What I Believe about Myself

Everyone has been feeling it and talking about it. We're entering not just a new year but a new decade. And it feels all the more significant of a turning point because it feels like the first separate decade of the new millennium. That was a big one, 1999 to 2000; I think that was the first year I stayed up until midnight. Then we were in the 2000's. Technically the 2010's followed, but "tens" doesn't have the same sound of separation as "twenties." You don't hear people talk about the 1910's much--they're more likely to say "around 1915" or "turn of the century." So this New Year's, we're leaving behind twenty years of turn of the century time and entering a new and separate decade.

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I don't see the point in making vague comments that you will never actually take steps to achieve, or in making a resolution simply because it's the time of year that people do it and not because you feel led to be making a new resolution. But as 2020 has been approaching, I have been looking at my life for the past ten years or so and looking at my life in 2019 and thinking about what I would like my life to look like in 2020 and beyond.

Who am I? Who do I want to be? What have I achieved? How did I achieve it? What would I like to achieve? What mistakes have I made? Why have I made them? How can I move forward to prevent making the same mistakes again?

All my life, there have been lies that I have believed. Much of it I didn't even realize until fairly recently. The world has always told me that I am quiet. And I am: I am soft-spoken and if you put me in a social situation with a group of people I will certainly be the silent one. But I'm also not quiet. I have plenty to say and a deep desire to share it. If you start a conversation one on one with me and ask me questions, I will answer them in detail. While I hated class presentations as much as the next person in middle school, in high school I soon started to like them. It was my chance, my opportunity to share who I was and all that I had prepared. I became good at them, too. (And, you know, the fact that I write blog posts and books is evidence that I want to share what I am thinking with other people.)

And so I use my voice. I'm a volunteer docent at the Rosson House, giving hour long guided tours. That is, I literally volunteer to talk to people I've never met before. My previous job had me talking to the public all day. My current job puts me a little more away from the public but also has me literally using my voice all day (doing dictation). When the world told me I was quiet, it was telling me I could not do these things. But I am doing them and I like doing them and I am good at doing them. So why did anyone ever tell me I was quiet? (There are other lies, too, but this is one that is easy to share.)

All of the little daily choices make up who we are. What I choose to do first thing when I wake up in the morning affects who I am. What I choose to do when I leave the house. What I choose to do when I get home at the end of the day. What I choose to watch. What I choose to eat. What I choose to say. What I choose to think. Who I choose to be with.

Somewhere in the last year or so, I forgot who I am. I am the daughter of the king of kings, the lord on high, the maker of heaven and earth, the living God. And that is where my identity stems from. I am whole and healed, not broken. He's the one who gave me a voice and something to say and the desire to speak it. So why do I ever listen to other declarations of who I am?

I want to live my life knowing who I am and turning my back on the lies.

In the 2020's, I want to live.

How about you?

The Rise of Skywalker

First off, I have a couple of non-spoiler things to say. I thought that The Rise of Skywalker was great. And I also find it important for people to remember that Star Wars is intentionally extremely archetypal and highly symbolic--and it is also fantasy.

Alright, now let's move into the content that will include spoilers.

Digital Book Giveaway

It's almost Christmas! And I've realized that, while I have the whole first chapter of my novel available to read for free (here's the link), I have nothing like that for my non-fiction book. I don't necessarily want to put up a big sample because it's quite short; however, I would like to do something to give it to more readers.

So all through the rest of December 2019, send me an email mentioning this post to deanna [dot] skaggs at gmail (you get the idea, just remove the spaces and brackets and put a period in between my first and last names) and I'll send you a free digital copy of my latest book, Silence and Boldness: Finding Freedom through Trust. No strings; I just wanted to have the chance to share it with a few more readers this winter. And don't worry, I don't have a newsletter or anything, so you won't suddenly start getting bombarded with emails.

If you'd still like to get a hard copy of either of my books, they're 40% off at this link. 

Merry Christmas!

What Do You Do with a Problem?

I hadn't read a synopsis or seen a trailer before watching A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and that turned out to be the best thing. Some movies are better to know almost nothing about going in. So if you haven't seen it yet, go ahead and do so when you get the chance; it's good. And if you have, then you can go ahead and keep reading.

