BlakeMakes Dulce & Tcho Chocolate
Oh, internet. It's college basketball time, and that usually means I'm ignoring you. But with St. Mary's, Gonzaga and Drake losing today, and with UConn currently trailing, I just don't have the emotional ability to handle watching it right now. (Just so everyone knows, I only lost two teams out of my bracket yesterday, and 14/16 right ain't half bad. But today, today is another story.)
Instead of telling you about how awesome basketball is, I'm going to tell you why you should be jealous of me. And the reason you should be jealous of me today is because I recently discovered BlakeMakes.com, and you probably haven't. And since you haven't discovered it until today, you haven't eaten any of his Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche, and you haven't had any free Tcho chocolate.
Since I discovered him already, I have done both. THAT is why you are jealous of me.
First of all, the food blogosphere is currently blowing up about him, so it's not like I'm the first to promote him. Google around and you'll find entirely too many of us swooning. The real beauty is in the recipes he posts - the extra bonus is the fact that there are food giveaways.
I first found him through twitter - or, to be more appropriate, he found me. He added me as a friend, and I added him back. When I posted my valentine's day menu, including peanut butter ice cream, he asked me if I had heard about the Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche that he had been giving away free samples of. No, I hadn't, but I was about to. I was lucky (read as: obsessive) enough to have a fast mouse button on a day that he was giving away mini samples. Shortly, a little white box containing a little glass jar came to me.
All I can say is that Blake got it right. It is delicious. And it has to come along with a short confessional disclaimer: I don't really like peanut butter.
There, I said it. I just don't. Reese's are okay. I throw down the occasional bag of peanut butter M&M's when they call out to me from a vending machine. I ate peanut butter sandwiches as a kid. But really, I can take it or leave it. Peanut butter sandwiches make my mouth feel all funny, which is why I dipped them in milk when I was little. (Toast the peanut butter sandwich, grab a cup of milk. Feel seven. Thank me later.) My husband LOVES peanut butter, and I LOVE chocolate. This means we don't compete for one another's desserts - which is for the best, because I'm bigger, but he's scrappy. It also means we don't like the same things, ever.
This dulce is different. It's just peanut butter-y enough, you know? It's not knocking you in the face with peanut butter. It is enough for those of you who love it, but it is also a perfect amount for people who are sort of apathetic. It is pleasing without being overly sweet, and it has this smooth texture with just a little bit of grit to let you know that it was handmade with love. It is amazing, and when he decides to start selling it, I'll be keeping a jar on hand at all times. It will make a fabulous addition to anything you want to eat, ever. I'm just saying, it's a good thing that Bridget already snatched him up, because the competition for a man who sends you jars of this would not be a pretty one.
The other contest I was lucky enough (again, obsessive) to win was for Tcho chocolate. People, I'm really serious about my chocolate. My former roommate turned me on to Scharffen Berger and I have never looked back. I made my mother drive me 25 miles to buy a bar when I was in Kansas City because I was making chocolate mousse and I COULD NOT make it with anything else. Do not. stand. between. me. and. chocolate.
Blake suggested eating it with a tall, cold glass of milk, so I did. Hey, when someone is responsible for getting you free chocolate, you do what they tell you to do. First of all, I'm a designer, so let's chat about the packaging. It's brilliant. I agree with Blake - I would buy anything that came in packaging like this. There were three cards with it describing the Tcho philosophy of chocolate, which you can read about at their website.
This is the perfect chocolate for my hot chocolate obsession of 2006. Tcho is definitely one to watch - they're "beta testing" their chocolate now to keep tweaking it, and I think that's a fascinating process. In a world where we're so concerned with carefully guarding recipes and formulas, Tcho wants to make the consumer a part of their product, and we're all the better for it. Go support them, buy a bar, and thank me later.
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