshells filled with delicious chocolate truffle. If you're a retailer wanting these for Easter, put down that Santa hat right now and call (888) 4LOGO-EGG to get your order in.



Private label chocolate eggs are custom orders and are available all year round -- call (888) 4LOGO-EGG to arrange custom Easter eggs for your company or organization.



Retail customers can relax. Get back to your winter holiday preparations, secure in the knowledge that we'll have those wonderful eggs for you in the spring when you want them.

The Chocolate Carol

Chocolate Recipes

Another reader has said that it is hard to find the recipes here. We know it's getting on toward the major holiday baking season, so I'll fix that by gathering them all right here:

Easy Chocolate Candy
Tiny Chocolate Cakes
Chocolate Gateau
Hot Chocolate for Grownups
Chocolate Meringue Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chocolate Possum Pie
Sweetique Sunflower Mix Butter Cookies
Sweetique Sunflower Mix Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Fudge
Chocolate Decadence
Chocolate Waffles
Chocolate Fondue

Now you're ready.

Easy Chocolate Recipes

A reader wrote to complain about our chocolate recipes. "They all look great," she said, "but I know I'm not going to make them."

She disagreed with our position that whipping up some little cakes and tucking them in the freezer would help. She doesn't think that fixing up some ganache and piping it is easy. She wants some easier recipes.

I see her point. There are people who don't cook or bake much, but still want to make treats at Christmas. Often with children.

So here's the secret:

• melt chocolate
• dip things in it
• put them on waxed paper to dry
  

Now, it isn't absolutely that easy. If you want to dip things properly, you have to temper your chocolate, and store it correctly, and things like that. This is why many people resort to "candy coating" instead of real chocolate. So here's the real secret:

• eat the dipped things immediately

The whole complex tempering bit keeps your chocolates from getting white spots of bloom on them after a few days. So just don't let there be a few days. Make these charming confections and serve them right away.

Chocolate Strawberries

Wash and dry the strawberries. Dip them into the melted chocolate. Set them on waxed paper to dry.

Chocolate Pretzels

Dip tiny pretzels into the chocolate. You can then dip them into colored suger or sprinkles. Put them on waxed paper. If you feel very ambitious, you can set them into circles to make wreaths, which you can then hang on the Christmas tree.

Fancy Cookies

Make cookies, or buy shortbread shapes, and dip them into the chocolate.

Chocolate Clusters

Stir nuts, raisins, marshmallows, and things into the melted chocolate and drop by spoonsful onto the waxed paper.

You can do this right before the office holiday party and impress everybody, or do it at home just to impress yourself.

Chocolate, Women, and Hormones

A reader has asked about chocolate, women, and hormones.

There's a lot of folk wisdom on the subject. Many women say that they crave chocolate before their periods. Many men feel that women have a special connection to chocolate that men can't fully share. Both men and women sometimes have to ask, what is it about women and chocolate?

We turn to science for the answer.

• Women who have a drop in estrogen, such as is commonly experienced before a period, also experience a drop in serotonin levels -- something that chocolate can fix. An ounce of chocolate gets the pleasure centers of the brain back to normal and makes the victim of PMS feel happy with life once again. After having experienced this a few times, she'll naturally begin to crave chocolate when her serotonin levels drop.
• In addition to serotonin, chocolate also increases theobromin and phenylethalamine in the brain. The combination of the three creates a sensation like being in love. Women may be more susceptible to the feeling than men. Chocolate also reduces stress hormones, in men and women both. Since research has shown that the average American, male or female, has three days a month of feeling stressed or blue, women may just associate those hormonal effects with menstruation in a way that men naturally do not.
  
• Men who experience food cravings tend to crave salty, high-protein foods like pizza, while women tend to crave sweet foods, like chocolate. However, both men and women can experience stress-related food cravings. A recent study suggests that increased stress is what leads to food cravings, and that marketing is the key to the male/female split on cravings. That is, ads for pizza and burgers are more likely to be directed toward men, while ads for chocolate are more likely to be directed toward women. A woman may feel free to express a craving for chocolate, while a man may consider it effeminate to do so.

