It is snowing here. Maybe I should turn on the heat...

@XanderHenderson Yeah, I'd say that's a good idea. My brother, who lives in Eau Claire WI, got seven inches in 18 hours a few days ago.

@quid It's Monday!! Your "favorite" day of the week! Happy Monday wishes! ;D

I'm about to cook me some hot cocoa! Anyone interested? I can double or triple the recipe!

Word search: How many words of four or more letters can we come up with, that are formed from the letters in CHOCOLATE? E.g., COOL, COLA. If it helps, feel free to form words from CHOCOLATES! E.g., SCHOOL!

Another word that follows from the eating Chocolates : YUMMY ;D

ALCOHOL Ahh, there must be a connection between CHOCOLATE and ALCOHOL!

@amWhy I'm drinking coffee.

@XanderHenderson Add some hot cocoa to your coffee to make it a mocha!!

I could, but I don't want to. :P

@XanderHenderson Then add some Bailey's Irish Cream! ;D

SHOE SHOO TACO COAT TECH CHAT COAL SOLACE SOLE, SALE, SHALE, HALT, SALT, SHOT, HEAT, HATE, SEAT, CLEAT, CHEAT

LATE, SLATE, LACE, SLAT, HALT, HEAL, TEAL, SEAL, HASTE, ACHE, TALE, CATCH, COCOA

LASH, LEASH, EACH, TEACH, CASH, CAST, TOAST, COACH

CATCH, TOLE, ETCH

@amWhy I don't have any. :\

Also, it is too early in the day to start drinking.

@amWhy thanks

Funny I just ate some chocolate

@quid Yummy! ;D

@quid What's you favorite chocolate?

@XanderHenderson Indeed it is!

@amWhy I like hazelnuts

@quid Ooh... I do too! I also like almonds in chocolate.

@amWhy that's also good but less common around here.

@quid Are you familiar with "turtles"? They include three pecans, caramel, all covered generously with chocolate.

@amWhy no never heard that

@quid Also yummy!

I like plain dark chocolate.

Like... 85+% cocoa solids.

That can also be good yes.

@XanderHenderson Yummy!

Hey, look! I asked a question which made it to the HNQ. :eyeroll emoticon:

@amWhy TURTLES!

^^Eg. of turtles!

Oh, my weakness is chocolate covered malted milk balls; not using fake chocolate as used in Whoppers, but the real deal!!

@amWhy I'm not a huge fan of malt, nor the texture of malted milk balls. I also don't like "honeycomb" all that much.

thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a88050/…

Too sweet, and the chalky / gritty texture makes my teeth hurt.

@XanderHenderson I only like it covered in chocolate. But I'll never ever drink a milkshake when a malt shake is available!

@XanderHenderson Cheap malted milk balls are stingy on the chocolate; my favorite are those with 50% or more chocolate.

THE CANDY WARS! What are your favorite candy bars, @Xander?

@amWhy I don't eat that many candy bars---when I was in SoCal, I would stop into the chocolate shop and pick up a bar of dark chocolate from time to time...

(The story of the chocolate shop is as follows: there was a hipster in town about 20 years ago who had this idea to sell made-to-order ice cream; he combined local ingredients with liquid nitrogen to make ice cream when it was ordered...

@XanderHenderson I know Hershey's features a "special dark chocolate". I also like Hershey's milk chocolate with almonds. I really am not a big fan of Nestles.

(...The store was successful, but people kept asking for chocolate ice cream. He didn't make it, because chocolate doesn't grow in southern California. However, people kept demanding it, so he set about figuring out how he could obtain chocolate without violating his "made from local, organic, etc ingredients" ethos...)

(...He eventually partnered with several growers in central America, and opened up a small bean-to-bar place in town so that he could make chocolate ice cream. A side effect of this is that he sells bars of very good chocolate as a side-line.)

@XanderHenderson Oh! Good story... where did he find it? Or did he import "fair trade" chocolate from Central/South America? Ahh, you answered my question!! ;D

parliamentchocolate.com

Have you every experienced See's chocolates, @Xander?

@amWhy I have. I'm not a huge fan of their style of guess-the-filling.

@XanderHenderson True. I get that. It's just that I grew up with my family receiving a 3lb box of See's chocolates every Christmas from my Aunt and Uncle in CA. And later, when my siblings and I were adults, they'd send us each a 1lb box. I've gotten pretty good at "guessing the filling" over the years.

@amWhy Nostalgia is powerful. :)

@XanderHenderson Indeed it is!

My mother makes a dip out of deviled ham, mayonnaise, Velveeta, and Tabasco. It is disgusting to think about. However, I can imagine nothing that I would rather have on a Dorito than my mother's "Devil Dip". Probably because I grew up with it. :\

@XanderHenderson Indeed, the nostalgia factor. My Mom used to make a dip out of Hormel "no beans" chili, with Merkt's cheese, heated in a quart sized slow cooker, or larger, if we doubled or tripled the ingredients. Still my favorite chili cheese dip.

I will never understand no bean chilis. Beans are the defining ingredient of chili. :\

@XanderHenderson I understand. Indeed, it is not chili without beans. But it made for an awesome dip!

Sounds like.

I had to look up Merkt's cheese. It looks like Velveeta for rich folk. :P

(Government cheese with delusions of grandeur?)

@XanderHenderson It's much better than velveeta or cheese wiz. (Think cheddar, compared to Kraft American cheese slices). WI has a number of companies that produce aged cheese spreads for crackers, etc. In WI, they're not terribly expensive, but they might be more expensive elsewhere.

Like I said, fancy people Velveeta. :)

Note that I say this as a person who eats a lot of fancy cheese, and is deeply saddened by the choices I have in my new home. I mean, I can't even get parm.

And the only brie I can get here is barely passable. :\

AND THERE ARE NO BAGUETTES! >:(

Anywho, I have been putting off the writing of this letter for almost a month. I gotta go finish it.

@XanderHenderson Wishing you a productive letter-writing session! ;D