Peanut Butter can Glue Your Heart Back Together

Ah - guess what, my beloved readers? Yours truly is back on the market. Yes, I somehow managed to pick yet another man who wants to "keep his options open". Now mind you, he still wants to see me - just wants to see other women too. Um - no.

Yoowee! I sure can pick 'em!! Well - let's just thank goodness I didn't make him famous by putting pics of him on this blog! And at least this didn't waste as much of my time as the Afghanistan Affair. The truth is, it never felt right. That had to be obvious to you all. If things were great, my guy would want pictures of us plastered all over the 'Net. He would be thrilled to be seen with me. I just never felt sure enough to do it. The ol' gut never lies, even when we don't listen to it.

You know what this is going to mean, dear readers? Drum roll please!!!!

More horrifying dating stories!!!!

And if any of you know any solid single guys, just let me know. ; )

Don't worry about me - I'm actually okay with this. Things never felt right, and I'm pretty sure he's been less than honest with me about a lot of things, so it's okay. I think karma gets those people in the end. At least I didn't send him a bunch of care packages! (Although I did book a weekend stay at the beach this weekend for his b-day.) But I'll have a blast without him. I might even meet someone there - who knows? Oh - he did say he knew this was a bad time with my hip and all, but.....

Hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

Okay, well that was something in a great exterior that turned out to be a nightmare on the interior. Here's something that has a terrible exterior, but turns out to be pretty damn good!

Hee, hee - thank goodness someone put that yellow price sticker on there - we might have no idea how much this was!

I saw this and thought - "Oh boy - this is going to be horrible!! I so can't wait to blog about it!"

When I opened it, I thought:

Oh yeah - look at that - flooring! That looks pretty industrial doesn't it?

I'm thinking - "Ew - oh man - this is gonna be so bad it will be so fun to write about!!!"

You know what? It was pretty good!! I know - I'm scaring myself. It's made by Palmer, and you know I usually despise Palmer Chocolate. I'm sure the bottom layer is mockolate, but peanut butter is ingredient number four - and this tastes pretty good! It's no Reese's, but it's a real surprise. For two bucks it's one helluva big bar and I like it!

(Chocolate snobs are gasping in horror at this, but who cares.)

When will I learn not to judge a book by its cover? At the end of the day, it's the inside that counts.

Chocolate Salt Water Taffy and Dreams

I totally got beach fever last week and took off Friday and drove to the Outer Banks like someone was chasing me. Hey, it's the summer - what can I say? And I'm sooo lucky to live in such a gorgeous state!!

I got to spend a few hours on the beach until a thunderstorm rolled in. When that happened I did the obvious - went shopping. And, of course, for me, shopping means checking out the candy. And what candy represents the beach more than salt water taffy?

Now the store I stopped in was packed and this stuff was flying off the shelves. Yahoo! This taffy is made by http://www.forbescandies.com/ another small candy maker based in Virginia Beach, VA. They say this taffy is full of "sea breeze and sunshine." Yeah and glucose, sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oil. But what the hell.

I also got some salt water taffy at Candy Expo from Sweet's. Sweet's makes those chocolate covered cinnamon gummy bears I didn't love. But hey, they are in the Salt Water Taffy game:

Apparently the sail boat as candy window is vital in the packaging of salt water taffy.

I am going on an assortment rant. I have done this before and I feel certain I will do this again. In the store there were bins of the different flavors. Two of the flavors were peanut butter and cherry chocolate (yum!). Did I get any of those in my assortment? Oh no. I got 12 orange, 12 vanilla, 13 of a flavor I cannot for the life of me identify - some fruit thing, 8 licorice, 6 grape, 6 chocolate, 2 lime, 3 blue raspberry (glaack), 2 banana, 3 peppermint, 1 cinnamon. Next time I'm just going to buy two pieces of taffy - peanut butter and cherry chocolate. The rest of these suck.

