It is always a good time to make something with chocolate. When the mood seizes you, discovering you haven’t got a crucial ingredient can ruin the mood. Knowing its equivalent or substitution can save the day. Today, Mom helps cooks and chocoholics with tips on chocolate and includes the world’s easiest dipped strawberry recipe.

A chocolate fountain is a fun and entertaining way to provide a cascading waterfall of chocolate for your guests or family. The fountain serves as a decorative device for serving chocolate fondue. The right consistency needs to be achieved to reach the correct texture for the chocolate to fall down the fountain. The chocolate is poured into the fountain in the base, the fountain is turned on to provide the heat which is controlled by a thermostat, and the motor turns the rotating blades to start the flow of chocolate. A corkscrew-type piece, called an auger, turns slowly in a rhythmic-like pattern; this draws the chocolate up to the top of the chocolate fountain. The fountain usually comes apart for easy clean-up as the pieces can be washed in a dishwasher. In most cases, the parts of the chocolate fountain are made from stainless steel for durability and allow the heat to be retained. Most fountains are solid and weigh approximately 40-90 pounds when empty. A small fountain contains about 9 pounds of chocolate and will feed up to 100 people. A medium sized fountain holds 20 pounds of chocolate and is 30 inches and can feed over 100 people. A larger fountain can provide enough liquid chocolate for over 250 people for a reasonable amount of time.

Chocolate, like most ingredients used to prepare food has to be of good quality. So, do not hesitate to buy good or even very good chocolate when shopping. Of course, price will be higher but certainly this is the price of quality. The quality of a cake, a chocolate mousse or any cream or other chocolate preparation will reflect the chocolates quality exactly. Make no mistake; in this case the price plays an important part in the selection of the product.

You know the world is changing when the cognoscenti start to talk about gourmet chocolate in the same way other connoisseurs talk about wine. It used to be the norm that wine critics held sway using terms like gravel, blackberry, sweaty saddle and honey peach to describe a particular wine. These days a similar practice is being adopted by gourmet chocolate connoisseurs. There are top line producers of chocolates who are actively encouraging this trend by sponsoring chocolate tastings. At my local wine shop I have seen Shiraz filled chocolates at outrageous prices. The peculiar terminology or terroir that used to be the preserve of the wine industry is definitely changing and so are chocolate prices.

We don’t think about chocolate moderation when we’re feeling low, sad, angry, or just plain upset. I know that I certainly don’t!

Despite the fact that chocolate is very appealing, a feel-good antidote, can help relieve stress for certain individuals, and is a comfort food, it still contains a lot of calories.

Of course, the amount of sugar that chocolate contains depends on the cocoa percentage of the chocolate. But whether it contains 75% of cocoa powder or none at all, chocolate is still a high-calorie food. (One of the main reasons why it should be eaten in moderation.)

There are many traditions that every family has that make them unique. Through my years of working with families through a social services agency I came to realize that no matter how dysfunctional a family is there are still some sorts of traditions that bond them together. My husband’s family is quite close. Most of their traditions involve hunting, fishing and food.

Are you a chocolate lover? Do you enjoy giving chocolate gifts to others?
Are you always looking for a new and unique chocolate treat to add to your
list of favorite deserts? Do you enjoy finding delicious chocolate recipes
to make for family and friends?

Chocolate or (kah kow) was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rain
forests of the Americas. Over various cultures and time, it evolved into
what we know chocolate to be today. Spain got it’s first look at chocolate
when Colombus returned from America. He brought back dark brown cocoa
beans. The Aztec Indians called chocolate “food of the Gods.” Emperor
Montezuma served the Spaniards warm liquid chocolate in golden goblets. The
Spaniards, however, thought the drink to be bitter so they added cane sugar.

Imagine if someone set a mug in front of you that held something that looked like mud, dark brown and thick and oily. Being polite, you take a sip. It’s bitter - and spicy from the chili peppers they put in to try to make it taste better. You’d wonder why this drink was served with such ceremony- Why is it so precious?

This was the early history of chocolate. And if you drank the cup, you would find that you felt better, your mood would almost instantly lift, and you’d probably feel like having sex.

But that taste…

The word will definitely water your mouths irrespective of your age. People of all ages will surely like to have chocolates, but at the same time you have to worry about several factors that are dangerous to our health while you take in a lot of chocolates. There is a myth that children are mainly affected by more intakes of chocolates. But recent research has proved that chocolates are not injurious to health, since they are rich in nutritional values. So you can give chocolates to your children and they can consume it without any hesitation.

There is no mystery to why gourmet truffles taste so good - all you have to do is use the best chocolate. Despite being decadently delicious, truffles are actually easy and quick to make.

Dark Chocolate Truffles (and Easy Variations)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream

4 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons liqueur (choose any flavor: orange, coffee, black current, raspberry, etc) (Tip: if you are making chocolate-orange truffles, add 1 teaspoon orange zest.)