Fun with Chocolate

It wouldn't be Valentines Day without thinking about chocolate. The food of love.

Initially I wanted to write this weeks blog about that delectable sweetness called "chocolate" and how we are putting our best chocolate treats on sale just in time to give to your loved ones and sweeties. ( I'll cover our sale at the bottom of the blog) Then I began doing a little online research about chocolate and what I was reading was not only interesting but was putting a big old smile on my face. Did I tell you I love the internet? The things one can learn from good health news to funny quotes, jokes, the history of chocolate, and the sexiness of it all. I'm going to share some of the favorite things I've discovered about chocolate.

Enjoy all things Chocolate!

Making healthy eating choices. Chocolate is good for you... yes it is.

Dark chocolate possesses the highest antioxidant content of any food. Chocolates contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and, in milk chocolate, calcium. But it is the antioxidants and the flavonoids which boost good HDL cholesterol levels. Green tea, black tea, red wine, and blueberries all contain flavonoids, but none are as high as chocolate. One ounce a day is enough.

Chocolate is a Vegetable: chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable. To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So chocolate bars are in reality a health food. :)

Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world's perfect food. - Michael Levine, nutrition researcher.

There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.

What famous people have to say about chocolate.

After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of that one [what women want]. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate. - Mel Gibson

Biochemically, love is just like eating large amounts of chocolate. - John Milton, actor in The Devils Advocate

Let us celebrate our agreement with the adding of chocolate to milk. - Homer Simpson

I probably have some sort of chocolate five times a week. There's definitely a change it does to the chemistry of the body. It's my favorite feeling. I live for it. - John Travolta

I never met a chocolate I didn't like. - Counselor Deanna Troi, Star Trek: The Next Generation

I owe it all to little chocolate donuts. - John Belushi

Chocolate one liners

Do not Disturb! Chocolate fantasy in progress.

Nothing chocolate.... Nothing gained.

Here, have some chocolate. Feel better now?

Coffee, chocolate, men... some things are just better rich.

Chocolate jokes

For the serious chocoholic, chocolate is better than sex. If you believe that, you REALLY need to meet that special someone who can change your mind. If you HAVE met that special someone and still believe that, I REALLY NEED to know you get your chocolate!

A man found a bottle on the beach. He opened it and out popped a genie, who gave the man three wishes. The man wished for a million dollars, and poof! There was a million dollars. Then he wished for a convertible, and poof! There was a convertible. And then, he wished he could be irresistible to all women... Poof! He turned into a box of chocolates.

An elderly man lay dying in his bed. In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs. Gathering his remaining strength, he lifted himself from the bed. He slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and, with even greater effort, forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands. With labored breath, he leaned against the door, gazing into the kitchen.Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven: there, spread out on the kitchen table, were hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.Mustering one final effort, he threw himself toward the table. His aged and withered hand painstakingly made its way toward a cookie when it was suddenly smacked by a spatula."Stay out of those," said his wife, "they're for the funeral." (I know this one is in bad taste but doesn't it make you smile? )

Put the chocolate in the bag and nobody gets hurt.

Historic facts on chocolate... thank you ancient Mexico

Chocolate history starts out in Latin America, where cacao trees grow wild.

The first people known to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America. These people, including the Maya and Aztec, mixed ground cacao seeds with various seasonings to make a spicy, frothy drink. ( Is it any wonder that my favorite country to visit is Mexico?)

Those gory scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’, were all about the all chocolate syrup! Wasn't fake blood, it was sweet old chocolate. Although the scene finishes in about 45 seconds, it took 7 days to get that shot done perfectly!

Here’s another fact. Not just 10 or 50 but chocolate remarkably has over 500 flavors in it! No wonder it tastes so good.

Chocolate and Sex

I couldn't end this blog without touching on the percieved aphrodisaic powers of chocolate. I looked again to the internet to find some answers... first we begin again with the ancient Mexicans.

Heard of Mexican Emperor Montezuma? He drank liquid chocolate before getting busy in his harem.

So does it have magical powers on our libitos? I very randomly took this off a site debating its effects. I'll let you decide.

Despite scientific difficulty in proving chocolate an aphrodisiac, it does contain substances that increase energy, stamina, and feelings of well being. The reality is that chocolate makes you feel good and induces feelings of being in love. Everyone appreciates receiving a gift of chocolate from a loved one because it makes you feel loved. Perhaps the historic euphemism associated with chocolate is what really provokes people to feel it is an aphrodisiac.

On sale at Moving Designz this week you will find our Wildly Delicious Chocolate Enrobing Sauces, Saxon Dark Chocolate Bark and Luxe Chocolate Fondue Sets all at 20% off.

Thanks for reading and a very Happy And Chocolaty Valentines Day to all!
Susan