Alas Poor Ginger, Wherefore Art Thou: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Ginger

I’ve never reviewed a chocolate bar before and I will, furthermore, confess a shameful love for plain Hershey’s bars that dates back to the time my grandmother was first left with me unattended and violated my mother’s up-to-that-point successful “no candy” policy.

However, the Stonewall Kitchens Dark Chocolate Chili Cinnamon and Nibs bar is a very far thing from that Hershey’s bar. It is dark as a stormy night, but carries a surprising amount of heat (of the various chili-augmented chocolate bars I’ve tried, it is the most fiery.) The darkness is a mellow one, developing a deliciously unctuous mouth feel. This is a nibbling bar, to be savored, bit by bit, each time edging up to almost too spicy and then backing away at the last moment.

My only nitpick with the chocolate bar overall would be that the cocoa nibs add texture, but I’m not sure I found them necessary. They seemed more like dry little distractions from the chocolate experience.

The ingredient list is substantially shorter and freer of long chemical names than that Hershey bar: dark chocolate, cocoa nibs, chipotle chili pepper powder, cinnamon powder, and cinnamon bark oil adding up to 440 calories for the three-ounce bar. Definitely a bar that I’d buy again if the opportunity presented itself, and it makes me curious to try their other products.

You can read this review at http://thegreenmanreview.com/food-and-drink/stonewall-kitchen-dark-chocolate-chili-cinnamon-and-nibs-bar/

One of the things I’ve been doing this month is cooking more in an attempt to wean Chez Rambo away from a too heavy reliance on eating out. The other day I made us eggnog French toast for breakfast (take your basic French toast recipe and swap in eggnog for the milk, add a little cinnamon and fresh nutmeg) and with it, a hearty helping of fake bacon.

The bacon was…less than good. I took the leftover bits and figured I’d amp them up a bit to add to a bag of baby spinach and see what I could do, salad wise. I crumbled the bacon and cubed some stale bread, then sauteed all of it in a mixture of half butter, half hot chili oil (maybe a tablespoon of each) until they were brown, and ground some fresh pepper over them while I was doing that.

The baby spinach got dumped into a bowl and combined with some chopped up apples and some thinly sliced jicama. I tossed the mix with a dressing made of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a little yogurt, and a pinch of brown sugar, then added some quartered hardboiled eggs. Threw the crouton/bacon bit mix over the top and voila. Huge salad, devoured quickly. This actually might be the best salad I’ve ever made, so I’m sorry not to have been more precise about how I measured the ingredients. This is my new salad theory: some greenery (preferably spinach, because I love it), some reasonably crunchy vegetable, chopped fruit (try for tart rather than too sweet), and balsamic vinagrette. Spicy croutons optional.

Last night: fettucini with a vodka and smoked salmon sauce, another big spinach salad, and roasted acorn squash. Tonight? I’ve got a turkey breast thawing, with yet another salad, and sweet potatoes on the side.