On Motivation and Chocolate

Let Them Eat Cakesters

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:14:00 +0000

First of all - a big thanks to all my buddies who called and told me they would be there if I needed them during the hip surgery - you guys are THE BEST! Seriously, I just can't tell you how very, very much you all mean to me.

Next - got the steroid shot yesterday. Um....can I say - ouch? Ouch not in a shot like way - they give you a numbing shot first, and that just feels like a regular shot - no big deal. It's the next one that's the kicker. Basically the Doc jams a big ol' needle into your hip joint (about 4 inches over from the groin). And my hip was so tight, when the needle got it in there - the Doc couldn't eject the steroid serum. The nurse had to move my leg around. It was the weird sensation in the deep nerves that got to me - ew! But at least it beats drilling all the bone marrow out of my femur. Hey - life is grand! I'll let you know if I can tell any difference later in the week.

Now THIS is fascinating!! I got a call today from USAA! Someone in their corporate communications department read the last blog entry! (And I was using them as a example in a training session just today - guess I'll have to go back to using them as a good example.) They called and thanked me for posting the entry because they had no idea the automated system was doing that to people! (you know, HANGING UP on them!) Wow - the power of the Internet! Isn't that amazing? One little blog entry and a corporate giant makes a change. Pretty cool. Maybe they'll send me some chocolate. : ) USAA usually is really great at customer service, so I was pretty shocked by the whole credit card debacle.

Next I'll fix health care.

We need to talk about some chocolate, don't we??? I need some comfort food, so I'm going with Oreos. But not in the way you think. Check these out:

These are new and they are fun. The whole package has only 90 calories. Are they better than Oreos? No - they are light and fun, but maybe too light. I think I could eat 100 and still be hungry. But they were a big hit at a seminar I did today - they were devoured before all the other goodies on the snack table. These would be great with ice cream or for kids to use as a straw with their milk. Or for those of you who drink milk. Wheeee!

They also have cheesy jokes on the package:

Which holiday does a cow enjoy?

Moo Year's Day (Geez that's bad.)

Way more exciting and something I have SOOOO been wanting to try:

I mean what could be better CAKEsters - Oreo CAKES. I love cake.

Doesn't that look beautiful?

But you know me and comparison. I wanted to try the whole Cakester family:

Okay they are vanilla, not chocolate, but they are Cakesters. And I'll use any excuse I can to eat sweets (especially cake). YUM

Now look at these - double chocolate:

And lastly, the "healthy" version:

Okay, the healthy version is good - you get three little cakes for 100 calories. But do not try the other versions or you'll realize how lame these are in comparison.

The Oreo Cakesters are great - nice soft cakes filled with delicious cream. Very good- addictive. But 250 calories for two cakes. And believe me, you're going to eat two. That's how they're packed. I honestly would rather have a Little Debbie Swiss Cake Roll or a Devil Square. YUM!!!

Nilla Cakesters are okay - if, like me, you like cake and cream, you'll eat these two as well. But, again, I prefer Little Debbie Raisin Creme Pies (same thing, but bigger and with raisins on top).

The chocolate creme Cakesters are my favorite. And I was surprised by this. Usually chocolate and chocolate is too rich for me, but these were good. My heart (and perhaps my soul) still belongs to Little Debbie, but these were pretty darn delish.

You have to give Oreo credit for expanding the cookie line. Now if they would only make the Nutter Butter into a cake..........

Maybe the corporate communications people at Nabisco will read this entry and make Nutter Butter Cakesters!!!

A family portrait. All that's missing is Nutter Butter.

Let This Week END!!!

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:33:00 +0000

I know you all have had them - weeks from HELL! That is what this week has been for me. There was the discovery of the database disaster, Afghanistan Man popped back up out of the blue, yesterday I saw a surgeon about my hip (very bad news), and just this morning USAA called to tell me of some unauthorized use of my credit card. I am praying to the great cacao bean in the sky to end this madness!

Can you believe Afghanistan Man called again? Apparently I am much better in retrospect than I am in an actual relationship. He wants a second chance - I was so great, I believed in him, he was so grounded when he was with me, blah, blah, blah. Whatever. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. I already feel it's shame on me. The whole thing just brings up some very yucky feelings and still manages to bother me.

Then the surgeon - ah! I got to see the recent x-ray of my arthritic hip. There is zero cartilage left. Zero. The bone is forming all kinds of spurs and cysts - it's a veritable bone party in there. And, I didn't know this, but bones have nerves (like teeth) and every time I walk or move a certain way, those nerves are rubbing together. The surgeon was shocked I was still walking 5 miles a day. (See what a bad ass I am?) Little does he know it's merely so I can continue my chocolate habit and simultaneously fit into my clothes.

They are going to give me a steroid injection in my hip next week, but the only real solution is surgery. After you realize this, they have you watch a little video. Holy God in heaven! That is what pushed me over the edge - seeing how they have to scrape out the leg bone and jam a plastic rod in there to link with the new fake hip. Jesus!! I had no idea - I don't know what I was thinking, but this is no outpatient procedure. Three to four days in the hospital, no driving, I'll need some kind of home care or I can go into a rehab facility (basically a nursing home). Two months of recovery time (and that's on the good side) - and I work for myself - if I don't speak, I don't earn any money. And it ain't like this is going to be cheap.

Actually, the whole database screw up is looking pretty good now, a walk in the park. I'm thinking maybe I should just ask nougat to pay me a visit and put me out of my misery. Where's a good serial killer when you need one?

Then the credit card call. Get this - they called me with an automated message and had me confirm the charges were not made by me. I'm so freaked out, I can't even remember my own zip code. Then they put me on hold to wait on a fraud representative. I was on hold for a while, then a voice came on, said all the representatives were busy assisting other callers (i.e. not me), gave me another number to call, and before I could even write it down, HUNG UP ON ME! Yes, they called me, scared me to death, and then hung up on me. I think I may become nougat myself. The police can take me and my hip out in a blaze of glory after I kill the USAA fraud department operators. That will solve all my problems in one fell swoop.

Luckily they caught this - the high rolling criminals were not able to get their Walmart charge to go through.

So what does one do with a week from hell?

1.) End it with Friday. I've decided this bad week is ending today. That the bad mojo is gone. That the weekend will be great.

2.) Deal with the worst. Okay, we're doing what we can about the database fiasco. I'm getting the hip injection Monday and will see the surgeon again in August. I'm just going to have to suck it up and figure out how to handle it when we decide to operate. I'm also going to try to get in even better shape so I can recover as quickly as possible. I'm trying really hard not to be afraid.

3.) Buy more chocolate. One of my favorite places in all the world is A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. This place is mecca for foodies. They have every coffee, tea, wine, candy, meat, cheese, bread, chip, hot sauce, olive oil - whatever you could ever want. And right now they are having a giant sale https://www.southernseason.com/ppf/id//cat.asp

I bought this cool thing yesterday - it's a faux book filled with chocolate! And it was half price! Whee!!

They are located right down the road from the surgeon. What better way to take your mind off bad news? Look at lots of shiny, tasty treats. I'm still doing my part to help the economy. Looks like I'll be helping the health care system quite a bit. Maybe I can get my own personal bail out...

4.) Reach out. This is going to be the hardest step for me. I know I'm going to have to do it, but it is so hard!! My whole goal of taking care of my health was to remain independent. (So much for those best laid plans.)

5.) Be grateful. Once again this always makes me feel better. At least I'm not the victim of a chocolate vat accident. Thank the Church of Chocolate there IS chocolate (and all those other wonderful things to eat). I'm so lucky I have friends who read this crazy blog - just posting makes me feel less alone in whatever happens. I need to focus on all the good stuff and not the bad stuff.

6.) Find the lesson. There are always lessons in whatever bad things happen to you. I should have checked more to make sure people who signed up for my newsletters were getting them. (Why I would assume technology would work is beyond me!) From now on, I'll try to be more vigilant. The hip - well, I didn't do anything that I'm aware of to cause the arthritis, but I will still do everything I can to maintain my health and to recover quickly from the surgery. And maybe it happened so I'll learn to (GASP) let other people help me. And the credit card - what a gift! It's a great story for my telephone customer service training. Don't scare the crap out of your customers and then hang up on them. Woohoo!

7.) Do not go to the pity party. I had a BIG pity party last night. HUGE. All about how alone I am. The new BF lives two hours away and this is a LOT to deal with. (who really wants a girlfriend who's falling apart?) Probably a great reason to bail. See? This is bad, bad thinking. The pity party does absolutely no good. You feel about a thousand times worse, you're tired and wrung out. Obsessing over all the bad things that could happen or that have happened is like volunteering to keep the flames stoked in hell. Why would you do this? You have to stop this train of thought early on - call a friend, watch TV, go to sleep, blog - do anything but go to the pity party.

