nothin' not to love...

...about periodically working remotely in the comfort and quiet of my own space.

!SNEEZE!

enjoying Virginie

v'cation

checking out a waterfall along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia

it was cold up in the mountains!

Chocolate Chip Tasting: which chocolate chips taste the best?

It's a little dream of mine to someday become some sort of a professional food analyst. The overall sensory experience of eating is fascinating: the combination of smells, textures, flavors, visual perceptions...

A long time ago, Naomi and I decided we should have a chocolate chip tasting party-- mostly just for fun, but also to determine which chocolate chips we thought were the best.

Leading up to my most recent trip home, we each collected a few brands of chocolate chips.

Included in our research were:

1) Market Pantry (Target) semi sweet

2) Kroger semi sweet

3) Wilbur semi sweet

4) Our Family milk chocolate

5) Toll House semi sweet

6) Giant semi sweet (mini)

7) Wegmans semi sweet

8) Ghiradelli semi sweet

We asked mom to label our tasting bowls, mixing up the order, so we were able to more accurately blind-taste. And we invited our family members to join our chocolate party.

I expected that Ghiradelli would be my favorite brand, and I was not expecting Nestle Toll House to rank well, because I know from previous experience and tasting, their packaging is the best part of their product...

Imagine my surprise to find that the chocolate chips I brought from Giant and Wegmans (both brands common in Central Pennsylvania, but not in mid-Michigan) ranked pretty low overall. I have been baking with sub-par chocolate!

Naomi and I found our favorite chips to be Kroger and Market Pantry brands!

Who knows if it's because we were raised on Kroger chocolate chips, or if they really are that superior to some other standard grocery store offerings, but it was a delight to discover their high ranking after we finished our tasting. From an economic standpoint, we were also pleasantly surprised to find Market Pantry ranked well, because their chips are super affordable at their everyday price of less than $2 per bag (11.5 ounces).

I was satisfied to find that indeed, Toll House are not my favorite chocolate chips (insert major thumbs down here... how is this sugary, low-flavor brand so popular across America??).

And I was shocked to find Ghiradelli didn't stand out as a no-brainer-taste-above-the-rest! (despite their classy packaging and special price)

We had a slight problem with our Wilbur chocolate as it seemed to have collected some other flavors through its bulk-food packaging, so I'm not sure how accurate our tasting was since the product didn't seem to be full-quality to begin.

As far as look of the drops and curls: Toll House definitely makes a beautiful chocolate chip.

Wegmans are squatter and somewhat powdered on the outside.

Market pantry has a taller, quicker-formed-looking drop.

I was surprised that more of the off-brand chips didn't seem to be the same. Most of the chips had unique features in taste and appearance. 

Unfortunately, one brand of chocolate we weren't able to include in our tasting was Ambrosia, which we both used to love baking with years ago (but which we haven't used in several years, and would have liked to include in the line up for comparison).

We had so much fun doing our tasting we started dreaming of future tasting options. Feel free to send ideas our way :).

note: All opinions in this post are solely our own. We bought the chocolate chips ourselves, and no one paid us for advertising or a good ranking. But we do love Kroger... just saying...  :)

Snow Day Remake

Another late winter storm rolled in recently, providing a perfect opportunity for me to remake a batch of cinnamon rolls to share at the office (after this recent flop). I was quite pleased with this most recent edition.

{check out the original recipe here}

Be Still My Soul

Recently, I've been drawn to the words of this reflective hymn:

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

~Katharina A. von Schlegel

Newsies!

Friend Pam had an extra ticket to the local high school's production of Newsies...

Weehee! It was such a blast!

The energy of the cast spilled over everywhere, and I may or may not have rolled over that night with Newsies music rolling through my sleepy head :).

Blue

A pretty blue sky at a look out along the Blue Ridge Parkway

For Naomi's Spring (mid-semester) Break, Amy, Libby, and I joined her for some adventuring along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina. Even though we kept driving south and eventually found some early spring blooms, we weren't able to escape the cold, especially up in the mountains!