Entries Tagged 'Chocolate' ↓

Some disturbing news today…if you’ve been reading through my blog posts you know that I’m an absolute chocolate fanatic! I’m sure many of you can sympathize. Well, life as we know it may change forever…if some people in the chocolate industry get their way.

Oh, the great rich taste of chocolate, the smooth taste of the cocoa butter, the creaminess of milk chocolate………………………
……………………….wow, I think I lost consciousness for a second!

Unfortunately, in the future when you go to buy that wonderful chocolate to soothe your craving, you might be disappointed.

The U.S. Chocolate Industry, through its Chocolate Manufacturers of America (CMA), and in collaboration with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, have petitioned the Food and Drug Association (FDA) to change the current requirements for chocolate.
They are trying to get the FDA to allow the use of vegetable fat substitute in place of cocoa butter and milk substitutes in place of real milk.

Why would any American with chocolate running through his/her veins want this? Da’nged if I know, probably because it’s cheaper, so they can make more money.

What am I going to do?!?!?! I’m breaking out in a cold sweat! Is this a panic attack?!?!

Luckly, there is something we can do…if you want to make sure your voice is heard go to DontMessWithOurChocolate.com to find out how to contact the FDA. Please, for the sake of this chocolate addicted blogger, let the government know that you don’t want to be buying a Hershey’s Milk Substitute Vegetable Fat Bar in the future!

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Rhonda
Our Wedding Plus

Thanks to Skolastika Lianna for the picture of the chocolate cake!

I’m back from LA!! What a great “business trip.” Getting involved in the wedding industry is exciting. It’s great being involved with people at such a joyous time in their lives! It’s very uplifting just being surrounded by it. I definitely felt that uplifting feeling when we attended A Soolip Wedding, (our weekends main mission) which by the way was spectacular, more about that later. But, like I said the other day in my posting “Cupcakes – They’re not just for kids anymore!”, I was going to sacrifice myself and try the famous Sprinkles Cupcakes and report back to all of you. Well, I went above and beyond the call of duty and tried five flavors! I’ll have you know this sacrifice is going to cause me to skip my Weight Watchers meeting this week to avoid embarrassment!

As you can see in the picture (it’s the brown building), I wasn’t the only one who wanted to have some Sprinkles Cupcakes! We waited about 25 minutes to get in the door but the wait was worth it. My husband and I tried several flavors. Here they are…

Black and White
Dark Chocolate
Peanut Butter Chocolate
Milk Chocolate
St Patrick’s Day Special – Baileys Irish Cream frosting on chocolate cake.

First let me say, they were all magnificent. The icing is beyond description and not for the faint of heart! But the results are in…my favorite was the black and white and my husbands favorite was the peanut butter chocolate (he loved the chocolate chips in the peanut butter flavored cake). Oprah really does know what she’s talking about! Try them if you get the chance.

As for A Soolip Wedding, I have a lot to write about this week! This show was packed with a lot of good, unique information that I’m going to try to pass on to you. Topics will include, eco-friendly wedding ideas, unique gift registry ideas, some wedding do’s and don’ts from LA Wedding Magazine’s editor, I’ll give you a peak into A Soolip Wedding’s very exclusive bridal fashion show, plus a lot more!

Stay tuned!

Okay, after reading the chocolate wedding advice I’ve been giving over the past few days covering cupcakes and wedding cakes, you may be thinking…is this girl trying to kill me? Put me in a sugar coma? Make me move up a couple of dress sizes? And, if you weren’t convinced that dark chocolate cupcakes are health food due to the high amount of anti-oxidants, hang in there one more day, today I’m going to try to give you a good excuse to eat more chocolate!

I have found some of the healthiest (we’ll maybe not) chocolate treats that you can offer on a chocolate “bar” (a table with a wide assortment of chocolate goodies) or present to your guests as party favors…

At a company called Chocolate Covered Company located in California’s San Fernando Valley you can find pretty much anything dipped in chocolate…they have various “healthy” fruits and berries, including blackberries, gooseberries, and grapes. If you want a more traditional chocolate covered treat they have these very cute and unique “Wedding Berries,” chocolate covered strawberries that look like a bride and groom.

Need more? A company called Stuffed Chocolate also has chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, coffee beans, and more! But there was one thing they had that I thought was a unique gift idea for the groomsmen…these Belgian Chocolate Golf balls!

