Chocolate Croissants by Gemma

Click on the video below to see how Gemma makes Chocolate Croissants. I love croissants and chocolate; however, until today I never considered making chocolate croissants. After watching this video I think I could attempt this recipe.

Reading about Chocolate Before Breakfast

I found the beginning of another essay that I began in 2002 or 2003 titled Yearning. I know a little more about the inspiration for this essay because I have two lists of words that I needed to use in the finished essay.

Word Lists

Chocolate: chocolate; brown; coffee; tan; russet; brunette, auburn.
Yearning: desire, longing, yen, hunger, thirst, ache, craving, nostalgia.

Yearning:

The Essay

"The yearning for you still wakes me up in the middle of the night starving for your aroma. I cannot live without the sweetness of your flavor. So I go through the day sleeping beauty waiting for your kiss to awaken me; a zombie waiting for your scent to command me. There is nothing or no one else like you in this world. Where are you my beloved? Answer me chocolate!"

After I finished that paragraph, I started a poem on the same subject. I think I will combine the two into into a prose poem. I also have to make sure the rewrite contains the words; maybe I will write a short story instead of an essay or prose poem.

Yearning:

The Poem

The thought of you
wakes me in the middle of the night
starving for your aroma.

I can't live live
without the sweetness of your savor,
without the taste of you on my tongue.

I go through the day
sleeping beauty
waiting for your kiss to rouse me.

All this reading and writing about chocolate before breakfast has made me hunger. Therefore, I think I will post it and then fix an egg or something else to eat.

I enjoyed going to the grocery store this morning

Grocery shopping
used to be a painful chore,
but not anymore.

I went to the grocery store this morning and, to my surprise, enjoyed the experience. Normally, it's not much fun and walking all over the store looking for stuff is painful. This morning was different and I'm not sure why. I didn't get what I went in for because they were out of fruitcake; however, that's all right because I probably didn't need a fruitcake anyway.

I didn't get eggs,
I bought hot chocolate mix
for cafe mocha.

I now have everything I need for my New Year's Day dinner. When I went to the store last week, I bought a pound of whole bean Kona coffee and today I purchase two containers of hot chocolate mix so now I can have cafe mocha on New Year's Day.

Hot cafe mocha
drives away the New Year's chill
warms body and soul.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: Two Days To Go

Are you ready for NaNoWriMo? There are two days left in October and then National Novel Writing Month begins. Do you have everything you need to hide away for thirty days, so you can write 50,000 words? Here is my NaNoWriMo "Shopping/To Do List"...

1. ...pay  the Internet bill, after all I would not want to lose my connection before November 30;

2. ...pay the electric bill because the computer will not work without electricity;

3. ...purchase large container of coffee because writing in the middle of the night is difficult without fuel;

4. ...purchase large container of hot chocolate mix because I cannot make cafe mocha without it;

5. ...make sign for front door saying "Please do not disturb! I am NaNoWriMoing! Call back after November 30.";

6. ...purchase items for sandwiches that are easy to use and do not need to be cooked;

7. ...pay water bill, when I fall asleep on my keyboard, I will have to stand under a cold shower for a few minutes to wake myself up;

8. ...remember to sit the clocks back because Sunday is the end of Daylight Savings Time (maybe I should sit the clocks back on Thursday evening so I do not have to worry about it on Sunday, November 3);

9. ...make sure my pet rocks have enough light, water, and food for the entire month of November (these are the only pets I have and I do not want to lose them);

10. ...water the plastic plants (I do not want them to die either).

National Novel Writing Month Preparation Check List

Before November 1 accomplish the following...

1. ...choose a working title for the novel - Check

2. ...begin drinking coffee out of lucky coffee cup and do not wash cup again until December 1 - Check

3. ...plan novel - Check

4. ...write poem of apology to post on my Facebook page because I will not have time to update my status on a daily basis - Check

5. ...hide password to online solitary site so that I cannot play solitary again until December 1 - Check

6. ...hide the television remote control so that I cannot watch TV until December 1 - Check

7. ...check the amount of coffee in the canister to make sure I have enough to last throughout November - Check

8. ...anticipate interruptions by listing, on my To Do List, all necessary activities and appointment for November - Check

9. ...make sure oven timer is working so that I can limit writing sprints to fifteen or twenty minutes at a time - Check

10. ...purchase chocolate to reward myself each time I meet or exceed my daily word count goal - Check

Palm Sunday and Chocolate Easter Bunnies

I just realized today is Palm Sunday. My grandparents, with my siblings and myself in tow, always went to spiritual services on Palm Sunday. We would attend church and go to Sunday school, after which we would go home. I am attempting to remember if Grandma fixed anything special on Palm Sunday, but I cannot remember anything except Grandma's usual Sunday dinner. I know she always fixed something special on Easter Sunday; however, I think she just fixed her usual fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy on Palm Sunday.

