IN THIS ISSUE Chocoholics Unite! Our New Holiday Page! Eat Chocolate, Be Happy! Chocolatiers Show Off Creations More Recipes for Chocoholics Chocohlics Unite! We have been overwhelmed by your response! The rush to join the most exclusive chocolate lover's club on the face of the earth grows every day! What’s that you say? You missed our invitation to unite for a cause you can really sink your teeth into? Well here’s another chance! It’s the Virtual Chocolate CHOCOHOLIC CLUB. Just in time for the holidays, we have a great way to have fun, gets DISCOUNTS and FREE OFFERS for CHOCOLATE, recipes, our new monthly newsletter, "The Chocolate Scoop," as well as merchandise and gift ideas for all of your friends and loved ones. Raise your chocolate covered hands in the air and let the world know who you are, a Card Carrying Chocoholic! Join the club, buy a shirt, and live your life using the Chocoholic 12 Step Program, "Never Be More Than 12 Steps Away From Chocolate!" You can find out all of the information here: http://www.virtualchocolate.com/chocoholicclub BACK TO TOP RECIPES FOR CHOCOHOLICS!! 100,000 Calorie Bars Recipe By : Leanda Goss Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Bars and Squares 1 package German chocolate cake mix 3/4 cup Butter -- melted 1/3 cup Evaporated milk 6 ounces Chocolate chips 1 cup Nuts -- chopped 50 Caramels 1/3 cup Evaporated milk Mix together the cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Spread half of this mixture in a 13x9-inch pan. Bake for 6 minutes at 350 F. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and nuts on top of the baked mixutre. Melt caramels in milk. Drizzle over the nuts and chocolate chips. Pat remaining batter on top of this. Bake for and additional 20 minutes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After-Dinner Mint Brownies 6 squares unsweetened chocolate 2 3/4 cups sugar 1 cup dark corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla butter softened 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 6 eggs 1 1/2 cups walnuts -- coarsely chopped 2 cups confectioner's sugar 2 tablespoons milk 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract green food coloring 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 15 1/2 " jelly-roll pan. In heavy 2-quart saucepan over low heat, heat unsweetened chocolate squares until melted and smooth, stirring frequently. 2. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and 1 cup butter or margarine just until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, salt, and eggs; beat until well mixed, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Increase speed to high; beat 2 minutes. At low speed, beat in melted chocolate until blended. With spoon, stir in walnuts. Evenly spread batter in pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool brownies in pan on wire rack. 3.When brownies are cool, prepare mint butter-cream frosting: In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat confectionners' sugar, milk, peppermint extract, and 6 tablespoons butter until smooth. Stir in enough green food coloring to tint a pretty green. Evenly spread frosting over cooled brownies. Refrigerate while preparing Chocolate Glaze. 4. Prepare Chocolate Glaze; spread over frosting to completely cover top. Refrigerate until glaze is set, about 1 hour. Cut brownies lengthwise into 3 strips; cut each strip crosswise into 15 bars. Makes 45. About 245 calories each. CHOCOLATE GLAZE: In heavy 2-quart saucepan over low heat, heat 3 squares unsweetened chocolate, 1 square semisweet chocolate, 4 tablespoons butter and 2 teaspoons dark corn syrup until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat; stir frequently until glaze cools slightly. BACK TO TOP Find Past Issues HERE

Our New Winter Holiday Page Winter Holidays page is up and ready to use! Christmas/Chanukah and Angels are just a few of the things you’ll find here. Virtual postcards…the perfect solution for holiday procrastinators! Just Go to: http://www.virtualchocolate.com/winterholidays Chocolatiers Show Off Creations at New York Expo NEW YORK (CNN) -- Many people claim to have a passion for chocolate. But few wear it on their sleeves. In the case of a weekend chocolate show, French designers showed off dresses made from the stuff sweet dreams are made of. "In Paris two months ago, we showed this dress with a real model. But if the lights are too hot, we have a problem,"said chocolatier Michel Richart, one of the exhibitors at the first ever U.S. chocolate show. The show is patterned after a similar festival in Paris. In New York, the event has drawn more than 2,000 people a day to see a variety of items ranging from simple candies to whimsical, elaborate chocolate sculptures and centerpieces. In 1997, Americans consumed an average of 12 pounds of chocolate per person. One in every three people say they prefer the taste of chocolate over any other flavor. That has turned the art of chocolate into a $13 billion industry as boxed and gourmet items have sweetened retailer profits. "We are up 40 percent in sales every year in America,"said Bernard Duclos of the French chocolate company Valrhona. While millions of people savor chocolate each year, few realize its history goes back more than a millennium in the Americas. Carole Bloom, author of "All About Chocolate," said the Mayans were known to use chocolate around 600 A.D. Several centuries later, Cortez conquered Mexico and brought cocoa with him back to the Old World, she said. BACK TO TOP Eat Chocolate, Be Happy Researchers say chocolate triggers feel-good chemicals From Correspondent Linda Ciampa ATLANTA (CNN) -- "I probably have a little every day, because I think it makes you feel good when you get some." Those are the words of a chocolate lover. Those sweet desires are not just imagined. Now, researchers have found that eating chocolate, the number one food craved by American women, causes the brain to release endorphins, chemicals that make us feel good. "So we eat chocolate so we release and experience pleasure and so as a result, we crave chocolate,"said Adam Drewnowski of the University of Michigan. "We want chocolate in times of stress, anxiety, pain and so on. Chocolate is a natural analgesic, or pain killer." Other researchers have also said chocolate contains substances that might mimic the effects of marijuana, boosting the pleasure you get from eating the stuff. The ingredients might make the texture, smell and flavor of chocolate more enjoyable and combine with other ingredients like caffeine to make a person feel good, researcher Daniele Piomelli speculated. "We are talking about something much, much, much, much milder than a high,"said Piomelli, a researcher at the Neurosciences Institute of San Diego. He reported the work with colleagues in the journal Nature. But a researcher who studies the brain chemistry of marijuana said chocolate contains such low levels of the ingredients Piomelli identified that he doubts they have any effect. Piomelli found that chocolate contains anandamide, which is also produced naturally in the brain and which activates the same target that marijuana does. He also found two chocolate ingredients that inhibit the natural breakdown of anandamide, which could lead to heightened levels of anandamide in the brain. Other researchers believe chocolate cravings have something to do with serotonin, a brain chemical that makes us feel relaxed. "It's Mother Nature's solution via food cravings to try to elevate those chemicals, help us feel better and to function more efficiently," said Deborah Waterhouse, author of "Why Women Need Chocolate." "We will crave chocolate or some other food that has sugar and fat to help bring those chemicals back into balance." Fortunately, there is a sweet solution for those chronic cravings -- feed them. "Having chocolate cravings is something that's induced by stress and probably is governed by body chemistry -- so it's not something you can control," Drewnowski said. "They only become a problem when the amount consumed is too big. Otherwise, I say, no problem, enjoy and buy the best chocolate imaginable." The trick is to give in only a bit. "The equivalent of a half ounce, which is about a third of a candy bar, or a couple of Hershey Kisses will do it,"Waterhouse said. "It's a surprising small amount." BACK TO TOP