Alright, you got me! Fruit stuffed in chocolate may not be health food, but why not splurge, it’s your wedding, enjoy yourself!

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Rhonda
Our Wedding Plus

P.S. I’ll be off this weekend to LA to try those great Sprinkles Cupcakes and attend A Soolip Wedding. Tune in next week for great information about what I learn this weekend!

Not ready to break away from the traditional Wedding Cake? Well, we have some other chocolate options for you! Today I chose to feature some mouth-watering wedding cakes from a Morristown, New Jersey bakery called Pink Cake Box (http://www.pinkcakebox.com/). Their wedding cakes have been featured in New Jersey Bride magazine several times and they also make cookies and cupcakes, check out there works on their website! Here’s a few examples…

This wedding cake, fashioned after a wedding dress, is made of a rich chocolate cake filled with oreos and buttercream in the first tier, moist white cake with raspberry chambord filling in the next two tiers, and chocolate with peanut butter filling in the top tier.

Here’s a unique offshoot of the cupcake! These delectable little gift boxes are actually chocolate cakes filled with vanilla buttercream! They’d make a good “parting favor” like I talked about yesterday.

And we can’t forget the groom. One of the latest trends is to have a groom’s cake. Pink Cake Box has many chocolaty options that would fit the bill. This groom’s poker cake is a chocolate cake with cannoli filling!What was the best wedding cake you’ve seen? Share it with us!

See you tomorrow with our final posting of irresistible ways to include chocolate in your wedding!

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Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

(Note: for wedding cupcake resources go to the bottom of this post!)

Cupcakes, the treat you loved as a kid is all grown up! In fact cupcakes are taking center stage as the latest delectable trend in weddings and are first up in our series on how to incorporate chocolate into your wedding.

So, if I’m going to write about wedding cupcakes, why not write about the best? Maybe the ones Oprah said are her favorites, or maybe the ones that are Katie Holmes’ favorite? No, I think I’ll write about the cupcakes that Courtney Cox, Lucy Lu, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are hooked on.

Lucky for me they are all from the same place! Sprinkles, Beverly Hills. (http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/) Their cupcakes have been talked about on countless TV shows and they consistently have a line out the door! Are they really that good? Well, I’m going to find out this Saturday when I go to Beverly Hills, and I’ll give you all the gory details next week.

But for now I’m going to give you a couple of ideas how you can have cupcakes at your wedding!

First, the unfortunate news, currently you can only get Sprinkles’ cupcakes at their locations in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, California and they only deliver them to the local area by car. Now the good news! Sprinkles has plans to open in several major cities around the country and world. Check out their website to see if you will be lucky enough to be near one.

Now the ideas…

The Wedding Cupcake Tower – The ultimate in chocolate decadence! In many cases they are taking the place of the traditional wedding cake. If you aren’t ready to go quite that far, one would definitely be a hit at the engagement party, bridal shower, or rehearsal dinner.

Parting Favors – The party is over, it’s late and the guests have to leave for their long drive home…then you surprise them on there way out the door with a moist dark chocolate cupcake they can take home for breakfast! (why not have two? they are full of antioxidants!) Package them in a unique custom stamped box with a “thank you” from the bride and groom and your guests will sure to be impressed!

Any other wedding cupcake ideas out there? Share them with us…

Something I forgot to mention: If you can’t get to a Sprinkles, they do ship their cupcake mix everywhere, check out their website for details.

Check back in tomorrow for more scrumptious ways to include chocolate in your wedding!

Cupcake Resources:

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Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

Just made our reservations for Saturday night in West Hollywood! We are getting ready to go to A Soolip Wedding this weekend. I’ve seen this event on blogs from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the US over the past week.
Check out…

ethicalweddings.com

Lana Stewart

Zahzoom Weddings and Parties

Oh Joy!

Not only is it a very prestigious upscale event filled with inspiration, it is also going to present a collection of ecologically conscious resources in The Green Wedding. I’ll be devoting next week’s topics to things I find out, so stay tuned.

In the mean time, I’d like to say I was inspired by the comment made by “soontobmrsg” on my last topic “Go beyond the standard bar!” Chocolate! You know you love it! So do your guests. I’m going to take the next few days to talk about unique ways to incorporate chocolate into your wedding. We aren’t talking about your standard chocolate fountain. Don’t read this blog over the next few days if you’re on a diet! See you tomorrow!Rhonda
http://www.ourweddingplus.com/