8.) Laugh. Okay, I won't lie - I'm not finding much of this very funny right now. (Well, maybe the idea of killing the USAA Fraud Department operators.) But don't worry, I will. As they wheel me in for the surgery, I just might start screaming for nougat. Can you imagine? "I've changed my mind!! Bring me nougat!!! It's unpredictable! It's scary! It's weird! Bring me nougat!!" Just let them try to put a lame woman in a straight jacket! Hell, the North Carolina budget for mental health has been cut so much, they probably don't even have any straight jackets!

After the surgery? Hell, I'm going to start telling people I'm bionic.

Next time you have a bad week - apply these tips - maybe they'll help you too.

Enjoy the weekend!!!! And thanks for reading.

True Death by Chocolate

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:27:00 +0000

(CBS/AP) Authorities say a man has died after falling into a vat of melted chocolate in a New Jersey processing plant. A spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office says the 29-year-old temporary worker at Cocoa Services Inc. plant fell after a blade used to mix raw chocolate hit him. The man's name has not been released.

And I think I have problems? Can you imagine? Only a temp and only 29 years only.

Chocolate is unpredictable. Chocolate is scary. Chocolate is weird. Chocolate can kill you.

And I thought it was just nougat we had to worry about.

True Motivation by Chocolate

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Ever have one of those work disasters that just makes you want to cry? Either cry or poke your own eye out? I had one of those today.

I just discovered that everyone who has signed up for my e-zine through my website over the past FIVE YEARS has gotten nothing. Zero. Oh - they got a message thanking them for signing up and then, nothing. I thought my web folks were capturing the information from the forms and using the addresses to send out my quarterly newsletter. I was wrong. Apparently I've been paying them to send a newsletter out to about 10 people instead of the almost 1,000 people who have signed up.

I had asked them to send me a copy of everyone who singed up so I could know who was signing up and where they were coming from, but for some unknown reason, they thought I was going to re-key in all the e-mail addresses and send them back to them. I'm sorry - WTF???? That makes absolutely no sense to me. To me the whole point was to automate the process. I am so angry and devastated.

I've devastated because I made a promise and it was not fulfilled. I asked people to sign up for a free newsletter which they never received. I work so hard to generate interest in my work - and these are my biggest fans - people who were interested enough to go to my web site, fill out a form and sign up for my newsletter. I just can't tell you how frustrated and upset I am.

The only lucky thing is that I printed out a copy of each sign up (yep, all 1,000 of them). I just shipped them off to my web folks so we can get this fixed. But I'm still a liar and I still missed all those potential leads and all that excitement. Who wants to get a newsletter they signed up for 5 years ago, 4 years ago, 3 years ago, 2 years ago, even 1 year ago?

But what can I do? Absolutely nothing. Be glad I printed the names out, but that's it. My frustration and disappointment and embarrassment are meaningless and are wasted emotions. I have to get back on track. So what do I do? How do I restart the engine and motor on?

1.) Let it go. It is what it is. All I can do is send the names and start 5 years later. I hate it, but it is what it is.

2.) Be grateful. This is hard, but I'm damn lucky I killed all those trees and printed out hard copies of all those sign-ups. Better to have something than nothing. Also, I'm lucky I even caught this - it could have gone on for 5 more years. It was a fluke that I figured it out.

3.) Buy chocolate. This totally resets my mood. I went to Target after shipping off the box of 1,000 names and wandered through the candy aisle. There are some cool new chocolates out. I was thinking about how I could weave them into a blog posting. Once my creative juices started flowing, I felt better. I was refocused on what I could do rather than obsessing over what I couldn't.

Now I'm not saying go buy chocolate if that's not your thing. You just need to have a thing - maybe it's a hobby or a person you can always call to lift your spirits. I like the idea of it being something you enjoy and that makes use of your talents. It helps restore your faith that you're not a total loser.

4.) Realize you are human. This is hard for me - I mean, I KNOW I'm human, but I am so mad at myself right now. I somehow miscommunicated with my web guy - he didn't do this on purpose. I know we all make mistakes, but I seem to think I shouldn't. Heck, I train people how to communicate, how can I screw up? This is where I want to strangle myself - HOW could this happen and for so long? Big sigh....see #1.

It must have been the nougat.

Wanting to be Peanut Butter, But NOT!

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:52:00 +0000

I believe I have waxed poetic about what the heck nougat is before, but I'm going to do it again. Because it's weird. And it kind of pisses me off.

Speaking of weird, I HAVE to share with you my favorite quote of the day. This is in reference to that serial killer down in South Carolina. S.C. State Law Enforcement Deputy Director Neil Dolan said:

"We have him. He's our serial killer. He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird."

Just like nougat.

Okay this is from Wikipedia:

Nougat (pronounced /ˈnʌɡɨt/ or /ˈnuːɡɑː/ (Commonwealth) or /ˈnuːˌɡət/ (US) is a term used to describe a variety of similar traditional confectioneries made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios or hazelnuts are common), and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from chewy to hard depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and chocolates.

There are two basic kinds of nougat: white and brown. White nougat (which appeared in Montélimar, France, in the 18th century) is made with beaten egg whites and is soft, whereas brown nougat (called nougatine in French) is made with caramelized sugar and has a firmer, often crunchy texture.

Whatever. Like THAT clears anything up.

Check this out:

This is Trader Joe's Lumpy Bumpy bar - see right there on the box where it says peanut nougat? Here's where it gets its name:

Ew.

And here's the nougat:

Seems to work with the Wikipedia definition. It's white, soft, and basically lame. Boring. It is EGG WHITES after all. Woowee. The caramel is nonexistent and the only peanut taste I can detect is from the peanuts themselves. The dark chocolate seems good, although it overpowered everything else. Save your money. The packaging is more creative than the candy.

Now here's my love, Reese's:

You can't read it here, but the wrapper says: light and fluff peanut butter flavored nougat. Now after learning about mockolate, we know that when it says "flavored" it means - tastes like, but isn't. Chocolate flavored, means this ain't real chocolate, but it tastes like it (aka mockolate). So this must be peaNOT butter.

While this is way better than the Lumpy Bumpy bar, it's no good either. Nougat blows. And it all tastes different. This isn't chewy or hard, it's kind of soft like a Three Musketeers bar. But it does taste more like peanut butter. But why bother with it? Have a Reese's! This is scary and weird.

Oh there's more:

This wrapper reads: terrific chewy nougat with peanuts.

This is more like the Wikipedia definition - it is chewy - like break your teeth chewy. I'm not big on the the teeth breaking part and it just doesn't have enough flavor to be worth all the work, much less the calories. BLEECH.

Who invented nougat and what haven't they been killed?

Oh yeah - the French. Figures.

Oh - it gets weirder.

Taffy has almost the same ingredients as nougat and this stuff sure tastes like the white stuff in the Big Hunk:

These are mini Abba-Zaba bars. A nostalgic candy (with creative new packaging) I found in Cracker Barrel. These and the Big Hunk are made by Annabelle's - one of those still standing small American candy makers that I love. But these were no good in my book either. The "taffy" is filled with peanut butter rather than having peanut in it. Either way - too hard, not worth it.

A MUCH better product is Wolfgang's Peanut Butter Kisses (reviewed about a year ago when I visited their factory in PA). Their taffy is soft and chewy and there's a lot more peanut butter - delish!

Nougat - unpredictable, scary, and weird. A candy serial killer. Don't say you haven't been warned.

On Freedom - Part One

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Happy Independence Day!!

The holiday has me thinking a lot about freedom, so I'm going to do some blogging on it. Don't worry - I'll intersperse some chocolate, of course!!

I adore my freedom. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is my most important value. I agree with Christopher Morley who said, “There is but one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.” This, to me, is freedom.

I also think America is a country that allows you to be free. That, in fact, America was founded on the principle of freedom. But too many people here feel they aren’t free. And it seems to me they are turning to the wrong places to be set free. They seem to the think the government will set them free or their spouse will set them free or society will set them free or their parents will set them free or their church will set them free. Here’s the deal, people – only one person can set you free – and that person is you.

Let’s talk about how.

First we have to determine in what ways you feel you are not free. So I’m going to list some things that may be impacting your freedom:

1.) You may feel you are not free because someone else is keeping you from doing what you want (spouse, parents, the law, etc.)

2.) You may feel you are not free because you don’t have the money to do what you want or you have so many debts or other financial obligations you cannot do what you want.

3.) You may feel you are not free because of your race or your gender or your height or your age or your weight or any of another million possibilities based on your appearance or background

4.) You may feel you are not free because of addictions

5.) You may feel you are not free because of health issues

6.) You may feel you are not free because you have to work at a job you hate

7.) You may feel you are not free because you can’t find a job

8.) You may feel you are not free because _____________________ (insert your own reason here)

I’m about to call BS on any reason you give me. I’m pretty sure that if you are reading this article you are not incarcerated. And even if you are, you can STILL use some of these tips to be freer! But if you are not behind bars or locked up in some crazy man’s basement, and you live in the United States of American - you are free. To think otherwise is simply imprisoning yourself.

