Jennarator.org

Chocolate Beer!

Jenna — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:22:42 +0000

It’s been a while since my last post, I’ve been busy trying to get a new car. I heard from a guy that runs a site all about Chocolate beer. It’s really cool, he not only reviews beer but he also has a ton of recipes on how make your very own chocolate beer. Check it out and if you brew any, don’t forget your pal Jenna.

Baconator Do-dad

Jenna — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:49:49 +0000

I think I need this bacon cooker-majig if I’m going to use up my 15 pounds of bacon. It just makes sense. (I still haven’t cracked into my bacon pile)

New Old Chocolate

Jenna — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:57:09 +0000

I found a link to this chocolate company in Santa Fe, Kakawa Chocolates, which specializes in making old school recipes of chocolates. I’m talking ancient school. I think it’s a cool idea and the website has a ton of chocofacts.

Bacon from Heaven

Jenna — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:52:33 +0000

I just got the most glorious phone call from our warehouse guy, the kind of phone call you hope for your whole life, he said there was a 15 pound box of bacon with my name on it. I guess one of the truckers that rolled through here had some extra pig meat? I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m going to be cookin up some bacon!! I’ll need to come up with some creative uses for that much bacon. It’s times like these that I wish my roommates were meat eaters. Actually, most times I wish they were carnivores, le sigh. 15 POUNDS OF BACON=Best day ever!!

Coastline Chocolate and Other News Favorites

Jenna — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:11:29 +0000

My aunt, Beans, got me some chocolate from a recent trip to New Hampshire/Maine and I finally tried it. It’s called Coastline Confections and it’s really quite good. I have tried the River Mill with Maine Sea Salt and Morning Loon with Espresso, both are good, but I prefer River Mill. I’m sure it’s just made out of some guy’s basement with its generic “May contain any of the following” label (with every type of chocolate and inclusion the company makes listed) on the back of each bar, but good is good. I won’t question it. (It is also labeled “all natural,” goodie!!)

My Poppy and Fran just got back from a German vacation and they brought me back some chocolate (I love that people see chocolate and think of me!!) They chose a milk chocolate by Feodora, which is fatty and European and heavenly. They add butterfat to it, which makes it smooth, soft and luxurious in the mouth and the flavor is that sort of cheesy dairy note typical of European chocolates (I also detect a hint of hazelnut, but that could be they way it was stored). Nice work, ‘rentals!

My last new love is Yogi Tea, I know I wrote about it before with the “Uplift St. John’s Wort” flavor. I’ve now tried about 4 other kinds (4 of about 85 million) and they are all delicious. My favorite so far is Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut, which I have been brewing at night and dipping ginger snaps in as a bedtime snack. To be more accurate, I’ve been dipping Sweetzels Spiced Wafers into my Yogi Tea, which can only mean one thing; it’s fall in the greater Philadelphia area. Go Eagles!

Vosges Goes Green

Jenna — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:22:03 +0000

Well, they are finally taking approved to be an organic facility and if you want to read all about how Vosges (and you) are helping the environment, click to read all about their green initiative.

Yogi Tea: Uplift

Jenna — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:41:24 +0000

I just tried Yogi Tea for the first time today, specifically their “Uplift” flavor with St. John’s Wort. Even though it’s caffeine free, I feel a little buzzed from it. And by “a little” I mean “quite.” I like the flavor because it reminds me of the tea Marianna would prepare for breakfast every day when I would visit her (this is when I lived on Crete), except that this has licorice in it, which has been stuck in the back of my throat all day. It’s all organic and I like the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, fennel seed, etc) in it, but the “uplift” is almost too much for me, I feel a touch shaky, but that could be a different issue altogether. I’d say “Uplift” is pretty good, not great, but I’ll probably keep drinking it.

Back to Marianna for a second; she makes the most amazing teas and tonics from herbs she harvests from the Greek mountainside. If you’re ever in Crete, you should absolutely stop by her workshop, which is located in the stunning village, Maroulas, only a little ways from Rethymno. Definitely worth a trip.

Delish!!!

Jenna — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:59:19 +0000

Today’s the day you’ve all been anxiously awaiting; the live launch of Delish.com!! And more importantly, my blog on it. Check it out, read my thoughts on Ace of Cakes and live forever!!!!!!!!

Last thoughts

Jenna — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:55:46 +0000

I wanted to add onto my post from yesterday because I forgot to mention that I don’t for a minute believe that the appearance of kissables changed from the old recipe to veggie oil chocolate. They would still employ the exact same panning techniques, polishing methods and use the same ingredients to coat it. I think Matt and the gang lied to us about that. The fact that they pan those little guys is pretty amazing, just as a side note.

Hershey’s Naughty, Says Matt Lauer

Jenna — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:30:24 +0000

So, it seems that people are in a real tizzy over this video from Good Morning America. Even my aunt asked me about it. I’ll give you the long and short of the video so you don’t have to watch it. Basically, Hershey got called out on replacing cocoa butter with vegetable oil, a cheaper fat. I’m a) not shocked and b) not offended. The FDA has very strict guidelines about chocolate standards of identity, so you can’t just go throwing anything into chocolate and still call it “Chocolate.” Once vegetable oil is added to chocolate, it is no longer considered to be chocolate and the product label must be changed. Hershey did in fact change the labels for their products right on the front of the packaging and if you just read the ingredients, it said veggie oil right there, plain as day. Everyone feels tricked and betrayed by their beloved Hershey. And to that I say, it’s f*cking hershey, get over it. It’s not a high quality product to begin with (still love it, though).

It’s hard right now for chocolate makers. Milk prices are soaring and so is the cost of cocoa beans. The most expensive product right now is cocoa butter, so of course in times of financial difficulty companies are going to try to figure out ways to save money without passing the cost onto their consumers. Hershey’s just trying to be profitable and it’s not like they used vegetable oil in their standard chocolate bars, they just used it in candies (kissables, almond joys, etc), which really shouldn’t have affected overall flavor a great amount. It would have changed the way it melts and the mouthfeel more than flavor. I just think this is a dumb thing to get worked up about, especially when so much food right now is making people sick. Can we focus on making and growing food that won’t give us E. Coli and forgive a little vegetable oil?