More Holiday Fun

Someone asked how my family celebrates Chinese New Year. All I could think to say was "we eat."

And eat we did. Eight courses, home cooked on New Year's Eve, each representing something good and tasty. True to my peasant roots, I adored the rice dish and chicken soup, though I did not by any means ignore the crispy pork, black bean clams, salmon, drunken chicken and veggie dishes. And I certainly wasn't too full to partake in the soft serve that appeared for dessert.

And then onto New Year's Day which I may as well re-name "A Day Devoted to Chocolate."

Vosges Black Pearl Exotic Candy Bar
Wow. Though I'd been hearing raves about this bar for months, I was still skeptical based upon the description. Dark chocolate with ginger, wasabi and black sesame. Not exactly traditional chocolate flavors. But the thing is, the chocolate is shiny and dark and has a lovely snappiness to it. And the flavors work together, really, really well. So well, that I almost didn't make it to my next chocolate sample which were truffles from...

Fleur de Cocoa
Pink peppercorn + chocolate ganache = inspired. Not that the others weren't lovely too, but this one was exceptional. And then to a more everyday snack courtesy of...

Trader Joe's Figments
Happily, these aren't figments of my imagination. Rather, they're fig pieces covered in chocolate. Two of my favorite sweets, rolled, if you will, into one. Yum.