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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Christmas Bars: Hershey's, Niederegger, Ghirardelli & Hachez
Here's a small selection of what I'd call Christmas chocolate bars. I've got to eat them up before the holidays - it may be too late for you to get them by Christmas, but there are some special ones that are worth picking up at the after-Christmas sales.
Hershey's introduced their Golden Almond Bar in 1977. It's a thick bar and clocks in at 2.8 ounces. The bar design and packaging has changed little over the past thirty five years. It's still wrapped in gold foil with a gold sleeve. Bars are sold either singly or in gold gift boxes of five bars (see a 1984 ad here). They're not that easy to find, I usually see them at the official Hershey's stores at Chocolate World or the Times Square shop.
The bar is simple, it's just milk chocolate with lots of whole roasted almonds in it. It differs from the Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds bar as it's supposed to be better quality chocolate. The ingredients do not differ from the Hershey's standard milk chocolate which includes PGPR but is at least made in the United States and not Mexico as the other supposedly upscale Pot of Gold line is.
The bar is wonderful looking, it's thick and has a great snap. It's about 1.7 inches wide, 4.75 inches long and a beefy half inch high. There are some almonds in there though not as many as I feel are promised but they look like they're fresh and of good quality. The chocolate looks a little darker than the standard Hershey's but smells like I'd expect. It's sweet with a slight yogurty tang to it.
The texture is smooth and fudgy, with a sticky melt and a light caramel and woodsy chocolate flavor. It's not complex and it's not extraordinary. But if you like Hershey's chocolate and enjoy the decadence of a thicker piece, this is a good bar to choose. I liked the nostalgia of an actual foil wrapped bar, which is so rare these days. If there's someone on your list that loves Hershey's, this is a little bit more elegant way to give them what they desire.
Size: 2.8 ounces
I'll have more about my German adventures, including a tour of the Niederegger Factory in Lubeck in the coming weeks.
I found this seasonal bar called Niederegger Marzipan Weihnachtsschokolade at the Niederegger cafe at Marktplatz in Lubeck. The front of the package says Saftiges gewurz marzipan mit vollmilch-schokolade. So it's a spiced marzipan in milk chocolate. The image shows almonds, cinnamon sticks and star anise. The ingredients don't specifically list anise, just "spices" though cinnamon is a separate item.
Inside the paper wrapper there's a stiff card (advertising the company and their website) and the foil wrapped bar.
The packaging did a great job of protecting the bar. It was glossy and unscuffed.
The milk chocolate is very light in color (33% cocoa solids and 14% milk solids). The bar smells like milky chai, a little spicy and very sweet. The marzipan is moist and a bit like eating Snickerdoodle cookie dough. The chocolate is smooth, but doesn't contribute much in the way of cocoa to this, it just nicely encases the marzipan. The texture of the marzipan is a little more rustic than the French style fondant type that's used for creating figures and shapes. Niederegger is meant for eating and enjoying.
The ratios on the 100 gram bars from Niederegger favor the chocolate more than the enrobed little classic loaves. (I'll get into that more in my master post.) If you're looking for a starter marzipan that's more about the texture and celebrates almonds as the source ingredient, Niederegger really can't be beat. It's not too sweet and doesn't have any fake amaretto flavors to it.
I would prefer a version of this with dark chocolate, but I can't argue with the traditional recipe they have. It's a great balance of subtle spice, sweetness, milk and almonds.
Size: 3.5 ounces
I'm no stranger to the Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark. They've been making it for years and it comes in a clever little square that's perfect for some afternoon tea or coffee.
I found this set of bars at Target last month on sale for $2 each. They're heralded as limited edition and come in milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
I'm not actually a fan of barks. I like my inclusions fully immersed in the chocolate. So the bar version of Peppermint Bark is perfect for my strange fondness for things being hidden in the chocolate.
Unlike most Peppermint Barks, which combine white chocolate with crushed peppermint candies (like candy canes or starlight mints), the Ghiradelli version uses minty, artificially colored corn flakes. I haven't the foggiest why they did it that way, but honestly, they created something unique enough to be a new genre.
The milk and dark vary a little bit in their coloring. The milk version is sweet and has a lot of dairy notes to it from both the milk chocolate base and the white chocolate top (made with real cocoa butter). The mint is clean and bright, the little cereal bits are crunchy and a little salty and keep it all from being too cloying.
The dark version has two kinds of bits, the red bits and some little dark brown bits, which I think are little chocolate cookie pieces. The dark chocolate has a little smoky note to it which overshadowed the minty layer a bit, which I enjoyed. There's a definite difference between the Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark and the Dove Peppermint Bark, which can also be found for comparable prices at similar stores. Personally, I prefer the Dove version, because it's a bit butterier. This one is about the crunch, a grown up sort of crunch.
Size: 3 ounces
The last item I have is not quite a full review. The Hachez Weihnachts Knusper Bar (Christmas Crunchy Bar) is a darling looking bar. The soft white paper wrapper has a classically illustrated scene of a child ice skating on a pond.
Feine Vollmilch-Chocolade mit Zimt, Mandeln und Nussen
My German was getting pretty good, even though I'd only been listening to German podcasts for a week and was only there for a day. The front of the package said Fine milk chocolate with cinnamon, almonds and nuts. The little image also showed all of the above -cinnamon sticks, milk chocolate blocks, almonds and a hazelnut in its shell.
So I was very excited when I got it home and put at the top of my list to photograph and review before Christmas. I took it out of the wrapper, snapped it in half ... it looked and smelled so good:
The bar was glossy and showed no ill effects from the long journey (about 750 more miles on a bus at that point then the 5,700 mile plane ride).
I broke off a little piece of it to try after the photo, I was greeted by wonderfully smooth and milky chocolate and amazingly fresh, crunchy and crushed nuts and a hint of cinnamon. I could taste the hazelnuts and something else ... it wasn't pecans, it was walnuts. What I didn't realize was that while Nussen might be a generic word for nuts, it usually meant walnuts. (Walnusse is the more specific word.) So technically, I didn't eat any of the bar. I had to spit it out and rinse out my mouth (I still ended up itchy and with a sore throat all evening - my allergy has not developed beyond this irritation stage). But I'm going to go out on a limb after eating many of the other Hachez products in the past week (which I'll have reviews for) and say that this really is a good bar.
