Tag: chocolate

  • ‘Tis the Season to Be Jolly…

    PMC_7404 - Version 22012-11-23-tis the season- unhappy-shoppers-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    But, someone forgot to have shared that message with this stream of Newbury Street Shoppers.

    Okay gang, go have a hot chocolate at Burdick Chocolate on Clarendon. Dangle a couple of those chocolate mice by the tails as you nibble them, and see if that can put a smile on your faces!

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

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  • Chocolate Meditation Could Be Good For You!

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    Burdick's Chocolates

    Want to lower your blood pressure? A recent post on NPR's Salt blog reported, "Daily Dose Of Dark Chocolate May Help Lower Blood Pressure." It was a small decrease but since they compared it to the decrease you can have from meditation, I decided that combining the two could be great.

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    Giant profiterole from Petit Robert Bistro

    With a little research I found, "The Chocolate Meditation -Time to Meditate while eating a bar of chocolate…" It was a report on the topic in Psychology Today by Danny Penman, Ph.D. He even provides a guide for completing a choclate meditation that sounds relaxing and delicious. 

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    Chocolate cupcake from the Cupcakory Food Truck

    Yes, I realize that the researchers were talking about a simplier, less caloric form of chocolate than those in our photos. But, if you don't have a simple chocolate handy, you can sit quietly and think deeply about the flavors shown here. 

    Related Posts:

    Boston, Say "Welcome" to Burdick Chocolate 

    Profiterole Perfection at Petit Robert South End

    The Cupcakory – Food Truck Tracking

    Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. What's on your  "Off to College" shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your back to school needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino   

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.


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  • Chocolate Meditation Could Be Good For You!

    6a00e54fc42bb8883401676244b22e970b-800wi

    Burdick's Chocolates

    Want to lower your blood pressure? A recent post on NPR's Salt blog reported, "Daily Dose Of Dark Chocolate May Help Lower Blood Pressure." It was a small decrease but since they compared it to the decrease you can have from meditation, I decided that combining the two could be great.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834015390dc00cf970b-500wi

    Giant profiterole from Petit Robert Bistro

    With a little research I found, "The Chocolate Meditation -Time to Meditate while eating a bar of chocolate…" It was a report on the topic in Psychology Today by Danny Penman, Ph.D. He even provides a guide for completing a choclate meditation that sounds relaxing and delicious. 

    6a00e54fc42bb88834016763e89a5f970b-800wi

    Chocolate cupcake from the Cupcakory Food Truck

    Yes, I realize that the researchers were talking about a simplier, less caloric form of chocolate than those in our photos. But, if you don't have a simple chocolate handy, you can sit quietly and think deeply about the flavors shown here. 

    Related Posts:

    Boston, Say "Welcome" to Burdick Chocolate 

    Profiterole Perfection at Petit Robert South End

    The Cupcakory – Food Truck Tracking

    Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. What's on your  "Off to College" shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your back to school needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino   

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.


    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • Chocolate Meditation Could Be Good For You!

    6a00e54fc42bb8883401676244b22e970b-800wi

    Burdick's Chocolates

    Want to lower your blood pressure? A recent post on NPR's Salt blog reported, "Daily Dose Of Dark Chocolate May Help Lower Blood Pressure." It was a small decrease but since they compared it to the decrease you can have from meditation, I decided that combining the two could be great.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834015390dc00cf970b-500wi

    Giant profiterole from Petit Robert Bistro

    With a little research I found, "The Chocolate Meditation -Time to Meditate while eating a bar of chocolate…" It was a report on the topic in Psychology Today by Danny Penman, Ph.D. He even provides a guide for completing a choclate meditation that sounds relaxing and delicious. 

    6a00e54fc42bb88834016763e89a5f970b-800wi

    Chocolate cupcake from the Cupcakory Food Truck

    Yes, I realize that the researchers were talking about a simplier, less caloric form of chocolate than those in our photos. But, if you don't have a simple chocolate handy, you can sit quietly and think deeply about the flavors shown here. 