So do women's hormones cause them to crave chocolate? The scientific answer seems to be that hormones play a part in chocolate cravings, just as chocolate has effects on hormones -- but it isn't women's hormones in particular that are in play.

'Tis the Season for Overindulgence -- Chocolate Solutions

Christmas is coming, and in break rooms and staff lounges and even in homes across the country, there are plates of goodies.

At a rehearsal I attended last night, there were cheese balls, cold meats, crackers, chips, and cheesecake. And that was rehearsal, not a party. Most of us have at least one party every week from now till New Year's, with our workplaces, community groups, families, places of worship, and kids' activities all offering celebrations. Add the samples of holiday goodies at shopping centers, the gifts of cookies and candy, and the general air of festivity, and it's easy to overdo.

How can you get through the holidays without falling prey to unhealthy or excessive eating?

One surprising way is to have a bit of chocolate. Recent research has found that dark chocolate has a high satiety factor. In ordinary terms, that means it's filling.

Combine it with the fiber of fruit or whole grains and you can limit your self-indulgence to a reasonable level without feeling deprived.

Hanukkah Gelt

While chocolate may be a general mark of celebration, Hanukkah has one very special connection with chocolate: Hanukkah gelt.

Hanukkah gelt began with small monetary gifts at Hanukkah from parents to children, but it became customary by the 18th century to give tips to Hebrew school teachers at the holiday, and this little gift of money was commonly called "Hanukkah gelt."

When Hanukkah began, in the 20th century, to change from a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar to a winter festival with a materialistic element matching the gift-focussed Christmas celebrations arising at the same time, candy companies began making gold-wrapped chocolate Hanukkah gelt. Loft's was one of these companies, producing Hanukkah gelt in the 1920s. They were later bought by PepsiCo.

Now, chocolate coins are used to play the traditional dreidl game, as gifts, and as snacks. Most used in the U.S. are made in Israel.

Be Prepared -- for Holiday Parties

For the purposes of holiday planning, there are really only two kinds of parties: the kind where you need to bring something, and the kind where you don't.

For the kind where you don't have to bring anything, "be prepared" mostly means having an outfit that can be dressed up by chandelier earrings and smoky eyes (or, if you're male, a snazzier tie), and remembering to put said earrings, tie, and/or eye makeup in your briefcase when you go to work.

For the kind where you have to bring something, you can sometimes get away with a bottle of wine or a bag of salad. When you can't, let chocolate come to the rescue.

You need two things: a bunch of tiny cakes in the freezer, and some ganache. Melt chocolate and cream together in fairly equal parts to make the ganache (experiment a little -- different kinds of chocolate will give you different textures of ganache.

Use this recipe to make the cakes:

Tiny Chocolate Cakes

2/3 c. chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
2 T butter
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
2/3 c flour

Melt the chocolate. Stir in the butter, sugar, and then the egg and the flour. Drop spoonsful into miniature muffin tins or tart shells. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Put these in the freezer.

When the party comes up, you can use the ganache in three ways, in ascending order of fanciness and time consumption:

• Liquid: while the ganache is still liquid, dip the tops of the little cakes into it, and let them dry to a shiny finish. You can easily take these to work with you, in a box clearly labeled "Receipts 2003-2005" so no one eats them.
  
• Soft: chill the ganache to the consistency of icing and pipe a puff onto each little cake.
• Firm: chill the ganache till it's solid (depending on the chocolate you use, this could be overnight -- you can reduce the amount of cream to half if you like) and use a melon baller or a pair of spoons to make truffles from the ganache. Set one on top of each cake -- moisten the bottom with a bit of water to encourage it to stay on.

For real fanciness, you can do all three of these things -- a shiny chocolate coat on the tiny cake, a puff of semi-firm ganache, and then set a tiny truffle into that ganache.

Sweet Shapes of Nature Special Labels

Sweetique's Sweet Shapes of Nature are realistic-looking rocks, pebbles, and seashells. We think they're great for Christmas stockings and for Hanukkah gifts, and they are also available with special geographic labels for those distant friends.




Visit the gallery to see the designs in all their glory, and the store to order for holiday gifts.