Chocolate Critiques Without a License

Who am I to judge chocolates? I wanted to add a disclaimer before you start wondering that. I'm simply a chocolate fan. During my trip to San Francisco in July I went on a wonderful chocolate tour with Gourmet Walks. Ever since then I've gone from being a fan to being a wee bit obsessed: wanting to learn more about chocolate and chocolate tasting, seeking out new bars to try, and reading up on chocolate blogs along with the tea blogs I already enjoyed.

This page gives me a chance to babble about the new chocolates I try and it encourages me to eat chocolate in a new way. Instead of eating a bunch of chocolate thoughtlessly while I read, I eat less and really focus on what I am eating. After all, I need to write about it. It helps me appreciate it even more, and heck, it's a good excuse to have chocolate. It's also been a good way to cut back on sweets in general since I need to save myself for the chocolate. Yes, you can read the bit about saving myself with a smirk. I do. Oh, I should probably also say that besides being rather new to good chocolate (other than B.T. Mcelrath), I'm an equal opportunity chocolate fan. I appreciate dark, milk and quality white chocolate.

Honestly, I'm still wondering if they slipped us some sort of chocolate obsession drug along with our samples at that chocolate tour! I'll write about that later, and share some photos from the tour as well as my tasting notes. Future plans also include writing about a Jane Austen tea being held on October 24th featuring Kim Wilson as a guest speaker (the author of Tea With Jane Austen) and a market tour of the Twin Cities on October 9th sponsored by a local kitchen shop cooking school - Chef's Gallery. We aren't hitting any chocolate spots specifically, but included in the shops we visit is Golden Fig which I've heard has good chocolate, and I might be scope out some interesting finds at the Global Market as well. Let's see if I can talk the teacher into doing a Twin Cities chocolate tour in the Spring!

Actually, I don't think I have any local readers yet, but just in case I do, Chef's Gallery is doing wine and cheese samplings as well as chocolate tastings on Saturday, September 19th. It's part of their 10 year birthday celebration.