And that leads us to the first tip:

1.) You have to believe you are free. Do you know that many immigrants to the US do better than some people who are born here? The immigrants believe the US is the land of opportunity. They come here with nothing, only wanting the opportunity to build something – and they work their butts off. Too many people who are born here decide they aren’t free, that someone or something is keeping them down. You know what? If you believe that – you will live that. You are as free as you believe yourself to be.

This doesn’t just happen in the work realm. How about people who stay in abusive relationships believing they have no choice. As long as they believe they are trapped, they are.

Think you are not free? Ask yourself some questions:
Can you leave your house and go down the street?
Can you apply for a job?
Can you make a phone call to a friend?

A big problem now is how many criminals have cell phones in prison. If they have cell phones, I’m finding it pretty hard to believe you can’t do at least one of the above. And if you can any of the above, you are free. You might have other problems, but you are free.

If you believe you cannot be free, there is no need for you to read further.

2.) To be truly free (to be able to spend your life in your own way), you need to have a few things. Let’s start with some source of income. You have to be able initially to provide for yourself, and eventually to have enough money to allow you to do what you want. To be free, you are going to have to get your financial house in order. First you have to get out of debt if you are in it. You aren’t free if you owe money to somebody else. Sorry, gang, it is what it is.

Now, before you think I don’t know what I’m talking about, I am debt free. Yep, I own my own house, I pay off my credit cards every month, my car is paid for. I don’t owe anybody anything. How do you do this?

a.) Get a job. I know, right now unemployment is through the roof. But I also know people who are sitting at home not making a dime waiting until a job like the one they lost opens up. This ain’t Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, people! Any job is better than no job! Sell all your fancy toys on Ebay! Do something! Money needs to be coming in.

b.) Live within your means. When I started my own business ten years ago, I lived in a small apartment. I didn’t eat out. I bought only necessities. I was shocked at how cheaply I could live. Cable is NOT a necessity, people! If you are spending more money that you make, you will NEVER be free.

c.) Increase your value. What can you do to be more valuable? Read some books? Take a class at the community college? Work on your appearance? Revamp your attitude? Meet more people?

d.) Get financially literate. I’m amazed by people who don’t understand basic financial principles. They don’t realize that by only making the $15 minimum payment on their $6,000 credit card balance at 21% interest that they will never pay it off. These people seem to think if they have checks they have money. You need to understand the basics of your finances – ASAP. Parents – teach your kids.

e.) Your number one priority has to be to get out from under credit card debt. Paying those insane interest rates is going to kill you. Think you can’t do it? Go back to tip number one.

f.) Don’t make stupid expensive decisions. If you can’t support yourself, don’t have kids. I know, seems like a no-brainer. People rationalize this madness by saying things like, “Well there’s no perfect time!” Yeah there is - when you have a job that can pay for food and diapers! Don’t buy a new car if you don’t have the money – drive the old one or take the bus. No public transport? Do you have neighbors? Friends? Offer to chip in on gas. Stop spending money you don’t have!

g.) Don’t make lots of stupid cheap decisions. Spend an extra $27.40 a day and you’ve spent $10,000 a year. $10,000!!!! Do you really need to stop at Starbucks? Can you bring lunch? Do you have to by that cute pair of shoes?

h.) Want less. I love my little townhouse. My car is a 2005 with 175,000 miles on it – it’s also a red 350Z and I love it too. I don’t need a big house on a big lot. I don’t have to have a new car, although most people are aghast when they hear the mileage. I would never buy a pair of shoes or a handbag that costs more than $300. I just don’t need all that junk. If you want less, you need less money and you are that much closer to freedom.

I'm going to write more on freedom, but chocolate next!!

Pretzels, Rice and England

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:03:00 +0000

You know life is good if we can all come together in pursuit of the best peanut butter and chocolate combinations. And let's thank the founders of this country for breaking away from England! Scones don't exactly rock my world. Although I do love shortbread......and all that pomp and circumstance! And Monty Python!

But I love freedom more! God Bless America!!! And God Save the Peanut!

Let's talk first about some more peanut butter and pretzel combos. The first is berkshire bark's pretzelogical bark described by the company as: Belgian dark and milk chocolate, pretzels, sea salt caramel, natural peanut butter.

This is the top of the bark, the next picture shows the bark flipped over and dissected. (But this was done with love - don't go all PETC on me.) That's People for the Ethical Treatment of Chocolate for those of you who didn't get that joke.

Looks great, right? The description sounds awesome! But something was wrong here - those big blobs - peanut butter? caramel? were as hard as rocks. This was no good. I'm sad about that.

Next up, a very familiar bar, I'm sure:

This is Hershey's Take 5. The wrapper says it's made with chocolate (I guess it's not Mockolate), pretzels, caramel, peanuts, and peanut butter. My girlfriend Missy loves these things. I think there is too much pretzel. It's okay, but why have this when you can have a Reese's? I like the use of the caramel here, so I like this combination the best off all the pretzel/peanut butter offerings reviewed so far. But I don't see that pretzel really brings anything to the party.

Let's move on to crisp rice or rice crisps or whatever the hell this stuff is. Hell, Hershey doesn't even know what it is - thus the name of this bar:

Whatchamacallit? I'm going out on a limb here and I'm going to call it crap. For 230 calories I want more than a squashed rice crispy treat - without the marshmallow. This bar is described as "made with chocolate, peanut flavored crisps and caramel." The caramel is the only thing that gives this any life. I find it bland and disappointing.

It looks as exciting as it tastes. ZZZZZZ........................

I'm not much on the Nestle Crunch bar either. Crisped rice just kind of seems like a cop out. Cheap filler. But I liked it in Jer's stuff. Hmmmm........ I'm sure we'll talk of this again.

If you like crispy and light and want something peanut buttery, a MUCH better choice is:

You can have one pack containing two wafer bars for only 100 calories. These are like Kit Kats with peanut butter but a little lighter. No caramel as in the Crap bar. But more peanut buttery. And I'm all about the peanut butter!!

I saved one of my favorite peanut butter bars for last:

From our friends at Lake Champlain chocolates. This bar is here because it contains: peanuts, peanut butter, CRISP RICE and milk chocolate.

Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't just looking at that make your mouth water? The Five Star bars are all amazing - the are small but really thick. And this one is packed with peanut butter. It's a blander peanut butter than Reese's but is still terrific. And the peanuts inside are delish.

So, dear readers, what have we learned so far in our exploration of this awesome combination of peanut butter and chocolate?

New isn't always best, but just because something has been around for a while doesn't mean it can't be improved on.

Expensive doesn't always mean it's the best, but sometimes it does (the Five Star bar is great and it's not cheap).

When it comes to chocolate, no rules apply.

Chocolate is like life - you have to jump in and taste it! I love Tootsie Rolls (talk about Mockolate), but I also love Guylian chocolate seashells. How do you know what you'll like the best? Try them!! How do you know who you are? Live!

You can learn from others and they can help you along the way, but if anyone tells you they have all the answers for you, run. You'll like things based on the flavors you grew up with and a million other experiences. Obviously a lot of people think the Whatchamacallit is a great candy bar or Hershey's would have quit making it. All you owe it to yourself to do is keep trying new things and keep learning and growing. You'll find the best life (and the best chocolate) for you.

And don't forget to celebrate your freedom this 4th of July by taking a few minutes to think of all the patriots through the years who have given their lives to keep us free.

God bless chocolate, peanut butter, and the United States of America!!!

I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight!

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:49:00 +0000

Back to peanut butter and chocolate minus the God stuff.

This entry is going to be devoted to one company because all they do is peanut butter and chocolate:

http://www.jers.com/

I first came across Jer's at the Chocolate Show in NYC.

They make four bars (I have three of them) and the same flavors in "balls":

One of the flavors is Cara Mella - creamy caramel blended with fresh organic peanut butter:

This is what you find when you open all the boxes:

Two wrapped bars. Each box and the larger box of "balls" includes a card with a quote like:

I can resist everything except temptation. - Oscar Wilde

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful thorns have roses.

- Alphone Karr

Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, back to Cara Mella - autopsy photos of the bar and the balls:

Eh - this is only okay. The caramel overpowers the peanut butter. Reese's Clusters do it WAY, WAY better. And WAY cheaper. The bar is $6.00.

Next is Toffee Break - buttery rich handmade toffee mixed with organic peanut butter.

YUM!!! The toffee chunks work great with the peanut butter - LOVE IT!! I also liked it with the milk and white chocolate, although I think the dark chocolate is by far the best. The dark chocolate is the best foil for the sweetness of the toffee.

Next is the Original Incredibar - decadent organic peanut butter with crunchy rice crisp.

Wow - this one is great too! Not as complicated as the toffee - more peanut buttery. The rice crisp gives it texture. I found the white chocolate to be too sweet. Milk chocolate is really good, but I also liked the dark chocolate. Pretty darn good!!

And finally Pretzo Change-O - crunchy baked pretzel bits & pieces combined with their signature all-natural peanut butter center, then smothered in a selection of premium milk, dark or white chocolate.