Size: 3.5 ounces
Do you have a favorite winter flavor combination? Anything regional or something from long ago that they don't make any longer?
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:49 pm All Natural • Candy • Review • Christmas • Ghirardelli • Hachez • Hershey's • Niederegger • Chocolate • Cookie • Kosher • Limited Edition • Mints • Nuts • White Chocolate • 5-Pleasant • 7-Worth It • 8-Tasty • Germany • United States • Target • Comments (2)
Friday, December 9, 2011
Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows + Vanilla, Cinnamon Bun, Strawberry, Chocolate Royale, Gingerbread
The best known American marshmallows are Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows which are big, airy cylinders of fluffed sugar and gelatin. Lately there's been a movement in the United States for more artisan marshmallows, flavored and in different shapes and often with less chalky corn starch on the outside. In other countries marshmallows are usually flavored (France and Japan have wonderful marshmallow offerings that are rather grown up, while the United Kingdom and Netherlands still have a large selection geared towards kids).
Kraft's Jet-Puffed brand has a large selection lately that go beyond the unflavored white version. I picked up all that I could find over the past month for comparison and review.
I'm often conflicted about whether Marshmallows are candy. Part of the confusion might be the fact that the most popular marshmallow brands in the United States are not sold in the candy and snack aisle but in the baking section. They're used to make Rice Krispie Treats and S'mores, but I rarely see people just eating them.
The marshmallows are simple and cheap. I picked up most of the bags in this review for only a dollar - this bag was 10 ounces and nearly the size of an airplane pillow ... a lot of candy for a buck.
Jet-Puffed are large, they're about an inch and a third tall and about an inch in diameter. Each is about 7.5 grams (about a quarter of an ounce). Marshmallows are pretty low in calories, as there's no fat in them - they're just sugar with a little protein (gelatin) to keep them fluffy. Only 100 calories per serving of 4 (one ounce).
They're chalky on the outside, coated with a light powdering of corn starch to keep them from sticking. They're puffed, pliable but still firm. They're a little latexy, like memory foam - squish it and it bounces back eventually.
The flavor isn't quite vanilla and not a strong as pure sugar. They're, well, marshmallows. Not much to write home about and not a candy I'd eat on its own. They toast up very well, with more of the burnt sugar flavors. The large size means that the center of mine usually cool while the outside is crunchy and the mantle is molten.
They're very soft and moist when fresh, but I don't mind a slightly stale marshmallow either. They get a little stiff and chewy on the outside, providing a little more textural interest.
What started this whole marshmallow episode was this bag of Jet-Puffed SnowmanMallows I spotted at Target. They're French Vanilla flavored, which sounded good, like a custardy version of the traditional American marshmallow.
They're called mini-marshmallows on the bag, but they're actually about the size of two of the standard mini-marshmallows.
Is there a difference between the standard and the French Vanilla? Well, not really. There's some yellow food coloring and a smidge less salt. So they did taste sweeter.
I prefer the format of the little one inch tall and half inch wide Man. He toasted up well, the smaller size meant that the center became molten as the outside crisped. Of course it was ridiculously easy to catch him on fire.
The Kraft Jet-Puffed StrawberryMallows were the only ones that I bought at the 99 Cent Only Store, which may mean that they were for an earlier season. (They expire at the end of the year.)
They're pink and remind me of the French guimauve, which often come in long ropes. The color is soft and pleasant. The scent is like Frankenberry Cereal. The flavor is a mild, floral and artificial strawberry. It was like a very watered down Strawberry Quik.
I toasted it hoping it would taste like cotton candy, but it just tasted like hot Strawberry Quik. Like many of the candies that I eat with Red #40 food coloring, I taste a weird, metallic bitterness towards the end and for a few minutes after.
The Kraft Jet-Puffed Gingerbread Mallows made all of this worth it. They were the variety that inspired me to buy them all and review them.
This was the first variety that struck me as seasonal, obviously, but also the first one that I felt like achieved its goals of being an actual good candy. I recognize that not everyone likes gingerbread, so a gingerbread flavored marshmallow will not be as popular as strawberry or vanilla.
They're shaped like little men. The get squeeze and deformed in the bag, so their little arms point in different directions. They're about an inch and a quarter tall and about a half an inch thick and an inch from fingertip to fingertip.
They smell rich and spicy. And they taste that way too. If you're fond of the gingerbread spices: ginger, cinnamon, clove and pepper, you will probably dig these. The overriding flavor is actually ginger but there's a little cinnamon and pepper warmth to them. It doesn't taste artificial at all - just like a spicy marshmallow. It's absolutely like eating a foamy cookie.
I tried toasting them and liked the result, but prefer the soft and foamy texture of them at room temperature.
I figured if Gingerbread was good, Kraft Jet-Puffed Cinnamon Bun would rate highly as well. After all, it wasn't just a pink marshmallow with a little cinnamon oil like the StrawberryMallow.
This bag was slightly smaller, for some reason, with only 8 ounces in it. The mallows were also smaller, which was fine with me as I like to pop a whole one in my mouth. (The back of the package actually has a warning that says to eat only one at a time and supervise children plus cut them up for smaller children.)
They're cute as foamy sugar buttons. They smell good, not that different from the Gingerbread, but definitely on the sugar and cinnamon side of things.
The flavor is like cinnamon the spice, not the hard candy. The corn starch coating kind of pushes that along with the slight chalky texture before it dissolves away. It doesn't taste overtly artificial, but it's also not as fun and nuanced as the Gingerbread. I expect they'd go great in hot chocolate. Toasted they were quite nice, but tasted much more sweet when hot.
