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Over the past six weeks, my house has been on the market because it was to be featured on a segment on The Daily Show. Hosted by John Oliver, the segment was to be about trying to sell housing in a desirable community in a down market. The segment aired on 7/27 and ended up not featuring my house because at the last minute the celebrity The Daily Show had enlisted for a gag backed out. If you've seen the segment where Oliver blasts Timothy Geithner for not being able to sell his house (he rented it for about $7k/month, though) the part about the auction? That's probably where my house (which is less than 100 meters as the crow flies from Geithner's house) was supposed to be featured.In anticipation of the crew showing up to tape in my house, I put together a selection of chocolate and signed a couple of books for Jon and John as well as for the producer in the off chance they'd be intrigued and the casting director would give me a call to sign me up for an appearance.As my eyes glazed over working late last night over my keyboard I had a vivid waking dream that I was watching my interview with Jon Stewart on the Comedy Central website. My mental transcript follows:Jon Stewart: So how did you become a chocolate critic?Clay Gordon: It's not like you can go to school and become a chocolate critic, so I had to figure it out for myself, sort of like there's no graduate program in becoming a television political commentator. ... Hey! Why don't we go into business together and start a franchise online university were we teach people to become movie critics and restaurant critics and the like?JS: [in an affected pose and voice] What are you suggesting?CG: I could be the head of School of Chocolate Criticism and you could be the dean of the School of Political Punditry. You'd be great at it. You could get one of those long sweaters with the leather patches at the elbows, start smoking a pipe, and fall asleep in the front of the class while screening Daily Show highlight reels. We'd make millions.JS: I like the job I have now. (audience laughs)CG: You could have totally meaningless but physically very, very satisfying relationships with hundreds of beautiful coeds.JS: When do we get started? (audience laughs and applauds riotously)Now, of course, they're never going to invite me on as a guest. Because they will be afraid: very, very afraid.

Hello to all fellow choclatiers/chocoholics and everyone elseI am an engineer by profession, with a new found passion for chocolates. Yes, I am in the business for a while but the desire for chocolate, the willingness to pursue and subsequently differentiate between different kinds of chocolates has been a very recent phenomenon. Maybe this is the reason I have also been gaining a few extra pounds....(and not the kind that I want )I have had a decent amount of experience around a few chocolate making/using equipments and can provide advise on issues pertaining to how some of them are used. The company I work with has a huge range of a variety of chocolate products and its definitely one of the best ways to learn about practical issues when certain equipments are used on a daily basis. Have a look at their site (which will soon be under re-development) sometime at http://www.ipfco.com.I should be regular here now. So after I spend a little time exploring and getting used to the site, I'll try and upload a few pictures, that should make things interesting.Until next time...

Bacon Freak Needs "YOUR" Original Bacon Recipes To Be Featured In Our Bacon Freak Cook Book!Submission Deadline: 15 AugustWe are currently in the process of preparing to publish our very own Bacon Freak Cook Book and we would absolutely love the honor of prominently featuring YOU and your uniquely original bacon orientedrecipe in the book.For years now, our loyal and dedicated Bacon Freak members and customers have been asking us to please publish our very own Bacon Freak Cook Book complete with the most delectably delicious bacon recipes for the following five categories: (1) Breakfast (2) Lunch (3) Dinner (4) Appetizer and (5) Dessert!The book itself and therefore all participating recipe providers included in the book will receive extensive exposure through numerous multi-media channels and events. We want this Cook Book to be a major success and we plan to do everything within our power, including calling in a lot of favors todo so.To ensure absolute fairness in the selection process, a small group of associate gourmet chefs have served as our panel of connoisseur aficionados chosen to determine who should be asked to participate in this exciting opportunity.Likewise, a small group of associate gourmet chefs will serve as our panel of connoisseur aficionados chosen to will serve as our official panel of judges to confer together and select the top selections to be featured in each of the 5 categories.The judges will make their decision based upon the recipe's originality, flavor, simplicity in preparation and general level of interest created by the recipe itself.All that is required to participate is:(A) The list of ingredients and measurements.(B) Detailed cooking instructions.(C) An interesting back-story or history regarding the recipe.(D) A positive quote about bacon.(E) High resolution, glossy photo of the prepared dish.(F) High resolution, glossy photo of the person and / or organization providing the recipe.(G) Your logo(H) Your BIOIf you would be interested in participating or would like to ask any further questions about the Bacon Freak Cook Book, please contact company owner and president, Rocco Boss Hog Loosbrock at cookbook@baconfreak.com

My first chocolate meet up was met with many chocolate enthusiasts in a Soho art gallery, a fitting place for the fine variety of chocolates and large photos that covered the walls. After testing many of the samples, we gathered for a presentation by Dr. Kristy Leissie, whose book Chocolate Planet is a memoir of traveling around the world studying the history and present of the cocoa trade routes. Enjoyed meeting fellow chocolate lovers The pictures tell the story.

