coffeeandirony.org

Battle of the Hot Chocolate: Godiva vs. Ghirardelli

Claire — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 04:53:52 +0000

So, I love hot chocolate. You could even say I’m obsessed with it. People frequently give me hot chocolate as a Christmas present. I will go for miles just to find good hot chocolate at a cafe. Until lately, when I finally had money and my own kitchen, I didn’t have the motivation to make my own handmade stuff, but that’s coming up asap. Until then, however, I’ve been drinking powders, and over the course of time graduated from mainstream (Nestle) to more, ah, uppercrust – i.e. Godiva and Ghirardelli.
The Godiva Hot Cocoa – milk chocolate flavor, they also have a dark chocolate – was a gift from a friend after I wrote her a letter of recommendation for journalism school (happy ending: she got in to her dream program and is currently residing in New York). Unfortunately…Godiva failed to deliver my own chocolate-happy ending. I have tried this multiple different ways in the vain hope that it will somehow deliver, and it just doesn’t. I have followed the instructions exactly – bring 1 cup of milk to a simmer and stir in 3 tablespoons of the power. I have also tried adding several extra tablespoons of the powder and making it with water instead. No use. No matter what I do to this stuff, it comes out bland instead of rich – there’s just little flavor, and what hot chocolate powder needs of course above all else is intense flavor. The texture is fine – nice and creamy – but as far as flavor this is passable at best. You may as well buy Nestle or any packet hot chocolate and it taste just as good if not better. I can’t recommend this at all. Huge disappointment.

Ghirardelli, though? Love. It’s a cold winter here in the Midwest, and I quite literally dream about this stuff on my way home from work. Similar to the Godiva, you heat milk until it simmers and then add the powder, but with the Ghirardelli you only need 2 spoonfuls for an average-sized mug, and it delivers two or three times the flavor. Incredibly rich and satisfying it just rolls onto the tongue with everything hot chocolate should be, and is better than 80% of the hot chocolate I’ve had at coffeeshops. Until I find a recipe for homemade hot chocolate that I adore, this will forever be my go-to, and will always be my fallback if I don’t have time to whip up homemade stuff. Go buy yourself a tin of this, my loves. Your tongue, and family (who will soon be as hooked as I am) will thank you. Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate, available for $5-$8 at many retailers, including most Walmarts.

Caffeinated Links

Claire — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 18:33:57 +0000

On Bad Endings- “Most of us want extraordinary things, after a while, to quit being extraordinary—to end. The stone fell in the water. The ripples ran. Now they should stop. The surface should be smooth again” – via The New Yorker
This short story won the Hugo & Nebula. I don’t unreservedly love it but it’s still pretty powerful. Via I09
Gorgeous time-lapse of leaves changing. Via Vimeo.

Beauty in the Breakdown

Claire — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 08:04:43 +0000

Korean actress Han Hyo Joo in W Korea

THE VALLEY IS A DREAM

Claire — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:37:57 +0000

My mother may she rest in peace would say that all
diseases come from the weather
colds and fevers and sneezes and rashes
and head ache and heart ache and pangs of conscience
and weak knees and back pain and arthritis and sore throat
everything from the weather
apparently she wasn’t scientific and in the way of innocent people
she understood external things
what a beautiful house Bialik has – she would say
we fought about unimportant things
whether the food was sweet or salty
in the morning we ate smoked salmon and at night
when father returned from his toils – bread with jam
the word written on jars:
what more might one dream for in the Land of Israel

-Lisa Katz via Poetry International

Beauty in the Breakdown

Claire — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:00:26 +0000

Zooey Deschanel

Mother, in Love at Sixty

Claire — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 05:07:29 +0000

Reason number one it can’t work: his name is Bill. For god’s
sake, he hunts. He has no pets, other than two doting
daughters, and his ex-wife is still alive. He’s simply not my
type. Who wants to get married again, anyway? I’m too old.
I go South at the first frost. Plus, he’s messy. Men are messy.
He could die. Then where would I be?

