chocolate world tour: Venezuela

70% cocoa, unique mild taste with hints of floral and dried grasses
ideal pairing: Earl Grey tea

The Venezuela kicked off our chocolate tour with a strong, rich scent, reminiscent of a good dark hot chocolate. It started off dry and sweet but darkened the longer we savored it. On a texture scale, it was evenly balanced between smooth and chalky — there was a sharp snap but it wasn't too dry.

After an initial taste, we combined it with Harney & Sons Earl Grey tea. This brought out more dry, grassy flavors in the chocolate. It was almost musty, like a hay bale in the summertime, and the tart and bitterness of the chocolate came through more as well. The chocolate also heightened these flavors in the tea.

Wine is the usual suspect for in-depth flavor analysis, so I find it delightfully intriguing that other foods also have a deep complexity of flavor. Hello again, chocolate. It's nice to know you've grown up alongside me.

Eagle's Deli, or John and Erin move to Boston

Almost two weeks ago, John and Erin arrived in Boston with a moving truck. We're so excited to have them here in Boston, just a ride away on the green line!

Fox was able to leave work early and help them unload in the afternoon. By the time Ian and I arrived at their new apartment, everything was inside. So instead of revealing my lack of muscle, we admired John, Erin, and Fox's sheer moving power, then told our commute story.

November 2, you might recall, was an election day. To fulfill our civic duty, we made a pit stop on the way to John and Erin's. Post-vote, we discussed the candidates as we passed the elevators on our way out. Then we heard a yell and a thud.

Our polling location happens to be in an independent living apartment building for older folks. Ian and I turned around to see an elderly Asian woman on the floor in a puddle of blue Tide with bleach alternative. Ian checked to make sure she was okay and helped her up while another man went to get paper towels. The woman kept apologizing, but we were just glad she wasn't hurt. Between her sorries, we learned her husband hadn't tightly replaced the detergent cap. It must have leaked as she got off the elevator and she slipped in the inevitable puddle, flinging soap everywhere. I couldn't help but think of an episode of Fringe where an off-the-charts genius sets chains of events in motion by doing something mundane — dropping a pen or perhaps unscrewing a laundry detergent lid.

We cleaned off a few more soap globs at John and Erin's before the five of us headed out for dinner at Eagle's Deli, of Man vs. Food fame.

I finished my food. Ian didn't. Those are some pretty big bragging rights.

Clean plate or not, they were excellent burgers, and we're glad we got to share that Boston first with John and Erin. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Anna = office supply item, Ian = guest speaker

I'd been researching couples costumes for Halloween this year. Then the department head invited Ian to go back to K-State on Halloween weekend to speak to students about internship opportunities. It was a huge honor, so of course he said yes. (Plus you really can't turn down a free trip.)

Thus began my quest for an amazing Halloween costume for Dan and Kristin's Costume Brew ha ha.

I settled on Post-It note. Creative, simple, inexpensive, and most importantly, not too flashy while riding the T (as Ian wouldn't be there to fend off decked out drunk guys). Original idea credit goes to a random girl in an English class my junior year.

Saturday evening, I showed up at Dan and Kristin's looking like this.

We had a memorable evening of sweets, Catchphrase, and Pictionary. I thoroughly embarassed myself in Pictionary — so much so I'm unwilling to share the details. And to add insult to injury, the guys routed the ladies in both games. Just wait until Valentines, when we exact our revenge.

In the meantime, Ian had a great trip. Over 70 people showed up for his presentation on great Boston spaces, and he enjoyed talking to students and faculty about preparing for internships, graphics (especially sketching), and sitting in on classes as a guest critic. K-State, the department, and studio are all like family and he loved spending time with everyone. Add that to dinner and football with Nathan and Caleb as well as Deb and Jim, and you get one happy husband. Throw in some dust jacket protective covers from the Dusty Bookshelf and a trip to the jewelry store for a wedding ring cleaning, and you get a happy wife, too.

And by now, you might be curious about those couples costumes I found. Bazinga! You'll just have to wait until next year.

TJ's chocolate palette world tour

Several months ago, Trader Joe's offered a special stack of chocolate bars. Dark chocolate bars from eight different countries, each with a distinct flavor and recommended pairing. Ian and I love this sort of thing (evidenced in our Jones Soda reviews), and I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate. So we tossed it into the cart.

We're still working through the bars — for some reason we've been unmotivated to pick up the recommended pairing items so they're chilling in our fridge. Yes, I know that discolors the chocolate. But it was the only way for the chocolate to survive the hot, humid late summer months — room temperature butter was puddling so you can imagine what chocolate bars would have looked like sitting out. I digress.

To motivate us into finishing our grand chocolate world tour, I'm blogging about it. Watch for reviews soon!

What Stewie Did on Her Fall Vacation

The weekend following Chris and Kelly's wedding, Stewie came to visit. She's a teacher and took advantage of her well-earned fall break to join us for a renowned New England autumn. On Friday, she walked the Freedom Trail and stopped at Mike's before joining us at Zaftig's for an evening of conversation and Jewish food.

We spent Saturday and Sunday zipping around Boston — Harvard, Beacon Hill, the Public Garden, the aquarium, SoWa Open Market, and Chinatown.

Megan and I both enjoy taking lots of photos wherever we go, so we spent a lot of time in the more picturesque areas of our walking tour, snapping away. It's fun to have a comrade-in-camera!

Megan left the weekend plans up to us, only requesting a trip to H+M. A word of advice — avoid this store on weekends if you prefer an under 20-minute dressing room wait or desire a relaxed shopping experience. Thankfully, that was our last stop of the day and were in no rush. Lesson learned.

Unrelated (I think), we've been informed the world will end on Dane's birthday this year (hour: still unknown). It's a Saturday, which is a little dissapointing — I'd rather be raptured on a Monday.

At the SoWa Open Market, Ian and I picked up some handmade soaps (his and hers).

All the shopping triggered an appetite. Thankfully the market also hosts food vendors. Ian and Megan opted for barbeque pulled beef and pork sandwiches, respectively. I indulged my comfort food itch with a gourmet grilled cheese — Cabot cheddar on hearty french bread, and shared dessert with Ian. I'll be experimenting with banana + marshmallow + nutella grilled between two pieces of bread.

For a 4 p.m. snack, we received a lesson on olive oil, complete with tasting. To my tastebuds' surprise, we learned for olive oil, as for wine, weather, location and fruit ripeness have a big impact on flavor. And yes, you can tell a difference.

We walked through Chinatown on our way back to the T, then decided to call it a day. We went home, opened a pomegranate, and watched Top Chef: Just Desserts over some cheeseburger pasta and Mike's cannoli. A relaxing end to a great weekend.

Stewie — thanks for visiting, and we hope you had a great time in Boston!

For more photos, click here.