Okay, I'm being too hard on them, but I think a Tootsie Roll is 10,000 times better than these chocolate taffy blobs.

Why can't assortments be more assorted? Why do you get 12 orange and no peanut butter? The Sweet's assortment was no better. I got 1 juicy pear and 12 chocolate (although I was okay with that). They also have Neapolitan - good, and peach - horrifying.

And look at these from Forbes:

I thought maybe one was just a poorly colored grape taffy. Oh no - that truly ugly color is licorice. And apparently one flavor is just shoved in after another - I saw many weird combos like the mutant in the upper right. Taffy scares me.

Except for Sweetime's Valentine's Day assortment, which I could eat that until my teeth fell out, I can live without taffy. The Tootsie Roll still reigns in the low-fat-not-chocolate-chew department.

But I didn't go to the Outer Banks for the candy. Every time I go, I have to stop by the Wright Brother's Memorial in Kitty Hawk:

I LOVE this monument. It is absolutely gorgeous, is art deco, and rests on a base in the shape of a star. But best of all is the quote carved on the base of the wing:

"Conceived by genius, achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith."

What audacity the Wright Brothers had - how brilliant they were. And how they changed the world as we know it. This is sacred ground in my book and it always takes my breath away to stand on it.

What could the rest of us achieve if we had dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith? To what heights could we fly?

This summer - if you go to the beach - eat some taffy and dream some big dreams. That's what summer's for.

Chocolate The Exhibition

Chocolate the Exhibition originated at The Field Museum in Chicago and is now right here in Raleigh, NC! I was so excited to see it! Here I am at the entrance with a bagful of purchases - one of which is a sign that says "Will Work for Chocolate."

Here's the entrance:

Well, that's pretty much the highlight of the exhibition. I mean, except for the gift shop.

Okay, I'm jaded. I've been to Hershey's Museum and Chocolate World. I've see the chocolate fountain at the Bellagio. I've toured chocolate factories. I've watched chocolate videos. This just wasn't all that. Maybe my hopes were just too high.

But the NC Museum of Natural Science has some educational events around the exhibition, and I went to one last week. It featured local chocolatier Hallot Parson of Escazu. I'd been into Escazu - it's a tiny shop which seems geared more to catering than to the random walk-in customer. No problem, I'm a die hard capitalist and want these small chocolatiers to make money.

Now you all know how much I love chocolate and how excited I get when I meet cool chocolate people. I loved watching them make the bourbon cherries in Kentucky, had a blast at Just Born in PA, and adored the tour of A Chocolate Fetish in Asheville. (And you know about my crush on Chuao Chocolatier Master Chef Michael Antonorsi.) Hallot Parson is a serious buzz kill.

I was so bummed when I stopped by the shop and tried to get him to talk about his chocolates. Ho. Hum. He was SO serious. I thought maybe I was keeping him from some important task - like saving the free world. I chalked it up to him having a bad day.

Well, Hallot is just like that. His presentation was interesting but he sucked all the joy out of the room. The auditorium was crowded, by the way. Crowded with chocolate lovers just waiting to laugh and have fun and learn. Not with Hallot. He's the most dour chocolate maker I have yet to meet. He didn't smile once - not even in the slides he showed us of him at the cacao plantation. Is this allowed? Shouldn't the fumes alone keep a chocolate maker in a perpetual state of bliss? Apparently not. I don't think Hallot would be fun to hang out with. All the other chocolatiers are the opposite - I would love to be able to pop in their shops and buy what's new and just bask in their coolness. Hallot is more like an Ooompa Loompa than a Willie Wonka. Bummer.

They do have a great logo:

And some lovely chocolates (although I think their bars are really where the action is). They have a sea salt bar that's terrific. But check these out:

I got these on a very hot summer day, so the bloom on the diamond shaped piece was unavoidable. The bad part is that because Hallot was such a grouch, I can't even remember what all these are. He was no fun to pick them out with - and they were not cheap.