Next week is Easter Sunday, so I have to purchase a chocolate Easter bunny this week. I do not celebrate Easter; however, every year on Easter Sunday I eat a chocolate bunny. When Mom was alive we both ate chocolate bunnies. Every year, Mom wanted a chocolate bunny on Easter Sunday. I would make coffee and then we would eat our bunnies  while we watched television. I am going to continue the chocolate bunny tradition for the rest of my life.

Coffee essential to writing

This is just my own opinion and I do not expect everyone to agree with me. Coffee is an essential part of writing. Even in summer, when temperatures in Las Vegas rise into the triple digits, a hot cup of coffee is refreshing and pleasant. I cannot write without a cup sitting near the computer. If I am composing in a pen and paper journal, then I have to have a hot cup sitting close by.

I prefer fresh brewed coffee; however, I will warm a mug of leftover coffee up in the microwave. Sometimes I have leftover coffee because I have household duties to perform. I do not drink as much coffee when I wash dishes or laundry as when I write. I think it is because I can lean back from the computer and sip coffee while I am deciding on the next sentence or stanza.

Most of the time, I prefer my coffee black without cream or sugar. Sometimes, however, I do add a tablespoon of hot chocolate mix to my coffee. I do not add the chocolate to leftover coffee I warm up, but I do add it to fresh brewed coffee. Usually, I add the chocolate to my coffee on the weekends because that is when I am more likely to have fresh brewed coffee.

I have leftover coffee during the week because that is when I leave the house for business. I brew a fresh carafe of coffee, drink a couple of cups, and then leave the house. When I leave I turn the coffee maker off and by the time I return the coffee is cold, so I have to warm it up in the microwave. After all, there is no use throwing out a perfectly good carafe of coffee just because it got cold.

A sweet chocolate treat on Easter Sunday

Solid chocolate

A sweet Easter Sunday treat

Eat the bunny’s ears

A chocolate lover always eats the chocolate Easter bunny’s ears first. The reason for this is that there is more chocolate in the ears. That makes sense to me.

Happy Easter

Tomorrow is Valentines’ Day

It’s that time of year again,

when couples are giving each other

flowers and chocolate

in heart shaped boxes.

I’m single

so the only one to buy me flowers

or chocolate

is myself.

I have to go out tomorrow to pick up some Band-Aids and coffee. So I may as well buy myself some chocolate. I’m not going to get myself flowers simply because I prefer chocolate. I prefer chocolate over almost anything else, with the exception of coffee. In fact, my favorite coffee drink is café mocha.

I like café mocha so much that I keep instant hot chocolate mix at home so that I can have café mocha whenever I want without leaving the house or going to a special coffee shop. I should buy some more hot chocolate mix tomorrow when I buy the coffee. That way I will not run out of either coffee or chocolate.

Since tomorrow is Valentines’ Day and I’m single, I will need several cups of café mocha to get through the day. Being single on Valentines’ Day is interesting, I almost said not fun, but it can be fun if I approach the day with the proper attitude. A cup of hot café mocha will help improve my attitude about Valentines’ Day.

A microwave baked birthday cake

Today is my birthday, so I baked myself a birthday cake. When I went to the store on Thursday, I bought a package chocolate cake mix and a can of chocolate frosting. This morning I mixed the cake and baked it. The cake only took eight minutes to cook in my microwave oven.

My other oven does not work. The only way I can bake is in the microwave. I can fix anything in the microwave. I have to be careful with some things so they do not burn, but I can cook anything with the proper preparation. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to make baked sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

A chocolate caked
In the microwave oven
Takes just eight minutes

A hot chocolate day in Las Vegas

Dark gray cloud cover
Rain puddle in the driveway
Hot chocolate day

It is damp and chilly. The clouds completely cover the blue sky and hide the sun. It is a hot choclate day. The chocolate warms my body as I drink it and the liquid keeps me warm. The warmth will last a little while.

