On And On About Chocolate

Jonathan was surprised to discover that some Americans believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows and white milk comes from white cows. My friend pointed out that those people were half-right–that white milk comes from white (charolais) cows. Of course regardless of cow hair color, the milk is white. Jonathan wondered if the people who believe the chocolate milk from brown cows are the same people who believe there are female and male cows. He lamented that some people are unaware that cows and bulls are female and male cattle. Perhaps those folks also believe that strawberry milk comes from pink cows.

Both of us used to enjoy drinking chocolate milk and both of us had parents who did not like to spend extra money for the prepackaged chocolate milk from the dairy department. Our families used instant chocolate powder milk flavoring instead. Usually it was “Nestle’s Quik” before the name was changed to “Nesquik”. Jonathan’s mom prefered the Borden’s instant chocolate powder. My mom prefered Hershey’s chocolate syrup because she’d prepare hot cocoa in a pan on the range.

There was also a milk flavoring called P.D.Q. The concoction was easily disolvable crystal nuggets. It was packaged inside of glass jars. In addition to chocolate, there were strawberry and egg nog flavored P.D.Q. varieties. Dad liked to tell us that P.D.Q. meant “pretty darned quick”. We eventually found out that it actually, honestly meant “pretty damn quick”. Mom didn’t like that meaning, but she continued buying it because all of us prefered P.D.Q. over the Nestle’s powder. P.D.Q. didn’t form clumps at the top of the tumbler the way powdered flavoring did.

Neither Jonathan nor I regularly drink chocolate milk due to health concerns but we still do enjoy the occasional rare chocolate pastry or piece of chocolate candy. The December holiday season is flush with such treats, so the problem is how to limit our intake.

My English friend, Graham, introduced me to Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate bars. He is adamant that they are superior to those sold in the United States. There’s no arguing with him. I did notice that the UK variety tastes smoother and more milk-like. However, the American bars use cocoa butter as the fat ingredient; while the UK version uses shea or palm oil to produce the bars. This is because the US versions must meet the more stringent FDA standards.

I must confess that while Dairy Milk bars are delicious, my preference is Ghirardelli milk chocolate. They’re slightly more expensive, but worth it. The once a month or every other month treat is extra special, so I want the most bang for the buck.

Jonathan treats himself more frequently and dangerously. For his cheat days, he likes a warm chocolate chip cookie accompanied by a scoop of chocolate ice cream. This gives him quite a buzz. He does monitor his glucose levels before and afterwards, so no worries.

Today is not one of my cheat days for chocolate, but I am craving some anyway. Writing about it has been an emotional surragate for some Ghirardelli. Maybe I’ll have some this weekend, on New Year’s Eve.

Ciao

The Blue Jay of Happiness quotes 20th century actress and humanitarian, Audrey Hepburn. “Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.”