White chocolate was too sweet here - I liked milk and dark chocolate better. But I preferred toffee and rice to pretzel. It just seemed like of bland - maybe too little play off the saltiness of the peanut butter? Adding pretzel made it too salty.

Overall - I think the toffee combo is worth trying because I haven't seen it anywhere else, but there are two bars you can get in the grocery store that do the pretzel and crispy combo. We're going to look at them tomorrow!!

You know, the more candy I try, the more I like the good ol' mass produced brands. I guess I'm just not a gourmet. I have yet to find a peanut butter chocolate combo I think beats Reese! But I'm not giving up - as long as there are contenders, I'm up for the fight!!!

Taking Peanut Butter and Chocolate in Vain

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:56:00 +0000

There really is nothing new under the sun. I found a book today entitled "Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Life" by Luann Dunnuck. Luann pretty much has the same idea I do - take these simple (but oh so awesome) things and use them to motivate people. I was really looking forward to her book.

Oh - I was sooooo disappointed. I didn't realize it was going to be a big God book. I don't mean a funny, Church of Chocolate kind of book - I mean a quoting a lot of scripture, preachy kind of book. A LOT of scripture. And Luann isn't funny - not even a little funny. Let me give you an excerpt:

"Remember, you are far more valuable than the peanut butter cup. You are created with a purpose and a plan in mind. Lift up your head and know that God has endowed you with good qualities."

Get out! A human is more important than a peanut butter cup? No way! I wasn't sure of my place in the Universe until I read these inspirational lines. (Although I believe peanut butter cups were also created with a purpose and a plan and they have been endowed with some mighty fine qualities.)

There is nothing wrong with religious writing - but this was a true waste of a great, great idea!! The linking of chocolate, peanut butter and scripture was not very well done. Random recipes tossed in at the end of each chapter add to the weirdness. It was like the book was written and it was so boring that someone added catchy chapter titles and recipes so the boringness could ride on the backs of peanut butter and chocolate. Most of the content has absolutely nothing to do with either peanut butter or chocolate. I am so bummed that Luann destroyed a great idea by using it for such a crappy book. And I think peanut butter and chocolate were used - USED, I say!

How about this line:

"Just like the peanut butter cup, you are a delight, but you may be thinking, "How can God delight in me, with all my faults?"

Or how about:

"You matter to God and those around you. If God in His wisdom could help man to create the peanut butter cup, surely God can perfect you."

AAAIIIEEE!!!!! I wanted to stick a fudgesicle stick in my eye when I read that. What a horrible use of the peanut butter chocolate tie-in.

I'm no religious writer, but I don't think anyone can be "perfect" - whatever that is. I think wisdom comes from doing the best with what you have and who you are. That making the most of the unique gifts you have is what's life's journey is all about. That the hardest thing is not to realize that God delights in you, but to delight in yourself. We are so hard on ourselves.

And I think that peanut butter and chocolate are here to add to our joy and fun - whether you worship God, Buddha, Jesus, a tree or the cacao bean.

Peanut Butter Cups - YAY!!!!

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:37:00 +0000

I'm going on a peanut butter roll, gang, so hang on!! The new Reese's Dark is out in stores now, so if you are a fan of dark chocolate, you'll want to grab one. But you know me, I have to compare to really know how I feel about a new candy. So here we go!!

OMG - we are the world! Can you say peanut butter cup diversity???

Above is a autopsy photo of the new Reese's Dark with a mysterious fingerprint clearly captured. I think it will be easy to catch the murderer.

While it's not bad, I don't like it as much as the original Reese's.

Reese's Crunchy (below) is good, but again, I prefer the original.

White Reese's is just too sweet. I also have a random brand I found in Mast General Store - the miniature pictured here. The white chocolate was waxier than the Reese's white chocolate. But I like the white chocolate better as a miniature. In VERY small doses this combo works.

Boyer makes these butterscotch peanut butter cups (this one came from Candy Expo - it got a bit crushed in transit - so forgive its appearance). I'm on the fence with these - they are good, but I'd rather have the Reese's original. These are a little too sweet - not as sweet as white chocolate, but sweeter than milk chocolate. They don't taste really like butterscotch to me, but are worth trying because they're different.

Boyer http://www.boyercandies.com/history.html is another one of those good old American candy companies, and I like to help the little guys!! And who the heck even KNEW there was a butterscotch peanut butter cup?

You know I LOVE the Big Cup!! Even better than the original - because there is more peanut butter!! (Like the peanut butter egg - or Christmas tree or Valentine's Day heart - the more Reese's peanut butter the better!)

THAT's the way peanut butter cups should be!! Yahoo!!

I also tried this peanut butter and almond cup by Colts:

Eh - not so great. The chocolate was too thick and the peanut butter wasn't creamy enough. But the inventor has her picture on the wrapper - wheee! Apparently she was a "Hee Haw Honey." This must be an old picture - that show was popular when I was a kid and that was a LONG time ago.

So what does it all mean?

Variety is the spice of life! I am so glad we have all these different peanut butter cups to choose from.

Sometimes new and different isn't better.

Live now or you might regret it. (I really wish I had tried that peanut better and banana creme Reese's cup Hershey made in July of 2007 - thirty years after Elvis' death.) I missed it and now I'll never be able to try it. Sometimes opportunity only knocks once.

And you gotta love this "wrapper":

Don't be sad, there are Reese's cups in the world. This might be the best motivational message ever!!

Soul Mates - Peanut Butter and Chocolate

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:48:00 +0000

God, I love peanut butter. The pairing of it with chocolate is a true act of genius. In fact, in the Church of Chocolate this is the equivalent of building the ark. Splitting the atom has nothing on buttering the peanut. I'm making George Washington Carver a saint right now. (Just pretend I'm wearing my Hershey kiss miter and burning some chocolate scented incense). Is the spirit moving you?

Just saw a Reese's commercial (clearly a sign we are on the right path) - hilarious!! Said Sharing is a nice thought. (Pause) Stupid, but nice. LOVE IT!!!!!

At Candy Expo, Dove was premiering their Peanut Butter chocolates. Susan at http://www.candydishblog/ has some great pics of their gorgeous booth here:

http://candydishblog.com/2009/06/23/dove-chocolate-oasis-at-all-candy-expo/

Love that silk!! We needs lots of that at the C of C - and love the chocolate fountain! Can you say "Baptismal Pool?" Oh yeah, baby!!

Here are the Dove chocolates:

I thought several of the individually wrapped ones would be in the package, but I was wrong - this is what was in there:

A chocolate centipede. Let's autopsy:

These aren't bad, they just don't rock my world. I like Dove chocolate, I love peanut butter, but this is just average to me. I REALLY did the salty peanut butter of the Reese's.

These weren't at Candy Expo, but I found them at the Hershey's store in Chicago:

I can't believe I haven't seen these before, but I was thrilled!! And they are good! I really like the red paper tabs - nice touch!!! And check out the autopsy:

I don't; think they could have packed any more peanut butter in there. And I swear it's that salty Reese's peanut butter!! I like the Kisses better than the Dove Promises? Centipede? Whatever. Like the silk though.

Reese's has something along these lines - Reese's Select cremes:

They look great, right? I was so excited - ready for Reese's to rock the house!! Eh - not so good. Kind of like the Dove things. Maybe too much chocolate. I dunno. I was not impressed. The Kisses were better.

But, the most awesome are the Reese's Clusters. I've reviewed them before, but now I feel compelled to command you to try them. They are just so damn good!!!!!!

Look at the great Reese's Peanut Butter! See the caramelly center and those crunchy peanuts! Get thee to a store!!! These are just about as good as sex. Not that I've ever had sex or anything, but these are REALLY good!

Making It Big in the Candy Business

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Things are still going good on the dating front. I actually met my guy's bother and his wife this weekend. A good sign, yes? Don't worry - I'll upload a pic soon. I'm such a chicken!!

Back to Candy Expo!

Remember I said it was all about the people? Well one woman I really enjoyed meeting was Gia Michaels. She owned an automotive aftermarket business for 13 years, then got married and had kids. She became a full time mom and in her spare time began baking and working with candy. Her treats were so good, she started selling them. She bought 150 pounds of chocolate through her local Costco. To thank the manager for helping her get all the chocolate, she sent some of her goodies. She soon got a call from Costco asking if she's like to sell large quantities through them!! She was launched! You go, girl!

Her website is http://www.giamichaels.com/

Here she is - she's so cute! And look at this great booth:

The great thing about Gia's treats is that they are PACKED with topping. We're not talking one or two sprinkles. This is a toffee covered pretzel. You can barely see the pretzel!!

And look at these Dunks - pieces covered with assorted chips and candy bits:

Don't they look great? They are!

I really love all of her packaging - cute and classy. (Perhaps she should have a sit-down with John Daly.)

But here's the big deal - her Gourmet Garbage:

Gourmet Garbage™ is a premium unique blend of dark, white and milk chocolates, heath crunch, peanut butter morsels, fine candies and chocolate covered pretzel pieces. This gourmet blend can even be eaten right out of the jar!

