Happy Half-Price Chocolate Day!

Today is one of my favorite holidays — Happy half-price chocolate day!

I’m only partially joking. The benefits of chocolate are well known —

lowers cholesterol levels
prevents cognitive decline
reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems

Not to mention tastes good.

The problem with Half Price Chocolate Day in the US is that it features American chocolates which are, in a word, awful. They have a burnt-milk flavor and are overly sweet. I am not a world traveler, but I have had good chocolate. Lindt chocolates are pretty good, although aficionados don’t like them so well, calling them bitter. I have had very good Belgian chocolate, and I have had American artisan chocolates (with Burdick being one of my favorites), which are nothing like mass market chocolate. Yet I will sometimes eat American chocolate, especially if it’s half-price.

I would love it if one of you from overseas would email me some good chocolate!

National X Day

Today is National Dark Chocolate Day. Oh no! I have no dark chocolate in the house! I must go out and buy some!

According to this article, all those “National X days” are created by industries in order for us to buy more. Which doesn’t explain National Cat Day because there isn’t a big rush to buy purebred cats on that day. (I am convinced that National Cat Day (October 29) was invented by cats to get more treats, though.)

But do people actually go out and buy ice cream on National Ice Cream Day (July 18), or pickles on National Pickle Day (November 14), or avocados on National Avocado Day (July 31)? According to the above article, they do.

(Right now, my cats are trying to convince me that National Cat Day is every day, and that International Cat Day (August 8) is also every day and they get double treats).

Every morning, my husband announces the National Day of the day, which is how I know that today is National Dark Chocolate Day (today). I don’t really care if I’m being sold to; I just have fun hearing how ludicrous some of the candidates can be.

I’m not sure what behavior the keepers of the National Day Calendar are trying to support with National Grab Some Nuts Day (August 3), however.

Thinking of chocolate.

Today in Maryville,MO, the First Presbyterian Church holds its Nth annual Chocolate Festival. Consisting of two parts — the chocolate dessert bar and the take-home chocolatey cookie and candy bazaar — it’s an opportunity to treat oneself to a pre-Valentine’s Day indulgence.

Chocolate has become synonymous with Valentine’s Day in the US (So has Halloween, but Halloween candy isn’t GOOD chocolate). Probably because in the lab, chocolate consumption has been linked to oxytocin secretion by the body, and oxytocin is the cuddle chemical. The jury is out on whether you can bribe someone to love you by giving them chocolate, however. (Note, you can also get oxytocin by hugging a friend, an animal, or even a stuffed sloth.)

I prefer my chocolates at the extremes — very bittersweet dark chocolate and white “chocolate”, that cocoa butter confection that just melts. Mass-produced American chocolate leaves me cold; Belgian and Swiss chocolate make me very happy. Chocolate caramel, chocolate truffles, chocolate-coated marzipan … but not chocolate-covered raisins or gummies. My favorite chocolatier in the US is L. A. Burdick, but I can’t afford their chocolate (well, I could, for a treat. However, I can’t afford their shipping.) They produce their chocolates with imaginative fillings that vary with the seasons and holidays. They just got done producing their Lunar New Year Asian-inspired chocolate palette; now they’re in the middle of Valentine’s season now.

I’m looking forward to the Chocolate Festival today. Don’t tell anyone, but I actually like caramel better than chocolate, and my favorite dessert at the festival tends to be the chocolate pecan pie bars. This doesn’t mean that I won’t eat good chocolate when it’s shown to me.