This morning I was watching a Scooby Doo cartoon with my 7-year old nephew and a Reese's Pieces commercial came on during the show. Which immediately brought back nostalgic memories of the first Reese's commercial I saw around his age...Does anybody remember the 1970s Reese's Peanut Butter Cup collision commercial? Yes, I know I'm dating myself...when that campaign came out sales skyrocketed 300%!"Hey, you got peanut butter on my chocolate!""You got chocolate in my peanut butter!"Two great tastes that taste great together.Sad to say, since my cancer treatment in 2001 I've lost the taste for Reese's and, with few exceptions, I've turned my back on milk chocolate. Just doesn't taste the same.But I do hope the commercial is brought back, maybe updated...just to see it once again.

I am looking for a chocolate manufacturer who can make my specialty line of drinking chocolates for private label. I am having no luck searching on the nets... Anyone out there with ideas? Thanks, Mark Sciscenti, Chocolate Historian.

Here's a historical footnote on chocolate...In the 1600s, porcelain chocolate pots - a tall pot with a detachable cap or finial in the lid through which a wooden stirrer, or molinet could be inserted - were all the rage.

Chocolate isn't a food but an Experience, Few words evoke the emotional enthusiasm which people feel toward chocolate. It has a treasured place in our personal collection of memories - the Easter baskets, the birthday treats, the candy displays at Christmas, the heart that told you someone loves you and many more.During our special times, chocolate was there as an integral part of the event. Taste of one chocolate makes the mouth water and the emotional associations rush in. It brings back the multitude of fondly-remembered feel-good experiences which we don't want to end.So a great-testing piece of chocolate unavoidably makes us happy inside. Of course, it doesn't hurt that chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine (PEA), a natural material that's reputed to stimulate the same reaction in the body as falling in love. Chocolates are meant to be Shared in all occasion whether its small or big. Its so apparent that it makes a person's soul happy. It gives a combination of three great things - chocolate, fun, and doing well through the charity.Ashish:):):)

LONDON (AFP) Scientists are looking for women willing to eat chocolate every day for a year -- all in the name of medical science.Researchers at the University of East Anglia and a hospital in Norwich, eastern England are trying to find out whether chocolate can cut the risk of heart disease and need 40 women to step forward and help.Most of the women will have to eat two bars of "super-strength chocolate specially formulated by Belgian chocolatiers" daily for one year and undergo several tests to measure how healthy their hearts are.The others will have to eat regular chocolate as a placebo.One possible catch, for chocolate fans spotting an opportunity: volunteers for the research should be menopausal but aged under 75 and have type two diabetes.Study coordinator Peter Curtis said: "A successful outcome could be the first step in developing new ways to improve the lives of people at increased risk of heart disease."

Here's an article from Cornell University dated 12-19 -2003:ITHACA, N.Y. -- There is a new reason to enjoy hot cocoa on a cold winter's night in front of a cozy fire. Consider it a health drink.Beyond the froth, cocoa teems with antioxidants that prevent cancer, Cornell University food scientists say. Comparing the chemical anti-cancer activity in beverages known to contain antioxidants, they have found that cocoa has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times those found in green tea.Their finding will be published Dec. 3 in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry , a peer-reviewed publication.Scientists have long known that cocoa contains antioxidants, but no one knew just how plentiful they were compared with those in red wine and green tea.The Cornell researchers, led by Chang Y. (Cy) Lee, chairman of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the university's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., say the reason that cocoa leads the other drinks is its high content of compounds called phenolic phytochemicals, or flavonoids, indicating the presence of known antioxidants that can stave off cancer, heart disease and other ailments. They discovered 611 milligrams of the phenolic compound gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and 564 milligrams of the flavonoid epicatechin equivalents (ECE) in a single serving of cocoa. Examining a glass of red wine, the researchers found 340 milligrams of GAE and 163 milligrams of ECE. In a cup of green tea, they found 165 milligrams of GAE and 47 milligrams of ECE."If I had made a prediction before conducting the tests, I would have picked green tea as having the most antioxidant activity," said Lee. "When we compared one serving of each beverage, the cocoa turned out to be the highest in antioxidant activity, and that was surprising to me."Phenolic compounds protect plants against insects and pathogens, and they remain active even after food processing. A decade ago "food scientists did not know that phenolics had an important role in human health," says Lee.Lee and his colleagues used two chemical tests that measured how well the cocoa compounds scavenge for free radicals -- agents that cause cancer, heart disease and other diseases.In the paper, the researchers discuss eating chocolate bars instead of drinking cocoa. "Although a bar of chocolate exhibits strong antioxidant activity, the health benefits are still controversial because of the saturated fats present," the researchers write. They explain that cocoa has about one-third of a gram of fat per one-cup serving, compared with eight grams of fat in a standard-size 40-gram chocolate bar.Faced with the confusing prospect of drinking red wine or green tea or cocoa, Lee suggests enjoying all three in different parts of the day. "Personally, I would drink hot cocoa in the morning, green tea in the afternoon and a glass of red wine in the evening. That's a good combination," he says.The research paper is titled "Cocoa Has More Phenolic Phytochemicals and a Higher Antioxidant Capacity than Teas and Red Wine." Lee's collaborators are his former graduate student, Ki Won Lee; Hyong Joo Lee, a professor at Seoul National University, South Korea; and Young Jun Kim, a post-doctoral researcher at Cornell. The research was funded in part by the BioGreen 21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Republic of South Korea.