December 2009 There is so much to aspire to this month. For different reasons, I feel many of us are trying especially hard to be the best versions of ourselves — to be extra kind, extra organized, extra patient, etc. The frenzy of the season makes our efforts a little more challenging, but we do our best and feel grateful to be celebrating the passing of another year! As you make progress toward your goals — large and small — this season, I have one small challenge for you: Introduce one person you love to great chocolate or confectionery this month. Why? Because it is a really nice thing to do. Try slipping a few Béquet caramels into your brother's coat pocket while he's not looking at the family party. Or bundle up a Cluizel Los Ancones bar and mail it to your best friend, along with a little note about why you like it so much. You might also give a Zzang! bar to your Grandpa and ask him if it reminds him of the "combination bars" he enjoyed when he was a little boy. Whatever you do and whomever you target for this mission have fun. It is a wonderful thing to be able to share great food with people you love. I've created a list (in no particular order) of my favorite treats to get you thinking in the right direction — I call it my holiday Wow list, because every time I see these things on the shelves at the Deli I think to myself, "Wow, we are so lucky to have that." I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true. Have questions? Craving a chocolate consultation? Want to come in and taste a few things together? Send me an email and we'll pick a time to meet up and pick out some perfect things for the folks on your list. Thank you, Duff duff@zingermans.com 734-663-5282

· The Chocolate Lady's 2009 Holiday Wow list · 1. El Rústico I am feeling grateful that we have this bar around this December, because this time last year it was still in development! This bar was a labor of love on the part of Zingerman's and our friends at Askinosie Chocolate, but I can confidently say that every minute we spent working on it was well worth it. Just taste it and you will agree! It is a Mexican-style dark chocolate bar sprinkled with whole vanilla bean morsels. Available at the Deli, at Askinosie Chocolate in Springfield, MO and online at askinosiechocolate.com. That's it! Nowhere else! 2. Guido Gobino Tourinot and Crema Spalmabile I'm not 100% sure, but I'm 99% sure that Zingerman's is one of the only US importers of Guido Gobino's splendid, splendid confections. We order directly from Guido himself at the end of summer, so that he and his team have time to make our chocolates, put them on the boat and get them to us in time for the holidays. Our order just arrived a few days ago, and I was overjoyed to see it. Today, I made up a little plate of tourinot (individually wrapped, traditionally shaped gianduja) and Crema Spalmabile Gianduja (gianduja cream) and took it to the table of one of our favorite guests — Renata. Renata is a native of Turin, where Gobino is based, and as soon as she saw the treats her eyes lit up! Later she came to find me, her eyes wet, and she said in her beautiful accent, "You made my day. They remind me of my city." She took a little lid for the hazelnut cream so she could give a taste to her grandson after school. She said, "I will pick him up and say, 'Today I have a surprise! A treat from Torino!'" By the time she left, I was a little emotional myself. 3. Sicilian Pistachio Squares In the shadow of Mt. Etna, in the northeast corner Sicily, there is a company called Falanga. Owned and operated by Luigi Falanga (the grandson of the founder), the company specializes in making traditional cookies. Most of their cookies and delicacies are based around almonds and pistachios (they make their own pistachio and almond pastes) and their specialty is a little treat called the pistachio croccante. It is buttery and delicate, like a wafer cookie, with roasted almonds and pistachios sprinkled on top. 4. Taza/Zingerman's Mexicano Collection Three stone-ground, organic Mexicano chocolates from Taza chocolate, packaged exclusively for Zingerman's in a sweet box. For our collection, we selected the cinnamon, vanilla and puro (plain) flavors. The chocolate is sweet, fresh and wonderful. Wondering whether to by a couple disks alone or in the box? Here's a little secret: The box is the better deal. So go for it! It is ribboned and ready to give! 5. Vosges Couture Cocoas Put this one on your personal wishlist! These mixes are easy to make like a cocoa, but rich and thick like a café drinking chocolate. Bianca is white chocolate with lavender and lemon myrtle, La Parisienne is dark chocolate with a pinch of vanilla bean and Aztec Elixir (my favorite) is dark chocolate with cinnamon, chilies and a little cornmeal. The important question: It is easy to make at home? The answer: Yes! 6. Claudio Corallo Ginger Spheres Big bites of spicy, crystallized ginger generously coated in Corallo's awe-some 100% chocolate. I am not sure how it works, but this combination is absolutely perfect. There must be a scientific formula that explains why it is so good. A very unique, very hard to find treat. Great for anyone who loves ginger. 7. Peppermint Bark from Askinosie This product has created a rumbling of excitement at the Deli unparalleled in my history as Chocolate Lady. Seasoned managers were sneaking to the warehouse to peek at the boxes before I put them on the floor, staff was asking how many I had ordered (30), our merchandizing web designer did a blog post about it — everyone is pretty darn excited. And I don't blame them — this may well be the hostess gift of the season. Thin layers of Askinosie's dark and white chocolate, sprinkled with all-natural peppermint from Hammond's Candy. You get a generous portion (2/3rd of a pound) in a wood-burned, birch wood box. The box is half the fun! 8. Anything from our candy jars Everything in our candy jars is under $1, which makes it easy (and fun!) to build a bright, affordable assortment of treats for anyone on your list. We have over twenty different individually wrapped candies and chocolates for you to choose from, including Béquet caramels, Chimes Ginger Chews, Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops, Guido Gobino Gianduja Tourinot and Agrimontana fruit jellies. Want a bunch of bags for teacher's gifts or co-worker presents? Send me an email (duff@zingermans.com) and I'll get your order ready! 