THE WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL

by **Paul** Sat 16 Dec 2023, 7:56 am

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
What do BBQ potato chips, strawberries, and ants have in common?

What do BBQ potato chips, strawberries, and ants have in common? On any ordinary day, not much. But on December 16, all three of these things —and thousands of others —could all be considered key ingredients in a creative culinary confection. Because on December 16, we’ll all be celebrating National Chocolate Covered Anything Day. This is the day you’ve been waiting for. All those times when you wondered, “What would this taste like dipped in chocolate?” can now officially be answered. Maybe you’re into the basics, like chocolate covered fruit or cookies, but you rarely take the time to dip these ingredients. Or, perhaps you’re a bit more adventurous and are looking to try out a new chocolate-encased dish. (French fries? Fish sticks?) Either way, December 16 is the perfect time to satisfy your craving for chocolate covered anything while getting into the holiday spirit.

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED ANYTHING DAY ACTIVITIES

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Support a local chocolatier

With the rise of commercial chocolate production, it’s been lost on many just how difficult and delicate the art of chocolate making is. This December 16, find a chocolatier and give something new a try. You may realize the expertise, creativity, and boldness of an artist committed to pushing the boundaries in chocolate making is a different, and better, experience entirely than the same old bar you always buy.

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Have a dipping party

For a real holiday treat, get a group of a friends together to split the cost of a chocolate fondue fountain—you can rent them or buy them. At the party, have on hand the basics, like fruit, cookies, and marshmallows, but also encourage your guests to bring something wacky to try dipped in chocolate. Steak? Pickles? Bugs? Anything goes at a chocolate dipping party.

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Have a photo shoot

Christmas is a little over a week away, the house is decorated, and the whole family is in town for a party, so why not break out the camera with your colorful chocolate treats? Strawberries, bananas, kiwis, cherries, and orange slices are all rich in color in addition to taste, so incorporating these into your holiday snapshots could add a little more spice to your Christmas photos.

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WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED ANYTHING DAY

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Chocolate is versatile

Drink it or eat, melt it or freeze it, have it bitter or have it sweet. These are but a few of the ways we can enjoy chocolate, and everyone seems to have a strongly preferred favorite. But this versatility is what makes chocolate such an exciting ingredient to include in dishes. It can at a sweetness or bitterness to an otherwise acidic or spicy meal, as in mole, or it can complement nicely the salty notes of, say, potato chips. There’s plenty of room for creativity on National Chocolate Covered Anything Day.

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Chocolate is healthy

Speaking specifically about dark chocolate (that is any bar that contains between 70 and 85 percent cocoa), there are ample health benefits you can get from what many believe to be merely a dessert. In 100 grams of dark chocolate, you receive almost 100 percent of the daily recommended intake of manganese, nearly 90 percent of necessary copper intake, and about 67 percent of your needed iron intake. So as you’re covering that oreo in dark chocolate this December 16, you can tell everyone you’re doing it for your health.

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Chocolate is like falling in love

Biting into your favorite dark chocolate covered treat is often pictured as a sensual experience in magazines, but there may just be some scientific basis to this. Studies have shown that eating dark chocolate has the same effect on the brain as falling in love, thanks to a release of the chemical phenylalanine. Maybe that’s why we’ll do crazy things to get our hands on a chocolate bar.

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