Lindor Truffles; photo courtesy of mai-ke

I was browsing the net the other day and guess what I found out! Lindt (the very famous Swiss chocolate company that we mentioned in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics) is giving away 12 months of Lindor Truffles!! I had to share this, my friends! I have to confess: Lindor Truffles are my weakness… or at least, one of them :D 

For those of you who have never seen Lindor Truffles, I attached an awesome image from flickr.com.

Giveaway Details:
*The 12 Months of Free Lindor Truffles Giveaway contest is open for entries from July 27, 2009 through August 31, 2009. No purchase is required for entry. There will be one winner chosen on September 1, 2009 from all online entries submitted via this website. This giveaway is also available in Lindt Chocolate Shops, where one winner will be selected per location. The winners will be contacted by a Lindt representative and provided with detailed information on how to receive their prize. Store location winners will receive a redemption booklet for 12 consecutive months of (1) free 28-count Lindor Truffle bag to be picked up at the store location per month. The online winner will be shipped (1) 28-count bag of Lindor Truffles per month for the next 12 consecutive months.

If you are interested, you can visit their contest page for more info. Good luck! I hope one of you wins!

Thank you to all of you who participated to our Huge Chocolate Giveaway! It’s been really fun reading your comments. Now it’s time to announce the winners. Here we go:

Roxy ChocSmith (3 winners): comments #401 (angela), #95 (Nichola), #643 (R Hicks)

Chalmers Ganache (4 winners): comments #171 (barbara wright), #689 (Bridget Michelle Combs), #349 (Courtney S), #404 (Deanna U)

Navitas Naturals (3 winners): comments #386 (Melissa), #3 (DeeAnn S), #216 (Linda Fish)

Bloomsberry & Co (5 winners): comments #662 (Braden), #295 (Leslie M), #428 (Emily N), #440 (Frank King), #417 (Mike)

Bittersweet Origins (5 winners): comments #250 (cathiem), #345 (electricisland), #718 (Heather C), #103 (Heather S), #447 (Janet F)

Mars Snackfood (1 winner): comment #455 (Wendy)

Vivani (6 winners): comments #129 (Danielle), #504 (Debra F), #474 (Jason), #771 (Nancy S), #57 (Valerie), #734 (Veronica Garrett)

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UPDATE (09/02/2009): 2 winners have not responded to our e-mail, therefore we have chosen 2 more names: Carol (comment # 26 – Bittersweet Origins) and Claire (comment # 237 – Vivani).

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The lucky winners will receive an e-mail notification from us and have 2 days to claim their prize. Please remember that due to hot temperatures, some of the sponsors will have to wait till the end of September to send out their prizes.

photo courtesy of Toffee to Go

The Toffee To Go Story

When Lisa first tasted the traditional Schalk toffee she thought it was so incredible she told her husband, Jim, they had to learn how to make it immediately. Jim and Lisa spent hours learning the family recipe and after many attempts they had it mastered. They made a few alterations to the original recipe and what started out as a yummy treat for their friends and family has become Toffee To Go-home of “incredible handmade toffee.”

During the holidays, Jim and Lisa cooked their handmade almond toffee for family, friends and neighbors. It wasn’t long before their toffee became a popular topic of conversation and many of their friends hoped to be included on their Christmas toffee giving list. In 1997, their friend, Debbie Jackson, suggested the couple sell their incredible handmade toffee.

Jim and Lisa first started selling their toffee in 1998 to friends who had their own holiday gift giving needs. That year, Lisa also started selling the toffee at local Christmas shows. To their surprise, the first year they sold over 125 pounds of their gourmet treat. The next holiday season they were asked back to every Christmas show, and many new clubs and organizations were asking them to display and sell their toffee.