— Susanna Styve, via The Gladdest Thing

Wonderstruck Enchanted Taylor Swift Chapter 3

Claire — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:10:08 +0000

I ordered a free sample of Wonderstruck from Taylor’s website when it first came out, and did not like it at all, but I have to say, as always, her public promotions and marketing are wonderful – this is very easy on the eyes.

“Wonderstruck Enchanted is the next chapter in the story of my Wonderstruck fragrance. Wonderstruck is about that moment when you instantly feel a connection to someone, but then there’s that feeling of being completely enamored – enchanted – when you know a little more about that someone and still feel that strong connection.”

The Blue Pill

Claire — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 08:22:07 +0000

Joel McHale and Alison Brie as Jeff and Annie in NBC’s awesome Community

ADVICE FROM THE PREDECESSOR’S WIFE

Claire — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 03:53:34 +0000

Learn Arabic—your husband won’t have time.
At Carrefour Express, aisle one is the tax-free line.
For poultry, go to Sweifieh (the Palestinian
chicken man’s shop); pig, on the other hand,
is impossible to find (frozen pork sometimes
turns up at the co-op). Basha ____________ ’s
wife is pregnant with twins; expect to host
a spa date or two for his mistress. Never make
eye contact with local men. Read Married
?to a Bedouin, the Expert Expat’s Guide. (Skip
Queen Noor’s book—she’s from the Midwest.)
During Ramadan Crumbs’ breakfast is the best;
everything else is closed. Never ride
in the front of a taxi with an Arab. If you’re
near the Embassy, avoid hailing a cab (security says
we’re sitting ducks). Help in Amman
runs cheap: hire a driver, a maid, a cook.
Mansef is made with lamb or goat, and stewed
in a hearty jameed. When dining with royalty,
keep conversation neutral. At private parties
be prepared to be the only woman in the room,
save the staff. Look the part, but don’t
show cleavage. Lipstick is fine. Laugh hard
(but not too hard) at Colonel ________’s
dick jokes. Know how to properly cut and light
a cigar. When talk turns to politics, smile
and nod, then say something obscure
in Arabic—your husband will give you the cue
(the Jords will think it cute). Never ask
a woman how long her hair is
under the hijab. Don’t call anyone
but your husband habibi. Explore the souks;
steer clear of the mosques. All Arabs hate dogs—
walk yours after dark; comb your yard
for poison and traps. Close your drapes
(Western women are common victims
of peeping toms). When moving among crowds,
expect children and strangers to stop
to stroke your hair. Always carry your passport.
The number one reason a man’s relieved
from his post? His wife’s unhappy. Avoid this
from the get-go—get a hobby! Play tennis,
take a class, or find a job. (The field’s leveled
for spouses: here, education and experience
equal nada.) The workweek runs Sunday to
Thursday; your husband will clock in Saturdays,
Fridays, too. Pack at least four ball gowns;
stock up on shirts with sleeves. Gunfire means
graduation, or congratulations—a wedding’s
just taken place. Don’t be disturbed by
the armed guards outside your apartment
(their assault rifles don’t have bullets,
rumor has it). “Little America” runs perpendicular
to Ring Six (aka: Cholesterol Circle)—Popeye’s,
Burger King, Hardee’s—you’ll find everything
you need. McDonald’s Playland spans three
upstairs levels. Ship a year’s worth of ketchup,
mayonnaise. Blondes are often mistaken
for hookers; consider dying your hair.
By September or October you’ll learn to
tune out the call to prayer.

-Shara Lessley, via How a Poem Happens

Read This

Claire — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 19:36:30 +0000

“What happened to Burton? How did a gifted visual director whose late-’80s/early-’90s movies coupled a cartoonist’s expressiveness with a deeply humane empathy for the socially dispossessed end up a mere journeyman, trapped in a hollow version of his own aesthetic like Beetlejuice imprisoned in that cardboard town, obliging Hollywood’s bottomless hunger for new shit based on old shit?”

-What Happened to Tim Burton’s Career? via Grantland