    Related Posts:

    Boston, Say "Welcome" to Burdick Chocolate 

    Profiterole Perfection at Petit Robert South End

    The Cupcakory – Food Truck Tracking

    Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. What's on your  "Off to College" shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your back to school needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino   

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.


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  • Strawberry Shortcake Dessert Bar for Your July 4th Party

    Entertaining this weekend? How about a "build-it-yourself strawberry shortcake table" for dessert? We've done this for years, and our guests love it!

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    It's easy on the host and fun for the guests. Here's the step-by-step on how we do it.

    • Reserve the most perfect berries for dipping in chocolate and eating out-of-hand. Put a shaker of sugar near the plain berries for those who would like to sprinkle a bit on their choices
    • Slice and sugar the rest and allow them to form a natural sauce overnight in the refrigerator.
    • Collect a variety of bases– dessert cups, short cake, biscuits, ladyfingers, cookies, and angel food cake are a few I've used for this.
    • Since it's July 4th, add a big dish of blueberries for red, white, and blue creations.
    • Add a fondue pot of dipping chocolate, and you'll have guests swooning.
    • Arrange a selection of toppings. I've set out whipped cream, yogurt, ice cream, creme fraiche, and fudge sauce.
    • For something tall on the table, add wine buckets filled with bottles of sparkling wine that guests can pour over a few berries in a champagne glass.
    • Set up a tray of "special enhancements" (rums, liqueurs, and dessert wines) to drizzle on the cakes or sip with the shortcake. Most popular around here was limoncello.
    • Add big napkins to protect clothes; spoons, dishes, or wine glasses to hold your guest's creations; and let everyone have fun with the fruit.

    What's on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon – Get Ready for Summer – Everything You Need and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

  • The Cupcakory – Food Truck Tracking

    Visiting The Cupcakory is like sitting down at a friend's kitchen table, if your friend happens to be a fabulous baker. Making desserts with well-balanced flavors (sweet, but not too sweet) is an art that this baker has mastered. Here's a profile of one of the area's original food trucks.

    What's your favorite cupcake flavor? 

    DSC_2185 - Version 22012-03-09-cupcakory-food-truck-cupcakes-boston-brooklilne-© 2011 Penny Cherubino (1)

    This one is Nutella– chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream

    Name: The Cupcakory, a mobile cupcake truck.

    PMC_8124 - Version 22012-03-09-cupcakory-food-truck-cupcakes-boston-brooklilne-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Truck Description: Her name is Tillie, short for Utilimaster. She was a catering truck that was put out to pasture until Diane and Mick rescued her and got her back in the food business. She's a simple, unassuming girl with a white paint job and gentle green lettering. 

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    Don't you love a cupcake baked by the person who hands it to you?  

    Chef & Team: Founder and head baker Diane turned a recession job loss into an opportunity to follow her heart and passion as a baker. Now, she puts smiles on a lot of faces. Her husband Mick is, "assistant baker, dishwasher, driver, mechanic, handy man, you name it, he does it." 

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    What’s on the Menu: Cupcakes are $3 each or $16.50 for half a dozen– a great excuse to gather some pals and head for the truck. "We try to have 5 to 6 rotating flavors each day, we also include a seasonal flavor and will test something new every so often, so please check Twitter or Facebook for the day’s menu."

    Drinks: BYOM, Bring your own milk, or coffee, or tea… Just cupcakes onboard, unless it's hot, and then Diane will bring some bottled spring water to keep her customers cool.

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    Known for/must try/signature dish: Salted Caramel, "chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream on top."

    They say: "We love cupcakes and are passionate about what goes into them, so we’ve taken extra care in testing and picking out the best ingredients. For us, quality and taste comes first."

    Nice Touch: Diane says they offer, "both vegan and gluten-free options upon request for pick-up on the truck, please request at least 48 hours in advance." 

