I knew I was going to be doing Choctoberfest for a while, but I had no idea what I was going to make, and no idea what cookbook I was going to use. Luckily, two bits of inspiration hit on the same day.
First of all, one of the Choctoberfest sponsors, Davis Chocolate, sent me two items. One of them, I can’t tell you about yet, because they’ll show up in tomorrow’s post, but the second one was peanut butter chips! The Davis Chocolate peanut butter chips are currently the only organic peanut butter chip available, and although I melted them for this recipe, they’re awesome by the handful as well. (Trust me.) They’re also soy and dairy free, and although that’s not a particular concern of mine, I know it’s an issue for a lot of people.
The second bit of inspiration was remembering that, back in 2009, when I was living in Small Town North Carolina, I’d been involved in the local Taste of Chocolate event. Every year, local bakers, chefs, and home cooks enter their best chocolate recipes into a competition and event goers get to taste all the delicious wares. In 2008, I reported on the event, and in 2009, I found myself on the Taste of Chocolate Planning Committee.
This committee planned the event, but the most important thing we did (in my humble opinion), was creating the Taste of Chocolate 2009 cookbook. I was cookbook co-chair for this version of the cookbook, and it’s pretty great, if you ask me.
So the same day I got the Davis Chocolate shipment, I was still trying to figure out what cookbook I was going to use and what recipes I was going to make out of it. I was having a conversation with Dennis, and then suddenly, the conversation took a weird turn.
Me: Oh! Oh, I have an idea! I know what I’m going to use!
Dennis: …what?
Me: The book! I have to find the book!
Dennis: ???
I dug through my Church and Raising Money For Things cookbook collection (Come on. You guys know I love a good church cookbook!) and unearthed the Taste of Chocolate 2009 cookbook. And you guys? It was good. I found some GREAT stuff in it, not least of which was my name listed as cookbook co-chair.
One of the most interesting recipes I found was for something called Grandma’s Chocolate Treats, submitted to the cookbook by one Ms. Lillian Klose. (I don’t think THIS is the Lillian Klose in question, but OH, IF IT WERE!)
Side Note: You’d think that a recipe with 4 ingredients would be pretty easy (side side note: apologies to Ms. Klose. I substituted her butterscotch chips for Davis Chocolate’s peanut butter chips. If you’d tried them, Ms. Klose, you’d forgive me, I’m certain). But it took me FOREVER to track down these potato sticks!
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