The flat disk is a very thin delicious dark chocolate, but whatever is on top left an aftertaste like dirt. Ugh. Not so good.

The diamond was okay - it didn't blow me away, but it was good.

The tiger stripe brown dome was bad - I'm not sure if something happened with the heat. It reminded me of that horrible blue cheese Vosges truffle.

The small yellowish one has cool Aztec-inspired design work and was good, although it's white chocolate. I wish I had more details as I know there were some interesting flavors I couldn't quite identify. I love it when the boxes have identification or the chocolate shop employees fill out a card for you. I wasn't about to ask Hallot to do anything like that.

I really liked the gorgeous Easter egg truffle:

Not only is it visually breathtaking - look at those delicious layers of chocolate - white, milk, ganache. This was a true work of art - both visual and culinary - delicious!!

The personalities of chocolate are fascinating!! Tomorrow we'll meet Fritz Knipschildt - festive but egotistical. WHEEE!!!

The Internet Ate My Baby

I wasted an entire day today.

I did not intend to waste an entire day - it just got away from me, like a fish slipping off the hook. Gone - never to return.

I started off strong - did my 5 mile walk with my buddy Kristina who I hardly ever see - multitasking - good! Then I took a shower and had a couple of hours before meeting another buddy for lunch. I posted a blog entry, screwed around on Facebook (no - I was not taking quizzes, just responding to people, etc.). I took pictures of some chocolate I want to blog about. Before I knew it, it was time to go to lunch. After lunch I dropped off some newsletters to a client - boom - it was 3:00 and zip, zero, nothing done.

Instead of bearing down and getting some stuff done, what do I do?

I decide I need some motivation - I need something to look forward to - I need to get my game back - I need to plan a big trip! Screw the recession and the hip! (I've already got a cool $1,500 in medical bills, why stop spending now?) The Internet sucked me in like a black hole. I considered the Caribbean - I love the sun and the water and scuba diving. But I get bored so fast.....

So I searched chocolate travel and I found some cool options, but not reasonable. One of the Cruise Lines has a chocolate cruise, but it's $4,000 a person. And I usually don't like being trapped on a boat. There's a company that does a cool trip to Belgium, but you have to have a group. I finally decided I might go to San Francisco - there's a lot of chocolate there (Michael Recchiuti, Richart San Francisco, TCHO, Charles Chocolates, and, of course, http://www.ghirardelli.com/) and stay in Monterey. I've never been out that way and hear it's gorgeous.

Oh - add to the complication of my planning that I want to do this around Christmas. I always have to have a plan for Christmas - that is the one holiday I totally run from. Sitting alone looking at the ocean in Monterey I can handle, sitting alone in my townhouse is awful. Plus this is a great time of year to travel because business is dead and few places are crowded. Ho, ho, ho!

That's it! That was my day. I'd like to say I was abducted by aliens, but that would be a lie. I was unfocused and undisciplined. Don't worry, I'll get back on track tomorrow and I know not to beat myself up too much and that it's okay to have an off day once in a while, blah, blah, blah. But, if you are like me, you've had a day like this. And if you're like me, you weren't happy with it either.

Here's the best way I know to get back on track:

1.) I have a list of the things I have to get done tomorrow. I will finish the list before looking at Facebook or anything else.

2.) I don't have much of a routine, but the morning workout thing threw me - usually I just head into the office and start working. This works best for me. Know what works best for you - I need to be working when I'm most focused.

3.) Know what will have the most impact on your goals. I love writing this blog, but it's not as important as getting work done for a potential client - it's just more fun! I need to do keep my eye on the goal.

4.) Repair the damage. I'll feel better if I get a lot done tomorrow. Maybe I should unplug my computer.

Anybody want to go to San Francisco?

