Chocolate Homework

What a delicious night of homework!
Ty and I got home on Wednesday and discovered the most amazing treats on our front steps! A care package from Purdy’s Chocolate! Our friends at Purdy’s have found us on Twitter and really reached out to our family and our kids. They have sent Paul a birthday treat, chocolate dinosaurs for the boys and checked in on us “just because”. No strings attached, no expectations, just a “sweet” new friend.

The funny thing is, when I worked at Town Shoes, we had done a cross promotion with Purdy’s as they were entering the Ontario market. I was pregnant with Ty at the time, and all I needed was a few cases of hedgehogs in the warehouse to keep my cravings satisfied. When I worked with our PR Director, Crissi, she would leave a hedgehog on my desk to say “thank you”…when Ty was born, she suggested I call him “Purdy” as a nod to the chocolate that had sustained him for 9 months!

We took the opportunity to take our time and truly “taste” these treats. There were 4 different best sellers to sample and it came with a chocolate tasting guide. I decided to turn this into a little project for Ty and into some “learning” fun!

I asked Ty to take all the notes for our Tasting Test, as he set up a grid on paper with the names of our four chocolate samples. He read me the tasting guide step by step as we started our work.

Before starting and between the chocolates, we had to get something to “cleanse” our palate….Ty choose milk. It wasn’t on the list to use, but it seemed like a good choice!

We looked at each of the four contenders with discerning eyes, carefully critiquing each “look” and documenting its visual appeal. Next, we were to describe the first bite, then the flavour and finally the texture. We had so much fun sampling and discussing the differences between each chocolate.

Below are the notes from Ty’s notebook….in his role as Chief Tasting Officer

1. Sweet Georgia Browns (chocolate, pecans, caramel):
I won’t like them. They look messy, too many nuts. I like the caramel!

2. Turona (new product, dark chocolate):
Looks like it is solid chocolate, but it actually has 3 layers; bottom is crunchy, middle is soft and top is thin, crispy. I think it is too rich. Mom loves this one, even though she doesn’t usually like dark chocolate.

3. English Toffee
I don’t like the way it looks. It’s AMAZING!!! It’s good once you get to know it. It reminds me of caramel popcorn.

4. Hedgehogs
They look like they are all chocolate. They are so cute you don’t want to eat them. They are a mix of some tastes. They are soft inside. They taste like Nutella (hazelnut)!

Can you guess Ty’s favourite? If you guess it right….I’ll send you a sample!