LOAD and LSNED - Day One

I'm not sure if I've ever started a class (set of classes) so thoroughly UNprepared!  I should have been gearing up for Mother LOAD during the first nine weeks, getting my game plan in order, knowing what I'd be scrapping during the 26 day challenge.  But not me!  I didn't do a single one of the assignments in the first nine weeks!

So here I am on Day 1 of a 26 day challenge to scrapbook a page a day... without a clue.  And yet I pulled it off!

With a 2 page 12x12 layout that has been in the back of my mind for awhile. Yep, the chocolate! It is a super simple collage of all the chocolate wrappers and then photos and journaling borrowed from my blog posts.  No embellishments necessary... good thing since there wasn't any room!

And for anyone new to my blog - you can read all about the chocolate adventure, including what is in the teeny tiny journaling, by simply clicking on the "Sarah in London" label at the end of this post.  It will bring up all of my posts about my Chocolate Around the World tasting adventure courtesy of my daughter Sarah.

I'm still unsure about participating in Learn Something New Every Day this year.  With LOAD (which I really want to do!) I just don't think I'll have the time to "create" anything additional.  But if a blurb on my blog counts... today I learned that having stuff pre-journaled in a blog post makes it really easy to cut and paste and throw together a passable layout in no time! Which makes me wonder... how many more great layouts are waiting in the archives of my blog???

Chocolate Tasting - Coming Full Circle

The chocolate has finally been fully consumed.  Well.... at least to the extent that I intend to consume it! There are a few bars with quite a bit left. Some will eventually make it to the trash bin, but it is up for grabs if my kids want it. If you want the full back story, you can read more about my chocolate tasting here, here, and here.  I finished out my chocolate adventure through Europe with these three:

#7.  Wales:

Although claiming to be  about 54% cacao, the Wales bar was bitter and chalky.  No sweetness or creaminess at all.  In fact, it tasted a bit like baking chocolate.  Definitely not my cup of tea, Wales gets a 5.

# 8.  Rome:

The label on this one says "extra bitter chocolate."  But it is 50% cacao and actually among the sweeter ones of the dark chocolates Sarah brought home.  Okay melt/creaminess. Good taste.  I gave this one an 8/10.  I didn't share either!

#9. Paris:

As the final contender for my affections, I tried this one from Paris.  The most expensive bar Sarah bought, possibly because she picked it up at the EuroStar Terminal when exiting Paris (she nearly forgot) or possibly because it really deserved to be the most expensive.  This one claims 61% cacao.  The taste was perfect - not too bitter, not too sweet. And it was the only bar from Europe that actually tried to melt in my mouth! It was creamy, not as creamy as Dove, but a close second.  I gave this bar a 9/10 and relished every last square.  Which means for my personal taste, of all the European chocolates I tried, the ridiculously expensive chocolate from Paris wins.

But in my heart, none of those fancy expensive European chocolates beats this:

Oh yeah, I'm a Dove Promises girl all the way.

Chocolate Tasting - Round Six

And I bet you thought the whole chocolate tasting thing had vanished off the face of the earth!  Truth is I haven't been eating much chocolate lately. It started with not having any with me during the trip to Cape May. And I just didn't get back in the "habit" once I returned and life got crazy.  But I have eaten one bar...

Oh Yeah, the Green & Blacks was up for consideration.  Similar to the chocolate from Barcelona, this one was a straight up solid dark chocolate bar. 70% cacao.  No fillers or flavors, just chocolate.

Not bitter, not sweet at all. Just dark chocolate. The melt factor was okay. Not outstanding, but it'll do - better than Barcelona. I'll give it an 8/10.  I think I prefer my chocolate a little sweeter. Dove still wins. :)

Chocolate Tasting - Rounds 3, 4, and 5

I have spent the last several days trying out new chocolates.  But before I tell you what I thought of each, I feel I need a disclaimer.  I am by no means a chocolate connoisseur.  In fact, I have a rather odd palate.  Some flavors that seem pleasing to a lot of folks just don't sit well in my mouth.  These include butterscotch, coconut, yogurt (any flavor), coffee, tea, and all manner of alcoholic beverages.  I don't like any of it.  I've tried to like tea - I've tried a lot of flavors. Just can't.  I can't even get past the smell of coffee!

When it comes to chocolate, this is my guilty pleasure:

No fancy expensive high cacao dark chocolate - but a grocery store staple.  Manufactured by the Mars Company in New Jersey (next state over to the east).  I believe this brand is available in the U.K. under the name "Galaxy." (based on info read on the internet.)  

Dove Dark Chocolate Promises probably barely qualify as "dark" - they are apparently in the range of 50-60% cacao content. But they are smooth, creamy, and just the right balance between sweet and chocolate for my palate. This is the standard against which I measure my chocolate. And when I don't have chocolate gifties to sample, I usually indulge in one of these a day! (just 42 calories!)

Okay, back to European chocolates.  First up, Prague:

A milk chocolate filled with nuts and a cherry-flavored goo.  This was so cloyingly sweet it made my teeth hurt.  It was truly not edible. Sarah actually tossed most of her little square in the trash.  Even Rachel who usually loves sweet stuff didn't like it.  Score:  0/10.  I hate to waste food, especially chocolate, but this puppy is headed for the trash can!

Next up, Rome:

A dark chocolate with a truffle-like filling. My first taste was okay. But once it settled, it tasted like coffee to me. 

Now I can't read Italian, but I do know how to use Google.  So I learned a couple of key phrases from the package.  "con morbido ripieno" means "with a soft filling". Check, I knew that.  "di crema alla nocciola" (from the back of the label) means "hazelnut cream."  Okay, that explains it.  I've never had hazelnuts before, but apparently I don't have any great love for hazelnut cream.  I gave this one a 3/10.  To be fair, Sarah and her friend Allison both liked it and said it didn't taste like coffee at all.  So I may not be the best choice for food critic!

