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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Foodie Sunday: Broken Hearts and Chocolate Kisses

By Beth

What a week! It’s been a long one, with many joys (Great press for my new business!) and a deeply felt sorrow, most notably the ending of a long and important friendship in my life, an ending that was not at all unexpected, but the way it went down just so very sad.  I spent some delightful time this week with one of my darling Orchestra board ladies and she gave me one of the more practical pieces of advice that I’ve ever heard. She said…”It may be heart breaking right now dear, but there comes a time, when in certain cases you just  finally have to realize that you’ve known someone for way to long”.  This particular society doyenne has been alive for 81 years, looks fabulous, hangs out with interesting and attractive younger men and still goes out to dance the tango so I’m quite certain that she is right. That being said, even though I’ve realized that I am truly ready for the relationship to be over, when it finally ended there was a huge gaping hole that needed to be filled with something.
 
In my case, that would be cheap chocolate.
 
This week I’ve eaten  but not necessarily in this order a Milky Way bar, countless squares of Ghirardelli  , a Kit Kat bar, a huge endless bowl of chocolate gelato, a few Hersheys bars,  some sort of nougat and dark chocolate dessert at a restaurant on Wednesday and Chicken and waffle flavored potato chips (not  cheap chocolate but equally as sinful). I would have sold my first and only born for a piece of my mothers chocolate mousse cake. I knew things were finally beginning to look up when I started eyeing the Green and Blacks bars at Whole Foods yesterday. At last some closure!

Chocolate is not only one of the best things in the world, but it turns out one of the healthiest. To my delight it’s being called a super food along with my other favorite guilty pleasure which is great red wine. Chocolate is packed with anti- oxidants, loaded with vitamins and minerals and according to an article that I read the other day, the lovely dark variety can reduce your risk of stroke and heart disease, reduce your risk of diabetes,protect your skin from sunstroke, improve your blood flow and of course it can dramatically lift your spirits and transform even the foulest mood!

For me though it’s not just the taste, but the scent I crave hence my obsession with Tom Ford's utterly luscious Tobacco Vanille, which would be my signature scent if I ever felt the need to have just one.  I’m not sure why, but the aroma of chocolate is sometimes even more pleasurable than eating it. I’m a sucker for chocolate massage oils and body scrubs but my favorite is just good old fashioned cocoa butter which I love to slather all over my body right before bed after I’ve taken a really hot bath.

When Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfumes made her first batch of chocolate mini perfumes I was truly in heaven and I’m hoping that she’ll  be able to make another edition of them soon .  These were absolutely wonderful and they made me feel like I’m wrapped in my mothers arms or even my sister who’s definitely a woman who spends a good deal of her life contemplating extraordinary chocolate and all of the things that she could bake with it.  Ellen is much more discerning then I am, but she does love Reeses Peanut Butter cups and Peanut M and M’s, choices that I have no love for which makes our life together as sisters extremely easy.  I also just remembered that she alone can bake my mother’s chocolate mousse cake, so my next act of today will be to call her and beg her to make and somehow ship me one!

So my question to you is this.  When healing from a bruised and battered heart, what foods do you crave?

5 Comments:

Blogger queen_cupcake said...

I definitely want chocolate when I am feeling sad--or worse, unloved. I try to stick to the better versions of dark chocolate, but anything decent will do. Lindor truffles are usually easy to find, and a couple of those usually do the trick.

Hope your sadness lifts very soon. I try to remember the following: "Forget what hurt you but never forget what it taught you." Easy for me to say!

I also hope that your good sister will send you that cake, or a recipe for it, at least. Would you like a recipe for Earl Grey Chocolate Cake? It's around on the web but I have one from Bon Appetit, November 1994. Just let me know.

Peace.

8:33 AM EST  
Blogger Beth Schreibman Gehring said...

Hi Queen Cupcake!!!!!
Thank you so much for your lovely wishes. I am healing quickly. The takeaway? Always trust my instincts. Yes Please Please Please I would love the recipe!

You can post it here for everyone if you wish or send it to me at beth.gehring@stirringthesenses.com

Thank you!!!!!!!!!

10:48 AM EST  
Blogger queen_cupcake said...

Okay, since you ask so sweetly ;-) Hope this doesn't hog too much bandwidth!
Enjoy XO

EARL GREY CHOCOLATE CAKE
12 Servings

CAKE
2 Earl Grey teabags
2/3 cup water
8 oz. bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup orange marmalade
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

GLAZE
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the cake: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Butter 10-inch diameter angel food cake pan (or tube pan). [QC: I bet a square baking pan would do just as well.] Place tea bags in glass measuring cup, pour 2/3 cup boiling water over. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove tea bags from water & discard tea bags. Let tea cool. Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over water, stirring until smooth (you can use the microwave if you watch closely and do not overheat). Cool chocolate to room temp. Puree marmalade in processor until almost smooth, set aside.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in melted chocolate, marmalade, walnuts and vanilla. Mix flour and baking powder and tea alternately into the chocolate mixture. Do not overbeat.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until tester inserted near center of cake comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour, 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edges of cake to loosen. Turn out cake onto rack and cool.

For Glaze: Bring whipping cream to boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and let stand 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

Place the cake on a platter and spoon glaze over, allowing glaze to drip down sides. Can be made 1 day ahead; cover and store at room temperature.

1:26 PM EST  
Blogger Beth Schreibman Gehring said...

OMG...This is going straight onto the tea leaves section of my blog. Please send me your email (and your real name) so that I can send you the article that I write about it, of course giving you credit for sharing it with me!
Beth

1:32 PM EST  
Blogger Unknown said...

Chocolates for brokenhearted, Flowers for inlove, and pheromones perfume for lovers.

9:17 PM EST  

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