Have you ever really experience chocolate?  Do you know anyone who has?  That is why chocolate makes such a great gift come holidays, birthdays, etc.  Experience: Chocolate has come up with some great ways for you to give chocolate as a gift to other or even to yourself (I have to admit I like that last one).  They have something called Tasting Experiences.  What they do is you get a variety of gourmet chocolate tasting squares.  The collections consider the origin of the cocoa beans, cocoa content and manufacturing process and are designed to satisfy the desire of an experienced gourmet or pique the interest of a casual taster.  Here are a few you can try out:

Chocolate for the Vine™ – Our tasters’ pairing guide will help you marry these fine chocolates with your favorite wine.

Sweet Serenity™ – Milk chocolate from around the world with a focus on taste and smoothness.

Pure Rapture™ – Varietal, single-origin or estate-grown chocolate from the world’s foremost growing regions.

Euphoric Indulgence™ – Featuring some of the world’s best semi-sweet and bittersweet dark chocolate bars.

Now, if you live in the Boston MA area, you can even have your own Chocolate Tasting!  At these shows, you will learn how to taste the difference between three varieties of cocoa beans.

They even have gift baskets!  This is one gift basket any chocolate lover would like. These baskets include your choice of our Sweet Serenity™ milk chocolate Tasting Experience™ box, Euphoric Indulgence™ dark chocolate Tasting Experience™ box, or Chocolate for the Vine™ Tasting Experience™ box, plus chocolate covered cocoa nibs, Mexican drinking chocolate, and other goodies.

The prices for the chocolate collections start at $24.99 and vary according to the collection. The gift basket is on sale for $49.95.  I have been lucky enough to try out four of the flavors of chocolate that they have:  neuhaus, Valrhona Jivara, Michel Cluizel Chocolatier Paris, and Amedei Tuscany Toscano Brown.  This is some of the best chocolate you will have.  However, my favorite has to be the neuhaus.  It is milk chocolate that just melts in your mouth.  It has a smooth taste with my aftertaste.  Milk chocolate has and always will be my first love.

If you are needed a Christmas gift for a chocolate lover, definitely check out Experience: Chocolate.  Its is your one stop shop for some the of the chocolate in the world!

You have to get the Mama says, “No More Frozen Pizza!” cookbook. This is the coolest cookbook I have ever owned. This cookbook has 24 nutritious recipes that are designed for new cooks! Now, the first thing that makes this cookbook unique is that it is in the shape of an order out pizza box. It looks like a pizza. When you open the box, you will be for a surprise. I know I was! Each recipe is on paper that is shaped like a pizza (circle). You can easily go in there and grab the recipe you want. The first thing you see is a picture of a pizza. When you flip it over, there is a nice little forward about the book. Plus, there is also some advice: “All we ask is that you wipe off the recipe cards before you store them, do the dishes within one week’s time, and send a “thank you” not to whomever sent you this recipe box. Oh, and call your mother once in awhile”.
Now, each recipe card is pretty unique. There is a picture one side of the card, and all of the recipes look absolutely delicious. When you flip the card over, it tells you what the recipe is, how long it takes to make, and how many it will feed. They also have an ingredient list, how to make list (preparation), and equipment. I have to giggle that under equipment they include things like a can opener, large knife, and large frying pan with lid.

There are several awesome recipes we will trying this next week are Dad’s Special Meat Loaf, Italian Roasted Potatoes, and Southwest Chicken Soup. These easy to make recipes are perfect for new cooks (and not so new cooks) with limited time and limited budgets.

You know you are about to eat some good chocolate when you see the following warnings:

• This chocolate has plenty of texture. It is not slippery smooth like processed chocolate.
• This chocolate is full of complex flavors that explode in your mouth. The flavor profile has not been muted by a commercial process.
• This chocolate has a natural look, of course. It is not shiny.
• Sorry, but our experience is that after indulging in some of our chocolates, you might never be able to fully enjoy a traditional candy bar again.

What chocolate am I talking about? IgnaFire Chocolates are some of the best chocolate you will ever eat.  If you are craving chocolate, one piece of this will solve your craving, because it is that good.  IgnaFire chocolates are made straight from the cacao bean.  There is no commercial processing and no added cacao butter.  They don’t use the extensive heating and industrial processing that a lot of other chocolate placs do.  This keeps all the healthful flavanols and antioxidants that occur naturally in the bean along with all its natural flavor.  I am not kidding when I say one on these pieces of chocolate will curve any sugar you have.  Since I am lactose intolerant, my favorite part of this chocolate is that no dairy products are added!  This also works well for vegans too!  When you first bite into a piece of this chocolate, it does have a different texture.  However, the chocolate really does seem to melt in your mouth.

Besides having awesome chocolates, the company that makes IgnaFire Chocolates is concerned about the environment.  What better gift than one that is environmentally friendly to the planet?  The packaging is completely compostable.  The boxes the chocolate comes in are handmade paper with no glue.  This allows the boxes to be used over and over again.  The boxes also are compostable.  The printed information that is included with your chocolate is printed on dissolvable potato paper.  That literally just washes down your kitchen sink.  Lastly, the cellulose bag that the chocolate is in will compost in 45-60 days.  I have never seen a company so carrying about the environment.

Ignafire Chocolates will be some of the best chocolates you will ever eat.  I highly recommend picking up box for yourself (if not others) and enjoy!  Great chocolate, saving the environment, how can you go wrong?

What better way to show the world that you are true foodies than to write notes on your very own foodie stationary?  Blue Egg Photography has some of the best food photography out there.  The paper these cards are made with good heavy card stock.  They scream quality to you!  The pictures are so good and so realistic that my 15 month old son keeps trying to eat the cards.  I will be honest, I almost hate to use these cards, because they are so pretty.

If you want to impress your family and friends, you definitely need to get a pack of these for yourself.  You can order them one by one or just get a 12 pack of them.  The 12 pack has all 8 photos in there randomly (so you will have some repeats.  However, each pack is chosen randomly, so you won’t get the same ones each time!  This stationary also comes with the envelopes and is packaged in a clear gift box.  This is certainly perfect for any foodies out there.

Blue Egg Photography has been so kind that they are giving me the opportunity to give away one of these gift boxes to one of my readers!  I know you all want these, so here is what you have to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know which picture you like best.  Click here to see all the designs.
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.
4. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc.

For 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed
4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

</p> <div><a href=”http://lisascooking.com” mce_href=”http://lisascooking.com”><img src=”http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad.png” mce_src=”http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad.png” alt=”Lisa Cooking” border=”0″></a></div> <p>

Good luck! This contest will end October 13, 2008 at 8:00 PM CST and is for US and Canadian residents only.

Now, this is a very simple recipe since this was the first time I made this! We fed 6 adults and two kids with this and still had leftovers. It is not spicy, so everyone should be able to eat it (I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old so spicy is out of the question here).

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion chopped
2 cups of elbow macaroni
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
2 15 oz cans of tomato sauce
1 46 oz bottle of tomato juice (this can actually be smaller however that is what I bought)
1 pkg of chili seasoning

Brown ground beef and onion together and drain. Also, make the elbow macaroni noodles as directed on the box.

In the meantime, put the diced tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato sauce, and chili seasoning into a stick pot and stir together. Pour the beef and noodles in when done. Stir. Bring to a boil, then cook on low until you are ready to eat. Add in the tomato juice when and if you feel like the chili is becoming too think. I ended up using about 23 oz of the tomato juice, because we ate this during a football game.

You are able to add whatever topping you like when serving. I personally did shredded cheese while my husband added hot sauce, shredded cheese, and oyster crackers.