Nabisco is My Dealer

Hi Gang! I hope everybody had a great weekend!! The good news is that the hip seems to be a good bit better. I actually did a seven mile walk yesterday AND could sleep that night (no aches). Whoowee - maybe I can buy some time before the evil surgery. Thanks again for all the well wishes. Still seeing the hot BF, still scared to death I'll jinx it if I plaster pictures all over the Internet. What can I say? I'm a weirdo. I'm sure I'll relax after a year or two.

So many things to blog about, so little time!! I have to say I'm completely astounded by previews I've recently seen for two new televisions series - one is called Toddlers in Tiaras about those kids who do beauty pageants. I'm sorry - that's just so creepy - those sexy outfits, all that makeup and big hair on babies - ew. And if that's not bad enough - there's another one about women who didn't know they were pregnant until the baby came out. Okay - what??? There are enough of these women to make a SERIES? Who will watch this? And is pregnancy something you can really not notice?

Obviously our culture is completely in ruins.

But this blog is a bastion of culture! In fact, let's quote some ancient wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 NIV) "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." I've quoted this before, I'm sure I'll quote it again. This time it's because:

Yeah, Nabisco's already on the whole peanut butter thing. So much for my great idea. HOWEVER, I do think these would be better if they were all peanut butter - like the Nutter Butter. But don't get me wrong, these are damn good. In fact, they knocked the double chocolate off the top of the list.

Seeing how clueless I am, I decided I should take a more serious look at the cookie aisle. I generally stay of of that aisle - too dangerous. I can resist chocolate, but cookies and cakes own me. Some people have meth, I have Swiss Cake Rolls. And look what I found! I didn't even know these existed!! How have I lived without this knowledge? (I feel like I just delivered a baby and didn't even know I was pregnant!)

It's a boy!!!

Isn't that beautiful? And they are double stuf! (Why double stuf has one f is a mystery to me, by the way.) Now I was skeptical, I really didn't think these would be all that. Well, I was wrong again! These are fantastic!! Dangerously fantastic.

Once again, ancient wisdom - don't assume you won't like something - try it!! Keep an open mind. As soon as you start thinking you have all the answers, the cookie aisle will surprise you. And somewhere, someone is always working on a new cookie. What could be more glorious than that? (Maybe if somewhere, someone would stop working on a new TV series.)

Have a great week!

Let Them Eat Cakesters

First of all - a big thanks to all my buddies who called and told me they would be there if I needed them during the hip surgery - you guys are THE BEST! Seriously, I just can't tell you how very, very much you all mean to me.

Next - got the steroid shot yesterday. Um....can I say - ouch? Ouch not in a shot like way - they give you a numbing shot first, and that just feels like a regular shot - no big deal. It's the next one that's the kicker. Basically the Doc jams a big ol' needle into your hip joint (about 4 inches over from the groin). And my hip was so tight, when the needle got it in there - the Doc couldn't eject the steroid serum. The nurse had to move my leg around. It was the weird sensation in the deep nerves that got to me - ew! But at least it beats drilling all the bone marrow out of my femur. Hey - life is grand! I'll let you know if I can tell any difference later in the week.

Now THIS is fascinating!! I got a call today from USAA! Someone in their corporate communications department read the last blog entry! (And I was using them as a example in a training session just today - guess I'll have to go back to using them as a good example.) They called and thanked me for posting the entry because they had no idea the automated system was doing that to people! (you know, HANGING UP on them!) Wow - the power of the Internet! Isn't that amazing? One little blog entry and a corporate giant makes a change. Pretty cool. Maybe they'll send me some chocolate. : ) USAA usually is really great at customer service, so I was pretty shocked by the whole credit card debacle.

Next I'll fix health care.

We need to talk about some chocolate, don't we??? I need some comfort food, so I'm going with Oreos. But not in the way you think. Check these out:

These are new and they are fun. The whole package has only 90 calories. Are they better than Oreos? No - they are light and fun, but maybe too light. I think I could eat 100 and still be hungry. But they were a big hit at a seminar I did today - they were devoured before all the other goodies on the snack table. These would be great with ice cream or for kids to use as a straw with their milk. Or for those of you who drink milk. Wheeee!

