Valentine's Day

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, a day of candy hearts, sappy greeting cards, and sweet expressions of love. This holiday comes a mere 44 days after you shouted from the rooftops that, from now on, you’ll only eat gritty protein bars and kale cooked 31 different ways.

Some would claim the holiday originated to honor a saint, who was persecuted for promoting love. I believe that some guy couldn't imagine Day 45 without chocolate, so he proclaimed it a holiday.

Whatever your beliefs, Van Otis offers compromise between January 1 and February 14. Van Otis’ chocolate-dipped strawberries are resolution covered in celebration.

Berries can be dipped in your choice of dark, milk, white chocolate, or an assortment and come in one, two, and three-pound sizes. They are only available at the Manchester retail location (no online orders) and are best enjoyed within 12 hours.

Trust us, they’re a lot better than chocolate-covered kale.

Party in a Bag

Easter always helps me turn the corner from winter to spring. I’m willing to exchange snowflake for springtime decorations, including my retired Van Otis candy molds. Some people have connections to get courtside seats; I have connections to get old pieces of metal shaped like bunnies and chicks. I win.

Every Easter, I try to outdo myself with new basket displays and unique content. After recently seeing a Van Otis Facebook post, I knew I had found this year’s “unique”.Jelly Bean Bark is bite-sized chocolate pieces embedded with brightly colored jelly beans.

The bark comes in Van Otis’ exceptionally creamy white and milk chocolate. I was surprised to discover that of the two options, Van Otis’ white chocolate Jelly Bean Bark is my favorite. (Remember, I’m a dark chocolate fan.) There’s saltiness to the white chocolate that pairs well with the super sweet jelly beans.

Another reason I’m drawn to the white chocolate bark is the overall appearance. Each half-pound bag of bark comes in a clear package, tied with a pastel-colored ribbon. The white chocolate bark looks like squares of confetti cake.

Get your own party in a bag at Van Otis’ retail shop in Manchester, New Hampshire or at www.vanotis.com. Also make sure to “like” Van Otis’ Facebook page for updated product and event information.

PB&J

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are further proof of my assertion that salty and sweet should be represented during every dining experience. I tried using this logic on my kids when defending my love of chocolate ice cream with plain potato chips, but they still think I’m weird.

I was unable to find solid evidence of the origin of the popular PB&J. It appeared in history during the 1904 World’s Fair and was later a standard during World War II.

Due to meat being scarce and expensive during WWII, PB&J was originally a necessity; however, it has held its popularity ever since. The National Peanut Board reports that the average kid eats 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating from high school.

The popularity of the fruit and nut combination has spawned things such as crustless sandwiches and canned PB&J. Yes, canned.

Visit Van Otis Chocolates at their Elm Street, Manchester retail store or www.vanotis.com for some of their handmade fruit and nut confections. None of them come in a can.

Peanut Cluster - Dark or Milk Chocolate
Large, crunchy peanuts surrounded in chocolate

Peanut Butter Crisped Rice
Crisped rice in a creamy peanut butter center encased in milk chocolate

Peanut Butter Cup - Dark, Milk, and White Chocolate
Creamy, salty peanut butter center encased in chocolate

Cherry Cordial - Dark and Milk Chocolate
Maraschino cherry, floating in a liquid cherry center encased in chocolate

Orange Nougat - Dark and Milk Chocolate
Chewy orange nougat with candied orange bits encased in chocolate

Pineapple - Dark and Milk Chocolate
Candied pineapple slice encased in chocolate

Fruit Slices
Sweet and sour, sugar-coated, fruit-flavored jellied slices

Marzipan
Ball of almond-flavored goodness, artfully designed to look like a ripening piece of fruit

The Creams
Raspberry, Strawberry, Orange, Lemon, Cherry
Dark, Milk, and White Chocolate (Limited)
The creamiest fruity centers encased in chocolate

The Jellies
Raspberry and Orange - Dark or Milk Chocolate
Subtle berry-flavored, jellied center encased in chocolate

Espresso Yourself

I love my morning cup of coffee. I love the taste, smell, warmth, and boost of energy it supplies. But no matter how much advertisers try to convince me that coffee consumption is an all-day affair, I’m a morning drinker.

In a previous blog, “Resolve”, I talked about my goal of better health in 2011, which includes finding foods that are reasonable and satisfying. I think I’ve found my new favorite afternoon snack that satisfies my need for chocolate and crunchy, and as a bonus, it provides another boost of energy to maintain productivity.

Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my.

Van Otis’ chocolate-coated espresso beans are a coffee lover’s dream. Espresso beans covered in Van Otis’ delicious, handmade chocolate is the perfect combination of sweet milk chocolate and the dark, roasted flavor of coffee. You can even get them with a cinnamon coating, which is my top pick.

Grand Petite

The signs of spring in New England surround us. Sights like robins flying in a snow squall make it an exciting, albeit confusing, time of year.

Van Otis seems to be following the trend of things that make you go hmmmm. In anticipation of Easter, Van Otis is offering Petite Eggs, which are deceivingly named as a small chocolate packing HUGE flavor.