She also has recipes for this - things as simple as adding it to microwave popcorn or s'mores. What a great idea!! She's working on a deal with the Home Shopping Network. How exciting is that?

Gia took a lot of time to talk with me - she was terrific! I wish I had more pictures of her products - they all look terrific and taste great. She has great ideas and just loves what she does - it really shows. Keep your eyes peeled for her products and snap them up if you see them!! Here's hoping the Home Shopping Network makes her a star!

Mock Chocolate

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:43:00 +0000

It's a damn good thing I don't get paid for this - I'd be so fired.

I actually sat in the Mars press conference at Candy Expo where they announced their "Real Chocolate Relief Act" on May 19th. Obviously I am not getting you breaking news. Basically each Friday they are giving away chocolate. Just go to www.realchocolate.com and sign up (no need to go until after 9:00 am Friday). You sign up and they mail you a coupon. You might use your coupon to check out some of their new products:

Strawberried Peanut Butter M & M's are out. (I say bleech, Reese's Pieces are so much better). But, hey if you get them for free, try them!! Live large baby!!

M & M's Coconut is coming out in July - see what you think.

And in August - Snickers Fudge!!! These rock - you should definitely get one of these - free or not.

Why are they doing this? Well they want to promote the fact that their candy is made from real chocolate, not mockolate as some of their competitors' candy is. I'm betting they know that most people will get a free bar and buy more bars, but I'm only guessing. I'm assuming Mars is still a capitalist company and isn't doing this just to redistribute their chocolate. But, hey, these days, who knows?

Here's a detailed explanation of "mockolate," a term I believe was coined by Cybele of Candy Blog. This is from wisegeek.com:

The term “mockolate” is used derisively to describe candy products made with cocoa solids, but no cocoa butter. Legally, such products cannot be labeled as “chocolate,” but instead must be called “chocolate candy,” “chocolate coating,” or some variation thereof, so that consumers understand that cocoa butter is not present. Mockolate is typically produced by companies trying to cut costs, since cocoa butter can be extremely expensive, and many companies feel that keeping the size of familiar candies the same is very important, even if the ingredients must change to keep costs down.

Real chocolate includes both cocoa solids and cocoa butter, the two components extracted from the cacao bean when it is crushed in preparation for making chocolate. Making chocolate is actually a very complicated process, as the components are first separated and then carefully blended back together in varying amounts, along with other ingredients, to produce the desired chocolate product. The cocoa solids contribute much of the flavor, while the cocoa butter adds the rich, creamy mouthfeel which people associate with chocolate.

When mockolate is produced, cocoa solids are blended with another source of fat, typically vegetable oil. According to producers, mockolate tastes the same as true chocolate in blind taste tests, but some foodies disagree. They claim that mockolate has a flat, greasy flavor and lacks the mouthfeel of true chocolate.

Because many people have a negative perception of mockolate, companies often use misleading labeling so that consumers believe they are buying real chocolate. When companies switch from chocolate to mockolate, for example, their product packaging may remain the same. Indications that a product contains mockolate include the use of very small letters describing “chocolate cream,” “chocolate coating,” or “chocolate candy” in the product, rather than prominent lettering boasting “chocolate” or “milk chocolate.”

Bastards!

Hey - I'm just saying be careful out there. Ultimately I think the taste of the total candy will determine what consumers buy. For me if Reese's is covered with mockolate, I'm still in!

So enjoy the summer! Get some free chocolate!

You CAN Be Too Rich or Too Thin

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:26:00 +0000

I promised you guys a motivational posting! Well - this is it!!

You CAN Be Too Rich or Too Thin

I know that to many people this seems like heresy – these are two goals that influence a great deal of human behavior. But we’ve all seen someone who has clearly lost too much weight. Often they think they still need to lose more. And while it would seem that one could not be too rich, there is a point at which increasing one’s wealth no longer increases one’s happiness.

Here’s the human dilemma – once we start to lose weight or earn money, we gauge our success by every pound or every dollar. At some point we start to equate our personal value with dollars and pounds. If we gain weight, we’re fat losers, if we lose weight we’re hot and successful. Same thing with money. I don’t know about you, but as my business falls off with the recession, I feel like a failure.

Here’s how this has worked in my life – over the past couple of years I’ve lost about 20 pounds. I was never fat (although I certainly was starting to get there!) and to be honest, most people haven’t noticed. I’m pretty tall, so it’s not as noticeable on me as it would be on someone shorter, and I’ve lost it gradually. I actually never thought I would weigh this little again – hell, I weigh less now than I did in college.

Am I happy about this? Yes, but I still think I could lose another pound or two. See how crazy we are? We lose weight and we always think we could stand to just lose a little more. We make more money and we think we could just make a little more…. We poor humans are never satisfied.

This is not all bad – it keeps us in the game, keeps us striving. But it also keeps us beating ourselves up. I will not be happy with myself if I gain back 5 pounds even though I’m still significantly lighter than I was and still would weigh less than my original goal! I am unhappy that I’m not going to make more money this year than last year even though the world is in a terrible recession. So what to do?

1.) Check in with what really brings you joy. I love fitting into my new hot jeans, I won’t lie. But I also adore food – ice cream in the summer, chocolate all the time, bread…my mouth is watering just thinking about it! So if I really want something, I’m going to eat it. I’m going to try not to beat myself up if I gain back a pound or two. Hell, if no one noticed I lost 20 pounds are they going to notice I gained three? I don’t think so. If you’ve lost touch with what brings you joy, think back about the times in your life when you were the happiest. What can you do to recreate that happiness?

2.) What REALLY means success to you? If I die skinny, does that mean I had a great life? How about if I die rich? I just want to be happy. I think if most of my life was spent filled with joy, than I had a great life. What does a great life mean to you? What brings you deep happiness? Spending time with people you love? Having adventures? Laughing?

3.) What is enough? I have a home I love (that’s paid for), a nice car, a healthy bank balance. Why do I even need more and more money? Sure I could buy a bigger house, a newer car – but what I have is enough for me. Remind yourself when you really already have enough.

4.) Is it about you? Or about society? Let’s face it, there’s a fashion and beauty industry pushing you to feel inadequate. If we all decide we are perfectly fine just as we are, they are gone. Same with providers of many other types of goods and services. I’m not judging – I love nice things. But each of us needs to know where our desires end and societal pressure begins. The hardest voice to hear in this world is your own.

5.) Are you holding yourself to a ridiculous standard? Think of someone (choose a regular person rather than a celebrity) who you think has a great life. What is it about their life you think is great? I seldom find myself thinking, “Oh I admire so-and-so – she’s so skinny!” I find myself thinking, “Missy has such a great life – she is surrounded by friends and family who love her.” I don’t think, “I wish I could trade places with Fred – he has such a huge home!” I think, “I’m so happy I don’t have to clean that place! Or hire an army to do it for me.” Why hold ourselves to a standard that really doesn’t matter?

Yes, how much you weigh is important if it is making you miserable. But when you find your mood set by what the scale says, you need to regroup. Skinny does not equal happy. The same goes for money. If you can’t take care of your needs (not your every desire and whim, your NEEDS), money is very important. But after a certain point, more money does not mean more happiness.

You can be too rich or too thin, but you can never be too happy. I wish much happiness for you. (And much chocolate!)

Choco (not I) Pods

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:52:00 +0000

Hi Gang! I hope you're all hanging in there with this recession. It took me forever to admit we were in it and now I'm totally over it. Tomorrow I'm going to give some motivation tips because I need a pep talk!

Okay, let's talk Choco Pods:

The first one here is Banana - and after the god-awful banana Tootsie Pop, I was a bit gun shy. This is 41% milk chocolate and banana brown sugar caramel. After my first tenuous bite, I loved it. The milk chocolate was smooth and creamy and I hardly tasted the banana at all. The caramel was awesome. Very decadent and sensuous. A++

Next is Firecracker - a solid. 60% dark chocolate, chipotle, salt and popping candy. I'm biased here - I freakin' HATE Pop Rocks. I don't want anything I eat to fight back and that's how this feels. I would like this much better without the popping, but that's the whole point. If you like interactive candy, you'll like this. I prefer my food go gently into the night.

Passion is the next one - 60% dark chocolate and passion fruit caramel. I've actually reviewed this one before and while not as opposed to it as I was, it's still not my favorite. I must just not like Passion fruit. It has a strong taste I'm just not into.

Modena is the last one - 60% dark chocolate, strawberry and balsamic caramel. Doesn't that just sound AWESOME?? And it is! Love it!

These are all complicated, gourmet offerings - I think they are great for anyone who wants to try some of the the crazy flavor pairings being made with chocolate. I also think there are a good way to develop your palate without going way off the reservation. (For me that was Vosges cheese truffle. I still have nightmares.)

I also think chocolate is a great and relatively cheap way to pamper yourself during these challenging times. You deserve it!! (And remember - there are no bonus points in heaven for those who suffer the most. After all, God made the cacao tree and it was good. Dig in!)

