Darkoshi

The chocolate bar wrappers of shiny gold and silver. If I didn't so take them for granted, I'd keep each and every one.

Rather than crumpling them up and throwing them away once the chocolate is gone.

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I've kept quite a few actually, especially the small ones of various colors from the Sjaak's vegan chocolates (they closed up shop a year ago but still haven't taken down their no-longer-functional website; odd. It no longer even shows the popup message about having closed up shop. Very odd). Compressed into various shapes, still some on this table, and in the container on that table, and in the box I brought back from work when the office was shut down.

Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate

Per the article contents, the title ought to say "almost certainly are" rather than "could be".
To be safe, one would have to watch out and limit how much dark chocolate one eats.
On most days, I probably eat less than an ounce anyway, but still.
But for some of the brands, even half an ounce would put you over the recommended limits of lead or cadmium!
That makes me glum.

As well as some other chocolates, Qiao got me this Dark Filled Heart for Valentine's Day. It's a "dark chocolate heart filled with dark chocolate truffles" in a nice black box.

Another good name to call it would have been "Heart of Darkness".

At the end of this recipe, a "cookie slam" is mentioned:
https://vedgedout.com/2017/09/29/the-best-vegan-chocolate-chip-skillet-cookie-pretty-much-ever/

One commenter asked what that meant, and the reply surprised me.
So I had to look up a video of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk0RXzLH1pQ

I'm not sure how I'd like the texture of cookie slammed cookies compared to non-slammed cookies, but I like the sound of the term. Cookie slam! Let's have a cookie slam! A jammin' slammin' good time!

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This is the recipe I'm using today - the cookies in this photo look much yummier to me than the above skillet one:
https://vedgedout.com/2015/03/26/the-best-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies/

This recipe uses chickpea brine/water/aquafaba, which I haven't used for baking before. But I'm making twice the recipe, to make bar cookies. If a can of chickpeas doesn't contain 6 tbsp worth of brine in it, I'll use something else for the rest of the leavener. [updated: My regular-sized can had just shy of 2/3s cup!]

Oh, now I see the recipe uses baking powder and baking soda in addition to the chickpea aquafaba. Hmmm.

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Sudden realization, after seeing a recipe for peanut butter cookies, which I haven't done in forever: If one can make chocolate chip bar cookies, there's no reason one can't make peanut butter bar cookies too!

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The only alcohol that tastes good to me is almond extract. Have I tried amaretto? I don't remember; I wonder if it tastes better or worse to me. I should try some.

Look what I came across!

I highly doubt this is vegan, but it sure sounds interesting:
Japanese Kit Kat - Wasabi Chocolate

Apparently they've got bunches of Kit Kat flavours in Japan. This one sounds good too:
Kit Kat SETOUCHI Salt and Lemon Japanese Chocolate

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Searching on "wasabi chocolate", I found these recipes:
Wasabi Swirl Chocolate Cookies

Ginger Wasabi Filled Chocolate Skulls

Wasabi Peanut Chocolate Bar

I suppose I could simply eat wasabi peas or peanuts together with plain chocolate to see what the combination is like. But that cookie recipe may be something I could try, too.

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There used to be a vegan matcha white chocolate bar that I liked, but I don't even remember the brand.

Well, shucks, this looks good:
Vegan White Chocolate Matcha Blondies

Licorice & Fennel Dark Chocolate bar, from World Market.
It sounds like an unusual combination, but the flavor is surprisingly good. It also has a nice crunch from the fennel-flavored sugar crystals in it. The ingredient list calls it "fennel flower crystals (cane sugar, fennel)" - I think that's the part that most caught my eye when I was looking at the bar in the store. (I'm not sure why they are called "flower" crystals; if they are really made from fennel flowers, or if that is just a name?)

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles, from Rose City Chocolatier. These are expensive, but Qiao got me a box for Valentine's Day. I like that they are not as sweet as most other truffles and chocolates. These are my current favorite peanut-butter chocolates. Oh so good!

I got my taxes done.

I made a pie with a chocolate filling. It's somewhat gooey, not what I was expecting from the photo on the box. But it's actually good, even though it also tastes oddly like it contains grape syrup mixed in with the chocolate. Based on the ingredients list, I can't imagine why. It contains alkalized cocoa, and the link I posted before indicates that the non-alkalized sort is the kind that's more likely to taste "fruity".

I also made some Waldmeister Goetterspeise which is a German jello with a unique flavor not found in the U.S. My aunt used to make it for me as a kid (with vanilla sauce on top!), and I still like it. The flavor isn't as intense as I remembered though.

I trimmed my hair a bit. It was tickling the back of my neck too much a few days ago. My torso gets itchy sometimes. When I scratch, the skin gets pinkish red, and small itchy bumps, widely scattered, appear. When I stop scratching, it goes away. I haven't figured out a cause. It's been happening for a few years now. (Of course, having written "torso" there, now a few spots on my arms and legs started itching.)

