When it comes to brownies, you never know what to expect. There are infinite ways to make a brownie and just as many possible results. They can be chewy or gooey or flaky or cakey, rich and chocolatey or if you’re really lucky, all of the above.

If you’re like me, you prefer a flaky top, a gooey middle, chewy corners (the corners are the best part!) and most importantly, the most rich and delicious chocolate flavor you can imagine. And if you’re like me, then I’ve got a recipe for you:

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Popularity: 15% [?]

Let me just start off by saying that I was never really a huge chocolate person. I like chocolate, don’t get me wrong, but I was never one to rave over a simple piece of chocolate, and when it comes down to a choice between chocolate or vanilla ice cream, I almost always choose vanilla. Of course there are chocolate bars I like and I will eat, but pure chocolate was never really my thing.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Hey, remember that time when I told you all how I was obsessed with this Israeli chocolate bar with pop rocks but couldn’t find it in the States or online anywhere!?

Well, GUESS WHAT!!

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Popularity: 7% [?]

I haven’t raved about it much (if at all) on the blog, but I am, to put it lightly, absolutely wild about fondue. Whenever I discover a restaurant with fondue of any kind–savory, sweet, pricey, cheap, whatever–I make an immediate phone call.

“Hey,” says I.
“Hey!” says Foodie Friend.
“So there’s this new place I want to check out.”
“Have you read any reviews?” She asks suspiciously.
“They have fondue,” I reply matter-of-factly, the thought of that pot-of-cheese (or chocolate, or oil, or…) as good as a pretty triad of Michelin stars and a Zagat 30 in my mind.

I first encountered fondue after trekking for hours up a frozen mountain, so no wonder it’s made such an impression on me. …okay, okay, it was after perhaps forty minutes of trekking up a ski slope, but it was cold! And the snowshoes were ill-fitting! And the air was thin! I’m lazy! Regardless of just how manly and trying this journey was, it definitely made me hungry; stepping into an elegant, nearly-empty restaurant tucked away alongside a Utah green run and smelling rich melted cheese didn’t help much. If biting into the first slice of apple and tasting the savory cheese as it gave way to crisp tartness was a revelation; tasting the first slice of banana dipped into melted chocolate was almost erotic, and I’ve been obsessed ever since.

Problem is, you can’t just up and make fondue. Unlike, say, guacamole, it’s not just about the freshest ingredients, a bowl, and some tools. You need a double boiler, probably a portable burner, a bunch of those goofy skinny forks that look like the brain picker out of Total Recall…it requires aforethought, is my point, and devoted readers may be realizing I’m not a master of that particular skill.

But I’m trying anyway, because of this recipe: Fondue Royale.

Oh yeah, you read that right. Truffles and Champagne. Adapted from the long out-of-print Fondue Cookbook by Ed Callahan (apparently they were nuts about this stuff in 1968), it looks right up my alley, possibly even up my driveway and into my front hall.

Of course, if that ain’t your thing, we’ve got other fondue recipes, like:
Sharp Cheddar Cheese Fondue
Cheese Fondue
Chocolate Grand Marnier Fondue

Whichever you choose, enjoy it, and be sure those Total Recall forks only stab into the food!

-Jim is strangely unimpressed by chocolate waterfalls

Popularity: 10% [?]

Dear readers, you’ve seen a great deal of reviewing on this blog of ours from restaurants to recipes to crazy desktop devices, but this, yes this blog post I’m writing right now, is our first dieting product review.

No, I’m not going on a diet. No, I don’t really plan on losing weight (though I should definitely exercise more). I’m just plain and simply intrigued.

What is this diet supplement you ask? Ah yes, well, it’s chocolate. It’s a chocolate that’s supposed to make you lose 4.25 pounds in a month if you eat three pieces of it everyday.

Excuse me….what? Did I just write that?

Well, before you dismiss me for falling for a crazy hoax that you might find a commercial for at 3 in the morning, let me explain my motive.

I simply decided to try a piece (or two) to see what it tasted like. Could diet chocolate really be chocolate? It sound pretty impossible, especially because it packs a slew of non-chocolate ingredients like: guarana extract, green tea extract, and artichoke extract (oh, and it also has maltodextrin and chicory inulin for those keeping track - like I know what either of those terms actually mean).

Yes, this French weight loss product called Chocla Slim, a product of the SlimDelices company makes a pretty eerie claim here, but its French, so its all the more intriguing…

So without further adieu, my official taste test results:

It does, in fact, taste like dark chocolate. It is in fact worthy of satisfying my chocolate craving that sets right around 3:30 in the afternoon (only since I started working in an office, I wonder why that is). And really, the fact that its dark chocolate and not milk totally wins some bonus points. The texture was a slight bit grainier than other chocolate, but really, if you didn’t know it was a dietary supplement, you would never know the difference.

So, if you’re feeling adventurous, or you’re just a chocoholic trying to lose some weight, perhaps you should give this product a try (Disclaimer: I haven’t tried this product out for weight loss, just simply for taste).

And no, I didn’t make this whole thing up. Check out the Slim Delices Web site if you don’t believe me.

-Hillary
Editor, Recipe4Living

Popularity: 10% [?]

Okay, I can defend my love of cider, and I can defend my get-ya-drunk fruity drinks, but this…this…

I’m gonna drink a German Chocolate Martini this weekend, and I am ashamed. I think I have to re-apply for my masculinity. Fortunately, I keep an extra license under the bed.

Why haven’t I tried it yet? Well, to be honest, the liquor cabinet at Casa del Jim isn’t too well-stocked in the best of times, and with other things occupying my attention this week I didn’t have time to hit the store and pick up any new and interesting booze. But I promise next week I’ll recommend a drink I know I love, rather than one I think I’ll love.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

-Jim was busy BUYING A NEW CAR, YOU GUYS

Popularity: 5% [?]