They also have cheesy jokes on the package:

Which holiday does a cow enjoy?

Moo Year's Day (Geez that's bad.)

Way more exciting and something I have SOOOO been wanting to try:

I mean what could be better CAKEsters - Oreo CAKES. I love cake.





Doesn't that look beautiful?

But you know me and comparison. I wanted to try the whole Cakester family:

Okay they are vanilla, not chocolate, but they are Cakesters. And I'll use any excuse I can to eat sweets (especially cake). YUM

Now look at these - double chocolate:

And lastly, the "healthy" version:

Okay, the healthy version is good - you get three little cakes for 100 calories. But do not try the other versions or you'll realize how lame these are in comparison.

The Oreo Cakesters are great - nice soft cakes filled with delicious cream. Very good- addictive. But 250 calories for two cakes. And believe me, you're going to eat two. That's how they're packed. I honestly would rather have a Little Debbie Swiss Cake Roll or a Devil Square. YUM!!!

Nilla Cakesters are okay - if, like me, you like cake and cream, you'll eat these two as well. But, again, I prefer Little Debbie Raisin Creme Pies (same thing, but bigger and with raisins on top).

The chocolate creme Cakesters are my favorite. And I was surprised by this. Usually chocolate and chocolate is too rich for me, but these were good. My heart (and perhaps my soul) still belongs to Little Debbie, but these were pretty darn delish.

You have to give Oreo credit for expanding the cookie line. Now if they would only make the Nutter Butter into a cake..........

Maybe the corporate communications people at Nabisco will read this entry and make Nutter Butter Cakesters!!!

A family portrait. All that's missing is Nutter Butter.

True Motivation by Chocolate

Ever have one of those work disasters that just makes you want to cry? Either cry or poke your own eye out? I had one of those today.

I just discovered that everyone who has signed up for my e-zine through my website over the past FIVE YEARS has gotten nothing. Zero. Oh - they got a message thanking them for signing up and then, nothing. I thought my web folks were capturing the information from the forms and using the addresses to send out my quarterly newsletter. I was wrong. Apparently I've been paying them to send a newsletter out to about 10 people instead of the almost 1,000 people who have signed up.

I had asked them to send me a copy of everyone who singed up so I could know who was signing up and where they were coming from, but for some unknown reason, they thought I was going to re-key in all the e-mail addresses and send them back to them. I'm sorry - WTF???? That makes absolutely no sense to me. To me the whole point was to automate the process. I am so angry and devastated.

I've devastated because I made a promise and it was not fulfilled. I asked people to sign up for a free newsletter which they never received. I work so hard to generate interest in my work - and these are my biggest fans - people who were interested enough to go to my web site, fill out a form and sign up for my newsletter. I just can't tell you how frustrated and upset I am.

The only lucky thing is that I printed out a copy of each sign up (yep, all 1,000 of them). I just shipped them off to my web folks so we can get this fixed. But I'm still a liar and I still missed all those potential leads and all that excitement. Who wants to get a newsletter they signed up for 5 years ago, 4 years ago, 3 years ago, 2 years ago, even 1 year ago?

But what can I do? Absolutely nothing. Be glad I printed the names out, but that's it. My frustration and disappointment and embarrassment are meaningless and are wasted emotions. I have to get back on track. So what do I do? How do I restart the engine and motor on?

1.) Let it go. It is what it is. All I can do is send the names and start 5 years later. I hate it, but it is what it is.

2.) Be grateful. This is hard, but I'm damn lucky I killed all those trees and printed out hard copies of all those sign-ups. Better to have something than nothing. Also, I'm lucky I even caught this - it could have gone on for 5 more years. It was a fluke that I figured it out.

3.) Buy chocolate. This totally resets my mood. I went to Target after shipping off the box of 1,000 names and wandered through the candy aisle. There are some cool new chocolates out. I was thinking about how I could weave them into a blog posting. Once my creative juices started flowing, I felt better. I was refocused on what I could do rather than obsessing over what I couldn't.

