Valentine's Day Chocolates are a WriterGirl's 2nd Best Friend (after words, of course)

The Vampires for Valentines giveaway post is HERE.

Random.org declares the winner of the Romancing the Book paperback giveaway to be...Anne! Congratulations. I'll be contacting you by e-mail to get your address!

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Happy Lupercalia! To me, nothing says Valentine's Day like chocolate. I'm good with a Ritter Sport hazelnut bar, but for fancy Valentine's Day gift-giving, these chocolates are a girl's second-best friend. After words, of course. I love you, words.

Guylian Belgian chocolate seashells. I actually associate these with Christmas, since that was when my Catholic-of-Jewish-descent grandmother would order these delicacies, considered some of the finest Belgian chocolates. The company donates a portion of its profits to Project Seahorse, which supports ocean conservation.

Ethical Ocean Madagascar chocolate. This award-winning chocolate bar is made with 70% organic ingredients. If that wasn't good enough, it's also fair-trade chocolate; the farmers who produced the organic ingredients earned a fair wage.

Dagoba Organic Chocolate. These bars come in flavors including Eclipse (barely sweetened), New Moon, lavender blueberry and lemon ginger. Prefer to drink your chocolate? Dagoba's drink mixes come in flavors including chocolate chai and xocolatl, the latter of which is flavored with chilies.

Seattle Chocolates. If you like variety, you'll love the selection of specialty truffle bars from this company. They include:

*Pike Place Espresso

*Cappuccino Crunch

*Birthday Cake

*Coconut Macaroon

*Rainier Cherry

*San Juan Sea Salt

Want organic AND fair trade AND an espresso flavor? Then the Equal Exchange Co-Op is there for you.

If you're looking for something different from chocolate bars and hot chocolate mixes, try the Guthrie's Original Sin in a Tin chocolate pate dessert. It's all-natural, and it actually comes in a tin. So does Guthrie's Original Lemon Lust lemon crisp tart. The chocolate pate has a unique texture, and can be served hot or cold, by itself or spread on fruit or cookies.

Any one of these cocoa-rich offerings would make an excellent sacrifice to Juno Februata. They could also make me very, very happy.

Seahorse, Turneffe Islands, Belize. Image taken by Clark Anderson/www.aquaimages.net. Creative Commons license.

Halloween Blog Swap Winning!

Hopping by from the Coffin Hop? See Monday's giveaway post here.

I'm pleased to report that I received a most exciting package from Celia Ybarra at Celia's Way. She and I had each other in the Halloween Blog Swap hosted by Rachel at You Just Can't Google Everything and Star of Star's Pink World.

Please excuse my photos. I'm much more of a wordsmith than a visual artist. My preferred medium is collage, not photography. And I don't want to hear it if you can spot the asparagus stain my dad got on my Bed, Bath and Beyond tablecloth.

Now, what could possibly be inside this seasonally-appropriate orange and purple tissue paper?

I think I'll open the little ones first.

Cool! It's three cute little scarecrows, and nail polish in pumpkin orange, black and sparkly purple.

These little scarecrows will make friends with my collection of little wooden Halloween decorations. Now for the biggest package:

Celia thought of everything, right down to this personalized gift label with some beautiful sunny limes. I wonder what's inside?

Pure chocolaty, nutty joy! Thank you, Celia!

Texas is a long way from the Midwest, and I send her package USPS rather than FedEx, but I really hope she gets her package before Halloween. I'll be bummed out if Celia does not get to open the chocolate-dipped Halloween Oreos and other goodies I sent her in a box wrapped in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

Now jump back into the Coffin Hop and get your own trick-or-treat swag from some fab horror authors!

West Coast Werewolf Cookie Review (Sanction Chronicles)

Well we all need to have fun sometimes so as a part of The Sanction Chronicles Young Adult Series I decided to do some food reviews. Not me as an author but as a werewolf character just for the Sanction Blog.

Best decision EVER. So far so good. Everything is delicious. For this round I went with cookies. Food trucks and sweets these next few weeks. Hard work, right?

Terry Kate

Welcome To Sanction - The Sanction Chronicles - Year One Volume One

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West Coast Werewolf Cookie Review

Well they aren't a restaurant...

Freshly Baked

Gourmet Cookies with Attitude

Okay Readers -

Best part of this review is you can get these guys ANYWHERE - they ship. So no need to be in LA with me. - Freshly-Baked.com

I came across these guys at the Taco Cook Off - where I managed not to eat a single taco, but other yum stuff instead. Like every cookie on the Freshly Baked menu. Over all, very good. If they are there buy them. On the whole moments of greatness but not every one so choose wisely...

