HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
“I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU”
February 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
100 Reasons You Should be Member of Our Community – Win $100.00…
January 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment
By sharing your experience in dining-out on Valentine’s Day and as a result help others to enjoy a great evening, on February 14, 2012, Chocolates & Figs will enter you to our raffle to win $100.00 for your romantic evening. (Two people will win $100.00 each).
Did you realize that Valentine’s Day is knocking on your door? Are you wondering if Cupid has his bow and arrow ready for February 14?
I guess it is time to plan for how you wish to celebrate this beautiful Holiday. I am positive that restaurants are also scrambling to get ready for the biggest “dining-out” night of the year. People are truly treating this day as a special occasion, even if the economy is still on shaky ground.
So, how do people pick an appropriate venue? Most of us like to spend the evening in a restaurant that offers a romantic ambiance and serves food that gets our sexual energy flowing.
Others enjoy the same thing in the privacy of their home where they can add their own loving touches to the meal. And lets not forget the breakfast in bed. It is the easiest meal that one can prepare with flowers, champagne, chocolate-dipped strawberries and Love of course, serve at the right place.
VALENTINE’S DAY WITHOUT CHOCOLATES? DO N’T EVEN THINK OF IT.
February 12, 2011 by 1 Comment
Rouge Passion by Richart's Chocolates
Just as we cannot see celebrating Valentine’s Day without chocolates, it would be a sin not to seek out the best possible selection for your Valentine. We have reported previously about the products of top chocolatiers in the US ( (please see previous posts); and just by thinking about the tastes of these wonderful creations, I start to feel warm all over and cannot wait to open my box of surprise (or maybe not a surprise at all, since my Valentine knows my flair for the best). This is the holiday when you should not settle for anything less than the best. However, if you recall, I also said that selecting chocolates is a highly personal decision; what maybe the best for me it may not be your choice. So, please go ahead and read about all the top 10 chocolatiers we reviewed previously, because we conducted a very thorough tasting process and these artists were selected by consensus.
In the interim, however, I had a wonderful opportunity to taste the newest inventions of Richart, so I am going to add here a brief report about my feelings about these gems.
Richart's Chocolates
If you want to lift your mood, if you want to indulge in life’s luxuries, if you wish to be in the mood – what you do? You grab a box of chocolate, the best you can find and do not stop until the box is empty. Chocolate is the embodiment of love, passion, and sexual desire. It is the absolute perfect gift for those we care about deeply; so I hope you will threat one another with one of these delights and create a weekend to remember for years to come.
Richart created a special box for Valentine’s Day, named perfectly as “Rouge Passion”. It composed of two chocolate bonbons with variations of a ganache based on passion fruit’s aromatic bouquet, the delightful refreshing taste of berries and the seductive power of salted butter caramel coulis. Michel Richart likes to develop new products designed with the pleasure in mind; it shows. Michel doesn’t only put a lot of passion into his work, but he transfers that excitement you feel when you are in love into his creations. When you place one of these bonbons into your mouth its an instant exhilaration combined with the pleasurable sensation of sexual arousal. Get this box for your Valentine, but enjoy it together.
The other two newer products that we tried called CHOCOMAC and WINTER JUBILEE. CHOCOMAC has 8 pieces developed 
with the idea to help you to get the most pleasure from tasting chocolates. It has the light crunchy feel of french macaroons, the smooth, silky feel of a perfect ganache and a wafer thin solid chocolate to exert a desirable strength for the connection of the multitude of experience. Richart even thought about to provide you a “pleasure guide” (he calls it the “Wheel of Pleasure) with these elegant creations, which certainly adds to the tasting experience. This “Wheel of Pleasure” is color coded to assist you in identifying and differentiating the aromas the chocolate exudes, the texture that corresponds to the feel in your mouth and the taste that actually drives your feeling of pleasure. Some of the chocolates contain multiple ingredients in high concentrations that are known aphrodisiacs (i.e. spices, coffee, etc.) so double your pleasure and indulge.
The Winter Jubilee contains seven dark chocolates with unique chocolate ganache fillings. The dark chocolates are from Venezuela and the ganache contains chocolates from Santo Domingo and Tahitian vanilla, of course. These beauties are not only an art work to look at, but contain a variety of ingredients with significant aphrodisiacal powers, like pineapple, cinnamon, peppermint, vanilla, almonds, hazelnuts, coriander, and star anise. I left the last ingredients to be reported separately, because Richart correctly calls this chocolate a “FLAME”; it contains quinoa from Peru and sea salt from Guerande and of course the chocolate from Venezuela – one of these will not only ignite old intense loving feelings but create new ones with a flame that will never die.
Richart's Chocolates
TOP TEN CHOCOLATIERS IN THE US
Richart’s Chocolates
1-800-RICHART (1-800-742-4278); http://www.richart.com
La Maison du Chocolat
744-7117; http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.us/us/en/
Norman Love Confections
866-515-2121; http://www.normanloveconfections.com
http://www.cluizel.com
Knipschildt Chocolatier
838-3131; http://www.knipschildt.com
Recchiuti Confections
800-500-3396; http://www.recchiuti.com
http://www.keeschocolates.com
http://www.elbowchocolates.com
http://www.chuaochocolatier.com
L.A. Burdick
800-229-2419; http://www.burdickchocolate.com
Please remember that you may not agree with our selections; therefore, we would like to hear from you. Actually, if enough of you would respond we could create a readers’ selection. Wouldn’t that be fun?