The Kraft Jet-Puffed Chocolate Royale was a problematic flavor. First, it's a chocolate flavored marshmallow. There is no actual cocoa, let alone chocolate in there. The scent is ghastly. It was like wet cardboard. It was so bad that after I took a picture of the package and opened them, I had to sequester them.
The problem is that I don't remember where I put them (I admit the Candy Blog Studios are pretty messy right now) but I can still smell them even though I stuffed them inside another bag first.
Overall, I'm inclined towards the generic American marshmallow and enjoyed the different flavors. I prefer the corn starch coating to the sugar sanding of Peeps. They're a great candy to share and versatile to keep on hand as an ingredient. If you're watching your calories, they're very low stress - I can't eat that many because their airy texture makes me feel full very quickly. But they're also all sugar and the texture can be bland (but that's why folks invented Rice Krispie Treats, Rocky Road and S'mores).
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:06 am Candy • Review • Christmas • Kraft/Mondelez • Cinnamon • Ginger • Marshmallow • 1-Inedible • 7-Worth It • United States • 99 Cent Only Store • Target • Comments (19)
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Dove Promises White Chocolate
Mars has finally hopped into the white chocolate game with both feet. Their new Dove White Chocolate Silky Smooth Promises stand alone as the only mass-market true white chocolate in bite size pieces.
I don't know if this is a regular item or a seasonal offering from Dove. They've already proven that they can make a good white chocolate, which has been their base for their rich Peppermint Bark offerings for the third year in a row.
The package is a stylish amber and gold design with the Dove logo featuring most prominently. The see through part reveals the pieces are foil wrapped in two different shades of gold with white snowflakes.
Hershey's has their White Chocolate Meltaway Bliss, but that's a filled candy, with some sort of palm oil & cream inside. The Dove White Chocolate is truly a white chocolate product, in that it contains only cocoa butter and dairy as its fat base without any other vegetable fats.
Still, it's pricey stuff. The bar was just shy of 8 ounces while the true chocolate varieties at the same price are over 9.5 ounces.
The flavor is oddly buttery, as in milky with that sort of churned flavor to it. However, there's more of an aged dairy taste than a fresh milk flavor. There's a light hint of salt (45 mg per 5 pieces).
The texture is firm but has a smooth melt, not nearly as silky as the regular Dove Promises but still decadent. It's sweet, and that sugary quality does give it a but of a thick and sticky quality as it dissolves. Sometimes though it tasted a little on the rancid or perhaps slightly stale side of things. This could be because it picked up some flavors from other items (such as some chocolate flavored marshmallows), but considering the fact that they're tightly foil wrapped and then in a heavy plastic bag, they shouldn't be doing that.
White chocolate is definitely a tough item to do well. These are good, and true white chocolate is hard to find, especially in the grocery or drug store these days. The ingredients are pretty good: sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk, milk fat, soy lecithin, salt, natural flavor and PGPR. They're made in a facility that processes peanuts and tree nuts. There's no mention of gluten. They're Kosher.
It's a good quality product for the price, but it's not going to be my go-to white chocolate. I'll still opt for Green & Black's super-vanilla infused White Chocolate which is also fair trade. But if I needed something festive and foil wrapped, I'd grab a bag of these.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:27 am All Natural • Candy • Review • Christmas • Mars • Kosher • White Chocolate • 7-Worth It • United States • Target • Comments (10)
Monday, November 14, 2011
Brach's Milk Chocolate Stars
Brach's, now owned by Farley's and Sathers has had its ups and downs. Lately I'd say they're on the upswing. They have newly designed packaging and a new logo along with a return to their classic formulas.
One of Brach's standard candies for many years has been their Brach's Milk Chocolate Stars which are not only a favorite for candy dishes, they're occasionally featured in cookie recipes. This explains why I spotted this bag not in the candy aisle at Target but with a special display of holiday baking items.
The pieces are large what I'd consider a big bite or two small bites. They're a full inch across and weigh a little less than 4 grams each. (For comparison, a Hershey's Kiss is about 4.5 grams.)
The front and back of the package make multiple mentions of the fact that the stars are made from 100% milk chocolate. Some Brach's items stopped using real chocolate over the years (oddly enough some of that cheapening occurred while the company was run by Barry Callebaut, a Swiss company and one of the largest makers of chocolate in the world. (But they also make mockolate.)
The ingredients do actually qualify this product as milk chocolate, though the list is very long for what is usually a six ingredient product:
The stars a bit scuffed up but I was still pleased at how attractive they are. They vary a little bit, as they're not molded but squirted out onto a line. The have a sweet scent, a bit on the caramel side of milk chocolate. The melt is pretty quick and very sweet but with a very mellow salty note to it.
Though the melt is passably smooth, it is quite sticky. I did a quick analysis of the chocolate compared to Hershey's Kisses. There's just a smidge more sugar in it and a little less fat. (Basically, my calculations put Hershey's Kisses at 29.3% fat by weight and Brach's Milk Chocolate Stars at 26.3%. So if there's less fat there's either going to be more sugar or more protein, in this case it's the sugar with Hershey's at 56.1% and Brach's at 57.9%.)
The flavor is not complex or difficult. There's a slight dairy twang to it, but nothing like the sour belch of a Hershey's Kiss nor the powdered dairy taste of Cadbury. I suspect that they stand up well in the oven and probably get an even better toasted taste to the sugars that bring out the fudge notes. It's a little too sweet and sticky for me to eat alone, but with some nuts or pretzels or really anything else like a tall glass of water or strong coffee to cut it, I'd find them passable.
If I were baking the only reason to use them would be for aesthetics. If I were going for taste, I'd pick up Ghirardelli or Guittard which are only slightly more expensive ... or if I needed something really stunning Valrhona.
They're made in a facility with nuts, peanuts and wheat plus they contain soy and dairy. Not Kosher.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:12 pm Candy • Review • Brach's • Farley's & Sathers • Chocolate • 5-Pleasant • United States • Target • Comments (5)
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Starburst Flavor Morph
Wrigley's which now runs the Starburst franchise of products just came out with a new variety, called Starburst Flavor Morph. They come in both the long single serving pack, a king size and the 13 ounce bag I picked up at Target over the weekend.