What I was thinking as the movie began was that one of the cool things about Mr. Rogers was that he didn't hide the fact that he was pretending. Imagination is no less wonderful when you call it make-believe. You don't need to literally believe that something that isn't real is real in order to exercise imagination and in order to play. As a child, I never liked when adults would pretend something was real that wasn't. In fact, I'm more willing to do that as an adult than I was as a child because I know that we all know it isn't real and that we're just playing.

Mr. Rogers let us in to his play. He had his little fantasy world in his backyard. And yet he was also all about showing us how things worked; I loved watching all the factory scenes showing how people made things. He wasn't trying to just to show a little slice; he was trying to portray all of the things in life that can interest us . . . and trouble us.

What is at your core? How do you work/function? What makes you want to smile or laugh? What makes you cry? What makes you afraid? Answering those questions can be the first step to understanding that there are the things that we feel, the things that we think, and the things that we do.

When we feel something negative, sometimes we just think negative things--and then all of that will beget negative actions.

But if we feel something negative, then process it with a positive perspective, then we can start to reap positive actions even when faced with negative feelings.

It's all quite simple--and yet that isn't to say that it doesn't take continual awareness and control. In the film, Joanne Rogers tells Lloyd that when people describe her husband as a saint, the word doesn't describe all of the work that he does to be the man that he is. It's a conscious and continual decision to choose to be a better person.

And as Lloyd spends more time with Mr. Rogers, he sees the rolling ball effect. He sees the positive perspective and the kind words having positive effects on other people. He knows that he himself is carrying ill feelings as a result of how he was treated as a child. And so he sees that wow, he can in turn choose to make either a positive or a negative impact with his life. He can take the negative and beget more negative, or he can do the work and reform the negative until he is putting out something positive instead. As simple and as difficult--and as rewarding as that.

Chocolove: Holiday Fruit & Nuts

Kind of like with yesterday, I don't usually go for Chocolove. I put them in the same category as Endangered Species chocolate; they're both pretty widely available for fair trade type chocolates, but they're also not quite the chocolate quality that I prefer. I'd rather focus on other brands, and I don't want to keep repeating my comments about quality. However, like yesterday, I still thought it might be worth it to take a look at a holiday offering from Chocolove.

The Holiday Fruits & Nuts bar comes in a cheery, red wrapper with a gold ornament sign around the logo and some imagery of what types of fruits and nuts are in the chocolate. It brings to mind a traditional Christmas with piano music and Charles Dickens stories.

I was a little thrown off by the Matthew Arnold poem printed on the inside of the wrapper. Not having had a Chocolove bar in I don't even know how long, I'm not sure if they always include this poem or if it's specific to this bar. However, given that the poem is entitled "Longing" and Chocolove has, well, "love" in the title, I'd guess the former. Alright then.

Wrapped in gold foil, the shiny squares of the chocolate bar have little hearts on them. More love and longing. Just a personal preference, but it's a little much on the love and longing for me. On the back of the bar, you can see the fruits and nuts poking out. There is a rich, semisweet chocolate aroma.

As I bit in, I tasted the fruits and nuts together. I wasn't sure at first which kinds; they kind of blended together into one pleasant flavor, with the chocolate holding it all in. As the bite mostly vanished, I just had a bit of fruit left and some chocolate flavor. That's when I got my reminder that I don't favor this type of dark chocolate. It's 55% cocoa content, so it's very sweet dark chocolate. Just something to be aware of if you're like me.

But I am also reminded of how great fruit and nuts are in chocolate. Sometimes the flavor doesn't sound appealing, so I'll pass it by in stores. Didn't I even say that the packaging looked/sounded traditional? So it can also sound bygone, not fresh or interesting. But it's a great combination, especially when you're dealing with not just one type each of fruit and nut. There is quite a mix in here: pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, currants, cherries, orange peel, and some ginger, too. Chocolove explains that they were inspired by French mendiants.

Naturally, of course, each bite is going to be different. Outer pieces might have less in them, inner will have more. There might be some small pieces of hazelnut or a big piece of walnut. Some cherries or a bit of the orange peel. So you want to take big bites so as to best get it all. Chew, don't melt (which is also fine given the type of chocolate). I like best when I get more nuts and less chocolate. Overall, though, they're in decent balance. You don't get any completely blank chocolate and you don't get a whole walnut, either. The pieces of fruit and nut are big enough for some chewing, leading to more flavor, but small enough to reasonably be in a bar of chocolate. The orange peel really helps to give it that Christmas feel (don't worry, they're small orange peel pieces). I can't say that I specifically taste the ginger.

