1001 Reasons to Love Chocolate
 

New book tempts chocolate lovers

By Beverly J. Lydick/Tribune Staff
With a botanical name that translates to "food of the gods," it's not as though chocolate (a.ka. Theobroma cacao) needs help in winning over consumers.

But to make the decision easier to dive headlong into a box of bonbons, former Fremonter and author Barbara Albright has written a new book called "1,001 Reasons to Love Chocolate."

The 317-page volume, co-authored by Mary Tiegreen, is loaded with vintage, black and white photographs as well as glossy, full-color shots guaranteed to make the mouth water — when the reader isn't laughing at the text.

Take, for example, the 258th justification to love chocolate — "As a reward for having your teeth cleaned."

Or No. 447 — "It melts in your hand, so you have some left for later."

Or No. 263 — "Having chocolate doesn't keep your neighbors awake."

Or No. 984 — "In the beginning, the Lord created chocolate, and he saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the dark, and it was better."

In a telephone interview Wednesday with the Fremont Tribune, Albright, now a food writer, cookbook author and knitting and craft designer living in Connecticut, recalled her experiences selling chocolate while employed at Miller Pharmacy North as a teen.

Russell Stover chocolates were the candy of choice and Albright and fellow employee Virgil Ipson informally tracked the numbers of customers who chose light or dark chocolates as their favorite.

A 1973 Fremont High School alum, Albright graduated with a degree in food nutrition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1977. While at UNL, she complied her first culinary collection, the Chi Omega Mother-Daughter Cookbook.

Was it a best seller?

"It was — with the Chi Omegas," she says.

Her latest effort should reach an even bigger audience.

According to "1,001 Reasons," 52 percent of American men and women choose chocolate as their favorite flavor for desserts and sweet snacks, and chocolate is the No. 1 food craved by women.

It's a favorite ingredient in the culinary world, too.

"Chocolate is really versatile," said Albright, former editor-in-chief of Chocolatier magazine. "You can use it in candy, puddings, cookies, cakes. It's amazing."

To compile all those excuses to enjoy chocolate, Albright e-mailed her friends for their input. Most contributors remain anonymous except for celebrities like author Judith Viorst who says, "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands — and then eat just one of the pieces."

As for her own personal favorites, Albright named chocolates by Valrhona of France, and Lindt, a Europe-wide chocolatier which originated in Switzerland, as the best of the best.

"But it's really whatever appeals to me at the time," she said. "Sometimes, M&Ms are the only chocolate that will do."

"1,001 Reasons to Love Chocolate" is available through http://www.amazon.com .

There is only one reason needed to love chocolate: its chocolate. :D

Yum! Chocolate !!!!

Chocolate should be a food group!



My favorite line is ,"Back away from the chocloate and no one will get hurt!"

Dark chocolate is also good for you! Having a one ounce serving each day provides the eater with the trace amount of copper suggested in the RDA. :)

~ShyViolet

The worst of days can improve with the right amount of chocolate!

Derby Pie -- my fav!
 

Derby Pie


Categories: Pies
serves: 1 pie

4 whole eggs
3/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 T bourbon
3/4 c white corn syrup
1 stick butter, melted
1 T. flour
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. chocolate chips

Beat eggs. Add next 7 ingredients to eggs. Place pecans and ch. chips in a 10 inch pie shell. pour filling over. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 mins.

Re: 1001 Reasons to Love Chocolate
 

I think I read somewhere that chocolate releases the same hormones in your body that sex does.

Heres something from an old email I got from some friends.


15 Reasons Why Choclate Is Better Than Sex


1.You can GET chocolate.

2.Chocolate satisfies even when it has gone soft.

3.You can safely have chocolate while you are driving.

4.You can make chocolate last as long as you want it to.

5.You can have chocolate even in front of your mother.

6.Two people of the same sex can have chocolate without being called nasty names.

7.The word "commitment" doesn't scare off chocolate.

8.You can have chocolate on top of your workbench/desk during working hours without upsetting your work mates.

9.You can ask a stranger for chocolate without getting your face slapped.

10.With chocolate there's no need to fake it.

11.You can have chocolate at any time of the month.

12.You can have as many kinds of chocolate as you can handle.

13.You are never too young or too old for chocolate.

14.When you have chocolate it does not keep your neighbors awake

15.With chocolate size doesn't matter; it's always good

I am eating chocolate right now. We received a box containing two pounds of chocolate: chocolate with caramel and double chocolate. Great stuff! :)

Chocolate is a "Seratonin Uptake Inhibitor" so it makes you sleepy in addition to giving you a feeling of well-being.

*YAWN* Now you tell me, lol! I had no idea that chocolate is the over the counter version of Prozac. All I know is it makes me happy.

I think that you mean "Seratonin reuptake inhibitor," and not all SRIs make everyone sleepy. Chocolate has never made me sleepy.

Gracious! All drugs affect people differently. We have to remember that chocolate also has caffeine in it.

I don't need 1001 reasons to love chocolate!