The package says that they have Flavor Changing Beads, which sounds kind of high tech and kind of like a feature of cosmetics/hygiene products.
The newest Starburst offers more than just a variety of flavors in each pack - now, consumers will get to experience a variety of flavors in every square. The candy, which features flavor changing beads, morphs from orange to orange strawberry or cherry to cherry lime.
So, basically, instead of four flavors in the package, there are just two.
Cherry -> Cherry-Lime is wrapped in red with white waves on the little waxed paper wrapper. They're dark pink and at first do taste just like the traditional Cherry Starburst. The Cherry Lime notes come in rather late, and the advertised flavor beads aren't evident as pops or crunches. The lime notes were actually a welcome transition in the flavor of the chew, the citrus goes well with the very traditional artificial cherry flavor.
Orange -> Orange-Strawberry looks just like an Orange Starburst, but with a few little flecks. However, it smells like a Strawberry Starburst. So the flavor morph in this instance was not really transitional ... the flavor was absolutely orange and strawberry the whole time. I liked the combination, it's different from the usual citrus or strawberry combinations.
I haven't been excited or converted from the classic Fruits package by any of the new Starburst introduction in the past 10 years. This version is no different, it's a novelty. It's missing the usual variety and the flavor combinations while appealing aren't radical enough. While it doesn't say Limited Edition on the package, I don't expect them to stick around very long.
Starburst are marked as a gluten-free product. They do contain gelatin, so are not appropriate for vegetarians/vegans and are not Kosher. There are no statements about nuts or other allergens on the package though other sources say they're nut free. A serving of 8 pieces contains 20% of your daily RDA of Vitamin C. I found them expensive as well, $3.14 for a 13 ounce bag of sugar candy is a bit steep.
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Monday, November 7, 2011
Limited Edition M&Ms Cinnamon Milk Chocolate
When I saw a tweet from The Impulsive Buy that there was a new kind of M&Ms, I was on the case. Marvo tracked them down, they're called Cinnamon M&Ms and they're an exclusive to Target stores right now (though some folks have them on eBay as well).
The bags are slight, with only 9.9 ounces compared to the standard 12 ounce bag of Milk Chocolate M&MS for the same price.
The package features the Green M&M in a white knit cap & scarf holding some cinnamon sticks. The illustration shows that the candies come in three deep red colors.
The pieces vary in size and slightly in color. The deep red and maroon are almost indistinguishable in lower light situations.
The pieces are larger than the regular Milk Chocolate M&Ms. The color is not quite as dense or shiny as the regular M&Ms. They're a little dusty colored, like the color coating isn't as thick or they aren't as polished. It appears that the shade of brown and red are identical to the standard Milk Chocolate red and brown, but the maroon is new.
The flavor, as Marvo pointed out in his review, tastes like it's concentrated in the shell of the candy, not in the milk chocolate. Some shells taste more cinnamony than others, but the red tastes the most like cinnamon. It's not a "red hot" sort of flavor, it's more of the ground spice flavor. It's woodsy and rich with a slight heat to it, but nothing that's too warm.
The largest pieces feel like they're layered; as if they start out as a regular sized M&M, then get another layer of chocolate to supersize them. (They used to make Mega M&Ms, maybe this is just the same equipment being put to use.)
The flavor is different but not radical. It's subtle and pleasant, but masks the also mild chocolate flavors from Mars very sweet milk chocolate. The candy shell is fun to crack and the textures work exceptionally well in this instance because of the ratios with the larger chocolate pieces.
I can't say that I've been longing for these all of my life; and I can't say, especially at this price, that I'd buy them again. Like the Coconut M&Ms, they're only vaguely different but the cinnamon, like coconut, is a polarizing flavor. Either you like it or you don't. So there will be folks out there that won't.
I can say that these go very nicely with coffee, the cinnamon adds that fall, harvest essence to the whole event. So settle down with the morning paper and toss a few Cinnamon M&Ms onto your saucer for a little extra bump.
For traditionalist, the Milk Chocolate Mint M&Ms are also returning for Christmas.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:31 pm Candy • Review • Christmas • Mars • Chocolate • Cinnamon • Kosher • Limited Edition • M&Ms • 7-Worth It • United States • Target • Comments (10)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Ritter Sport Milk Chocolate with Strawberry Creme
Ritter Sport makes dozens of different chocolate bars. A few are seasonal varieties, such as their new Milk Chocolate with Strawberry Creme which debuted last fall in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (Some packages feature the pink ribbon, others do not.)
The picture on the front of the package along with the name of the bar gave me most of what I needed to know: Milk chocolate filled with a cream of low fat yogurt, strawberry and crispy rice.
The ingredients don't quite match up with that description. The first ingredient is sugar, which is fine with me as I fully expect my candy to be mostly sugar. The second ingredient is palm kernel oil. Nowhere in my chocolate, low fat yogurt or crispy rice do I ever expect to find palm kernel oil. So, its dominating presence here is unwelcome but the bar is at least redeemed with its third ingredient, cocoa butter, one of my favorite butters.
The bar is a familiar format for Ritter Sport. It's 100 grams and comes in a square bar made up of 16 sections (four by four). The recommended portion is six pieces, which of course doesn't create a whole number of portions. (I found for this review one bar was a portion, which means that it replaced my breakfast calories and all my snack calories for the day.)
The cream inside the bar is a faint pink with spots of actual dried strawberries. In addition, there are little bits of crisped rice. The chocolate outside is sweet and milky, like the Alpine Milk variety (though I'm not certain which version of the many Ritter Sport chocolates they used for this bar). The cream inside is sweet and mostly smooth without being greasy. The crunchies in the cream were interesting, sometimes they were the crisped rice, so they were a little salty and a little malty. But other times they were freeze dried strawberry bits so they were tangy and would soften into a slick reconstituted fruit mush. I liked the different pops of tartness or saltiness to go with the cream and milky chocolate background.
