Chocolate Night

On Friday night, 37 teens showed up for Chocolate Night.  It was crowded and crazy, but what else would you expect when I was offering free chocolate!?  We were busy all night, watching movie clips, playing games, and (of course) eating chocolate. 

We started by watching the classic "Job Switching" episode of I Love Lucy, in which Lucy and Ethel get jobs at a candy factory.  Even people who had never heard of Lucille Ball were laughing at her antics!  Everyone had a chance to guess how much chocolate was in the jar and complete their chocolate trivia while watching.  Then, we played chocolate bingo, with M&Ms for markers and white-fudge-covered Oreos as prizes.  After that, we watched the Monty Python sketch "Trade Decription Act," a.k.a. "Crunchy Frog," then played a guessing game with a box of chocolates.  We watched the opening of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory (new version) while decorating cupcakes, then rated four kinds of milk chocolate.  The Lindt milk chocolate was the favorite by far, which was no surprise.  That stuff is amazing! 

Arig and Christelle excelled at chocolate trivia, getting 12 of 15 correct.  Close behind them were Perry, Jared, and Nitha with 11 correct answers each.  They all got chocolate bars for their knowledge!  The chocolate guessing jar proved to be a bit more tricky.  Most of the answers were way too low or high.  The actual number was 618, and Maria was the only person who was even close.  Her guess was great, though:  575.

I hope everyone enjoyed Chocolate Night!  Thanks to the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health for their assistance in supporting all of our recent First Friday programs!!

 Gourmet chocolate testing and cupcake decorating supplies ready to go!

 Ready for I Love Lucy and chocolate

The cupcake on the left is Sam, the wolf from Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater!

Not Your Mother's Hot Chocolate

Yesterday, 20 teens came to meet Dr. Elin Danien from the University of Pennsylvania and hear her presentation on the history of chocolate in ancient civilizations. We learned about how cacao was used in various ceremonies and saw photographs of artifacts depicting the bean. For a while, cacao was even used as money! We drank hot chocolate and had chocolate snacks during the presentation, then got in a really interesting discussion about archaeology and anthropology. It touched on everthing from the future of spelling to the misinterpretation of the information on a quarter! Dr. Danien had a hard time leaving because everyone wanted to ask her things. If you have more questions for Dr. Danien, just ask me for her email address. There are a lot of different programs available from UPenn, so we will hire another speaker sometime.

Chocolate Books!

Here are books with the word CHOCOLATE in the title! Yum!!

Teen Fiction

• The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
• Beyond the Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
• Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
• The Chocolate Lover by M. E. Rabb
• Sorcery and Cecelia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patrica C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Adult Fiction

• Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidsion
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Nonfiction

• Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Steve Almond

Inspirational

• Chocolate for a Teen's Dreams by Kay Allenbaugh
• Chocolate for a Teen's Heart by Kay Allenbaugh
• Chocolate for a Teen's Soul by Kay Allenbaugh
• Chocolate for a Teen's Spirit by Kay Allenbaugh
• Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Teenage Soul by Arielle Ford

Here's a related teen book that doesn't have chocolate in the title, but has chocolate on the cover: Flavor of the Week by Tucker Shaw.

And don't forget COOKBOOKS...there are tons of cookbooks full of nothing but chocolate recipes!!!

Chocolate

Yes, it's that time of year again. And no matter how you feel about Valentine's Day, you can still enjoy chocolate!!!

Surf some chocolate:

• http://www.wonka.com/
• http://www.hersheys.com/fun/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/chocolate/

Watch some chocolate:

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005; PG)
• Chocolat (2000; PG-13)
• I Love Lucy episode 39: "Job Switching" (1952; aka the candy factory episode)
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971; G)

Visit some chocolate:

• Hershey Park (Hershey, PA)
• Wilbur Chocolate (Lititz, PA)

Chocolate Party!

On Saturday, 27 teens came to the Teen Advisory Board's Chocoholics Anonymous chocolate party! It was great to see everyone, and we certainly got our fill of chocolate! We watched segments from the movies Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, tried chocolate marshmallow fondue, rated gourmet chocolates, played chocolate bingo, attempted to unwrap Hershey's Kisses while wearing oven mitts, guessed how much chocolate was in the jar, and answered chocolate trivia. And there were tons of chocolate snacks. Thanks to Tyria for the Oreos, Katie for the chocolate-covered strawberries, Caitlin for the gourmet brownies, and Laura for the cupcakes. It was wonderful!

Chocoholics Anonymous 12 Step Program

For the TAB's Chocoholics Anonymous party yesterday, Caitlin came up with some parts of a 12 step program. I added the rest, and this is what we ended up with:

1. Accept that you have a problem with chocolate.

2. Admit past wrongdoings involving chocolate, even if they are elaborate, tragic, or disturbing.

3. Ask a higher power to give you strength to resist the temptation of sweet, gooey, creamy, rich chocolate.

4. Always be on your guard; you never know when chocolate will strike!

5. Satisfy your chocolate cravings with similar substitutes, like carrots or broccoli. If that doesn’t work, try eating a picture of chocolate--there’s lots of fiber, and no calories!

6. Talk to chocolate. Let it know who’s boss. Especially do this in public places. People’s weird looks will discourage you from eating it.

7. Don’t quit alone! Have a quitting buddy. Force your parents to let your quitting buddy live at your house. It’s for your health!

8. Get into a fun new hobby, like competitive cheese rolling or opening a local chapter of the Corduroy Appreciation Club.

9. Sue the chocolate companies. Give the winnings to our organization.

10. Mount an anti-chocolate campaign in your neighborhood. You could prohibit Girl Scouts from selling cookies, or, better yet, start a picket line at your local Wawa.

11. Take your anti-chocolate campaign on the road! Get a rock band together and sing about the dangers of chocolate at local schools. Eat the fruits and vegetables that the students throw at you.

12. If all else fails and you must eat chocolate, you are a hopeless cause. Go enjoy your M&Ms, and Rocky Road ice cream, and Mounds, and Hershey’s Kisses, and Twix, and Junior Mints, and Snickers, and Three Musketeers, and Kit Kat, and Moose Tracks ice cream, and Reese’s Cups, and Kandy Kakes, and Rolo, and Sugar Babies, and Cadbury Eggs, and Moon Pies, and Oreos. . .