Godiva Chocolatier Gems
Godiva Chocolatier Gems - Coming Soon to a Market Near You
Usually I report on food science news in this blog. But today, a newsy tidbit caught my attention that had nothing to do with food science and everything to do with food goodness, at least for chocoholics. Godiva has announced a new product introduction for this fall called “Godiva Chocolatier Gems” which are individually wrapped chocolates. They will be packaged in bags of 12-18 or 20-29 chocolates and sold for the first time in premium supermarkets such as Wegman’s and Publix. The gems will come in three varieties: caramel, truffle and solid, all in milk or dark chocolate.
My guess is that Godiva saw the demand for and proliferation of the Lindt chocolate truffles (one of our favorite treats around this house), and decided they were missing an opportunity. I agree. I will be much more likely to purchase small bites of Godiva than a large box of these expensive chocolates. The Godiva small candy bars have been showing up at more department store counters lately, but I’m much more likely to make an impulse purchase of an even smaller serving size that will assuage my guilty conscience. Just as we often add a small Lindt truffle for each of us to a purchase at Borders, we’ll likely do the same with these Godiva gems when they become available. I can’t wait.
Foodie Flicks
Opening September 2009
Food continues to prove itself to be a form of entertainment in this country. From simply eating at home, to going out for dinner on a special occasion, to watching the Food Network and other food shows such as “Top Chef”, our appetite for foodie fun continues to grow, rather than diminish. I found the most recent evidence of this point in my “Food Network Magazine”, September issue, where they’ve compiled a list of upcoming food theme movies scheduled for release over the next two years.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”, the film adaptation of a whimsical child’s book comes out in September – I still can’t imagine how that little picture book will be expanded into a feature length movie. “Food Fight” with Tome Cruise is scheduled for 2010 – the story of a top chef that finds himself cooking in a school cafeteria after losing his job – not completely plausible since who would fire Tom Cruise? Will Smith will star in “Cooked” in 2010, in the story of a drug dealer turned executive chef – hmm, a man trading guns for knives, guess it’s not a big stretch. Finally, in 2011 Keanu Reeves will star in “Chef”, the story of Michelin rated chef looking to make a comeback. Could these stories be more different? I don’t think so, but it shows the consuming power of food as entertainment. I can’t wait.
Treats, Kids, Snack Packs
Takes a little effort, but it's worth the trouble.
I guess back-to-school thoughts have been on my brain this week, which is why a blog posting I read on About.com’s Calorie Count Blog really hit home today. The blog discussed the growing trend of kids bringing snack packs in place of real food lunches. Apparently “real food” was considered weird by kids, plus, it wasn’t as trade-able as those snack packs. It’s a disturbing trend that I’ve witnessed for myself.
Snack packs are among the more insidious processed foods. On the surface they seem like a good thing. They offer limited serving size packs of snacks making a parent feel good that their child isn’t eating too much of a non-nutritious food item. Just a little bit for fun, right? But you pay a hefty price for these packs compared with making your own. And since only 5 – 10 packs come in one box, it’s not going to last very long with more than one child in the house. So we parents decide to purchase several boxes, and usually the boxes are a different variety. What happens next is that in a kid’s search for variety, they eat more than one a day – they’re not big, right? The next step, as the blog discusses, is that lunches become filled with these snacks as the main lunch items. Kids, of course, like to trade. And you’re not going to make it into the trade pool with something that hasn’t been advertised on tv. Suddenly your child comes home requesting other varieties of snacks than you wanted to feed them, and the cycle grows more vicious.
I’m not sure how to turn the tide on this awful, expensive trend. One possibility is to limit sweets and treats to homemade, non-portable desserts, like you see above. We made these yesterday. It was fairly easy, except for the cookie spoons which turned into an afternoon, summer vacation craft project. The rest was good quality sorbet and ice cream, topped with fresh fruit. Served in small but cute dishes, it seemed like a very special dessert.
But for the child who really likes to trade at lunch, that solution will leave them out in the cold. Of course you could be militant and pack carrot sticks and celery, but then you risk the gloomy face coming off the school bus. Or, worse, you discover the sticks went directly into the trash at school, and your child begged a friend for one of their snack packs. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen with other kids, and don’t doubt it has happened with mine.
So here’s my plan for this fall. First, I’m going to limit the number of bagged snack varieties I keep in the house. That way they will only be inclined to dump one into the lunch box instead of multiples. I’ll still keep a variety of non-bagged snacks for after school and friends coming over, but they won’t be as portable. And maybe I’ll bake more cookies. That way they will pack two or three in their lunch boxes as the small, sweet ending to a healthy lunch. And, I hope, the girls will have a harder time parting with them for a processed snack pack.