It's a good quality bar (though not great, since a large portion is palm kernel oil) and is different from other American chocolate offerings. I found it on sale at Target for $1.66 over the weekend. For a 3.5 ounce bar of this it's a good deal. Other bars are a bit lower in fat and have no palm kernel oil, but this is a limited edition item so it's not as if I'm going to eat them all year round.
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POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:42 pm Candy • Review • Ritter Sport • Chocolate • Cookie • Limited Edition • 7-Worth It • Germany • Target • Comments (6)
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Ghirardelli Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree
Ghirardelli Chocolate is America's second oldest chocolate company, making cacao products in the Bay Area of California since 1852.
The Ghirardelli family owned and ran the company until the 1960s when the company was sold to the Golden Grain Macaroni Company (makers of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat), then in the 1980s Golden Grain was swallowed up by Quaker Oats (the Pennsylvania treat). About 6 years later Quaker sold Ghiradelli off and it was once again an independent entity, if only for about six years when in 1998 it was bought up by Lindt and Sprüngli of Switzerland (which was making chocolate only seven years longer than Ghiradelli).
I mention all of this because there was something vaguely familiar about this bar called Ghirardelli Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree when I picked it up and it took me a while to figure it out. A couple of years ago I reviewed Lindt Excellence Dark with a Touch of Sea Salt. While I found Lindt's a good bar, it's either the quality of the Ghirardelli chocolate or the addition of almonds that really make Ghirardelli's bar special.
The bar's mold is nicely designed. Each of the eight sections include the Ghirardelli eagle logo. The molding is overall good, though there are some voids and bubbles on the front of the bar, I didn't notice anything else amiss when I snapped the bar in half or inspected the bottom of the bar.
I didn't think it smelled particularly special, like brownies, which in itself is a tantalizing scent, but really didn't do the rest of the bar justice.
The bar is called Intense Dark but I can't find anything that says what the percentage of cacao is for the bar. The appearance is dark like coffee with a light reddish hue to it. The bar has a liberal sprinkling of crushed almonds in it and of course large flakes of sea salt.
The flavors of the chocolate are very mild, but a good blend of hot cocoa, coffee and woodsy tobacco. The almonds give a fresh crunch and the light sprinkling of salt doesn't overwhelm any of the other elements.
It's an extremely munchable bar, not too dark for a snack but still more sophisticated than a standard Dove or plain Ghirardelli bar. I didn't expect to like the bar so much since it's such a simple idea and construction, especially since I had the nut-less Lindt version before. The freshness of the elements and well executed format just come together so well here. I wish that Ghirardelli didn't feel the need to use dairy (milk fat) in their dark chocolate though, it would make this a much more accessible bar. (It's also made in a facility that processes peanuts as well.)
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.


text:
Alan Cook2 Dec 10, 2013 12:03 PM
in response to TexinOx
If you still have iDVD in your Applications folder, here is a step-by-step:
1. Create a project in iMovie 10.0.1
2. Go to File>Share>File... and for Size choose Large 540P (960 x 540) and click Next
3. Choose a location on the hard drive to save the file to.
4. Wait for the blue circle activity indicator to finish.
5. In Finder, verify that iMovie created an MP4 file in the location specified in step 3.
6. Open iDVD and click "Create New Project."
7. Give the project a name and save it to your hard drive.
8. Drag the file you created earlier from the Finder into your iDVD project window.
(or go to File>Import>Video... and choose your video there)
9. Make any adjustments to drop zones, etc.
10. Click the burn button.
11. Insert a DVD and let it do its thing.
If you don't still have iDVD, look on the Mac App Store for DVD burning software and use it for steps 6-11.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Product Reviews
A Bit Beat-Up
The metal frame was bent in a few areas and a corner of the desk top was chipped, but I can't expect perfection for what I paid. It's a lightweight metal desk, not solid wood. It serves it's purpose. Had I been able to find it locally for this price I probably would have. Then I could have a exchanged it for one in better shape. Not worth the hassle of sending it back, though.
- How did the image on site compare with the actual product? Yes
- How accurate was the on site description of the product? Item was as described
- Please tell us about the quality of the product. You get what you pay for.
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- About 96% of American children aged till 6 will recognize Ronald McDonalds. More famous is only Santa.
-В McDonald's is a place to bring children. There's a playground in almost every restaurant.
All of us might be more or less acquainted with the Russian Matryoshka, initially the toy invented at the end of the 19th century for the children and presently one of the popular traditional Russian souvenirs. First Matryoshkas were featuring Russian girls in their folk dresses ( there were no dolls in Russia at that time) and later on the painters started drawing holidays and different events.В In the world of high technology there are still craftsmen that follow the tradition of Matryoshka design and painting but there are also new creators with the new approach.
No matterВ whether you are a huge company or just an all in one developer, from time to time all of us face the situation when we have to send a email to group of people, whether these are subscribers, potential customers, sponsors…whatever. When we have to email just one person that seems to be an easy task, but when we have to send something to a group- we usually get stuck. Why is that? Read More
Can you imagine your life without a car? Yeah, I mean it, I can call my car my best friend that's with me in joy and sorrow. There are lots of car brands but I could never image how many there actually are … so we made this parade of car brands from A to Z.В For some letters I could think only of one car brand, for others there are several and some letters are still vacant! So if you think of starting your own car business you can "rent"В the letter that still vacant and be the first and probably the only one.
Pentawards is the first and the only one international competition devoted to packaging design. Anyone involved in packaging design can participate no matter what country you live in. This year they were judging designs from 2007 and usually one can apply for the competition from May to June. This year the works were presented by 700 participants from 39 countries and the battle for awards has been pretty bloody.
One of my friends gave me the book yesterday, it's a "Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery" by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter. This is the book that inspired me for a post today. Have you ever thought why you like this or that beer? Whether it's the taste itself that makes the beer popular and lovable or this is the marketing intrigue?
