Chocolate Woes

[RetailWorkhorse]

Do the US have any (wellknown) brands of chocolate?

Nope.

to hell with the cluebat. we need a clue-x-4 STAT!

How about a clueX4 Stud? It has nails in it.

[Pagan]

One of the best chocolate shops I've ever been to is Todos Santos in Santa Fe. All I can say is it's a damn good thing their chocolate is so damn expensive! http://www.travellady.com/Issues/Feb...urReligion.htm

So, thus ends our quest into Godiva. EQ procured her treasure, I fought a rather one sided battle, and we were refreshed enough to continue our epic questing for clothing and shoes.

Well, that wasn't fair of you! Fighting him and him being completely unarmed in you battle of wits!

It also contains a lot of chocolate liquor which can cause diarrhea and anal leaking (I've always loved that term LOL) when consumed in large amounts, or for people who are particularly sensitive to it.

You mean like Olestra used to cause?

a natural redhead (well, I used to be),

and tossing in all the creepy attention would send me right over the edge.

Woo-hoo! Another one! What is it with the weirdness we get? I guess maybe because there's not a lot of us, in the US anyway. I get a lot of oddness here because the predominant hair color is either dark brown or black.

But, did you know that, according to National Geographic, we redheads are supposedly going extinct?

[Geek King]

But, did you know that, according to National Geographic, we redheads are supposedly going extinct?

Which is baloney written by someone with a high school knowlege of genetics. Just because a trait is recessive, doesn't mean it will never come out when the dominant is present. It may skip a generation--or even several--but a trait will pop back up occasionally. Of course, it tends to cause some odd looks if both parents are, say, dark haired and Jr. pops out with red fuzz on the head until someone remembers that Great-great-granny Jones was Ginger-haired.

Sometimes genetics prediction has more to do with probablity math than straightforward logical progression. In my admittedly rather uneducated opinion, it is entirely possible that the number of redheads will stablize when the gene for it is carried by most of the world population, leaving a set percentage that will have red hair.

The US has an unusual concentration due to the mass migration out of Northern Great Britan during the potato famine, which lead to a large number of folks with the right genetics for red hair immigrating to the US, compared with other immagrants over the years.

And now I'm going to shut up, as I realize I'm starting to sound like my old Biology Proffessor.

[draftermatt]

Do the US have any (wellknown) brands of chocolate?

Hershey's Chocolate.

[Bliss]

Most American chocolate is, afaik remelts of imported chocolate. One of the big exporters is El Rey in my country, we produce some really GOOD chocolate and cocoa, that is used thorough the world. We have great chocolate, great rum, and wonderfull coffee (par to Colombia's and Cuba's, only less pushed in the international market than the others are)

[wagegoth]

I loved Ethel M's chocolates; the last time I had some, though, I was disappointed.

I don't like Godiva. I find it to be dry and chalky. I also don't like Scharffen Berger, which many people adore. It's made in Berkeley, California, by the way.

One of my favorites is Lindt's Milk Chocolate Truffles; one of those will give me a chocolate fix that's good for the day. Also, I still adore See's chocolates. It may not be the most expensive, but their cream-filled chocolates -- fruit cream, vanilla cream, chocolate cream, whatever -- are the best I've ever had. Part of it is because it just has wonderful mouth feel. They're never dry or gritty, or leave your mouth feeling like it's been coated with fat. They're based here in the Bay Area, and I believe they still have a plant here, which may explain why they're so good. Their plain chocolates are okay. Since I love caramel, their dark chocolate butter chews are faves.

And I still get Cadbury's Cream Eggs. I like the orange cream. Again, I think it's mouth feel. Cadbury chocolate is decent, but they've managed to combine the cream center and chocolate in a proportion that's addictive.

[bainsidhe]

You know, the sugar-free comment this kid made gets me to thinking. See, more and more people are buying sugar-free, low-fat, low-sodium, etc.. Advertising programs us to think that something is good for you just because it's lacking in one ingredient or has something extra added. For example, some customers won't normally buy pop-tarts, but they'll buy a specific brand because it contains more fiber. Even if it still has high calories, sugar, sodium, etc.

I'm guessing the guy in the store hears comments all the time like "Oh, I'm just shopping, I don't need this stuff anyway" or "I shouldn't be having this, it's not like I need it". Yes, the OP said she couldn't have it, not shouldn't. Still the guy was probably trained to offer other alternatives that might be appealing to Godiva's customer base. It's not like only diabetics purchase sugar-free candy, after all.

Still, I like how you educated him. At least now he realizes there IS a difference between someone who can't have something and someone who says they shouldn't have it. You've broadened his horizons and hopefully taught him to think through certain stereotypes. Just because I, too, am a big girl, please don't assume I'm lazy and eat bon bons all day. I'm usually surfing this forum.

[Pagan]

Which is baloney written by someone with a high school knowlege of genetics. Just because a trait is recessive, doesn't mean it will never come out when the dominant is present.

Which is along the lines of what I've thought. As long as there's a couple of people with the recessive gene, the trait has the ability to live on.

The US has an unusual concentration due to the mass migration out of Northern Great Britan during the potato famine, which lead to a large number of folks with the right genetics for red hair immigrating to the US, compared with other immagrants over the years.

And don't forget all of the Scots that were transported after the '15 and the '45 and during the Clearances. (Which worked out really good for the English in 1776! )

Also, I still adore See's chocolates. It may not be the most expensive, but their cream-filled chocolates -- fruit cream, vanilla cream, chocolate cream, whatever -- are the best I've ever had.

How could I have forgotten about See's! We've got a shop over at Coronado Mall waaaaaay over on the other side of town. Takes a great amount of will-power to walk by. Especially when they have samples out. The key lime truffle was particularly delicious. *drool*

[wolfie]

to hell with the cluebat. we need a clue-x-4 STAT!

Naw, you can't beat the ergonomics of a good ol' Cluesville Slugger.

[Evil Queen]

Kid sounded kinda disgusted to me, but hey, I was too busy reveling in his misery.

[lupo pazzesco]

Kid sounded kinda disgusted to me, but hey, I was too busy reveling in his misery.

Do you know how hard it was to keep a straight face whilst explaining the allergy concept when I could see your reflection in the glass? Evil grin, and then hand over mouth to smother giggles!

Luckily, I'm a performer of the highest caliber, able to withstand the greatest distraction of any---oooh, hey look!! Shiny kitchen mixer!!!

<Wanders off>

[Nyoibo]

Obviously kid had no ranks in diplomacy, I was in the exact same situation asked the "Are you saying I'm fat" to which my response was, "No, the most common reason for people saying they can't have chocolate is because they're diabetic"

But, did you know that, according to National Geographic, we redheads are supposedly going extinct?

Well I'm fully commited to helping repopulate redheads

Cadbury chocolate is decent, but they've managed to combine the cream center and chocolate in a proportion that's addictive.

Australian Cadbury's is much better than American Cadbury's.

[Evil Queen]

Do you know how hard it was to keep a straight face whilst explaining the allergy concept when I could see your reflection in the glass? Evil grin, and then hand over mouth to smother giggles!

I am just that Special.

[Pagan]

Well I'm fully commited to helping repopulate redheads

Oh yes?

[Chromatix]

I certainly wouldn't mind helping some redheads to repopulate.

In Scandinavia, the dominant brand seems to be Fazer. It's competent, much like Cadbury's and Nestlé are competent - there's enough quality to enjoy, but enough headroom left for premium chocolate to be worth enjoying occasionally.