Of Pods and Pants

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:08:00 +0000

One of the best things about Candy Expo was the people. One of my favorites was Master Chef Michael Antonorsi of Chuao Chocolatier. He made me a cup of the most fantastic hot chocolate I have ever had and actually took the time to sit down and talk with me while I drank it! You may think this is no big deal, but these guys were there to talk with buyers, not random bloggers. But he was the best!!

Here's their website:

www.chuaochocolatier.com

The company's mission is:

To arouse your senses with unusual, unexpected and delicious chocolate confections. Venezuelan born Master Chef and Chocolatier Michael Antonorsi lives and breathes the creative culinary process. I saw that - he is so excited and passionate about food and chocolate - it was awesome! (I have a secret crush on him.)

The samples they had at Candy Expo were their ChocoPods:

These are wafer thin chocolates shaped like cacao pods. Some are filled and some are solid. Each has only 60 calories!! They gave me one of each flavor - there are 8. I'll review 4 tonight (hey, I can only eat so much and keep my girlish figure!).

Picante - 60% dark chocolate and spicy Cabernet caramel. This had a liquid caramel filling and I didn't think I would like it - I usually don't like spicy chocolate. But this one was great - delicious. Subtle spiciness balanced by the sweetness of the chocolate and the Cabernet.

Chinita Nibs - 60% dark chocolate caramelized cacao nibs and nutmeg. This one is a solid. I loved the texture of the nibs - nice and crunchy and the nutmeg really comes through. Very unique taste. I usually think nibs are too bitter, but this balance was perfect. For some the nutmeg might be too strong, but I really enjoyed getting to taste it.

Spicy Maya - 60% dark chocolate, pasilla chile, cayenne pepper and cinnamon. Another solid. Love the cinnamon and the chocolate - the peppers give it heat, but are not overpowering. They kick in a bit after you eat the Pod. This might be my favorite of all the spicy chocolate combos. It's the cinnamon I like so much.

Candela - 60% dark chocolate and spicy macadamia nut. Okay - I am in love with this one!!! It's nutty, but not too nutty. The interior is a crunchy praline filling - YUM!!! I think what makes these so great is the balance of flavors. There is a hint of spice, but not too much. And the flavors kind of hit you in waves. Delish!!

These are fun to eat because they are like chocolate cookies, but with very complicated ingredients and flavors. I think they are perfect when you just want a really great taste of chocolate, but don't want to go crazy. I mean, we all have to keep fitting into our jeans, right?

Well, all of us except John Daly - he's got glue.

Tootsie Pops and Glue

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:32:00 +0000

I am so sorry I haven't been blogging! The past few weeks have been nuts! After Candy Expo in Chicago I went to Birmingham, Alabama. Then I was in DC for the American Society of Training and Development Conference. The next weekend was a conference in Asheville. When I got back from that, I had to go to Atlanta. I flew in that day, spoke and tried to fly out. I say tried because the flight was over two hours late. By the time I got home, I was able to get a whopping three hours of sleep and had to drive out to the western part of NC to give a training program. Then to Charlotte for an event with the boyfriend (still seems to be going well).

It's great to be busy in this economy, so I am not complaining. Well, maybe about the flight, but overall I'm damn lucky. There is some white space on my calendar coming up, so you all may be sick of me soon!

I do, however, have a serious blogging backlog. So much to share with you all!!

First I have to share with you my favorite recent completely random chocolate quote. It was said by CBS golf analyst David Feherty in reference to John Daly's golf clothing (which was God awful and WAY colorful):

"...looks like he put glue on his body and ran through Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory."

They PAY this man for this??? I'm a little scared he was thinking about John Daly putting glue on his body and running through anything, but we all have our fantasies.

Here's another new product from Candy Expo:

These are good. Are they extraordinary? Nah. I like regular Raisinets better. The raisins just taste better with chocolate than the cranberries. And these bother me. Why are they called Raisinets? They are not raisins, they are cranberries. I mean the whole point of RAISINets is that they are RAISINS. Right? At least they could have done Craisinets.

A trendy tip of the hat to the cranberry. I predict these will not stand the test of time.

When I went by the Tootsie Roll booth and asked what was new, they gave me these:

Now, these really aren't new. I found some in Cracker Barrel well before Candy Expo and I remember having them as a kid. Maybe the blue raspberry is a new flavor, but these are just a re-release. I'd rather have regular ol' Tootsie Rolls. There isn't enough Tootsie Roll here - too much boring hard candy. ZZZZZZZ...........

Now this was really new for me - a new flavor of Tootsie Pop - banana:

GLAACK! I thought this was awful. The banana flavor was no good. A waste of a Tootsie Roll center. But, hey, finding a dog every once in a while makes things exciting! Bow Wow!

And here's a tip - all that cool chocolate stuff Cracker Barrel had is on sale for half price!! It's great stuff, so you might want to run in. Just don't cover your body with glue first.

I am Still Alive!!!

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:23:00 +0000

Oh my friends - thanks so much for hanging in here!! I was in DC last week, Asheville all weekend for a conference, and I leave for Atlanta in the morning. (Giving my Leadership Lessons of the Kings of Chocolate for a group of students in a leadership program - should be fun!) I've been too busy to do anything much less blog! My house is a mess and I am a bit overwhelmed. But things slow down a lot after this so I should be back full speed next week - don't give up on me!!

Also - get this - remember I told you the man I'm dating went to the CPA Awards Banquet with me? Well, a picture of us there ran in the CPA Magazine distributed to all the CPAs across the state! Toby Page - loyal friend and blog reader - sent me an e-mail immediately when she opened her copy. So the cat is out of the bag. I'm heaving a BIG sigh over this because I'm so afraid things will go bad.

But - all I can do is my best, right? And don't worry - I'll post the picture here soon. When I get braver.

Back to regular posting next week, I promise!!! And more chocolate!

Technology is Not Chocolate

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Hi Readers! I know - SLACK!! But I have what I consider a good excuse. I am currently in DC attending a American Society of Training and Development conference with 8000 other people (good God!). And before I came up here, I decided I should finally cave in and get a PDA. Yeah, yeah, I'm behind the times, whatever.

So I spent several hours Saturday securing one and struggling to set it up. Not that it's that hard - it's just different. The buttons seem really small to me. The track ball is a pain in the butt. I know I'll get used to it, but.....ugh.

I already see how people get addicted to these things and it is a little scary. When there's a second of downtime, instead of making small talk with the living humans sitting next to me, I whip out my new Blackberry. (Why no IPhone? I tried one in the store and it was way too hard to hit the right "keys". I have giant hands and that thing was a trip straight to hell.)

So I'm losing interaction with the people around me for the sake of checking my e-mail. Is this a good trade-off? I have to say I don't think so - it's not like every e-mail I get is someone wanting to hire me for a speaking engagement. Most of them are not important. Hell, most of them aren't trying to buy from me, they are trying to sell me something. But it's the way of the world, isn't it? I got the darn Blackberry so I would stay connected - to Tweet more (like the world really needs more Tweets) and to be more responsive to clients.

BUT I also got it so I could receive pictures from my hot new boyfriend! I could send him pics on my old phone, but I couldn't receive his. Well, guess what? I still can't get his pictures and now he can't get mine. GRRR! So that will be yet another time waster trying to figure that out. Ah - I long for the day when all this technology stuff will be seamless. I'll probably be dead by then, but I'll be smiling from beyond the grave.

No big chocolate news, although in the giant Expo here (nothing like Candy Expo, by the way - this is all training stuff - zzzzzzz) most of the vendors are using chocolate to lure attendees in. They aren't even bothering with other types of candy - well, a few are, but by and large the others have seen the light! Chocolate is irresistible. People will even endure the attentions of a sales person for free chocolate.

I also saw a session by Mars about how they are changing their corporate culture. It was lead by one of their high corporate HR people and an outside consultant and I felt like I was trapped in a Dilbert cartoon. No real world examples, but loads of jargon. I have an MBA and it totally hurt my brain. There was no free chocolate. I asked.

I'm off to sessions, but don't worry - I'll be back home and back to chocolate soon!! Keep the faith!

CPAs and Chocolate

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:01:00 +0000

Now you probably don't immediately think of chocolate when you think of CPAs. But you might want to change that.

Remember I told you I was thrilled to be the NC CPA Association's Speaker of the Year? Well, look at what they served at the awards banquet:

This Chocolate Pyramid is filled with an awesome creamy chocolate mousse:

My pictures don't do it justice, but it was AWESOME!! I really wanted to lick the plate, but I was a guest of honor, after all. I think licking the plate would really be a compliment to the chef and should be more socially acceptable. This was the best chocolate dessert I have ever had - no kidding! Lots of chocolate desserts are too rich, but this was perfect! I wish I had one right now.

And remember last week after Chicago, I went to Birmingham to speak at a women's conference for the Alabama CPA Association?

Well - look at what they gave me after I spoke:

Taking the chocolate top off, you get this:

And look at how cool these are:

Even the "paper" cups are chocolate!