    Philosophy/Mission: "Most of our ingredients are locally sourced and organic where possible. When fruit and berries come into season we will opt for local and organic, but if organic is not available we will use local for the quality of flavor and for our continued commitment to supporting local farms and sustainability practices."

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    We love this little showcase window where you can see exactly what cupcakes haven't been gobbled up by the Cupcakory regulars. 

    Regulars say: Brandon Rigolini called them, "Best cupcakes in Boston." 

    Talking about a Guinness Chocolate cake topped with Madagascar vanilla buttercream, Erika Bee said, "That one was my breakfast this morning …"

    Asking Diane to hold a cupcake on facebook, Raquel L. Auriemma said, "I need a salted caramel, but can't be there until about 1:30."

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    Order and Pick up routine: There is one window with Diane's smiling face ready to put something wonderful in your hand.

    Payment: Cash or credit cards

    Website: www.cupcakory.com

    Twitter: @cupcakory

    Facebook: Cupcakory

    Check The Cupcakory site for this week's schedule.

    The Cupcakory's new schedule beginnng April 1, 2012 

    • Tuesday, Financial District at Milk & Kilby Streets (11:30 am – 3:00 pm)
    • Wednesday, Back Bay at Stuart Street (11:30 am – 3:00 pm); Clarendon St. (3:15 pm – 7ish)
    • Thursday, Financial District at Milk & Kilby Streets (3:00 pm – 7:00 pm)
    • Friday, Copley at Clarendon Street (11:30 am – 3:00 pm); Financial District at Milk & Kilby Streets (3:15 pm – 7:00 pm)
    • Sunday, SoWa Market in the food truck lot

    For more of our Food Truck/Street Food coverage: click here. Or, anytime you visit BostonZest, you can click on the Food Truck/Street Food tab at the top of the page.

    Link: Boston Food Truck Location Map 

    What's on your party shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     


    Details:
    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

  • Boston, Say “Welcome” to Burdick Chocolate on Valentine’s Day

    IMG_4636 - Version 22012-02-05burdick-chocolate-mouse-backbay-clarendon-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Yes! We have "mice" in the Back Bay!

    What better day to welcome Burdick Chocolate to the Boston side of the river? Right in time for Valentine's Day they've opened the retail part of their new location on Clarendon Street between Boylston and Newbury.  

    PMC_7282 - Version 22012-02-12burdick's-chocolate-backbay-clarendon-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Have you ever seen a more perfect use of an existing building? This little shop has been waiting all its life to be a chocolate shop & café. You can buy chocolates today and soon they will be offering their famous café menu with that luscious single source chocolate drinks, a great tea selection, and excellent pastries.

    IMG_4621 - Version 22012-02-05burdick-chocolate-backbay-clarendon-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    For now, we were happy to yield to temptation and select a few treats from the case. Choose your own or pick up one of their boxed assortments. But, be sure to include at least one mouse in the selection. They love going home with you.

    You still have time to tuck an Amazon gift certificate into that chocolate box. You can also send one by email!

    Details:

    Burdick Chocolate

    Back Bay Boston Chocolate Shop & Café 

    220 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116 (map)

    www.burdickchocolate.com

    617-303-0113

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

  • Taza Chocolate For Great Gifting!

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    Isn't it fun to introduce friends and family to great local products like Taza Chocolate? What would Cyber Monday be without a sale? We had an email that Taza is on sale today. (20% off your entire order with details on their home page while the offer lasts.) Update: The sale is over but TAZA is still a great gift giving solution!

    Our latest favorite flavor is the Ginger Chocolate Mexicano. But, we have to have some Salted Almond and Vanilla on hand. So, for a gift package, consider the Chocolate Mexicano Sampler. That way, if your giftee hasn't had the chance to taste Taza at an event, a farmers' market, on a factory tour, or at the retail shop in Somerville, they can still try a range of favorites.

    There are more Cyber Monday Deals over on Amzon, and they last all week!

     

    Details:
    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: © 2010 Penny Cherubino

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.