Now I'm not saying go buy chocolate if that's not your thing. You just need to have a thing - maybe it's a hobby or a person you can always call to lift your spirits. I like the idea of it being something you enjoy and that makes use of your talents. It helps restore your faith that you're not a total loser.

4.) Realize you are human. This is hard for me - I mean, I KNOW I'm human, but I am so mad at myself right now. I somehow miscommunicated with my web guy - he didn't do this on purpose. I know we all make mistakes, but I seem to think I shouldn't. Heck, I train people how to communicate, how can I screw up? This is where I want to strangle myself - HOW could this happen and for so long? Big sigh....see #1.

It must have been the nougat.

Wanting to be Peanut Butter, But NOT!

I believe I have waxed poetic about what the heck nougat is before, but I'm going to do it again. Because it's weird. And it kind of pisses me off.

Speaking of weird, I HAVE to share with you my favorite quote of the day. This is in reference to that serial killer down in South Carolina. S.C. State Law Enforcement Deputy Director Neil Dolan said:

"We have him. He's our serial killer. He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird."

Just like nougat.

Okay this is from Wikipedia:

Nougat (pronounced /ˈnʌɡɨt/ or /ˈnuːɡɑː/ (Commonwealth) or /ˈnuːˌɡət/ (US) is a term used to describe a variety of similar traditional confectioneries made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios or hazelnuts are common), and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from chewy to hard depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and chocolates.

There are two basic kinds of nougat: white and brown. White nougat (which appeared in Montélimar, France, in the 18th century) is made with beaten egg whites and is soft, whereas brown nougat (called nougatine in French) is made with caramelized sugar and has a firmer, often crunchy texture.

Whatever. Like THAT clears anything up.

Check this out:

This is Trader Joe's Lumpy Bumpy bar - see right there on the box where it says peanut nougat? Here's where it gets its name:

Ew.

And here's the nougat:

Seems to work with the Wikipedia definition. It's white, soft, and basically lame. Boring. It is EGG WHITES after all. Woowee. The caramel is nonexistent and the only peanut taste I can detect is from the peanuts themselves. The dark chocolate seems good, although it overpowered everything else. Save your money. The packaging is more creative than the candy.

Now here's my love, Reese's:

You can't read it here, but the wrapper says: light and fluff peanut butter flavored nougat. Now after learning about mockolate, we know that when it says "flavored" it means - tastes like, but isn't. Chocolate flavored, means this ain't real chocolate, but it tastes like it (aka mockolate). So this must be peaNOT butter.

While this is way better than the Lumpy Bumpy bar, it's no good either. Nougat blows. And it all tastes different. This isn't chewy or hard, it's kind of soft like a Three Musketeers bar. But it does taste more like peanut butter. But why bother with it? Have a Reese's! This is scary and weird.

Oh there's more:

This wrapper reads: terrific chewy nougat with peanuts.

This is more like the Wikipedia definition - it is chewy - like break your teeth chewy. I'm not big on the the teeth breaking part and it just doesn't have enough flavor to be worth all the work, much less the calories. BLEECH.

Who invented nougat and what haven't they been killed?

Oh yeah - the French. Figures.

Oh - it gets weirder.

Taffy has almost the same ingredients as nougat and this stuff sure tastes like the white stuff in the Big Hunk:

These are mini Abba-Zaba bars. A nostalgic candy (with creative new packaging) I found in Cracker Barrel. These and the Big Hunk are made by Annabelle's - one of those still standing small American candy makers that I love. But these were no good in my book either. The "taffy" is filled with peanut butter rather than having peanut in it. Either way - too hard, not worth it.

A MUCH better product is Wolfgang's Peanut Butter Kisses (reviewed about a year ago when I visited their factory in PA). Their taffy is soft and chewy and there's a lot more peanut butter - delish!