There is snow on Mount Charleston, but not in the Las Vegas valley. The weather in Las Vegas is not as cold as on the Mountain, but it is still chilly. I feel the dampness in my bones. It is a hot chocolate day.

Valentines Day and Chocolate Roses

Love is in the air. Walk down the isle of almost any retail store and you will find teddy bears holding hearts. Some of the hearts are red. Some of them say, “I love you.” Valentines Day is this coming Monday and in Las Vegas, you will find on the side of the roads selling roses. This is for those who are working so hard that they forget that Valentines Day is February 14 and they need to take roses or chocolates home to their beloved.

I have no one to buy me roses or chocolates. Therefore, if I want either on Valentines Day, I have to buy them myself. If I had someone to buy me one of those items, I would want chocolate roses. I would want chocolate roses because I do not like to make choices between my two favorite things. You can eat chocolate roses and you do not have to worry about where you are going to store the vase after the roses have died.

You cannot buy chocolate roses on the side of the road. Giving a chocolate rose or a dozen chocolate roses takes a bit of planning. It is for those who remember a day or so ahead of time that Valentines Day is Monday December 14 and that chocolate roses make the best gifts because they combine the two items that make the best Valentines Day gifts. Perhaps I should buy myself a chocolate rose for Valentines Day.

Coffee and writing

Coffee goes well with writing. A hot cup of coffee sitting on a T.V. tray near the computer encourages and warms my muse in the fall and winter. A tall glass of iced coffee cools the heat of summer and reminds me of a crisp spring morning.

Every morning, after taking thyroid meds and saying my prayers, I make a pot of coffee. For the past year or so I have used an electric peculator and the sound of the coffee maker echoes though the house. I am considering purchasing a drip coffee maker at the end of the year. My birthday is December 24 and I want one for my birthday. Therefore, I plan to purchase one in December.

Writing goes well with coffee. I want to try a new brand or flavor of coffee. For the past month, I have sipped the same brand and flavor of coffee; I think I am in a rut. I need to try a new coffee flavor, perhaps something with chocolate. Therefore, the next time I go to the store I will buy instant coco mix along with the can of coffee.

My personal recipe for café mocha is to pour 1 pkg. of powder hot coco mix in a large mug and then mix in the freshly brewed coffee. Sometimes, I use the coco mix with the little marshmallows in them and sometimes I use the regular hot coco mix. It depends on how I am feeling when I get up in the morning.

Next Thursday is my birthday

I don't know how I'm going to celebrate my birthday. I will write poem, perhaps several poems. I will be 63 and I think I should do something special to celebrate my birthday, I just don't know what to do.

Birthdays are special
another year older wiser
chocolate is nice.

Chocolate ice cream and cake would be a good way to celebrate. I like chocolate cake with chocolate frosting covered with chocolate ice cream. I'll have to research some of the restaurants in town and see what I can find.

Happy Belated Valentines’ Day

All right, yesterday was Valentine's Day and I did not celebrate the day with a blog entry. I only reason I have is that I am single and I do not have a man in my life. I have not one to send me flowers or a heart shaped box of chocolates. I have no one to buy me a diamond ring, all though if someone were going to give me a ring I would prefer an emerald, ruby or sapphire. I do not care for diamonds, I like gems with a bit more color to them.

I live in Las Vegas, the marriage capital of the world. Valentines' Day is the day many people dream of getting married. There are wedding chapels all along the Las Vegas Strip and many of them can arrange themed marriages. In fact, a person can have any type of themed wedding they want in Las Vegas.

Yesterday, I took Mom to get her meds at Walgreens. We go to the Walgreens on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Charleston. When we go there, I usually drive west on Oakey and turn right onto Las Vegas Blvd. This route takes us right past many of the wedding chapels in Las Vegas. We did see a couple of limos at one of the chapels yesterday, but that was all.

Of course, Mom and I did go to Walgreens in the afternoon, so perhaps all the weddings occurred in the morning. Still there were not too many people walking along the strip looking like they just got married. I suspect the economy may be having an affect on the wedding industry in Las Vegas. I know in 2008, we saw several people walking along that section of the Las Vegas Strip wearing wedding apparel, but this year none.

In addition, Walgreens did not have very many customers buy Valentines' items. The store had a lot of Valentines' themed merchandise, but there were more employees in the store then customers. I probably should go back in today today because the store will mark down the chocolate to half-priced. I am only interested in Chocolate and no other Valentines' item.

