Chocolate: Best and Worst; Past and Present

In honor of National Chocolate Covered Anything Day (which totally sounds made up to me, but also totally sounds like a delightful thing to celebrate), Holidailies asks us to talk about the best (and worst!) chocolate covered things we've ever eaten.

The worst is actually a tie.

When I was a kid, my Pop brought home a box of chocolate-covered grasshoppers from a business trip. I don't remember where he got them. I took a bite out of one and then the full realization of what I was doing hit me. I gagged and spit it out.

The other worst chocolate-covered thing I ever ate was a diabetic version of peanut better cups. That chocolate was horrible! A box of these atrocities appeared in the break room at work. I thought, "What could be bad? It's chocolate!" I was so, so wrong. The thing tasted like dust.

The best? Hands down, peppermint stick ice cream with hot fudge sauce, from Gifford's in my youth or Zwahlen's right here and now. Oh my oh my!

Back in the day, my pal Brian (see yesterday's post) was the ultimate chocoholic. He swore that Carvel made the best hot fudge; I disagreed. So we went to Gifford's one evening for hot fudge sundaes. Gifford's served the hot fudge for your sundae in a separate, tiny pitcher. Brian took a bite of his sundae and his face lit up with bliss. When we were done, he took all of our leftover hot fudge and ate it up with a spoon.

Zwahlen's is the closest I've ever come to Gifford's hot fudge. They carry both milk and dark hot fudge; I prefer the dark. When you buy a jar, they pump it into the jar right in front of you. It is heaven sent.

So, when you come to visit, we will definitely go!