Nougat - unpredictable, scary, and weird. A candy serial killer. Don't say you haven't been warned.

Pretzels, Rice and England

You know life is good if we can all come together in pursuit of the best peanut butter and chocolate combinations. And let's thank the founders of this country for breaking away from England! Scones don't exactly rock my world. Although I do love shortbread......and all that pomp and circumstance! And Monty Python!

But I love freedom more! God Bless America!!! And God Save the Peanut!

Let's talk first about some more peanut butter and pretzel combos. The first is berkshire bark's pretzelogical bark described by the company as: Belgian dark and milk chocolate, pretzels, sea salt caramel, natural peanut butter.

This is the top of the bark, the next picture shows the bark flipped over and dissected. (But this was done with love - don't go all PETC on me.) That's People for the Ethical Treatment of Chocolate for those of you who didn't get that joke.

Looks great, right? The description sounds awesome! But something was wrong here - those big blobs - peanut butter? caramel? were as hard as rocks. This was no good. I'm sad about that.

Next up, a very familiar bar, I'm sure:

This is Hershey's Take 5. The wrapper says it's made with chocolate (I guess it's not Mockolate), pretzels, caramel, peanuts, and peanut butter. My girlfriend Missy loves these things. I think there is too much pretzel. It's okay, but why have this when you can have a Reese's? I like the use of the caramel here, so I like this combination the best off all the pretzel/peanut butter offerings reviewed so far. But I don't see that pretzel really brings anything to the party.

Let's move on to crisp rice or rice crisps or whatever the hell this stuff is. Hell, Hershey doesn't even know what it is - thus the name of this bar:

Whatchamacallit? I'm going out on a limb here and I'm going to call it crap. For 230 calories I want more than a squashed rice crispy treat - without the marshmallow. This bar is described as "made with chocolate, peanut flavored crisps and caramel." The caramel is the only thing that gives this any life. I find it bland and disappointing.

It looks as exciting as it tastes. ZZZZZZ........................

I'm not much on the Nestle Crunch bar either. Crisped rice just kind of seems like a cop out. Cheap filler. But I liked it in Jer's stuff. Hmmmm........ I'm sure we'll talk of this again.

If you like crispy and light and want something peanut buttery, a MUCH better choice is:

You can have one pack containing two wafer bars for only 100 calories. These are like Kit Kats with peanut butter but a little lighter. No caramel as in the Crap bar. But more peanut buttery. And I'm all about the peanut butter!!

I saved one of my favorite peanut butter bars for last:

From our friends at Lake Champlain chocolates. This bar is here because it contains: peanuts, peanut butter, CRISP RICE and milk chocolate.

Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't just looking at that make your mouth water? The Five Star bars are all amazing - the are small but really thick. And this one is packed with peanut butter. It's a blander peanut butter than Reese's but is still terrific. And the peanuts inside are delish.

So, dear readers, what have we learned so far in our exploration of this awesome combination of peanut butter and chocolate?

New isn't always best, but just because something has been around for a while doesn't mean it can't be improved on.

Expensive doesn't always mean it's the best, but sometimes it does (the Five Star bar is great and it's not cheap).

When it comes to chocolate, no rules apply.

Chocolate is like life - you have to jump in and taste it! I love Tootsie Rolls (talk about Mockolate), but I also love Guylian chocolate seashells. How do you know what you'll like the best? Try them!! How do you know who you are? Live!

You can learn from others and they can help you along the way, but if anyone tells you they have all the answers for you, run. You'll like things based on the flavors you grew up with and a million other experiences. Obviously a lot of people think the Whatchamacallit is a great candy bar or Hershey's would have quit making it. All you owe it to yourself to do is keep trying new things and keep learning and growing. You'll find the best life (and the best chocolate) for you.

And don't forget to celebrate your freedom this 4th of July by taking a few minutes to think of all the patriots through the years who have given their lives to keep us free.

God bless chocolate, peanut butter, and the United States of America!!!