Your Guide to being a Chocoholic for Chocolate Day

This will surprise many of you and perhaps should have been a part of my Random Things post, but I don’t like chocolate. No chocolate cake or brownies for me. Yuck! But considering it is National Chocolate Day I figured it was important for all of you chocolate lovers out there to indulge in high-quality chocolate heaven. No vending machine chocolate on Chocolate Day! Learn to pick out the best for your sweet tooth.

Get that melt-in-your-mouth feeling by using your 5 senses:

• Select a chocolate that is free of blemishes and has a glossy surface. Your eyes know best!
• Hold your chosen piece and break it into pieces. Listen for the “snap” sound that should come with a quality piece. Crumbles indicate low quality or old chocolate.
• Make sure that there is an overwhelming smell of chocolate and not any added ingredients like hazelnut of vanilla. Chocolate should be the main star and shouldn’t be outdone by any additions or environmental scents.
• And, at long last, taste your chocolate! Take note of the taste sensations and if any textures feel off such as denseness, waxiness or sandiness. In general, high quality chocolate is velvety and smooth.

Cocoa, the base of chocolate goodness, does have some health benefits by being antioxidant rich and full of flavonoids. The decadent treat may help protect your cardiovascular system, but these perks only come from the less processed chocolate bars which is another reason to choose a decadently delicious piece.

Before you go into a chocolate induced coma, remember that is chocolate day not chocolate year. When adding the commonly favorite sweet treat to your diet be sure to use moderation. Try eating a half piece and enjoying the rest at a later time or freeze your portioned pieces for dessert. Better yet, get the flavor of chocolate by adding some cocoa powder to your oatmeal or in topping chocolate nibs on your Greek yogurt so you can enjoy the taste without loads of additional calories.

When you finally come across the perfect piece of chocolate you don’t want to have it all in one go! Watch this video from Clay Gordon, the author of Discover Chocolate, for more tasty tips.

Photo 1 courtesy of Suat Eman via FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Photo 2 courtesy of Arvind Balaraman via FreeDigitalPhotos.net