Happy New Year!: Kate Weiser Passion Praline Candy Bar

Happy 2017!

I turned 29 on the 31^st. I’ve always loved having a birthday on New Year’s Eve – it’s a day that begs for celebration and has a delightful cyclicality to it. As the calendar ticks of another trip ‘round the sun, I can draw energy and inspiration from the delighted resolutions of so many people determined to get the very best out of the coming year. I can’t imagine a more invigorating day for a birthday.

My New Year’s was delightfully quiet. Andrew and I spent the evening with friends, eating the rest of the amazing Kate Weiser chocolates left from Christmas (another post on that coming soon) and an incredibly dense, chocolatey birthday cake concocted by my amazing mother, and watching Star Wars. We had our obligatory champagne at midnight, and then dispersed, enjoying the last of the Christmas light displays on our way home.

Now, by most objective measures 2016 was pretty rough. Suffice it to say that it was a hard year for water, refugees, heroes and celebrities, American politics, the UK, the EU, global politics in general, anyone who’s Muslim, and all residents of Syria and neighboring countries.

On the other hand, after a century of decline the tiger population increased in 2016, Tubman is set to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, the US has reached an all-time low in teen pregnancies and seen impressive gains in high-school graduations, the FARC rebels in Columbia signed a peace agreement with the government after decades of armed conflict bringing peace to the entire Western Hemisphere for the first time in at least 60 years, India planted 50 million trees in a single day, Costa Rica ran on 98% renewable energy for a whole year, giant pandas and manatees just got taken off of the endangered species list, the Americas were declared measles-free, Liberia was cleared of Malaria, we found the ALS gene, Africa has no active cases of Ebola, we finally detected gravitational waves, and pretty soon I might be able to go visit Cuba without selling my kidney. So that’s all pretty cool.

This year in particular seems to be marked with new beginnings and transitions. There’s a weird sort of impending finality associated with turning 29 – it’s the last year of my 20s, and it feels a little bit like I’m coming to the end of the first act (not to be overly dramatic, of course). My sweetie and I are both starting new jobs this month, I’ve got a brother with some exciting career news for this year, and a mom who’s also in transition. My dad and youngest brother are in for some big changes this year as well, and I’ll be helping one of my best friends get hitched in June.

As for me, I’m still trying to figure out what I want from 2017 beyond a big sunny field to lie in. I’d like to read more actual books (scaling back on the internet articles, news, and blogs that currently dominate my reading habits). I’d like to get better about staying in touch with all the wonderful people in my life and maybe figure out how to be less conservative about interacting with strangers. Maybe figure out how to make some new friends. I’d like to join the board of a non-profit and take at least one international trip to Asia or South America – maybe Ecuador or Thailand, but suggestions are most welcome. 

I'd also like to write more. And eat more chocolate. So, one pledge for 2017 is that I will write at least one review for this blog per week. They may not have lengthy stories attached to them, and they may not always get posted to Facebook promptly, but there will be at least one post per week for the duration of this year. 

Here's to a more chocolatey year for everyone!

Item: Passion Praline Candy Bar
Percentage: ?? (Pretty light - maybe 35-40%?)

Made By: Kate Weiser
Made In: Dallas, TX

Purchased At: Kate Weiser Trinity Groves Outlet Store

Review: Kate Weiser makes what can only be described as art chocolate. She describes this one “tart passion fruit combines with crunchy hazelnut gianduja for the perfect citrus treat. My personal fave!” This is not pure chocolate, but it’s definitely top-notch candy. A crunchy, beautiful art-milk-chocolate shell encases two gorgeous, creamy layers of creamy chocolate filling. The upper layer is a white-chocolate passion-fruit ganache, while the lower layer is a milk chocolate hazelnut gianduja (a chocolate spread or filling of at least 30% hazelnut), sandwiching whole toasted hazelnuts and some crunchy “cornflake praline.” That’s a complicated description for something that actually winds up coming across pretty wonderfully simple in the eating. 

There’s a delicate, lovely inter-play between the creamy, tart passion fruit and the earthy, crunchy hazelnut, and the chocolate ties it all together, providing a smooth medium for everything to play nicely together. I’ll say that the praline seemed to get just a tad soggy after a while, but the whole bar held up admirably in the car on a hot day (an important virtue in Texas). The milk chocolate is also stellar, which is something you won’t find me saying that much – It’s sweet, but not overwhelming, gentle, but not spineless, milky, but utterly free of that gross dried-milk aftertaste that hangs around after cheap milk chocolate, reminding you of every horrible decision you’ve ever made. *shudder.* This is some really wonderful (and beautiful!) stuff. 

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

With love,
 - K