Jim and Lisa realized in 2002 that the demand for their toffee was getting too large for them to continue to sell out of their home. They decided to incorporate and expand into a commercial kitchen. Again, it wasn’t long before Jim and Lisa realized they needed more than just the commercial kitchen: they also needed a packaging and shipping area. They moved into their first commercial location in July of 2004 and opened a small retail shop on November 23, 2004.

With the incorporation in 2002 , and business thriving, the couple knew their delicious toffee was more than just a treat for the holidays. After adding two new packaging options, they quickly moved into the corporate gift segment, selling their toffee year round. Local corporations were ordering the Tampa Treasure for client and employee gifts and receiving rave reviews. Back then, Jim, did all the cooking and Lisa did the packing and shipping. Now, companies all over the country are ordering Toffee To Go and Jim still cooks and oversees the production staff and Lisa handles sales and marketing.

Whether customers need holiday gifts, business gifts, corporate gifts, party favors or just a treat for themselves, Jim and Lisa have a delectable selection of toffee available. They take pride in the fact that no preservatives are added to their toffee and that it is still made by hand in small batches. Lisa and Jim love the candy business and they are ready to serve you at Toffee To Go!

About their flavors:

Toffee to Go has a thin layer of chocolate so the incredible rich buttery flavor comes through on every bite. Toffee to Go has three fabulous melt in your mouth flavors. All three are made by first blending sweet creamery butter with pure cane sugar to create a rich, bubbling aromatic mixture. Their mouth-watering milk chocolate almond toffee has an abundance of roasted almonds and a thin layer of pure milk chocolate. Their decadent dark chocolate pecan toffee is paved with pecans and covered with a thin layer of pure semi-sweet chocolate. Their wonderful white chocolate macadamia nut toffee has mouthfuls of macadamia nuts and is covered with a thin layer of white chocolate. The final sprinkling of chopped walnuts on each flavor completes the transformation into a decadent gourmet treat!

Packaging:
Toffee to Go has several packaging options. From their signature gold boxes and tins, to bright colorful options that can all be imprinted with corporate logos or event names for branding purposes, Toffee to Go has sizes and styles to fit every budget and occasion. Of course, the best part is knowing that the recipient will remember your gift of Toffee to Go long after the last bite is gone.

Discount CODE for 100CafeStreet.com readers: CAFE20. This code will give you a generous 20% discount on the 8oz gold Toffee to Go boxes.  It expires on Sept. 30, 2009.

The Giveaway

This giveaway is open to US residents only.

Prizes:
Toffee to Go will give away three (3) of their 8 oz. Assorted Flavor boxes of Toffee to Go. That way the winners can sample each of Toffee to Go’s incredible flavors!

How to enter (required): Visit www.toffeetogo.com and then come back and leave a comment telling us the name of your favorite product!

For additional entries (leave a new comment for each additional entry):
- one additional entry if you become our fan on FACEBOOK;
- one additional entry if you grab our button from the sidebar and post it on your blog, please post the link;
- one additional entry if you follow us on Twitter;
- one additional entry if you send a tweet about this giveaway (once a day only); make sure to include @1happyblogger. You may use the following to tweet: @1happyblogger For a chance to win some toffee, go to http://www.100cafestreet.com/toffee-to-go-giveaway
- one additional entry if you fave us in Technorati;
- one additional entry if you blog about this Giveaway with a link back to 100CafeStreet.com and Toffeetogo.com
- one additional entry if you follow 100CafeStreet.com via email.

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The giveaway ends on Sept. 9, 2009 at the end of day, Pacific Standard Time. Toffee to Go will ship the prizes.

*Please make sure you leave a comment for each additional entry so you get credited.
*Also, please make sure you typed in the correct email address.
*The winners will be announced via e-mail and have 2 days to get back to us or other names will be chosen.
*Incomplete entries will be disqualified & deleted.