I'm over my cold, but still have a lot of phlegm. That always used to be the one of the worst parts of a cold, the weeks and weeks of snot that would only slowly diminish back to normal levels. So I did neti today for the first time in possibly 5 years. I stopped using neti around then, after reading warnings against doing neti with unsterile tap water. Well, I used tap water today, like I used to. Anything else is too much trouble. But after reading the warnings again, I may forgo the whole thing for another 5 years.

I used LJSec to delete my old protected posts from LJ, as that was something that had been on my to-do list for a while. There may not be much point in having done it, but at least it is off my list now. First, I did another import of all entries & comments from LJ over to DW, as well as a few backups of both my LJ and DW (with LJArchive), to make sure I wouldn't lose anything. The only problem with LJArchive is that imported comments don't show up with the user's LJ name like it does on the Dreamwidth pages, but rather with a generic ext_#### ID. If I have time someday, I'd like to see if I can update the utility to fix that.

A few weeks ago, I cancelled my Netflix subscription, as I was using it so rarely. Qiao has another Netflix account anyway, which I can use when I want to. He also has an Amazon Prime account for watching videos.

Last week at work, I was able to find the cause of another problem, and fix it. Well, I probably fixed more than one problem, but the last one is the one I remember. It gives me such a rush, a good feeling, being able to discover what obscure thing is making the code not work right and how to fix it, when I still don't even understand what half of the rest of the code is meant to do. I was thinking, I've been working on this same general code base, though it has undergone many transfigurations, for the past 22 years. I could spend my whole *life* working on it, and I still wouldn't understand it all, especially because it is constantly being changed. That made me think for a moment that maybe I should leave this job, just so that *whole life* part wouldn't come true. Eh. But whatever, this code or some other code, what difference. Hmm. Coming up on the end of the quarter. Wonder if they will have layoffs.

AAFP: Tension-Type Headache

Patients with chronic tension-type headache should limit their use of analgesics to two times weekly to prevent the development of chronic daily headache. If the patient requires analgesic medication more frequently, adjunctive headache medications can be initiated.

Cleveland Clinic: Tension-Type Headaches

There is no single cause for tension-type headaches. This type of headache syndrome is not a trait that runs in families. In some people, tension-type headaches are associated with tightened muscles in the back of the neck and scalp. This muscle tension may be exacerbated by:

Inadequate rest
Poor posture
Emotional or mental stress, including depression

Tension-type headaches can be triggered by some type of environmental or internal stress.

Cleveland Clinic: Rebound Headaches

The overuse or misuse of analgesic medications — exceeding labeling instructions (such as taking the medications three or more days per week) or not following your physician's advice — can cause you to "rebound" into another headache.
...
Analgesic overuse appears to interfere with the brain centers that regulate the flow of pain messages to the nervous system, worsening headache pain.

This rebound syndrome is especially dangerous if your medication contains caffeine, which is often included in many medications to speed up the reaction of the other ingredients. While it can be beneficial, caffeine in medications, combined with consuming caffeine (coffee, tea, soft drinks, or chocolate) from other sources, makes you more vulnerable to a rebound headache.
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While small amounts of these medications per week may be safe (and effective), at some point, the continued medication use leads to the development of low-grade headaches that just will not go away.

Mayo Clinic: Rebound Headaches - Risk Factors

Your risk increases if you use combination analgesics, ergotamine or triptans 10 or more days a month or simple analgesics more than 15 days a month — especially if this regular use continues for three or more months.

Does Caffeine Cause or Cure Headaches? - On its own, it can alleviate some headache pain. It also causes pain relief medication to be absorbed better and faster. It can result in caffeine withdrawal headaches and rebound headaches.

How Much Caffeine is in Chocolate? - has a chart comparing dark chocolate's chocolate percentage (43 - 100%) versus caffeine content.

1 oz of 70% chocolate, which isn't unusual for me to eat, has about 40mg caffeine. That's similar to the caffeine content of a can of regular cola or a bottle of iced tea. A cup of coffee can have 100mg or more.

(This expands upon some comments I left on another journal.)

andrewducker posted a link about how American chocolate tastes terrible compared to other chocolate. The linked discussion turned out to be about how Hershey's milk chocolate has a slight sour/rancid flavor which Americans are accustomed to, but which Europeans tend to dislike.

As I'm now vegan, I haven't had Hershey's or other milk chocolates in so long that I barely remember what they taste like compared to dark chocolates. As an American kid growing up in Germany, though, I ate all kinds. The few milk chocolates that I miss (Toblerone, aerated chocolate, etc.) don't include Hershey's, but I was still surprised that some people feel it has a sour/vomit flavor. I don't remember that at all.

The difference that I have noticed (in regards to dark chocolate), and which I had actually expected the article to be about, is that German/European chocolate tends to be much more smooth and silky than American chocolate. Not in every case, certainly (there are so many different brands, and in some cases the texture deteriorates due to bad storage), but that is my overall impression.

andrewhickey pointed out that differences in chocolate texture may be due to the amount (or lack of) cocoa butter content. And that Hershey's has replaced the cocoa butter in some of their products with other cheaper vegetable fats.