So I went to the website of Great American Beer Festival. This is the festival where they give awards for the taste not for the brand and you can participate there if you have a small pub with your own beer, restaurant, whatever but i was very interested to see how the small companies approach beer logo design nowadays. This year 46,000 attended and participated in this great event that took place in September. And of course, there are the winners in lots of categories (75 if to be exact) and you can check the full list here. I decided to check the logos of just a few winners and you can see them below.
Obviously, DesignFloat is a place for designers. All of you guys and gals are good in something, whether it's an illustration, website design, logo design, graphics design, photography etc. You wok with your customers trying to deliver something professional, interesting and unique but sometimes you are running out of time and in such situations website templates can help you to save your time, efforts and what's most interesting, they can even bring you an additional income.
According to CNET back in the July 2008 Google had 60 percent of the 8 billion searches in the month and this search giant keeps getting more and more popular in all countries all around the world. With this in mind, it's vital for any business to know what Google thinks about your website and whether your potential clients will find it and like it.
With lots of tools available online it's sometimes really hard to choose the one you need and get an idea of what is going on with your website as well as understand what are the things you need to keep an eye on. Hundreds of SEO tools most of which are commercial, analytics tools, traffic tools, marketing tools, keyword research tools are being discussed and advertised here and there and you don't know which us the best and of course you want the best. You need all the possible statistics in one place, you need it visually appealing and you want to see how this or that factor influences your website. Saying this we'll try to make your life easier. Below you will find the tools (almost all of them are free) you need to have on your radar screen for your website to be a success.
Among the most popular submissions on DesignFloat we can find the free amazing WP themes, but can we say that WordPress is the most popular blogging software? Well, that depends on the target audience. Say if I were a housewife would I like to go into hosting stuff and domain name registration, spending additional money on that, having headache trying to handle the installation and something called database? No, I definitely wouldn't. I don't need a server to share the secrets of my favorite cookies or some advices about kids illnesses. The keyword is simplicity. I know how I'd call my blog and I know the colors I'd like to see, is it possible to start a blog having this info and willingness only? Yes it is, and the answer is Blogger from Google.


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Recent Articles by Dianne
Chris Middlehurst Interview
BARLA Great Britain coach Chris Middlehurst is looking forward to his first game in charge of the side against the British Police on Wednesday evening at Stanningley ARLFC despite having only one training session with them. He said that it was a getting to know session but there will be more before future games.?We were just getting to know the lads that?s all, there were just a couple of lads that we didn?t know so we mixed everything in when they all trained together. Hopefully we can get some more sessions in before the other International games against the Prison Service and the Students.?At that training session Anthony Broadhead of Thornhill Trojans and Danny Kilshaw of Leigh East were named as captain and vice captain respectively and Middlehurst thought it was a big lift for the squad as they are both seasoned International players.?Yeah it was a big lift for the squad when they were named as well as for the two players selected. They went on the tours of Russia and Australia in 2004 and they are both seasoned BARLA International players so it was good for them to get the nod as well.??In those selections we have a leader in the forwards and a leader in the backs and that was the reasoning for it really. They have been involved in the set up and they know what is required at that level so hopefully they will lead the side well on Wednesday. It also shows a bit of loyalty to the players from the staff.?Last weekend Middlehurst was prowling the touchlines at Leigh Miners Rangers and Leigh East watching some of his charges fingers crossed that all selected players came through games unscathed. But Skirlaugh?s Simon Kilby with an ankle injury, Martin Johnson of East Hull with a shoulder injury have pulled out and Middlehurst will not be naming his team until the night of the game.?We will not be naming the team until the evening of the game because we?re not quite sure about the injuries, We have lost Simon Kilby and Martin Johnson over the weekend with injuries and brought John Woods and Richard Squires in from Leigh Miners Rangers and Shaw Cross Sharks We will wait for any further telephone calls but we will have twenty players stripped for the game. That?s the criteria and with those substitutions we can look at the permutations on the night. We will not be adding to the squad should there be any other late cry offs.?BARLA Great Britain will be going into the game as favourites and Chris Middlehurst realises that it is important to reach the final and become a force to be reckoned with again.?Yeah it?s understandable that we will be favourites but I don?t know anything about the British Police or the players in that side so we will have to be at our best on the night. We will put in a good performance on the night and we have two further games over the next three or four months to finish tip of the table and qualify for the final.?It?s important to reach the final to prove that we are still here. There was talk that we might be disbanded for various reasons but we are still here. When we get to this final that will prove to be the case and show that we are still a force to be reckoned with in the amateur game.?