We featured Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

About the Company:

Gail Ambrosius founded her chocolate business in 2004, based on a deep love of dark chocolate and all of its richly complex and flavorful possibilities. She holds monthly tastings in her shop and encourages you to drop by and learn more about the distinct flavors of single-origin chocolate.

photo courtesy of Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier

Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier specializes in creating deliciously exotic dark chocolates in her Madison, Wisc., shop daily for legions of loyal fans in the area and around the country. Much like coffee, fine chocolate takes on the characteristics of the regions where the cacao beans are grown. Gail uses single-origin chocolate for most of her truffles, meaning that the unique flavors of a particular region’s cacao are melded with the finest spices, fruits, teas, nuts and other natural ingredients for the ultimate chocolate experience.

Gail and her staff are constantly tasting, adjusting and concocting new signature truffles and treats, bringing in fresh seasonal flavors to their handmade chocolates. At the same time, Gail is involved in every step of the process from ensuring the cacao farmers receive fair payment to powering her shop with solar and wind power.

About the products:

Looking for a small, simply divine pleasure for a gift, a special occasion or to savor in a rare moment of pampering? Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier has a constantly changing assortment of flavor options that fits the bill. Below are just a few of the possibilities:

Gail Ambrosius Chocolate. photo courtesy of Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier

Boxed chocolates: Truffles are available in beautifully designed boxes in a variety of flavor assortments and sizes. Flavor assortments include: Travel, Teas and Liqueurs. You can also select your own flavor combinations from our wide variety.

Price per box: $4.25 for two-piece; $11.00 for six-piece; $21.50 for 12-piece; and $40 for 24-piece box.

Twelve on the twelfth: You can order their box of twelve chocolates to arrive on the 12th of each month (or as near as possible). This makes a great gift anytime or as a convenient way to keep yourself in chocolate each month. You can select the flavor and length of time you want them to deliver.

Price: $64.50 plus shipping for three months, billed in monthly installments.

Hot chocolate: Warm your senses with this small batch, shaved 65 percent dark Columbian chocolate. Melt into warmed milk or enjoy European style in hot water. Thick and decadent. One bag makes 25 eight-ounce servings.

Price: $15.00

Chocolate sauce: A chocolate sauce for grown-up tastes. Dark and thick, it’s perfect on fruit, ice cream or just treat yourself to a spoonful. Made with Rainforest Certified Ecuadorian chocolate.

Price: $9.00

Shipping: Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier chocolates are made by hand in small batches to provide the freshest chocolate experience. Chocolates should be eaten within two weeks of purchase or refrigerated.

Location:

Chocolates can be purchased at their retail store at 2086 Atwood Avenue, Madison, Wisc., or purchased online at www.gailambrosius.com.

Baking Time: approx. 10-15 minutes.
Servings:makes about 4 dozen double cookies depending on the size of the cookies.

Ingredients:
250g butter
1 cup sugar or castor sugar
2 ex.large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup custard powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1 ml salt

Filling:
125g butter
grated rind of 2 lemons
about 1 Tblsp. of lemon juice
2 cups icing sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 180 c/356 F.
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the vanilla.
Sift the dry ingredients together.
Add to the butter mixture and mix well.
Using a cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and arrange on lightly greased baking trays.
Bake for 10-15 mins.
Mine were done in 5 mins.

Cream the butter, lemon rind and juice together.
Add the sifted icing sugar gradually and beat until creamy, but not soft.
Spread one side of each cookie with the filling and sandwich the cookies in pairs.

The custard powder can be replaced with cornflour for a completely different flavour.
I used milk chocolate for the filling but I’ve added the recipe for the lemon filling.

Enjoy!

We featured Bake Me A Wish! in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

Founded in 2004, Bake Me A Wish! is a premiere on-line bakery offering handmade cakes based on award-winning family recipes.  Perfected by master pastry chefs and using the freshest and most decadent ingredients available, the cakes are priced between $20 and $66,  including shipping.  The fresh and mouth-watering delights arrive beautifully packaged in a customized box with a personal note.