I ate one of the turtles tonight and it was delicious. Turtles are really growing on me. (Although I'm still partial to Mama Laura's, these were damn good. They were covered in dark chocolate (rather than milk) with white drizzle. YUM!!!

Do I have the greatest job EVER or what?

And are CPAs WAY cooler than you thought?

Things are still good on the dating front - but it is hurting my blogging! Sorry readers! There are only so many hours in the day! This week he and I went to one of those Get Motivated seminars where the big names speak. (His idea - pretty impressive, huh?) I was thrilled to see Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell, and Zig Ziglar.

Rudy and Colin were masters - not taking themselves too seriously and making excellent points on leadership (and who better?). But I was sad to see Zig Ziglar. He suffered a fall not too long ago and now his daughter takes the stage and interviews him. Having seen him speak about 10 years ago, this was heart breaking.

It was great to see some of the world's best speakers - who better to learn from?

I learned from Zig yet again - this time it was that no one is at their best forever. There really is a time to walk away. I was reminded by Rudy of what 9/11 was like although I thought I would never forget. And Colin Powell reminds me of our best military leaders - those who put their lives on the line for us and expect nothing in return. Colin has given his life in service of the American people - how lucky are we?

So - CPAs have cool taste in chocolate and I've managed to keep dating the same guy for two months. The world is a wonderful and mysterious place.

Candy Expo and Snickers

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:10:00 +0000

I love Snickers - it really is one of my favorite candy bars. And at Candy Expo the newest Snickers was unveiled - Snickers Fudge. But while I'm going there, I also thought I'd throw in some other Snickers variations: almond, Transformers Snickers with yellow nougat, and Snickers Dark.

And of course, the autopsy:

Okay - the random weird yellow nougat one is new also. It tastes like a regular Snickers but the nougat is yellow as you can see. I guess if kids are really into Transformers this may seem cool and sell Snickers. I was intrigued but am unimpressed. Snickers Almond is good, can't complain here, but I like the regular Snickers better. Dark was my least favorite. I know dark chocolate is hot right now, but I prefer the milk chocolate on the Snickers Bar. After all, back in the day a special blend of flavors was created for the Snickers chocolate coating. I like it. I think it works best. Now, I realize I may be biased because I grew up with that flavor and am used to it BUT, here's the big news......

Snickers Fudge is fabulous!!!

(Isn't that beautiful?) Now this is a lot different than the regular Snickers. No caramel - instead fudge. And the nougat is peanut butter flavored. You've got to try this - it's really different and really good. It's also a limited edition so I don't know how long it will be around.

So what can we learn from Snickers?

Just because something is new or different doesn't mean it's better. But sometimes new and different IS better! So you have to keep an open mind and try new things AND AT THE SAME TIME, don't throw out something that has worked in the past just because it's been around for a while.

I think most of us tend to one of the two extremes. We think the newest is always the best or we only hang on to the tried and true. The challenge is to recognize your tendency and adjust for it. Again we're reminded how important it is to keep an open mind (and how hard it is to do!).

Did you ever think you'd learn a life lesson from Snickers?

Embrace change - try the Snickers Fudge!

Candy Expo Continued (Pieces v M & Ms)

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:59:00 +0000

Hi Gang! Sorry for the delay - when I left Chicago I had to head to Birmingham to give my Leadership Lessons from the Kings of Chocolate seminar and then get back to Raleigh and deal with the pile up. I'm still digging out. No rest for the gluttonous.

This is SOME of the candy I came home with covering my dining room table. Amazing, huh? When will I have time to review all this? How much weight can I avoid gaining? But...how lucky am I????

You should have seen me lugging all this through the airport - I already had one bag checked (at $15 each way that was a cool $45 for nothing). This bag of candy had to weigh over 50 lbs - it's a damn good thing I work out! As it was I lost the feeling in my fingers three times. Oh - I also had a bag with my laptop. I am clearly demented. (And stubborn as hell).

Okay - I just randomly took pictures on Wednesday - I figured they could come and get me if they wanted to, so here are some to give you a tiny idea of how cool these booths were:

How cool is all that???? I wish I had that Lindt bunny for my front yard. And not just for Easter.

The booths were all gorgeous, colorful and huge - with samples! Candy Expo is as close to Willie Wonka and the Oompa Loompas you can get.

Let's do some quick reviews:

I'd never tried these before, but now I have. And these are my thoughts - did Nestle Crunch really need to be any crispier? I don't think this adds anything to the original. (The original isn't one of my favs to start with, but this makes it less flavorful.) Same goes for Butterfinger - I mean it's already great and crispy as hell - it doesn't need any wafers. I prefer the originals of both of these bars.

But THIS is another matter entirely:

I like the Baby Ruth, but I LOVE the Baby Ruth Crisp. I think the Baby Ruth needed a little lighter touch. These are well worth trying. I actually went back to the booth to get more samples. WAY good.

Look at this great idea:

They already had Reese's Pieces, now Hershey's has added York Peppermint Patty Pieces, Almond Joy Pieces, and Special Dark Pieces. The York Pieces are fabulous (and I'm not even a huge mint fan), the Almond Joy Pieces are way better than the Coconut M & M's below, but I would rather just have an Almond Joy. And the Hershey's Special Dark Pieces are good. I don't have any Dark M & M's to compare them with, but they are a solid entry. Great ideas from Hershey.

Grab the York Pieces when they come out - I think you'll like them.

Mars isn't taking this innovation lying down! (Well, maybe lounging on a beach...)

Okay - these don't taste much like coconut at all. The Almond Joy Pieces were much better - they had some coconut texture - although they were too small to autopsy. And they tasted kind of like coconut. These taste like M & Ms. Maybe someone walked through the factory wearing a Hawaiian shirt. No coconut is listed in the ingredient list - the Almond Joy Pieces list both coconut and almonds.
Hmmmmm..........

Maybe Mars thinks if they SAY the M & M's taste like coconut, we'll BELIEVE they taste like coconut.....

I was so excited about these - strawberry and peanut butter M & Ms - YAY!!! What a great idea! How exciting! But they disappointed me. I found the strawberry gave them a weird aftertaste. Peanut Butter M & Ms are better (and I think Reese's Pieces are better than those!).

Candy Expo really was a blast!! As I review more of the candy I'll tell you more about some of the people. The candy was cool, but it was the people that really made it a great experience.

I'd also like to express my admiration and appreciation to anyone who has served in the military. My friends Katie and Wally come to mind - I am so proud of them and don't tell them nearly enough. Memorial Day is a great day to think of all those who serve, who have served, and who gave their lives for our country. Thank you!!!

Live from Chicago - It's Candy Expo!!

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Oh my God.

I am overwhelmed. I have never seen so much candy in one place in my life. My head is spinning and I have ingested enough chocolate for 10 people.

To give you an idea of how big Candy Expo is, the NCA (National Confectioners Association) press release says the Expo "encompasses nearly 10 football fields." Ten. Think how big ONE football field is. This is ten. Holy God.

Believe me, that is a lot of booths. I realized early on I was going to have to focus only on chocolate to have any chance of making it through. (Jonny and Matty I have failed you - but I do have all the scoop for next year. And Haribo had a tasting bar - like a Haribo buffet. I wept that you weren't there. We'll have to talk.)

I don't have pictures for you - they are weird about that, but I might try to take some tomorrow. Some of the booths are pretty amazing. All are colorful and gorgeous. And look how much candy I have:

Do you see that? It's amazing and disturbing all at the same time. How will I ever blog about it all? How will I make good on all the promises I made to get the samples? What if some of the nicest people have the worst candy? I do think I might have sold my soul to get candy today. Well at least part of my soul. Or maybe I just prostituted myself.

It's not that there weren't plenty of samples everywhere. It was that sometimes I really wanted the good stuff. And it's not like I'm a buyer. These people are there to make money, not deal with random motivational speakers who blog. What the hell is that about anyway? So sometimes I had to make promises. Basically I was charming people into giving me the good stuff. (Yep - I'm a chocolate 'ho.)

But let me tell you - overall - this was one great group. Master Chef Michael Antonorsi fixed me a cup of fabulous hot cocoa and sat down and talked with me about his philosophy of chocolate making! He was gracious and wonderful and brilliant and kind. The Mars representative for Seeds of Change - I will have to get her name tomorrow - gave me one of all of their full sized bars! That would be seven different flavors! We discussed distribution and positioning - it was cool! Erik Hemp and Kathleen Wells of Nestle hooked me up with their new product - Baby Ruth Crisp - which totally rocks!! You'll have to get your hands on one of these when they come out. I might have to go by and get more tomorrow. I am a sick, sick woman.

I also attended a blogger luncheon (thanks Carl and Susan) and an official Mars press conference. YAHOO!! At the press conference, they talked about their new chocolate relief act - where they are giving away free chocolate and are making all their products with real chocolate (not fake chocolate which is what's in so many candy bars today). Check out http://www.realchocolate.com/ to read more and find out about your free chocolate. It's really sad that we THINK we're getting chocolate, but some candy makers are substituting cheaper ingredients for the cocoa butter. Bastards!