The dark chocolates I eat are true chocolate, though, with cocoa butter as the only fat*. They are categorized by the amount of chocolate, eg. 64%, 70%. I wasn't certain whether the ratio of non-cocoa butter solids to cocoa butter is always constant - whether 2 different bars which list the same percent of chocolate would always have the same percent of cocoa butter or not. More on this further below.

*Many dark chocolates nowadays also include "butter oil" as an ingredient, but as I'm vegan, I haven't tried them.

Chocolate ingredients can be confusing. For the bars I currently have, the 1st item is alternately listed as "cocoa mass", "chocolate", "cocoa beans", or "chocolate liquor". The 2nd ingredient is sugar, and the 3rd is usually cocoa butter. From what I understand, "cocoa mass", "cocoa beans", and "chocolate liquor" are based on the full cocoa bean, so they would already include cocoa butter. So it seems that both the 1st and 3rd ingredients add to the chocolate's cocoa butter content.

When eating 2 different brands of dark chocolate with the same chocolate content, they will still often have a different texture. The better ones feel more creamy, silky, and rich, while the poorer ones feel more chalky and tend to leave a more bitter aftertaste. So this is why I have wondered if the processing makes a difference - perhaps the cocoa is not ground as finely, or not blended as well. However, chocolate that has been stored a long time also tends to get more chalky and brittle. So some of the difference could be also due to storage rather than the processing or the amount of cocoa butter.

This page: Finding the Flavor of Chocolate, indicates that chocolate flavor is also affected by the DNA of the cocoa bean itself, and that beans from different areas have different flavors.

This page gives more info on the varieties of cocoa beans (criollo, forestero, amelonado, trinitario, and nacional) grown in different regions.

It turns out that the ratio of cocoa butter to non-fat cocoa solids is *not* always constant, even given the same chocolate percentage.

Comments on this page say:
When the ingredients label says cocoa butter, it's referring to the cocoa butter that's added beyond what comes in with the cocoa beans (AKA cocoa, cocoa mass, chocolate liquor). But that cocoa is itself half cocoa butter already.
and
According to a recent article in Cook's Illustrated, the cocoa percentage refers to combined amount of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, so the proportions of each can vary among chocolates that have the same cocoa percentage.

This page says: Chocolate with added cocoa butter is correctly labeled in terms of its ‘% cacao’, and, any added cocoa butter is included in this percentage, since it is also a derivative of the cacao bean. That page also explains various chocolate terms.

This post says:
The percentage number on a bar's wrapper represents the bar's weight that actually comes from the cacao bean; that is, it's the bar's content of honest-to-goodness cacao bean components. Natural cacao beans contain 54 percent fat by weight; the other 46 percent, as with most seeds, is solid vegetable matter. Thus, the percentage number on the wrapper of a chocolate bar is the sum of its cacao fat (called cocoa butter in the United States) and its cacao solids.
and
Manufacturers often add some of the separated [cocoa] fat to their formulas for chocolate bars to adjust the smoothness and melting properties. Because this added cocoa butter changes the cacao's natural 54-to-46 ratio, it is listed separately as an additive in the list of ingredients. The percentage number on the wrapper includes this added fat.

(Other pages indicate that the 54-to-46 ratio is only an an approximation; the ratio varies depending on the variety of cocoa bean and the growing conditions.)

This page usefully explains how you can calculate the amount of cocoa butter content of a given chocolate bar.

But also, a comment on this page says: chocolate can have a fantastic texture without overloading the fat content with cocoa butter or vegetable oils or other "texture-enhancers." Particle size achieved through the grinding and refining has much to do with the finished texture.

Sweet Riot 70% Dark Chocolate bar with Kickin' Coconut - a nice smooth chocolate bar, not very sweet yet not bitter. I don't generally care much for chocolate-covered coconut bars, but this one has the coconut mixed in with the chocolate, and surprisingly, what I like best is the texture of the coconut in it. Especially good when eaten chilled.

World Market Limoncellino Sorrento-style Soda - refreshingly lemony, with 12% lemon juice. It reminds me of the Bitter-Lemon Schweppes I enjoyed drinking while on vacation when I was a kid. The ingredients don't include quinine, though. (Ingredients: carbonated water, lemon juice from concentrate, cane sugar, natural lemon flavor, citric acid, lemon peel extract, glycerol ester of wood rosin, vitamin C. Distributed by Cost Plus, Inc. Product of Italy.) Oddly, there's no mention of it on the World Market website.

Raw Vegan Blackberry Lemon Lavender Cheesecake (recipe and photos) - unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to taste this. But it looks SO GOOD! It even has little puffs of frosting/cream on the top! If this were for sale in a store, I'd surely buy it.