Last for today, Barcelona:

This one is a straight up solid dark chocolate bar. 70% cacao.  No fillers or flavors, just chocolate.

I expected with the super high cacao content that it would be bitter. It isn't. But it's not sweet either. It's just dark chocolate. The melt factor isn't so good - in fact it doesn't really melt at all, you have to chew it, which isn't my preference in savoring chocolate. It is a little bit gritty.  But overall, it is good.  This one gets a 7/10.  I will finish it... although I'm also willing to share.

So far I still love my Dove Promises best! Guess that makes me a cheap date!

And The Winner Is...

... everyone who said I would choose the Guinness Bar next!  I'm going in reverse order of what I think I'll actually like best, my thought being to save the best for last!

The Guinness Chocolate smelled normal (no beer scent - yay!).  It was, however, a bit gritty and did not melt well in the mouth.  Overall the flavor was just okay.  Well, until you got to the aftertaste! I did not taste any beer flavor while the chocolate was still on my tongue, but once swallowed, the aftertaste was quite strange.

I rate this one a 4 out of 10.  Please note that on my rating scale, if it isn't at least a 6 or 7, it isn't worth the calories involved!

On another note, I really think Sarah bought the Grouse and Guinness bars knowing full well that I would pass the remainder of the bar back to her!  Which is fine by me.

I'm thinking based on all the positive recommendations that the Green & Black's bar may have to be saved for the very last! :)

Souvenirs Anyone?

As my loyal readers know, Sarah came home from London two weeks ago.

It has been a chaotic adjustment period around here, trying to fit her back into the routine that is established when she is away. Some members of my family deal better with change and adjustment than others. It keeps me on my toes, trying to referee.

Sarah came home bearing gifts. There were Oxford t-shirts, Chelsea gym bags, a London Starbucks mug.  And then there was my gift:

It was funny that the morning after she got home, my desk calendar read "Chocolate fixes everything."  Serendipity.

Apparently my daughter decided to bring me home a bar of chocolate from every country she visited while abroad!

In order to really appreciate the magnitude of this, I've numbered the bars in this photo and included descriptions below:

1. From a speciality store in Barcelona, Spain. The language on the bar is Catalan.  Apparently there are parts of Spain where they don't speak Spanish.  Who knew?

2. From a street market near St. Wenceslas Square in Prague.

3. from a shop in a tiny little town in Wales.  I will readily admit that geography was never my best subject, but I didn't even know that Wales was a country!

4. from the Eurostar terminal in Paris, France - because Sarah remembered on the way out of town.

5. from the Guinness store house in Dublin, Ireland.

6.  from a shop near the Vatican in Rome, Italy.

7.  from the Famous Grouse Whiskey Distillery in Scotland.

8.  another one from Rome.  Because Sarah went there twice.

9.  last, but not least, from the Waitrose grocery near Sarah's flat in London, England.

My plan with all these chocolate bars is to give them a try, one at a time, and then scrapbook the wrappers with my thoughts on the merits of the individual bars.

I tried my first one today.  The Famous Grouse Truffle Bar.  Why?  Because I was relatively sure I wouldn't like it and would be able to share.  First off, the bar is milk chocolate and I prefer dark chocolate.  Second, I don't drink much and really don't care for the taste of alcohol.  So hard for me to imagine that something flavored with whiskey is going to appeal to my palate.  I was right!  The smell the whiskey was evident as soon as the bar was unwrapped.  The flavor overpowered the chocolate.  Definitely not my cup of tea.  This one gets a 2 out of 10.  (Hey, there was chocolate involved!).

Anyone care to venture a guess which one I'm going to try next?

Hello from Rome

Just had to share this adorable video that Sarah sent us!

Happy Mail 2

I have been called on the carpet for not updating my blog.  Apparently someone actually reads it... and wants to hear from me.  Maybe someone who is a little homesick.  Someone whose postcard just arrived today:

I just love getting "Royal Mail!" This one sure made me smile.

Sarah Update

Sarah arrived safely in London on Saturday morning:

Here she is with her roommate Shona, gathering their luggage and waiting for the coach to their flat.

She says she didn't sleep at all on the plane - arrival time was the equivalent of 2 a.m. for her and they had a full day ahead! Moving into the flats, a walking tour of their neighborhood, orientation, and dinner out.

The entire group in front of Buckingham Palace.  And there is my girl - front and center!

On day 2, they had a bus tour of London. Sarah has already posted 200 photos to facebook - Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, all the Harry Potter sites. Love Diagon Alley! Since many were taken from a moving bus, quality is questionable, but I appropriated a few of the images (and did my best to sharpen them up in PSE) to give you an update anyway.

My favorite shot of the all.  Those red phone booths really are quite the photo opp!

Sunday I was feeling rather weepy and lost, just wanting to know what my girl was up to - when she called - to let her Dad know that she was hanging out at the Victory Pub to watch the Eagles (American football playoffs). Unfortunately our Eagles lost and are now out of the running.

She is dealing with sticker shock over the price of a bag of potato chips and frustration that she can't find staples like grated Parmesan cheese, chocolate chips, and Peanut Butter????  But she has managed to find an ATM that doesn't charge transaction fees and is getting acclimated to her new surroundings.

Sarah is blogging her experience at London 2011 and has given me the green light to share the blog with you - feel free to subscribe or check in occasionally if you care to follow the adventures of a 20-year-old college student in London!

And thanks to everyone who asked how she is doing - I appreciate the thought! :)