Travelsmartplanet

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Yes, there’s chocolate shops in Switzerland. Who could resist licking that running chocolate waterfall?

Tags: chocolat suisse, Chocolate, chocolate fountain, chocolate lover, chocolate shop, chocolaterie, chocolatier, chocolatsuisse, city, CostSaver, dark chocolate, Europe, fountain, Lucerne, luzern, Melting, milk chocolate, shop, sights, sightseeing, Suisse, Swiss, swiss chocolate, Switzerland, tour, tourist, Trafalgar, travel, travelblogger, waterfall

Tags: ale, apple, april, bag, baked, bakery, Belgian, bourbon, braised, brewing, brie, brown ale, cake, candied, Catering, center, cheesecake, chicken, chip, Chocolate, coffee, cookie, cranberry, crisp, culinary, danish, dish, drawstring, drive i-95, Espelette, establishment, fish, flavor, Florence, Goat cheese, grouper, Hall, journey, library, maple, martini, muffin, nutcracker, oatmeal, offering, oil, oxtail, pancake, passport, pastry, pecan, pecan pie, pie, pizza, praline, product, puree, ravioli, Restaurant, Russian, sage, salad, scone, Seasonal, shop, shrimp, signature, smoked, South Carolina, South Carolina Pecan Trail, southern, specialty, spiced, stamp, stuffed, swag. metal, sweet potato, t-shirt, tea, town, trail, turkey, variety, visitor, waffle, Wood-fired

Explore the decadent delights of the nation’s oldest city on this indulgent tour of St. Augustine’s finest chocolate creations. The VIP ‘ALL THINGS CHOCOLATE’ Tasting Tour is an especially delectable way to learn more about St. Augustine’s historic district, where you will get to experience the most unique chocolate selections that St Augustine has to offer.

Guests will explore culinary venues, local fixtures, and off-the-beaten-path foodie hot spots to sample heavenly chocolate in all of its glorious adaptations. Samples will include wine, sauces, toppings, dips, desserts, and more.

Aside from the sheer decadence, you’ll discover how chocolate played a pivotal role in influencing the history and culture of the New World, while seeing unique points of interest along the way. Imagine taking in the delicious antiquity of the old city while indulging in one of man-kinds most beloved ancient tasting treasures along the way.

This 2+ hour tour departs from Tour St. Augustine Inc., located downtown at 4 Granada Street, on select weekend dates. Tour departs at 1 pm (check in 15 mins prior) and advance reservations are required. Visit here to book a tour.

Location: The tour departs from Tour St. Augustine, 4 Granada Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Date and Time: The first Saturday of the month in 2017 at 1:00 pm (Aug 5, Sept 2, Oct 7, Nov 4, Dec2)
Tel: 904-825-0087
staugcitywalks.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: floridashistoriccoast.com

Tags: adaptation, Ancient, choclate, city, creation, culinary, culture, decadence, dessert, dip, discover, district, downtown, Drivei-95, explore, fixture, Florida, foodie, guest, historic, History, interest, local, mankind, nation, path, point, role, sample, sauce, selection, St. Augustine, tasting, topping, tour, treasure, venue, VIP, walking tour, wine, world

Virginia grows the largest variety of peanuts in the world. The Good Earth Peanut Company ships Virginia peanuts fresh in a variety of forms: raw and cooked, in and out of the shell. Sitting right on a 1650’s Tuscarora Indian trail which is now a railroad junction, in an old time (circa 1854) general store, this family business roasts and sells peanuts.

Lindsey and Scott Vincent go beyond the ordinary nut to sell cashew brittle, wasabi flavored peas, nut berry thrill, diet trail mix, cracked pepper and sea salt peanuts, chocolate covered peanut brittle (Sandra’s favorite) and maple covered nuts, as well as pecans like key lime ones (we’re addicted to the butter toasted pecans in our salads).

There are FREE tastes of the 36 or so salty and sweet treats. We’ll take the dark chocolate
covered cherries. Some groceries still line the walls, like McCutcheon’s preserves and Virginia hams.

You’ve gotta stop here, you won’t be disappointed, the quality and the assortment are amazing. You can even order them on-line and have them shipped to you. They will  include information about the history of peanuts, also known as goobers and groundnuts, and how peanuts are grown.  WARNING: These products are addictive!

Location: The Good Earth Peanut Company,  5334 Skippers Road, Skippers, Va 23879
Hours: Mon – Fri 8-6pm, Sat 9-4pm
Tel: 1-800-643-1695
goodearthpeanuts.com

Tags: addictive, assortment, berry, brittle, business, butter, cashew, cherry, Chocolate, cooked, cracked, dark chocolate, diet, family, flavored, form, fresh, General, goober, Good Earth Peanut Company, grocery, groundnut, ham, History, Indian, information, junction, key lime, maple, McCutcheon, nut, on-line, order, pea, peanut, peanut brittle, pecan, pepper, preserve, quality, railroad, raw, roast, salad, salty, sea salt, shell, ship, Skippers, store, sweet, taste, toasted, trail, trail mix, treat, Tuscarora, variety, Virginia, wasabi, world

Tags: activity, age, Annapolis, Annapolis Arts District, apple, art, balloon, bar, binge, bounce, candy, canopy, caramel, celebration, children, Chocolate, Chocolate Binge Festival, comedy, competition, contest, cookie, crime, department, dog, entertainment, event, face, family, family-friendly, festival, fight, fire, fondue, food, fountain, free, fudge, fun, holiday, hot chocolate, kid, light, local, marsh mellow, martini, Maryland, moon, music, painting, performance, pit, rice krispy, roast, santa claus, sculpture, specialty, sponsor, street party, sushi, sweater, sweet, s’more, tooth, tour, traffic, truffle, ugly, vendor, West

I just made these chocolate truffles, almost from scratch, at the Fortress of Louisbourg. Messy, but I got to lick my spoon and my fingers.