Barla Great Britain Squad Named
BARLA Great Britain Manager Mick Turner has named a 22 man squad to face the British police at Stanningley ARLFC on Wednesday 22nd February Kick off 7.30pm.There will be one training session before the game on Sunday 12th February at Shaw Cross Sharks ARLFC.The full squad is as follows:1 Dave Critchley - Eccles & Salford JNRS2 Chris Lee - West Hull3 Gavin Corfield - Wigan St Judes4 Andy Dobson - Blackbrook5 John Waldon - York Acorn6 Martin Ridyard - Leigh Miners7 Dave Patterson - Leigh Miners8 Danny Kilshaw - Leigh East9 Gary Lumb - Cutsyke10 Andy Sands - Oldham St Annes11 Jimmy Rogers - Saddleworth Rangers12 Simon Kilby - Skirlaugh13 Antony Broadhead - Thornhill Trojans14 Kevin Brown - Eastmoor15 Matthew Myers - Shaw Cross Sharks16 John Rourke - Shaw Cross Sharks17 Joe Elliot - Barrow Island18 Trevor Penrose - Cottingham Tigers19 Ian Madely - East Hull20 Mel Alker - Wigan St Patricks21 Paul Davidson - Wath Brow22 Scott Tear - Wath Brow
Womens Rugby League Results
FIXTURES for 29.01.06Challenge CupHull 8 Hillside Hawks 40Keighley Cats 6 Castleford Panthers 26Bradford Thunderbirds 88 Warrington 6Wakefield Panthers byeFirst DivisionCopeland v Shaw Cross Sharks (No Result)Development LeagueMiddleton v Peterlee Pumas (No Result)Sheffield Hawks v Crofton (No Result)Rochdale Ravens v Pendle (No Result) Bradford Victoria v Stanningley (No Result)Brighouse Rangers v Swinton (No Result)
Paul Rowley Testimonial Dramatically Postponed
A match between Leigh Centurions and Halifax RLFC was dramatically postponed this afternoon after Halifax coach Anthony Farrell refused to play the game after referee Karl Kirkpatrick deemed the Hilton Park pitch playable. The contest should have been the Testimonial game for Centurion?s hooker Paul Rowley who has been a great servant to both clubs.On the Hilton Stand side of the ground there was a 30 metre by 10 metre patch of the ground that was found to be frozen and the ground staff of the club began to water that part of the ground to make it playable. The rest of the ground was bathed in sunshine and blue sky on a winter?s day. After Kirkpatrick had decided the game playable and the uncertainty gone, the gates were opened for the crowd half an hour to kick off.As kick off time approached the Leigh Centurion players were still warming up as Halifax coach Anthony Farrell and his coaching staff left the field, got onto the team bus outside ground were his squad was waiting for him. As the crowd were informed of the postponement the coach slowly drove away back to Halifax.Boos heard from the crowd after it was announced that the referee had said that the game was playable and that Halifax didn?t want to play it.The game will now be replayed this coming Wednesday evening with a 7.45pm kick off.Leigh Centurions general manager Mike Callaghan found the incident unusual and the first time something like this had happened to him in his long involvement with the game.?It?s very unusual I?ve got to admit,? Callaghan said.?It?s the first time in fourteen years being associated with rugby league that the referee calls the game on, not a problem. The coach of the away team decides that there isn?t a game, gets on the coach and promptly goes back to Halifax which is a bit perplexing to be honest with you.?Basically it?s been cold, everywhere has been slightly cold. We?ve got one small section of the pitch which had a little bit of frost in. I?ve got to say our players were fine with playing on it not a problem at all. The grounds men were working on it, the referee was fine with it, so as far as we?re concerned the game was on. The sun was out and the little bit of frost that was in it but I think there coach was forestalling that he didn?t want to play the game. It was getting later on in the day and by the time we would have finished it would have been around five to quarter past five and it would have begun to freeze again, I?m not happy about it?Callaghan was also disappointed that the postponement had spoiled Paul Rowley?s big day and the game being changed to Wednesday evening.?I am gutted for Paul because it?s his benefit game after being a good servant with Halifax and the Leigh Centurions and it?s something you don?t like to see. To be perfectly honest if Halifax had come here wanting to play a game, the game would have been on. No question about it.? There was no reason for it to be called off you play on a lot harder pitches in summer and I don?t take any excuse from any coach, we prepare the pitch as best we can and it was playable. The referee as I say was out there running up and down, walking up and down, [and] digging his heel in.?While the drama was unfolding Callaghan was trying to contact Emma Rosenthorne of the Rugby Football League.?I?m waiting for Emma from the RFL to contact me back because we?re not happy with the situation.? Callaghan said.?A game that could have been played postponed purposely because a head coach decides that he didn?t want to risk his players on a minor segment of pitch that had a bit of frost in it. I?ve just e-mailed Emma with the circumstances today because I am perplexed, the first time in fourteen years I?ve actually had this situation. I?ve been looking through all my various RFL notices, information rules and procedures and I can?t really find one to get an answer. I?ll have to wait for advice from Emma.?For referee Karl Kirkpatrick it was the first time he has been involved in as situation of this kind and he will be reporting the matter to the RFL.?I?ve never been involved in anything like this before and unlikely to be again.? Kirkpatrick said.?I inspected the pitch and deemed it to be playable however Halifax disagreed with my decision and refused to play.??I will be putting a report into the Rugby Football League.?Halifax coach Anthony Farrell was unavailable for comment as he, the rest of the coaching staff climbed onto the coach with the players for the trip back home.
Student Rugby League U-19 National Cup Final
UNDERDOGS Hopwood Hall College triumphed 18-14 over favourites St Helens College, who were unbeaten going into the final and had defeated Hopwood earlier in the season 17-10.But St Helens made them sweat when all looked lost, trailing 18-6 with seven minutes remaining, as they scored two tries in the closing minutes and were pushing for a match winner. Hopwood held on in a pulsating finale in which man of the match David Chrimes scored a brace and substitute Jack Burns scooted over for the decisive score on 73 minutes.Chrimes just edged out his stand off Jordan Turner who was a superb link for his forwards and backs with his passing and kicking game and made the two opening tries for his side.For St Helens it appeared to be a case of stage fright and they have now lost their second major final in the last twelve months. They found difficulty in completing sets of six, lost possession in good field position and on three occasions also failed to find touch when awarded. Although they gave there all it was only in the last five minutes of each half they came to life and posted points on the board.Hopwood opened the scoring on three minutes on their first set of six when on the last tackle Turner put a bouncing grubber into the in goal and Chrimes was first to the ball to touch down, with Turner adding the extras. On Hopwood?s next attack Chrimes made another barnstorming run but was stopped by a shell shocked St Helens. They slowly got back into the game and levelled the game up five minutes from the break following a Hopwood drop out, when winger Andrew Bethell scooted in from the play the ball in the corner. Ryan Rogers converted a magnificent touchline kick, but on the stroke of half time missed a relatively easy penalty which would have given them an 8-6 lead.The second half was a carbon copy of the first and Hopwood went 12-6 ahead on 43 minutes. Turner put a high bomb up on the last tackle, St Helens let the ball bounce and Hopwood regained possession and Chrimes in support scored his second try.Turner missed a penalty attempt seven minutes later and on 70 minutes his last tackle drop goal attempt was disallowed.On their next set Hopwood scored then continued to turn the screw, not giving St Helens any space. On 73 minutes they scored a third converted try as Burns drove through defenders close to the line from the play the ball.With five minutes remaining St Helens counter-attacked and kept the ball alive and winger Ian Lenton went in at the corner, but skipper and loose forward Craig Wilson missed the conversion. This breathed new life into the side and with a minute remaining Wilson went over the whitewash and hit the upright with the conversion to make it 18-14.St Helens stormed up field looking for the match winner but the referee's whistle brought to an end a dramatic final which was a credit to the student game.A name to remember for the future Jordan Turner who appears to have all the elements a stand off should have.HOPWOOD HALL COLLEGE 18 defeated ST HELENS COLLEGE 14Hopwood Hall College : 1. Fletcher, 2. M. Howley, 3. Chrimes, 4. Dewhirst, 5. Foy, 6. Turner, 7. Clough, 8. Cookson, 9. Whitmore, 10. Hopkins, 11. Duerden, 12. Gray, 13. McGriffin. Subs: 14. Burns, 15. Brandford, 16. Blackmore, 17. Moore, 18 P. HowleySt Helens College : 1. Quinn, 2. Bethell, 3. Smith, 4. Walsh, 5. Lenton, 6. Haggerty, 7. Rogers, 8. Mannion, 9. Forber, 10. Holland, 11. Taylor, 12. Manchester, 13. Wilson. Subs : 14. Gregory, 15. Leyland, 16. Appleton, 17. Harper, 18. Key.