All the M & M's were at the press conference (no Naked Cowboy in sight) and we all got cool give away bags with more candy. And get this!! M & M's are coming out with two new flavors - coconut and strawberry & peanut butter. They are in the bag and I'll be reviewing soon!

Snickers has a fudge bar - I also have and will be reviewing soon.

Nestle has cranberry Raisinets (although can they be Raisinets if they are cranberry?) Who cares - I'll be reviewing them also.

Dove Promises are now available in peanut butter! YUM!

Reese's Dark is coming out. Also York Peppermint Patty Pieces and Almond Joy Pieces and Hershey Special Dark Pieces. Also Hershey's Bliss will be out in white chocolate.

Tootsie Pops are out in banana - limited edition.

How cool is all of this? I also came across many companies I had never heard of. And I skipped over all the gum and snack and sour and all the other crazy candies. I snubbed Russell Stover and Palmer because you know how I feel about them. But I may go by tomorrow for the hell of it. If it wasn't chocolate, I didn't bother. It's just all too big!

I need to go through all the literature and business cards I picked up and try and put everything in some kind of order. I'll be at the Expo all day tomorrow, then I have to fly out to Alabama for a speech on Thursday. Thursday night I'll be flying back to Raleigh. So it may be a few days before I post again, but trust me, it will be worth the wait!

YAHOO!!!!

Chicago Architecture and Chocolate

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:22:00 +0000

Wow - today started off gorgeous weather wise - clear skies, warm - it was awesome! But by the time I got off the architectural cruise I was freezing my butt off! BRRR! I was thinking about doing an art deco architectural tour tonight, but I don't have the clothes for it. And, no I am not buying a winter coat. I already bought a Hershey sweatshirt I don't need - that's as far as I'm going.

Let me show you some of the shots from the cruise:

I took about a million more, but this is On Motivation and Chocolate not On Motivation and Architecture.

The cruise really was terrific and seeing the city from the river was very cool. If you come to Chicago - do one of these tours.

Also, I think it's a shame how much we miss of life. We really are blinded by ignorance. I had looked at many of these buildings while walking through the city, but I didn't SEE them. When our tour guide pointed out details or things that made the buildings special, I realized how vast my ignorance and how little I really saw. Knowledge really does give you an appreciation - of art, architecture, writing, people.

Let me give you an example. See these buildings?

Yeah, yeah more skyscrapers, whatever, right?

Well look closer:

This one is called Aqua - it's under construction. Look at the amazing balconies that undulate like water. A tribute to the river. It's also one of the tallest buildings in the world designed by a female architect. I would have never seen it. Now, it's all I see when I look at those buildings.

Keep learning - life is way more fascinating that way.

I did manage to visit another chocolate shop on my own (imagine that!). I don't think a chocolate lover can come to Chicago and not stop by:

And check this out from their website:

More than 85 years of Fannie May – The first Fannie May retail store was opened by H. Teller Archibald in 1920 at 11 N. LaSalle St. in Chicago. By 1935, there were nearly four dozen retail stores in Illinois and several neighboring states. During World War II, while other companies chose to change their recipes when ingredients were scarce, Fannie May stuck with its exact recipes, making only what it could which often meant closing shops early because no more candy was available - never was the taste of the candy compromised.

Well - we'll just see about that.

If I spent at least $40 I got a free 1 pound assortment, so of course I spend the $40. Did I mention earlier than I'm kind of cheap? And you already know I have a thing for chocolate.

I also have a thing for almonds:

Okay, I'm not going to lie. I was pretty skeptical about these. They were $16.99 for the one pound bag pictured here. Regular Jordan almonds are nowhere near that much. But these blow regular Jordan almonds out of the water (or maybe I should say out of the river as a tribute). The last bag of Jordan almonds I had were hard as rocks - these were perfect, you could tell the almonds were very fresh. Delicious. Well worth the extra cost. A++

I also bought a few loose pieces:

Two peanut butter buckeyes (one with white chocolate), a butter caramel, a butterscotch caramel, a milk praline, and a milk caramel present. All of these were really, really good. Now these are not crazy gourmet candies. There ain't no salt on these caramels, no weird spices, no talk of saving the Earth or organic sun drenched fields. These are good, solid all-American chocolates. I have to say I think they are better than See's, but not as good as Sarah's. After all - they are mass produced.

But I was very surprised at their quality. I'll report more when I break into the boxes, but right now, I have to say that Fannie May makes a damn fine chocolate and I hope they are around for a long, long time.

They also have a location right by where you board the cruise boats at the corner of Michigan and Wacker. So you can do two great things at once. (You are planning to do SOMETHING new and different after reading this, right?)

Tomorrow - CANDY EXPO!! I feel like a kid on the night before Christmas. WHEEE!!!

Chicago Chocolate Tour continued

deniseryan@firestarspeaking.com (Denise Ryan) — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:19:00 +0000

Whew! I got up this am and went to Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House - more on that later. It's another gorgeous day in Chicago - albeit a little chillier than yesterday. But the sun is shining and it is spectacular.

I do have to share with you the key they gave me at check-in:

And this was left in my room today:

Ha, ha, ha! I love Candy Expo already!!

Okay - back to the Chocolate Tour! After More Cupcakes, we went to my favorite place on the tour - Sarah's Pastries and Candies (http://www.sarahscandies.com/):

Sarah Levy is the second Saint in the Church of Chocolate (that would be my C of C - I can't speak for those other C of Cer's - they'll have to find their own Saints). Sarah is in her 20's and is selling her candies and pastries to Macy's! She has it together - and her stuff ROCKS!!! She also is incredibly nice and amazingly humble. She has great energy and enthusiasm and I know if any of you met her you would like her. I wish I lived in ChiTown so I could eat her chocolate all the time and hang out with her!

I love the quote she has on the back of her business card:

"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate." Katherine Hepburn

See how cool Sarah is?

She gave us samples of her chocolate delight: A delicious blend of milk chocolate, caramelized almonds, roasted pistachios and crispy rice. Can I just say "YUM!?" And her to die for brownies. The samples were so great, I had to buy a t-shirt, a box of chocolates, two cookies, and several more goodies. I say if you're going to go, go big!

Today I had her peanut butter square:

My only regret is that I didn't buy 4 or 5 hundred. These things are amazing. I don't know what the heck is in them, but there is something light and crunchy. Maybe some of that crispy rice? But they are also very peanut buttery. It's the perfect balance, because they are awesome, but not too heavy like most slabs of peanut butter would be. Ah.....

Then I tried her chocolate-almond toffee:

Also delicious. Sarah told me what she does differently is mix almonds in with the toffee as well as rolling the chocolate coated toffee in almonds. It really is fantastic. See why she is a C of C Saint? Sarah's confections are fantastic!!!!

As I try the rest of her stuff, I'll post more reviews.

From there we went to Lindt:

I love Lindt. I think their chocolate is smooth and creamy and fabulous. I love the way their stores are decorated (no fake flowers, lots of dark wood and shiny wrappers - love it!). Their sales people are nice and helpful. They have a frequent buyers program. I bought several things here which I will review in upcoming blogs. They gave us samples of their awesome white chocolate truffle with dark bits and a dark salted bar. Both delicious. Yay Lindt. (Boo teuscher again. Maybe I can start a Swiss war! Although that's not very C of C of me. But then again, there were all those Holy Wars.....hmmm....)

Crusades, anyone?

From there we went to Frango:

Now Frango used to be Marshall Field's signature candy, but Marshall Field's has been bought by Macy's. Frango is blobbed in with a lot of other chocolate brands here in Macy's candy department. And the Frango employees were completely lame. They gave us samples but acted like it was killing them. Actually one of the girls was okay but the other one was awful. I overheard her ask if she could go on break now. (Hello - how often does a chocolate tour come through, slack girl? Will working 15 more minutes kill you? I guess rolling your eyes and sighing IS pretty tiring.)

They gave us a sample of their famous mint and a new sea salt caramel:

Note the sea side box? Cute. I did buy a box of these because I am a sucker for the salt/caramel combo and these were pretty good. Not Chocolate Fetish good, but better than average. Frango also had some new flavors I would have liked to try - cherry almond, pomegranate pistachio - but I didn't want to buy a whole box. And it wasn't like Break Girl was helping me. Not many options, horrible customer service - look for Frango to disappear into candy history.

Our final stop was Argo Tea. Now, as usual, I was being judgemental and thinking this was a gyp. I didn't want tea, I wanted chocolate. And when we walked past Hershey and Ghirardelli stores to get there, I was even less happy. But, as usual, I was wrong. When will I learn to keep an open mind?

Here we sampled a double chocolate muffin (okay) and chocolate chai tea (fabulous). And doesn't this guy look like someone who should serve you chocolate chai tea?:

Ooops - there goes that judgemental thing!

The tour ended here and I, of course, headed straight to Hershey. The adventure picks up there tomorrow!! Big thanks to Valerie Beck and Heidi Holladay of Chicago Chocolate Tours for a great adventure!