Bake Me A Wish! has unveiled its Holiday Gift Cakes 2009.  Now you can celebrate the season by sending delicious cakes to your family, friends, clients and colleagues!  All of the cakes are decorated with an imported Belgian chocolate plaque, a “season’s greetings” salutation and are specially packaged in an elegant gift box to guarantee freshness. For corporate clients, Bake Me A Wish includes a customized gift card with the company’s logo accompanied by a personal message of gratitude. Best of all, Bake Me A Wish! cakes are both kosher and certified by Chof-K, perfect for this holiday gift giving season.

Here a few of the Holiday Gift Cakes 2009 offered that are under $35:

Caramel Apple Crumb Cake

A moist golden cake layered with apples, cinnamon and topped with a layer of thick, delicious, tender streusel.

Then, a layer of creamy caramel is drizzled on top.

Serves 6-8 people (7” diameter)

Price: $29.99

Cookies and Cream Cake

A moist and fudgy brownie cake topped with crunchy chocolate sandwich cookie pieces .

Topped with a festive drizzle of white chocolate.

Serves 6-8 people (7” diameter)

Price: $34.99

Double Fudge Crunch

A moist and fudgy brownie cake enrobed with mouth-watering chocolate chip and cinnamon oat streusel, with ribbons of dark chocolate glaze.

AS SEEN ON RACHEL RAY!

Individual Serving (4” diameter)

Price: $15.00

To order your gourmet cake gift or to inquire about Bake Me A Wish’s corporate loyalty programs, please call 888-987-9474.

Today I have a very quick and easy dessert recipe.
This was made by my 15 year old daughter who loves desserts and whips it up in less than 1/2 an hour.

Easy Coffee Dessert

Ingredients:

1 liter milk
2 TBLSP. sugar
1/2 tin condensed milk or more
4 1/2 heaped TBLSP. corn flour
1 tsp. cocoa powder
3 tsp. coffee powder

Directions:

Boil the milk and sugar together.
In the meantime mix the rest of the ingredients except the  condensed milk with a little milk to make a paste.
Add this paste to the boiling milk on the stove and stir continuously to avoid lumps and remove when thicken.
Add the condensed milk .
Then pour into bowls and before serving top with nestle dessert cream, chocolate or anything you fancy.

Enjoy!

Announcement from one of our readers:

“From August through February 1, 2010, phyllo.com is the place to win! Enter elegant recipes for Fillo and quick, easy Mini Fillo Shell recipes. Each week and each month, our professional judges will pick the two best recipes, one for Athens Fillo Dough and one for Athens Mini Fillo Shells. From the monthly winners the judges will select two first prize recipes and one grand prize recipe.

Weekly winners will be awarded $50 each, monthly winners, $120, one “Fan Favorite”, $600, two first prize winners will be awarded $1,500 each and the grand prize is $5,000!”

We featured Bloomsberry & Co.  in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

Photo Courtesy of Bloomsberry & Co.

This chocolate company is based out of New Zealand, and since its creation, have used premium all natural chocolate.   Established in 2001 by graphic designer Giles Baker and wife Vanessa Kettelwell, a trained cook, Bloomsberry & Co.’s has been tantalizing tastebuds and seducing senses. Now this exotic designer chocolate, infused with a delectable sense of humor and superior ingredients, has come to America.

About the products:

Bloomsberry & Co. produces fun chocolate bars, dark and milk chocolate, made from the cocoa from New Zealand.  The bars have unique and quirky designs, most with a sense of humor.

Milk Chocolate bars are 34% cocoa, and Dark Chocolate are 55% cocoa.

Bloomsberry & Co. groups its products into categories based on design.  All products come in either the milk chocolate or dark chocolate bars.  Right now the categories offered are as follows:

Climate Change Chocolate – 4 products are in this line to get people to think about their carbon footprint and make a change.

Halloween Collection – 6 designs are offered,  such as Broom Fuel, Next Full Moon, and the original Emergency Bar with pumpkin design.