Women's Rugby League results and fixtures
KEIGHLEY Cats 0 Hillside Hawks 22Copeland Wildcats 0 Wakefield Panthers 44Shaw Cross Sharks Castleford Panthers No ResultYork Acorn Warrington No ResultDevelopment League:Crofton Cougars Rochdale Ravens No ResultSheffield Hawks18 Middleton 34Peterlee Pumas 50 Stanningley 0Swinton Ladies 46 Pendle 4Brighouse Rangers Bradford Victoria No ResultFixtures for 22.01.06:Hull v Shaw Cross SharksDevelopment League:Rochdale Ravens v MiddletonPeterlee Pumas v Shaffield HawksCrofton v Swinton LadiesPendle v Bradford VictoriaStanningley v Brighouse Rangers
Women's Rugby League Results
WOMENS ResultsFixtures for 4.12.05.Hillside Hawks 8 Bradford Thunderbirds 4Keighley Cats 2 Wakefield Panthers 56East Hull 16 Castleford Panthers 10 York Acorn Shaw Cross Sharks (No Result)Warrington 44 Copeland Wildcats 4Development LeagueMiddleton 18 Stanningley 0Swinton Ladies 22 Pendle Panthers 0 Fixtures for 11.12.05;Copeland Wildcats v Wakefield PanthersYork Acorn v Castleford PanthersShaw Cross Sharks v Keighley CatsWarrington v East HullGirls ResultsFixtures for 3.12.05.U/13?sHull Girls 38 Halifax 32U/15?sYork Acorn 0 Chorley Panthers 42Allerton Bywater 0 Middleton Girls18
Women's Rugby League Association Press Release
FOLLOWING the resignations of Chris Mawdsley, Chair and Bernie Senior, Treasurer of the Women?s Rugby League Association the WRLA Committee met at Brighouse Rangers ARLFC on Monday 28th November and John Cobb was elected as Acting Chair and Doreen Metcalf Acting Treasurer until the next AGM of the Association.It was also decided that at the end of the Qualifying Competition which concludes in January next year there will be a five team Premiership and First Division.Pendle Panthers and Sheffield Hawks, who currently have young inexperienced personnel in their squads have moved into the Development League and there results will be expunged forthwith from the Qualifying Competition.The draw was also made for the 2nd Round of the Challenge Cup:Keighley Cats v Castleford PanthersEast Hull v Hillside HawksBradford Thunderbirds v WarringtonWakefield Panthers ByeThe ties to be played in January 2006.
Women's Rugby League - Results and fixtures
FIXTURES for 20.11.05.Bradford Thunderbirds 36 Keighley Cats 6Wakefield Panthers 26 Castleford Panthers 6Hillside Hawks 50 East Hull 0Shaw Cross Sharks P Sheffield Hawks PPendle 0 Warrington 50Copeland P York Acorn P Frozen pitchDevelopment LeagueCrofton Cougars 12 Swinton Ladies 6Middleton P Brighouse Rangers P Frozen pitch Rochdale Ravens P Bradford Victoria P Frozen pitchChallenge Cup 1st RoundCastleford Panthers v York AcornCopeland Wildcats v Keighley CatsWarrington v Shaw Cross SharksDevelopment LeagueBradford Victoria v StanningleyBrighouse Rangers v Swinton LadiesMiddleton v Rochdale Ravens
Womens Rugby League Results
FIXTURES for 13.11.05:


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The New England Inn & Lodge
Enjoy outdoor recreation in every season when you stay at the New England Inn & Lodge. When it's warm, go canoeing, kayaking, fishing and hiking. In the winter months, you can go snowshoeing, ice climbing, and cross country skiing. And in the fall, the trees go through their annual changing of colors– a truly beautiful sight. ... more
- Wifi
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- Property Size 30 units
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- Nearby City North Conway
- Nearby Water Saco River
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Oxen Yoke Inn
The Mount Washington Valley surrounds you at every turn when you stay at the Oxen Yoke Inn. The inn's central location makes it easy to get out and explore the beautiful setting no matter what time of the year you choose to stay. Head to Gibson Pond for a day of trout fishing, or enjoy a kayaking trip on the Saco River. In the winter, the pond is... more
- Wifi
- Restaurant Onsite
- Pets Allowed
- Property Size 21 units
- Conference Facility
- Kids Allowed
- Nearby City North Conway
- Nearby Water Gibson Pond, Saco River
- Open Dates All Year
- Family
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Farm by the River Bed & Breakfast with Stables
Reconnect with nature with a retreat to Farm by the River Bed & Breakfast. Year-round Victorian carriage and sleigh rides are available, allowing you to relax and marvel at the beauty of the country setting, mountain views, the Saco River, and, of course, the horses themselves. If horses aren't your thing, opt for a nature walk and, perhaps, a... more
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