TMI: Good chocolates, acupuncture and fudge

Would you look at that? Perhaps the most beautiful chocolates ever. The photo, of course, doesn't do them justice. That one in the top left is actually a tiny chocolate tea cup filled with espresso cream. Then there's Kaffir Lime & Ginger, Blood Orange, Olive Oil & Sea Salt ... This was a gift from my friend Marisa. She's an acupuncturist and I helped her out with some PR for her new business. If I knew I'd be getting chocolates in return, I would've done a better job.
Marisa and I know each other from our days long ago when we worked at a chocolate shop together. I took the job seriously. (I was, after all, a college student with bills to pay.) She, on the other hand, was still in high school (I think; or maybe just graduated and wasting her days working at a chocolate shop), and was able to appreciate the multitudes of fun that the job offered. Like the time she was working the night shift with the only boy who worked there. I'll keep the story brief, but it's one that lives in infamy. (Stop me if you've heard this before.)
As a joke, Chocolate Boy took a giant piece of chocolate fudge and molded it into a certain shape, then dropped it in the toilet at work. He then called Marisa into the bathroom to see his handiwork. They had a good laugh, then flushed the toilet. Fast-forward to the next morning when Your's Truly was on duty. I had no knowledge of the prior evening's festivities, so imagine my surprise when, later that morning, I used the facilities and suddenly there was an enormous flood in the back room. The manager had to call her husband to come fix the damage and of course I was standing there red-faced, looking like the obvious culprit.
The best part is, Marisa never told me any of this until last year. Nice, right? Yet she remains a shining beacon in my life. She has the most positive outlook on life and is the world's greatest acupuncturist. Check out her website: www.healingpointtherapeutics.com. If you're in the Boston-ish area, give her a call and set up an appointment. Ask for the Chocolate Fudge discount.

A Milestone: the Sugar Baby's First Candy Making Adventure

This, ladies and gents, is a monumental occasion. Today, the Sugar Baby came home from school with-- drumroll please-- FUDGE! He and his little classmates apparently made fudge on Tuesday and today they got to cut it up. Now, the thing of it is, the Sugar Baby made no mention of this whatsoever. Not. A. Word.
Consider the fact that back in August he would yell out "Easiest Fudge in the World!" in his sleep. Consider that he has "A Baker's Field Guide to Holiday Candy & Confections" memorized and will correct you if you accidentally refer to the Pecan Penuche Fudge as the Pumpkin Spice Fudge. You'd think he'd be telling me every detail of the fudge-making adventure, but no. All I could get out of him (eight hours later) was, "Robert says marshmallows are dirty."
We split the fudge tonight for dessert, but he then informed that tomorrow he will be back to his regularly scheduled special treat of truffles.

Fudge For a New World

Yesterday I received a package from Allison's Gourmet. Inside was a round of organic vegan fudge. Yes, my friends, I did say vegan. As in, no animal products whatsoever. Admittedly my first thought was, "Fudge without milk, cream or butter? No thanks." Then of course I wondered what they could possibly use in place of those ingredients. Ahhhh-- coconut milk and coconut butter. Now things were looking a little more promising.
After dinner tonight, we busted open the package and cut it up. We each took a little piece and sniffed, then sampled.
Dang! It was good. I mean, really good, like you wouldn't even know it was vegan. (Not in a, "Try this tofu burger, you won't even miss the meat" kind of way, but in a "Hey, don't be eating all of my fudge" kind of way. I'm not even sure what that means, but somehow it makes sense in my head.)
Here are the official comments from the round table:
Grandpa: "I could eat a whole pound of that."
Meemaw: "Very chocolatey. I'm not a huge fan of fudge, but that's very good. Very smooth."
Mr. Goodbar: "Mmmm. Now you can have fudge AND impress your lesbian friends." (Please send all letters to Mr. Goodbar, 14 Politically Correct Way, Pleasanttown, Blue State, 06611.)

So there you have it: rich, creamy chocolatey fudge without the weight of the animal kingdom on your back. The price is kind of steep: $24.90 for a 6" x 6" tray, but it's a small price to pay for a satisfied sweet tooth and a clear conscience.

Try It If You Dare!

Dontcha just love it when people say, "Oh, you have to try this, but I'm not going to tell you what's in it until you taste it."
Then the whole time you're chewing your mind is going wild, thinking of pig snouts and monkey brains.
This weekend my friend P.L. came over toting a big bucket of homemade goodies. There was a chocolate fruit and nut bark, a white chocolate praline confection, some toffee and, at the bottom, a whole bunch of fudge made with a mystery ingredient.
"It's a Paula Deen recipe," she said, so immediately I knew that there was at least four sticks of butter, a cup of lard and three pounds of sugar in it.
I tried it. The texture was very nice, very smooth. The taste was very sweet (like almost all fudge) and it reminded me of penuche. I liked it. Until she told me the "secret": Velveeta.
Now, on the scale of gross things to eat, Velveeta hardly ranks up there with say, a scorpion (which I've eaten) or foie gras (which, as a food writer I should love but just find repulsive), but still ... there's just something about cheese "product" in candy that stimulates my gag reflex. Here's the link to the recipe if you're feeling brave.