The Cacao Nibbler

june 2010

 

CHOCOLATE WALKS THIS MONTH

All three of our Portland Chocolate Walking & Tasting Tour routes are enjoyable for both residents and visitors alike. This month we have two Lake Oswego walks scheduled: Saturday, June 12th from 9 am-12: 30 pm (note morning time) and on Saturday, June 26th, from 1-4:30 pm. Join us as we explore the sweetest nooks and crannies of this lakeside community. Lake Oswego has a rich history and creative businesses serving up some delicious chocolate. The walks are $39 per person. Please purchase your spots on our website and be sure to select the desired route/date. $5 will be donated to the Lake Oswego School District Foundation for every registered walker this month. Hope to see you on the chocolate trail!

Choco-Quote of the Month

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!" ~Lucy Van Pelt (in Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz)

NExt PORTLAND CHOCOLATE LOVERS MEETUP

Join us on Saturday, June 19th starting at 7pm for our second event at Henry's Tavern at 10 NW 12th Avenue in The Pearl. Enjoy a savory bite and experience some of their sweet chocolate offerings. How about some freshly baked to order and hot right out of the oven Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies served with vanilla and chocolate ice cream? Or their Triple Decker Chocolate Cake with raspberry frosting, chocolate ganache, creme anglaise, and whipped cream? Delicioso! Go ahead and pair them with Young's Double Chocolate Stout from England. If this interests you, go here and we hope to see you there!

CHOCO-PHRASE OF THE MONTH

Have you tasted those addicting Brookside Dark Chocolate Pomegranates you can get at Costco? Brookside had its beginnings in 1954 in the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia. Their smooth, shiny and delicious snacks are the result of chocolate panning, one of the oldest artisan confectionary methods. In chocolate panning, a center such as a nut or fruit is put in a pan drum and a mist of chocolate covers it. The more tumbling in the pan, the more coats on the center and thicker the resulting coating. Another PNW company, Seattle's Dilettante Chocolates, offers over 40 different chocolate panned confections using only pure chocolate. You can see a video of the chocolate panning process here.

faTHER'S DAY GIFT IDEAS

Our gift certificates make great gifts for the chocolate-loving father or father-figure in your life. In fact, they make perfect presents for all occasions. They are good for any scheduled upcoming walking tour and are valid a year from the date of purchase. Currently, males make up only about 14% of our walking tour participants. So, check this out to give a unique gift and at the same time help increase the number of males on our walking tours! Not near the Northwest? Then check out Chicago Chocolate Tours . According to the founder of this Mid-west company, men account for only about 8% of their walking guests. We're doing better here in Portland-yet we could always use even more male presence on our walks!

A MORSEL OF NW CHOCOLATE HISTORY

A piece of Beirut in Portland's Pearl District? That's exactly what you will discover when you enter Verdun Fine Chocolates & Gifts at 421 NW 10th Avenue. This shop can easily be mistaken for a jewelry store. Yet inside are jewels of the cacao kind. Bean to bar chocolate manufactured in a family-run factory is then meticulously hand wrapped and flown to Portland weekly. Do yourself a treat-of sight and taste- by visiting them next time you are in the neighborhood. Please tell them that the Portland Chocolate Walking & Tasting Tours sent you!

 

 
 

The Other "Two M's"

Moderate consumption of high quality chocolate may lead to lower LDL, or bad cholesterol. Too much of a good thing may be harmful, so this recent study recommends less than 1.25 ounce per day. If my math is correct, that would take about 7 Moonstruck Dark Pastilles per day. I don't know about you, but that's quite a bit of chocolate. So please read these reports with a grain of salt (BTW, that would be good pairing with the chocolate-but I digress!) and keep the "Two M's" in mind. Not the Mar's m+m kind mind you, but "Moderation and More study." Both are always needed.

Creative Dividends

Leave it to the Brits for an alternative creative and enterprising idea during the world's current economic turmoil. The CEO of UK's Hotel-Chocolat, Angus Thirlwell, is offering high interest bonds where dividends are paid in, you guessed it, chocolate instead of money. The money raised with the bonds will go towards bettering the lives of cacao farmers on their St. Lucia cocoa plantation by increasing health care, education and production capability. Angus is also interested in expanding their Cambridge factory and opening new outlets worldwide. Now that's putting your money where your mouth is! Click here for more information.

 

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