Tags: Canada, cape breton, Chocolate, finger, Island, lick, louisbourg, messy, nova scotia, roadtrip, scratch, spoon, travel, travelblogger, truffle, truffles

Chocolate was hugely expensive in the 18th century and a pound would cost the same as a pair of shoes. You had to be wealthy to be able to serve cocoa to guests. the cocoa was served hot with spices and sugar and was used medicinally and for warmth and strength. Both women and men drank it. Ladies thought it was energizing. More than two centuries later, I think we still agree about that.

Tags: 18thcentury, Canada, cape breton, century, Chocolate, cocoa, energy, fortress, Fortress of Louisbourg, guest, historic, hot, Island, louisbourg, louisbourg fortress, maritimes, medical, men, national, nova scotia, parks canada, pound, roadtrip, shoes, site, spice, strength, sugar, tourism, travel, travelblogger, warmth, wealthy, women

On Saturday Sept 10th, My husband and I will be on Radio Centre-Ville’s Centre-Ville Consumer show with Beta Wayne.

Tune to 102.3  between 12:30 p.m.  and 1 p.m. and you’ll hear about our experiences in Holland and Flanders, Belgium in May. It will be the full half hour of conversation between us.

www.radiocentreville.com

Tags: Belgium, Beta Wayne, Centre Ville Consumer, Flanders, Holland

There must have been great chocolate DNA in their blood because famous Belgian chocolates brands Daskalides and Leonidas were created by family members from Ghent, Belgium.

Leonidas Daskalidès or Leonidas Kestekides (1876 – 1954) was born in Turkey and he was the founder of Leonidas chocolates in Belgium making pralines (chocolate shells with soft fillings) famous.

In 1910, he was a member of the Greek delegation from the US competing at the 1910 World Fair in Brussels. He won a bronze medal for his chocolate confection, and a gold medal for his patisserie. On a return visit in 1913 ( World Fair in Ghent), he met a young woman from Brussels and settled permanently in Belgium. He opened tea-rooms in Brussels, Ghent and Blankenberge, and the business expanded from there.

In 1935, Basile Kestekides, the founder’s nephew succeeded the founder and created a whole range of new chocolates, including the well-known ‘Manon’ of Leonidas. Still to this day the most popular chocolates are the manon, manon café, gianduja, dressé noisette, manon blanc and manon blanc café.

There are 350 Leonidas shops in Belgium and and almost 1500 throughout the world in over 50 countries. Leonidas  is still privately owned by family

In 1931, a Greek couple Daskalidès-Kestikidès opened a confectionary in the centre of Ghent. Home made pralines by Daskalidès become famous and their tearooms and chocolate shops grew.

During the sixties his son Jean advised him to devote himself to the production of luxury pralines for connoisseurs which led them to conquer markets abroad. In 1987, Daskalidès was  awarded in France the prestigious Laurier d’Or de la Qualité from France thanks to the exceptional quality of chocolate, the beautiful shape and the delicious taste

Dr. Jean Daskalides became famous for his chocolates under the names Daskalidès and Leonidas. He was also a gynecologist, film director, jazz musician, hospital director and lecturer at the University of Ghent.

You can buy Daskalides and Leonidas chocolate in Ghent or anywhere in Belgium or nowadays, all over the world.

Tags: Belgium, Brussels, Chocolate, Daskalides, Ghent, Kestikides, Laurier d'Or de la Qualite, Leonidas, praline, tea-room, World Fair

Laurent Gerbaud, Belgian chocolatier, was so good that he was sent to Shanghai for the World Expo to show off the sweet talents of his country. However, when he got there he soured on chocolates. Gerbaud discovered that the Chinese were not  used to so much sugar so making use of his creative skills he revised his recipes and started to work on tart and bitter tastes.

He searches purveyors for ingredients such as South African Barrrydale apricots, Persian cranberries, Turkish figs, pepper, spicy ginger  and orange peel, and mixes them with his dark dark 70 % chocolate recipe using  chocolate from Madagascar and Ecuador. The Turkish figs are crunchy, chewy and just slightly sweet. One with Greek pistachios blends salt, sweet (milk chocolate) and nut crunch. There’s a salute to Belgians love for specoloos (gingerbread) by rolling a truffle in the crumbs.

Gerbaud is really a chocolate pusher because once you get addicted to his intense flavor combos, it is very hard to go back to sweetened chocolate.

www.chocolatsgerbaud.be

Tags: apricot, Barrydale, Belgian, bitter, Chinese, Chocolate, cranberries, dark chocolate, fig, ginger, gingerbread, Greek, Laurent Berbaud, milk chocolate, nut, orange, peel, pepper, Persian, pistachio, Shanghai, South Africa, specoloos, tart, truffle