This weekend, M. Pants and I were gifted with tickets to the
Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center's Chocolate Divine Fundraiser by our mentor and her partner. We graciously accepted and spent Saturday evening eating more chocolate than I thought possible and sipping mostly local(-
ish) wines. We had a fantastic time and while it was for a good cause, my favorite part was being able to get all gussied up for the event (I couldn't help myself from including the picture, we brought our camera but forgot to take any actual pictures of the event).
My favorite tastes came from
Cindy Black, the pastry chef at the Wine Cask who helped me in
my hour of need. She made a jaw-dropping chocolate macaroon with a rosemary-chocolate cookie and a
cassis ganache filling. Totally unexpected flavors that melded really well together. She also had a chocolate covered
foie gras bite over a cinnamon-dusted
croissant. When I first read the sign, I thought, "Oh, how clever, "
foie gras"." But it was the real deal, and I didn't catch on that it wasn't a gimmick until my second bite.
Some of the other bites we had:
-chocolate-lime cheesecake
-a waxy mole chocolate bite (not my favorite)
-but from the same
chocolatier, a very tasty
meyer lemon truffle
-some decadent chocolate cupcakes, black and tan,
giandulia, and peanut butter
ganache-a lemon-thyme dark chocolate truffle. The thyme was overpowering to me and it was my least favorite of the evening but the booth won the "most creative" award.
I found out this week that along with nine other folks, I am going to be a foreign exchange student for my school. For two weeks in January, I will be here <---. Apparently, we're not allowed to wear jeans or sneaks, but nevertheless, I've never been to France and am ridiculously excited. Anyone out there been to Bordeaux before? Where shall I go? What shall I do? Most importantly, what shall I eat and drink?