1oz. Chocolate – Smaller portions (1oz.) of the Emergency Bar can be purchased in boxes of 24 bars.  Available in Milk and Dark bars, including the Milk Chocolate with pink Emergency Bar label.

Casino Collection – 3 products are offered, including the famous Las Vegas welcoming sign, casino chips with cards, and the King Size Me bar.

Romance Range – The largest product offering, with 14 designs. Chocolate bar labels include: Lusty, Oral Pleasure, World’s Greatest Pick Up Bar, and Instant Gratification.

Easter Collection – 7 products are offered, including Easter Hunt, Hear, See, Speak No Evil, and Do this Ears Make Me Look Fat? designs.

Mother’s Day – 10 products are offered all fit for Mother’s Day, including labels such as, Mother’s Little Helper, More Fabulous, and Chocolate Fit for a Queen.

Location for Bloomsberry & Co. Products:

Bloomsberry & Co. can be found nationwide at Safeway, CostPlus World Market, and Beverages & More.  For more locations, check out Bloomsberry & Co.’s  store locator.

To view all the products offered by Bloomsberry & Co., check out the company’s online store to view all product offerings.

This August 10th is National S’mores Day! To celebrate, Alter-Eco is teaming up with Global Exchange, an activist human rights organization, to promote the use of Fair Trade chocolate. Why? Many cocoa farmers live in poverty and do not have access to education, health care and human working conditions. With the help of Alter-Eco, the El Ceibo cooperative in Bolivia has invested in equipment to process and transport their cocoa. By selling on Fair Trade terms, these farmers are able to invest in high-quality production, increase their incomes and improve their living standards. El Ceibo benefits 800 families in the Bolivian Amazon by helping the farmers achieve higher living standards and protect their environment through sustainable agriculture.

Global Exchange and Alter Eco have a goal: to inspire the consumption of 1,500 irresistibly delicious and undeniably ethical Fair Trade s’mores nationwide. Whether you choose to make s’mores at your barbeque, campfire, or home, indulge in Fair Trade s’mores this summer and beyond! Participants can register their s’mores and sign a petition that will be sent to Hershey’s asking them to implement Fair Trade practices on the Global Exchange website.

ALTER ECO CHOCOLATE

Fair Trade has never tasted so good! Alter Eco’s Fair Trade and Organic chocolates are available in several mouth-watering varieties such as Dark Chocolate Velvet, Dark Chocolate Mint, Dark Chocolate Twist, Dark Chocolate Cacao (73% cacao with crunchy cacao nibs), Dark Chocolate Blackout (85% cacao) and Dark Chocolate Almond. Alter-Eco’s Organic Dark Almond Chocolate is made with sun-dried and slow-roasted almonds for a deliciously crunchy taste, the Dark Chocolate Twist is made with delicately prepared with crystallized orange for a zesty and unique flavor and the Dark Chocolate Velvet is made from the finest cocoa and a touch of organic milk to round-off the flavor and make it supremely smooth.

Alter Eco sources ingredients for their chocolate from marginalized farming cooperatives in the global south, harvested by the members of the El Ceibo cooperative located in the heart of the Bolivian Amazon who use sustainable farming methods that preserve the local agricultural biodiversity. The chocolate bars are then crafted with passion by a master chocolatier in Switzerland from all natural, organic and Fair Trade ingredients – free from artificial flavors, chemical additives and emulsifiers. Alter Eco’s chocolate can be purchased at Whole Food’s nationwide, for a complete listing of retailers near you, please visit Alter Eco on the web at: www.altereco-usa.com

ABOUT ALTER ECO

Alter-Eco is a San Francisco-based gourmet food company that features a variety of delicious Fair Trade Certified products including gourmet dark chocolate, authentic jasmine rice, 100% Carbon Neutral extra virgin olive oils, sugar and quinoa. A team of fair trade visionaries and food-loving explorers on a mission to connect you to farmers and their honest foods, the Alter Eco brand reflects diversity in the faces, shapes, colors, landscapes, traditions, and cultures of the small farmers who cultivate them. Each product has a unique story and an authentic fragrance that will take gourmet enthusiasts on a journey of discovery from the kitchen, to the Himalayas, Palestine, Bolivia, Switzerland, and beyond.