So - top to bottom on the favorites.

YOUR MOM - Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip

The chocolate, the texture of oatmeal and the chewyness of coconut that stays with you as you chew makes this one the big winner. A MUST have and a must try. Perhaps one of my favorite Oatmeal Cookies ever, but adding chocolate doesn't hurt.

Kiss my Rosie White... - Strawberry White Chocolate

General Rule: Strawberry flavored items are weaker tasting. Cherry Rules! - Not so here. If this was not hurt your teeth deliciously sweet it would have taken top rank. Even hungry as a wolf I would max out at about 2 while Your Mom, give me 10!

To the Cookie! The flavor is subtle and mouth watering. It hits the tongue with a burst and the white chocolate just smoothes the whole thing out to complete the experience. I am not a white chocolate fan so that this one is so high on the list tells you just how good it is.

Demolicious - Chocolate Cherry

As stated rule above, Cherry Rules as does this cookie. Really fabulous and a repeater. The cherry flavor infuses the whole cookie perfectly complimenting the dark chocolate. The mix is pretty flawless. Not really anything more to say. Yum...

Mexican Arm Twister - Chocolate Chip with a Twist

If you like KICK this is not the one for you. This is your niece kicking you in the back of the leg. If you want it hot like a donkey kick to the groin look elsewhere. This is a mild, subtle flavor mix maybe why they say twist. Too subtle? Maybe. Can anyone give it a try? Yep. There is nothing to offend the palate, just a warm tingle in the after taste.

Nutty Bavarian Love Biscuit - Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel

A solid PB cookie, mild on the PB and with a nice move in adding the pretzels. The salty - peanut butter mix of ingredients was nice. Unfortunately the chocolate seemed to dominate the pairing. If PB is your thing though, give it a go.

Monkey Nut Blast - Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip

Sad Monkeys. I didn't taste the banana either. Say banana, I think BANANA. It was not the dominate flavor I expected based on the description. More of a chocolate chip with nuts and a light banana air about it.

The Foamy Homey - Root Beer Float

This cookie goes to show you how AMAZINGLY talented this baker is. First you taste vanilla, count down, one-two-three and the flavor changes like magic in your mouth. Root Beer! Add to that the unbelievable, no idea how he does it, tingle it leaves on your tongue and this is a masterpiece. I didn't care for it, but I fully appreciate it.

Anger Management - Peppermint Chocolate Chip

I have been really hungry before - I mean hungry, BUT I have never been tempted to put chocolate chips in toothpaste and eat it.

In closing: Am I chasing them down like a werewolf after a tasty rabbit? No, but I know other eaters who do. A lot of highlights here and good stuff. Make them into a sandwich with a little ice cream and you would only want them more. - More at Freshly-Baked.com

- West Coast Werewolf

New, Original Writings on the Web

If you're not using Gather.com, you may have missed some of my latest, freshest writings. In case you did, let me catch you up:

My tribute to the late Betty Page: A Film Review
In honor of the passing of model Betty Page at the age of 85, I've decided to share my review of the 2001 DVD Betty Page in Bondage. If you are a Betty aficianado, you can rent the film from www.dvdavenue.com. Not one of my personal favorites, really, but here's the info you need to know before you rent the DVD:

"Actually, my favorite part of this DVD was when I first took it out of its sleeve. The picture on the disc itself is a pretty one. Betty Page had a really nice body. To truly enjoy this video, though, one would have to be a hard-core Page fan. It's composed entirely of antique "stag reels" of her . . . interesting 1950s costumes and music, but only mildly naughty by today's standards. Scenes of girl-on-girl bondage that were probably quite titillating in the mid-20th century are just rather quaint and even bizarre now."

Other Recent Posts:
Original Short Story, "God and The Devil Are Married" at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977754375

Reprint of "Chocolate Jesus and the Oral Thing" at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977754159

Review of Witch's Heart, a book by Tabitha Shay at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977741950

And don't forget to take the latest Facebook quiz and find out "Which Beltane Character Are You?" You can find it at http://apps.facebook.com/whichbeltanesowgpc/?_fb_fromhash=3bb3bf9c249e2c69417dfeae82690e0c.

If you love Beltane, buy "Bomb Pop" from Erotique Press at www.erotiquepress.com. (Note: the website may be down for a redesign for a day or so, but keep checking back!)