Ghirardelli's Pairing Party is more of a Chocolate Feast

Blog post and party sponsored by Ghirardelli. To celebrate Ghirardelli's support to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Leslie Sbrocco (@BeaThirstyGirl) has  teamed up with Ghirardelli's to throw chocolate pairing parties.  After the parities, Ghirardelli Chocolate and ThirstyGirl.com will host a live tasting party and Tweet Chat on Intense Dark™ chocolate to be held Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST. They'll be tasting four varieties of IntenseDark—Evening Dream®, Twilight Delight™, Midnight Reverie® and Toffee Interlude®—and creating and sharing food and wine pairings.    Here's some photos and recipes from my fun party.  Unfortunately, as the party host, I didn't have an opportunity to try many of the pairings.  However, guests' feedback was pretty clear.  The Sea Salt Soiree was the crowd favorite.  I would also guess by the amount of spirits that we went through, Paula's Texas Orange was also a favorite.  A big thanks to @SowGrowEatLive for bringing by some scotch to pair with the chocolates as well.  Photo by John M. P. Knox. Photo by John M. P. Knox.  There were a few gorgeous pairing kits filled with chocolate, wine charms, and almonds.  The packages put Tiffany jewelry boxes to shame.  Photo by John M. P. Knox. Just a few of the bottles we enjoyed with the chocolate.  Photo by John M. P. Knox.  Chocolate and salt are a lovely combination.  It isn't a big surprise that salty olives with chocolate could be a hit.  Since our party was around a meal time.  I decided to make some meaty goodness in addition to the cheese plate.  I used this recipe for chocolate honey ribs from The Food Site with a few tweaks.  Instead of melted chocolate, I used cocoa powder to make sure that it was gluten free.  I also used gluten free soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce, and added a few dashes of liquid smoke.  Instead of regular ribs, I used pork riblets.  I really enjoyed the ribs and the sweet fatty goodness the honey and chocolate brought.  I also made the Vietnamese goat recipe from Goat: Meat, Milk, and Cheese by Bruce WeinStien.   This photo was taken just half way through the cooking process.  I used two sides of goat ribs for this delicious recipe, and boy was it!  I would highly, highly, highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to start using more goat in their cooking.  The flavors of sweet onion, pungent fish sauce, nutty browned garlic, and spicy chiles married with falling off the bone flavorful meat was a darn fantastic dish.  I can't wait to use the same recipe with different cuts of meat.  Ghirardelli full house! Are those people having fun? The answer is yes.  Highly likely yes. Just a few weeks prior to this party, @CookingEngineer introduced several of us to the Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream recipes.  That introduction turned into massive homemade ice cream making marathon in the Austin area.  The @CookingEngineer and I made several versions of the darkest chocolate ice cream recipe with varying levels of intensity and coffee flavors.  And ironically enough, my favorite ice cream of the spread was the hatch chile ice cream.  Big thanks to @CookingEngineer for bringing so many delicious ice creams.  The perfect shirt for this party.  Chocolate + marshmallows + graham crackers = win.  No big surprise who came wearing it! We didn't just pair chocolate with beverages; we also had chocolate in beverages.  @MadameCocoa was kind enough to bring two batches of Chocolate Liqueur - a whiskey version and a vodka version.  It is a Christopher Elbow recipe that you can make at home, and it is FANTASTIC!  If you don't feel like making it yourself, @MadameCocoa is happy to make them for you for $25 each.  That is probably the perfect Holiday gift for the chocolate and beverage lover in your life.  Thanks to @MadameCocoa for bringing it! Little @VestaTheDog had fun with @Bepkoboy sans chocolate.

Ghirardelli's Intense Dark to benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation

This blog post and chocolate tasting party was sponsored by Ghirardelli.  I am paid to host the party.  
 
With temperatures dropping from the high 100's and October around the corner, it is time to start thinking about Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  This year Ghirardelli is kicking it up by supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  From Sept. 1, 2011 through the end of December 2011, Ghirardelli will donate $1 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for every purchase of specially marked pink ribbon packages of Ghirardelli Intense Dark.  These specially marked chocolate bars will be available at grocery stores and specialty retailers nationwide.