Writing about Chocolate

I bought two chocolate candy bars this morning. The school where I work is selling them to raise money. When I got home, I give them to my mother and she put them in the freezer. We will have them either for breakfast tomorrow or on Halloween.

It's been several months since I bought a chocolate candy bar of any type. Lately my chocolate intake has been limited to cafe mocha. I make cafe mocha at home using powdered hot chocolate mix and fresh brewed coffee. If we eat the candy bars tomorrow for breakfast, then we will have cafe mocha on Halloween. I won't know until breakfast which we will have.

It's better to leave some decisions until the last minute. Eating chocolate for breakfast is one of those decisions. Only my mother and I live in the house, so we don't have to set a good example for anyone except ourselves. We can have anything we want for breakfast.

Writing about Chocolate and Coffee

It's Wednesday and time for midweek reflections. I need chocolate. It's been an interesting week, to say the least. My car is still setting in my driveway waiting for me to take it to the mechanic. I'm going to have to put oil in the car before I drive it and I have to go to work today. As it is, I may have to take Thursday off if I can't get it to the mechanic today.

I need chocolate and I don't have any chocolate ice cream in my freezer. I have food in my freezer, but no chocolate ice cream. The only chocolate I have in the house is the instant hot coco mix, so I'm going to put a package of that in my coffee cup and pour coffee on it instead of hot water. I have my chocolate and I have my coffee in one cup. I can drink my chocolate and coffee at the same time without a problem. Sometimes, life can be wonderful.

Coffee and chocolate mixed
together in a single
stress reliving cup
life is wonderful.

Journal Writing in a Contest

I entered the Follow the Leader Journaling contest at writing.com again. This edition of the contest started on September 11 and end on October 1. Each day one of the contestants writes a lead entry and the rest of the contestants respond, in some way, to the entry. The responding entry must have the same title as the lead entry.

My leading entry titled "Coffee and Chocolate", occurred on September 12. My writing.com blog is Snow Melt. This is only the third day of the contest, but it has already inspired some very interesting posts in the contestants' blogs.

I picked coffee and chocolate as my subject because those are my favorite foods. These two items top the list of the things I like to eat and drink. Coffee and chocolate has played an important part of my life since I was a child. My parents and my grandfather (my mother's father) were coffee drinkers. Therefore, it is only natural that I drink coffee.

I can drink coffee all day and sleep at night. I am also one of those people who likes strong coffee. All though, most of the time I drink my coffee black, I do like specialty coffees. I am especially fond of the coffee that has chocolate in it. In fact, a few weeks ago I had a new coffee and chocolate treat, it was called "chocolate covered coffee beans", they were heavenly.

Coffee and German Chocolate Brownies

It does not take a lot to make me happy. Right now I have a container of breakfast blend coffee on the kitchen counter and German chocolate brownies in the fridge. What more could a writer want. The coffee is a more expensive brand then I normally buy. The container I have now was given to me, so I may not be able to afford to buy that brand myself. However, while I have it I will enjoy sipping the coffee and eating the brownies.

Breakfast blend coffee
hot, smooth and strong
a little piece of paradise.

That little poem needs some rewriting, but it is a good start. Perhaps I need to get all my coffee poems together and put them in a chapbook. I love coffee, which means I have a great many coffee poems. I have not used coffee much in some of my stories though; maybe I will use the breakfast blend coffee as a prompt for a story, perhaps a fantasy or science fiction story. I wonder what an elf would think of coffee.

Chocolate Easter Bunnies on Easter Morning

Jamál (Beauty), 3 Baha (Splendor), 165 B.E. –Sunday, March 23, 2008 about 7:33 AM PST

I do not celebrate Easter nor keep most Easter traditions. However, there is one family tradition that I do keep. That is to eat a chocolate Easter bunny on Easter morning. This tradition began when I was a child.

As a child, we hunted colored Easter eggs and each of us received an Easter basket. In that basket was a chocolate Easter bunny. My grandparents allowed us to have one item from the Easter basket before lunch. I would eat my chocolate bunny with a glass of milk. Now I have my Easter bunny for breakfast with a cup of coffee.

It is interesting the traditions one keeps or drops from their childhood. I can remember coloring Easter eggs, which I no longer do. When my nieces and nephews were young, I helped them color eggs on Easter morning. I no longer color eggs, but I eat a chocolate bunny every Easter.