These eggs come in a variety of flavors including nutty peanut butter, peanut butter meltaway, caramel marshmallow, vanilla cream, coconut cream, and vanilla butter cream. Most are available in milk or dark chocolate, and all live up to Van Otis’ handmade confection perfection.

My favorites - yes, that’s plural - are the peanut butter-filled Petite Eggs. Both varieties contain Van Otis’ creamy peanut butter center. The nutty peanut butter egg has a crunchy exterior with a combination of crushed almonds and milk chocolate, which blend with the peanut butter center. Encased by either a milk or dark chocolate shell, the peanut butter meltaway is aptly labeled and showcases the creamy center.

As with any seasonal Van Otis product, these are available for a limited time. So stop into Van Otis’ retail store at 341 Elm Street in Manchester, New Hampshire and stock up!

Happy New Rears!

A week ago, I actually caught myself strategically thinking, “If I eat this entire tin of Christmas cookies now, they’ll no longer be a temptation.” I’m one smart cookie. Pun intended.

Many of us go from overeating during the holidays to extreme dieting beginning in early January. During the month of December, you couldn’t find an empty spot in the workplace refrigerator without shoving aside a tray of finger rolls. Now the lunch room is full of yogurt, tossed salads, and a lot of commiserating coworkers.

Healthy people know that bouncing from one extreme to the other is no way to maintain consistent health and weight. It’s important to find satisfying treats that will stave off the need to go overboard.

Van Otis Chocolates offers an all natural line of gourmet chocolate bars including milk, Cambra dark (72% cocoa), white, blueberry dark, blueberry milk, cranberry almond milk, cranberry almond dark, hazelnut milk, and hazelnut dark. I can attest that the blueberry milk chocolate bar is delicious and since it’s all natural, it doesn’t have the acidic bite that blueberry-flavored foods tend to have.

The all natural trail mix bark in milk or dark chocolate, all natural bark in milk or dark chocolate, milk chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, and mixed nuts or unsalted cashews are other wonderfully satisfying choices.

Free [free]

Webster’s Dictionary has 35 entries for the adjective “free”. All of the definitions have positive connotations, and three of those definitions directly reference enjoyment. Personal liberation, inhibition, and lack of self-restraint are all associated terms. To feel this way when making a sugar-free purchase, I turn to Van Otis Chocolates.

With many products, sugar-free equates lack of choice. I try to be a conscientious consumer for the health of my family, but often this means a limited variety in satiating our love of sweets.
Fortunately, Van Otis offers many of their hand-made confections in sugar-free form including their award-winning Swiss Fudge, Cashew Clusters, Coconut Clusters, Almond Butter Crunch, Macadamia Caramel Patties, Cashew Caramel Patties, Almond Bark, Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Butter Toffee, Milk Chocolate Raisin Clusters, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties, Orange Sherbet Creams, Vanilla Butter Creams, Black Raspberry Sherbet Creams, Maple Walnut Creams, Raspberry Jellies, Orange Jellies, Milk Espresso Truffles, Mint Truffles, Meltaways, Peanut Butter Truffles, and many more!

Bark as Good as the Bite

We need your help!

Van Otis Chocolates currently offers milk, dark, and white chocolate bark, along with their seasonal peppermint bark. Think of chocolate as your blank canvas and let those salivary, creative juices flow. What else would make for a great bark topping?

Chocolate bark is such a great concept. Broken pieces of chocolate reinforce the mindset of eating just a little bit, i.e. I only ate some pieces of chocolate, not the whole thing.

I'm personally a fan of salty items combined with Van Otis' handmade dark chocolate. Crumbled pretzels or cashews would be my pick, but this isn't about me. This is your chance to be heard.

Share your ideas below. You may see your wish come true!

Don't Sugar Coat It

According to the American Diabetes Association, a total of 23.6 million Americans had diabetes in 2007. That’s 8.0% of our total population. Even more concerning is the statistic that 57 million people were diagnosed at that time with “pre-diabetes”. It’s pretty clear that without health improvements gained by diet, exercise, and/or medicinal intervention, this population is going to give that 8.0% a big bump - and not for the better.

What a chocolate buzz kill.

Thankfully abstinence from the pleasure of sweets isn’t the only option for those who are combating or hovering near diabetic conditions. Sugar-free options exist and even better news, REALLY GOOD sugar-free options exist.

Bypass the dust-covered bags of chalky chocolates hanging on the store-chain pegs and head to Van Otis Chocolates in Manchester, NH or http://www.vanotis.com/ for some sugar-free treats. They offer many of their hand-made confections in sugar-free form.

You can enjoy novelties such as their award-winning Swiss Fudge, Cashew Clusters, Coconut Clusters, Almond Butter Crunch, Macadamia Caramel Patties, Cashew Caramel Patties, Almond Bark, Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Butter Toffee, Milk Chocolate Raisin Clusters, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties, Orange Sherbet Creams, Vanilla Butter Creams, Black Raspberry Sherbet Creams, Maple Walnut Creams, Raspberry Jellies, Orange Jellies, Milk Espresso Truffles, Mint Truffles, Meltaways, Peanut Butter Truffles, Black Raspberry Truffles, and many more!

Sweeeet. (Sugar-free, of course.)