9. The Diabolical Bar (Barre Infernale) from Pralus A giant bar of 45% French milk chocolate (I think it tastes like burnt caramel), filled with hazelnut/almond praliné and dotted with a few whole-roasted hazelnuts. Outrageously rich and tasty. 10. Cluizel Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans Back for the holidays from France! Over a half pound of delicately roasted Brazilian coffee beans, coated in Cluizel's semisweet 60% dark chocolate. The perfect gift for the thoughtful snacker/coffee lover on your list — these are not to be eaten by the handful, but savored one by one. 11. Fran's 20-piece caramel box Fran's fans rejoice! This year's caramel gift box contains twenty caramels, compared to sixteen last year! That's right — you get ten each of Fran's award-winning gray salt and smoked salt caramels in a box. Each brown linen box is hand-dyed and tied with a wide, golden satin bow. I recommend buying a box, packing it in your suitcase and just seeing what happens. Maybe you gift it to a kind hostess or maybe you keep it for yourself and eat the caramels in your pajamas? Whatever you decide to do, you have my approval. 12. D. Barbero Torrone Tins This year available in big (500g) or mini (100g) tins, this classic northern Italian confection makes me swoon every time I taste it. And so I try to taste it often! Made by the same Piedmontais family since 1883, this torrone (aka nougat) recipe is absolutely packed with toasted hazelnuts. The honey flavor is delicate and light, the torrone is perfectly crisp, and it all comes in a covetable metal tin painted Art Nouveau-style with lots embellishments and beautiful Italian words like torroneria. What more could you ask for? Two tins? 13. Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, Cioccolata Modicana Antica Dolceria Bonajuto is a family-run chocolate shop in Modica, Sicily. The people of Modica have been making chocolate sine the 1500's, when cacao first arrived there courtesy of Spain. The first Modican chocolatiers learned how to make chocolate using Pre-Columbian methods—coarsely grinding cacao with a metate y mano, adding sugar and spices, forming the resulting thick, paste-y mixture into bars, then letting them cool. In the little dolceria that makes these bars, there is a metate y mano right inside the front door and curio cabinets filled with old photographs and ephemera from the company's early days. The shop opened in 1880 and is operated today by Pierpaolo, a descendent of the founder. Although they dispensed with the metate y mano in the 1960's, the company makes the same chocolate using the same recipes. We just received a fresh batch of the cinnamon and vanilla bars and they are incredible, as usual. 14. Béquet Caramel Bags Immensely good and infinitely give-able, that's what these caramels are. We are stocking the Celtic Salt, the Chocolate Salt and the Chewy bags for the month. With twenty caramels in a bag, imagine the possibilities! You could tie one to each gift, put a big bowl out for your holiday guests, take them on the airplane and pass them down the row, eat them in your pajamas... 15. Nougat de Montelimar Imported from a small town in the south of France by our friend Kitty Keller in Oakland, CA, this nougat is something we look forward to every year. Lavender honey, almonds and pistachios account for over 60% of the recipe (the rest is standard nougat fare; sugar, egg whites and vanilla). Soft, light, and sweet. 16. Mexican Chocolate Recently arrived from our friends at Seasons of My Heart in Oaxaca, this batch of Mexican chocolate has an added ingredient: almonds! The almonds give the sweet, dark chocolate an added richness, although the dominant aroma is still cinnamon. This chocolate was made fresh for us, and you can really taste the difference. It is wonderful for snacking and even better for making drinking chocolate. Available by the pound with a recipe for making Mexican hot chocolate right on the bag! 17. Kakawa Chocolate Covered Cacao Beans Back for the season, these treats are made by Tom Pederson down in Austin, TX. A whole-roasted cacao bean, coated in successive layers of white, milk and dark chocolate and finished with a dusting of cocoa powder. I think this is the ultimate power food. Eat a few in the afternoon for a pick-me-up at the office, or pop a couple before you exercise for a blast of energy! 18. Pâte de Fruit from Charles Chocolate I will never grow tired of these startlingly delicious little gems. I am puzzled as to how much flavor can live in something so small. Perhaps there is an optical illusion at work here? All I know is that when I take a bite of the passion fruit pâte de fruit, it is like eating a spoonful of passion fruit pulp. A far, far cry from jellies and gummies, these treats are in a class of their own. A perfect finish to a meal or a box of chocolates, or a refreshing treat in the afternoon. Available by the piece or in a five-flavor box of 15 pieces. 19. Zzang! Bars from Zingerman's Candy Manufactury The way candy bars were meant to be. Period. The Zzang! Originals are my favorite, with peanuts and fluffy nougat, but the Ca$hew Cow and What the Fudge! bars demand appreciation, too. Read more about them here. A sure-winner with little brothers, little cousins, dads, moms, aunties... well, actually everyone. 20. Moderne Chocolate Toffee Bars These bars are mostly chocolate, with delicate crunchy bits of flavored toffee sprinkled throughout. The toffee adds a wonderful texture to the bars, without taking away from the rich melt of the chocolate. My favorite flavors are Chipotle, Lime and Espresso! 21. A custom box of truffles We are very fortunate to stock a super selection of fresh, handmade chocolates from some of the most talented chocolatiers in the country. We carry an ever-changing selection of pieces from Charles Chocolate (CA), Chocolat Moderne (NY), Chocolate in Chelsea (NY), Fran's Chocolates (WA), Grocer's Daughter (MI), Sweet Gem Confections (MI) and Vosges (IL). Each piece is a small luxury and a carefully packed box is a showstopper.