Giveaway Details

Alter Eco will be giving away 3 delectable chocolate bars this month to honor National S’mores Day, and to encourage you to support Fair Trade chocolate! The three enticing flavors include: Alter Eco’s Dark Mint Chocolate, Dark Velvet Chocolate, and Dark Almond Chocolate. We’ll have 3 winners, one bar each.

Prize Descriptions:

Alter-Eco’s Dark Mint Chocolate is bittersweet and refreshingly intense. This chocolate is a real treat for your taste buds—and for the cocoa farmers too! To make the chocolate, Alter-Eco uses the finest ingredients—grown and selected by farming partners in Bolivia and Paraguay through sustainable farming methods that preserve the local agricultural biodiversity —which are then crafted with passion by a master chocolatier in Switzerland. The chocolate is both Fair Trade Certified and USDA certified organic and contains a minimum of 61% of cocoa.

Alter-Eco’s Organic Dark Velvet Chocolate is Fair Trade Certified and 100% natural – no chemical additives, artificial flavors or emulsifiers were used in its production. It is made from the finest cocoa and a touch of milk is added to round-off the flavor of this dark chocolate and make it supremely smooth. The cocoa in this chocolate was grown and harvested by members of the El Ceibo cooperative located in the heart of the Bolivian Amazon. By purchasing this chocolate, it directly helps 800 small-scale farmers achieve higher living standards and protect their environment through sustainable agriculture.

Alter-Eco’s Organic Dark Almond Chocolate is 100% natural and contains no artificial flavors or sweeteners. The chocolate is also Fair Trade certified, contains a minimum of 58% cocoa, and made with sun-dried and slow-roasted almonds for a deliciously crunchy taste. Alter-Eco uses small-scale farmers of the El Ceibo cooperative who cultivate cocoa crops using traditional farming techniques that produce the finest organic cocoa. The very best cocoa beans are selected and combined with organic unrefined cane sugar to make this deliciously rich bittersweet dark chocolate.

This giveaway is open to US residents only.

How to enter (required): Visit  www.altereco-usa.com  and then come back and leave a comment telling us the name of your favorite product!

For additional entries (leave a new comment for each additional entry):
- one additional entry if you become our fan on FACEBOOK;
- one additional entry if you grab our button from the sidebar and post it on your blog, please post the link;
- one additional entry if you follow us on Twitter;
- one additional entry if you send a tweet about this giveaway (once a day only); make sure to include @1happyblogger. You may use the following to tweet: @1happyblogger For a chance to win a chocolate bar, go to http://www.100cafestreet.com/national-s’mores-day-chocolate-giveaway 
- one additional entry if you fave us in Technorati;
- one additional entry if you blog about this Giveaway with a link back to 100CafeStreet.com and AlterEco-usa.com
- one additional entry if you follow 100CafeStreet.com via email.

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The giveaway ends on August 10, 2009 at the end of day, Pacific Standard Time. Alter Eco will ship the prizes.

*Please make sure you leave a comment for each additional entry so you get credited.
*Also, please make sure you typed in the correct email address.
*The winner will be announced via e-mail and has 2 days to get back to us or other name will be chosen.
*Incomplete entries will be disqualified & deleted.

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RESULTS: Thank you all for participating! It’s been really fun reading your messages. Unfortunately, only 3 people win. Here they are:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

23
77
218

Timestamp: 2009-08-11 18:58:25 UTC

Congratulations, Megan B., Sharon McCloud and alka! You have 2 days to respond to our e-mail or other name will be chosen. Thank you!!