Courtesy of Ghirardelli 
 
To celebrate Ghirardelli's support to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Leslie Sbrocco (@BeaThirstyGirl) has  teamed up with Ghirardelli's to throw chocolate pairing parties.  After the parities, Ghirardelli Chocolate and ThirstyGirl.com will host a live tasting party and Tweet Chat on Intense Dark™ chocolate to be held Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST. They'll be tasting four varieties of IntenseDark—Evening Dream®, Twilight Delight™, Midnight Reverie® and Toffee Interlude®—and creating and sharing food and wine pairings.

Courtesy of Ghirardelli 
 
Ghirardelli is supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). From September 1 through the end of December 2011, specially marked pink ribbon packages of Ghirardelli Intense Dark™ found at grocery and specialty retailers nationwide will carry a pink ribbon code worth a $1 donation to the NBCF (up to $100,000 total donation). Follow @BeAThirstyGirl and the hashtag #TGTaste to learn more about this fun event. 

Above were some photos of pairings that I'll be having at my party.  Chocolate smores, chocolate and cheese, and chocolate with wine, and chocolate with root beers are all popular pairings, but I'm going to bring a little twist to my pairing party.  I'll be pairing the darker chocolates with pungent cheeses and salty olives.  I love the chocolate and salt combination, especially salty truffles.  In addition to pairing, I'll also be making some chocolate pork riblets based off of this recipe.  Pork, cheese, olives, and chocolate; it may sound odd, but it could be a winner.

There will be a wonderful surprise in addition to the chocolate pairings.  Michael Chu (@cookingengineer) brought over some pecan praline ice cream he made using the Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream recipe, and it was fantastic!  It was so good, that several other friends bought the book of recipes.  At my party, we'll have two versions of the Jeni's Splendid darkest chocolate ice cream.  Michael Chu will be making the recipe using a home ice cream maker, specifically the Kitchen Aid that attaches to a mixer.  I will be serving a hand churned recipe.  For those who are coming to the party, it will be awesome!

And if you'd like another way to enjoy chocolate while benefiting disease awareness, pencil in the Austin Chocolate Festival on Oct. 15-16th.  The festival has raised $5,000 for the Austin Affiliate of Susan G. Komen, and this year's festival will benefit Multiple Sclerosis (MS) awareness.  See the photo below for a little preview for the festival.  Photo by John M. P. Knox.

Again, don't forget to Follow @BeAThirstyGirl and #TGTaste on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST. 

Eating through San Francisco - part 3 - Getting touristy

We got a little touristy in San Francisco.  Enjoy our photos of eats, sights, and things on water.

My first In and Out Burger.  I love burgers.  This burger was pretty good.

Kara's Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square

I'm not sure how @mousethedog would feel about this. Mouse Couture at Helpers Home Holiday Bazaar  was just a little weird. Even for me.

We tried the salted caramel hot cocoa at the Ghirardelli Cafe.  We had to try something.

I'm not sure that this is about.  There were also bagpipes. Not pictured. 

Clam Chowder at Pier 39, because we're tourists. It wasn't mind blowing, just touristy. 

A visit to Rogue Ale's Public House.

Sea lions at Pier 39.

Having some beers with @BisonBrew, @Sharayray, and @Knife4hire at Monk's Kettle.

Watermelon Hefe at 21st Amendment.

We found Cafe Zitouna Moroccan-Tunisian Cuisine during our walk up to the Golden Gate.  My favorite item there was the harissa sauce, a spicy North African Hot sauce.  I was addicted to it.  I haven't made some at home yet, but I will.  This item is the Breek, Tunisian Crepe.  It is a tissue thin Malsouka filled with potatoes, parsley, onions, eggs, tuna, and capers.  Yum!

These are Kufta Tajine, meatballs with bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, eggs, and spices.  These were pretty delicious too. 

Harissa- Basboussa - semolina cake with almonds, flavored with orange blossom water and topped with pistachios. 

Alcatraz. From afar.

Coit Tower.  To get up there might take many, many, many steps, but well worth the hike.  It's $5 for the elevator ride up to the top. 

Views from the top.

Inner workings of the Coit Tower elevator.

We found this little guy on a path down from Coit Tower. Kiss Me. I'm a prince.