UNIQUE SEDUCTIVE GIFTS FOR YOUR VALENTINE
February 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Valentine’s Day is a time to relax and delight in your mate’s company while enjoying life’s simple pleasures. A gift that says “I’ve been thinking about you” will delightfully cap off any romantic dinner on the town or at the table for two at your home. We all know the usual suspects as “Send Flowers for your Valentine” (and I have nothing against flowers; on the contrary, but lets think beyond roses. My absolute favorite flowers are the hyacynths. Their fragrance can wake up a dead (if you know what I mean). Their vibrant colors are a delight to look at and enjoy. Place one as a center piece on your “table for two” and you will walk toward the bedroom, hand-in-hand before the dessert is served.
We also see the hundreds of advertisement for chocolates in heart shaped boxes. You know that I adore chocolates but I can certainly do without these commercial heart shaped boxes. You also know which chocolates are on the top of my list: and I would kiss anyone’s feet to send me a box of “Rouge Passion Chocolates” with the beautiful heart in the middle of the box. The combination of passion fruit ganache with salted butter caramel coulis will awaken and stimulate all your senses and will deliver you to a place from where you will never want to come back (but more on these in a later post).
Currently, we were seeking to identify gifts that will put a smile on your loved one’s face because it will show just how much you care by going “out of the box” to find a gift. Gifts that can create those special moment that you can both replay for years to come. For instance, what about a ….
Genuine Turkish Bathrobe, that helps to conserve body heat. You may try to wear one robe for the two of you (since it is generously sized) in order to generate body heat to its max. Not to mention the feeling of the luxurious, soft-touch cotton on your skins will certainly make you feel special.
It is imported by Hammacher Schlemmer, which means it comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee (although I do not think that you may want depart from it). If anything goes wrong with your purchase, you can either receive a full refund or obtain an exchange.
EXOTIC LOVE-FRUITS FOR YOUR VALENTINE’S DAY
February 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment
“A perfectly ripe piece of fruit shared with your lover is a true romantic moment.”
While I am writing this post, I cannot help but think: why are we talking, writing, and reading about foods with aphrodisiac properties only for a few weeks leading to Valentine’s Day? Are we interested to have a great sex life for a week or two annually, then back to doldrums? I would hope not. I suggest we keep these posts, articles, books handy all year long (mainly scattered in the bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, etc., ) and consult them daily. I am confident we will be a happy society with no time to kvetch or revolt; our production of goods and services would skyrocket, our economy would flourish and we would live happily ever after….
So, let me know what you think about this suggestion.
At first I wrote about the mythology of aphrodisiac, how it derived from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love; and how some foods became labeled as aphrodisiac and used as sexual stimulant …….and then it dawn on me that this story must be getting out of your elbow by now, so I discarded that draft. However, I still love the story of Paris, the young prince of Troy who was charged with choosing “the fairest” of three goddesses to be the recipient of the golden apple. Hera, goddess of marriage and birth, offered Paris riches and dominion over all men. Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, promised Paris knowledge and renown as the bravest, most invincible of heroes. Then the goddess of love and beauty spoke. In a sweet voice, teasing with laughter, Aphrodite said, “Choose me and I will give you love and the most beautiful woman in the world for your wife.” Of course, Paris chose Aphrodite and true to her word, she introduced him to the lovely Helen, wife of the King of Sparta. Paris proceeded to abduct Helen and the rest is, as they call it, myth history; think Trojan War!
Let me know if you share my sentiment, or you hate this story too?
Anyway lets get back to the title of this post and talk about the variety of exotic sensual fruits that in the right circumstances, can get your sexual energies flowing; so keep them handy at all times.
I’d like to start with my favorite one (as our domain name implies): FIGS
SAY GOODBY TO MISMATCHED LIBIDO THIS VALENTINE’S DAY
February 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Premium Chocolate Mousse for Two
People say “Forget Love. I’d rather fall in chocolate.” I say, why choose?? With legend, lore, and even science suggesting that chocolate may have aphrodisiac properties, love and chocolate seems like a match made in heaven. There is nothing more stimulating than sharing a great chocolate dessert (in many different ways) with your lover in a lively surroundings.
CHOCOLATE – THE FOOD OF LOVE
As you know, aphrodisiacs are substances that enhance our libido. Modern science has confirmed that eating chocolate causes the brain to release certain neurotransmitters (i.e. endorphins, serotonin, and phenylethylamine) that enhances our “happy” moods. Endorphins cause feelings of euphoria and trigger the release of sex hormones. Serotonin is a “necessary” chemical in our brain if we want to be in a “happy” mood and wish to be aroused. If we have low serotonin levels in our brain it is nearly impossible to feel aroused or get into the feeling of sexual pleasure. Phenylethylamine (PEA) increases the pulse rate and feelings of excitement, resulting in sensations similar to those experienced when one is in love. As you can see these are real desirable ingredients (that is why I make sure that I eat at least three times a day about 2-3 ounces of dark chocolate with 66% or higher cacao content) I guess your next question is: “And how is your sex life?”; Well, I will let your imagination run wild with that one. The only secret I will let you on is that my grandchildren cannot visit me unannounced.
Chocolate’s reputation as an aphrodisiac extends as far back as our knowledge of chocolate itself. Aztecs believed that chocolate aroused men and made women less inhibited; reportedly, the Aztec emperor Montezuma drank 50 goblets of chocolate each day to enhance his sexual performance ( I wonder what 50 goblets equals to today’s measurements? Am I near with 6-9 ounces/day?) Naturally, when the Spanish explorers carried this exotic food back to Europe, its reputation went along for the ride. Chocolate has been a traditional gift for lovers ever since.
So, how should you prepare to make this the most memorable Valentine’s Day? Whether you’re planning an unforgettable breakfast in bed, a romantic getaway on a Greek Island, or a secret “love in the afternoon” with that special someone, chocolate has to be on the menu.
