ACK! Chocolate! (In Which I Channel Cathy)

I don't like chocolate.

I know, I know, I'm a freak. Who doesn't like chocolate?! I guess I'm lying, anyway, because I like chocolate when I'm eating it, but never in my life have I had a craving for it, which seems to be A Thing with other people. When I stand at the ice cream counter, I never think "ROCKY ROAD!" (butter pecan, please), & when I cut into a birthday cake, I'm always crossing my fingers that it's funfetti instead of the brown stuff.

All this in mind, I was skeptical when Ghirardelli contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in sampling their new milk chocolate line, Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk™ - but even I know that one should never turn down free chocolates. I'm gonna be honest with you: I had planned on taste-testing a little bit of the chocolates & then hosting a giveaway to send the rest of it, to one of you, but... Nathan & I ate it all. Six bars of chocolate over the course of two weeks. We ate it all.

I was sent two bars each of Sea Salt Escape, Coconut Rendezvous, and Creamy Devotion; the first two are self-explanatory, the third is 32% cacao milk chocolate. Keeping in mind that I'm not a huge chocolate fan, we started with the first two & avoided the last like the plague. Nathan dubbed the Sea Salt Escape (which also has almonds in it) a "Dr. Greatbar," i.e. an upgraded Mr. Goodbar. I hoarded the second Dr. Greatbar in my office in an attempt to keep it all for myself, but he tracked it down! My second-favorite was the Coconut Rendezvous, which tasted like the beach but not like sunscreen, as coconut-flavored things so often do. I even enjoyed the Creamy Devotion, though I left most of these to Nathan, as I was less enticed by straight-up chocolate than I was by delicious add-ins like sea salt & coconut.

A new study finds that chocolate-eaters may be happier than the average bear, which leads me to believe that perhaps I should be eating more of it. Then again, the same survey says people who eat lots of chocolate are marginally more likely to be employed than those who don't eat chocolate, so I'm doubting the validity of these findings. (See also: Unemployed people probably cannot afford Ghirardelli.)

Anyway. My point is that this chocolate is delicious. Unfortunately, Ghirardelli chocolate is not certified fair-trade, though their Supplier Code of Conduct states that "Ghirardelli requires all suppliers to certify their compliance with our Supplier Code of Conduct, including the provisions barring the use of forced labor, slavery or human trafficking." I feel slightly more comfortable buying from certified free-trade companies, but this is, at least, a reassurance that my new chocolate habit is not also killing kids.

I know. I always end things on such an uplifting note.

*Disclaimer: Ghirardelli provided me with free samples of their Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk™ line. I was not compensated in any other way, nor required to tell you I loved this chocolate. I just did. In other words, all views are my own.