So essentially it is an alternative to mendiants or to chocolate bark, or even to chocolate-covered nuts and fruit. I definitely prefer this to chocolate-covered fruits and probably chocolate-covered nuts, too. (You know what, I don't think I've ever had chocolate-covered currants. Maybe those would be nice. Could someone send me some please?) And this, of course, can sit on the shelf at the grocery store, unlike the chocolate bark that you would get from your local chocolate shop (if you have one).

The gist of it is, I'm pleasantly surprised. Sure, the chocolate was a tad sweeter than I prefer, but the fruit and nuts take center stage and they're good quality. So for a munching chocolate for Christmastime, it's great. Chocolate doesn't need to be a gift box of truffles in order to be given as a gift or in little individually-wrapped Santa Claus shapes in order to go in a stocking; a chocolate bar like this works, too. And now is a good time to put in the reminder that you also don't need to give holiday chocolate. Regular plain or flavored bars are still excellent even during December. But if you are looking for something with a holiday zing, you'll do alright with this one.

Little Secrets: Peppermint Bark Crispy Wafers

While my experience with the Chocolate Pieces from Little Secrets has been great, so far I haven't cared much for their wafers. But they were one of the fair trade chocolate companies with a new-to-me holiday offering this year, so naturally I wanted to check out the Peppermint Bark Crispy Wafers. Plus, the fact that there is less chocolate in here because of the wafers means that this product checks in at under two dollars, which is pretty unheard of for most of the chocolate I review.

The packaging is fun and colorful. Like with the offerings from Theo this year, this light blue and red color scheme would blend in just fine with standard types of Christmas candies. In fact, it is so much like Theo's colors that it makes me wonder if these are just really popular colors this year or what.

Simple concept here. Two long wafers with a peppermint oil aroma sit inside of the wrapper. Biting in, I found that thicker, crisper wafer that I hadn't favored before (what can I say? I was raised with KitKats like most of us were). Then I got the mint flavor and some of the chocolate and started to get more of a cookie feeling. Looking at you, Thin Mints.

And then, well, what I thought was just a creative thought (like saying that the chocolate tastes like a winter day with snow flurries in the air) turned out to be pretty literal. The chocolate began to feel oily--and Thin Mints use compound chocolate (that is, chocolate watered down with oil). And yes, I found palm oil in the ingredients. In theory, the oil could just be for the filling. On tasting, though, definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but this is compound chocolate on the outside of the wafers.

How big of a deal is it, though? It isn't like I won't finish eating these. They taste fine and honestly, my palate has a bigger issue with the harder texture of the wafers than with the oily chocolate. In fact, the oily chocolate can help give some of that greasy, candy feeling that most of us Americans are used to (not that these chocolate wafers are greasy per se, just that they edge more to that angle). The mint flavor is in about the medium range. Strong enough to taste but not too strong. I'm not sure why these are called Peppermint Bark Wafers instead of just Peppermint Wafers. The candy cane pieces on the picture are in fact quite microscopic on the actual product and so are unable to compete with the texture of the wafers.

Taste-wise, they're alright. Probably most people wouldn't overthink them as I am; they'd just eat them. But that being said, I wouldn't want to give these as a gift or stocking stuffer if I don't care for them. What I can say is that if you like Thin Mints, you'll probably enjoy these.

While the whole compound chocolate thing is a big issue for me personally, what does it mean for the product? I already mentioned the low price of this product, comparatively speaking. Using compound chocolate helps keep the actual amount of cocoa used at a minimum--which can be a positive thing as we try and rework the cocoa industry and make sure that it's all happening in such a way that is good for both the people and the environment. We had to admit it, but consuming less cocoa is part of that. And if most chocolate candy especially for the holidays is already compound chocolate, then that means that most of our palates are already immune to its taste.

I'd personally like us to be moving towards better, whole foods and palm oil chocolate just doesn't quite seem to fit into that. But perhaps there are worse things you can do. Perhaps it's a good thing that if we're going to be consuming compound chocolate, we can at least make sure that the cocoa we do use is coming from fair trade sources.

Am I making you think too much about your Christmas chocolate this year? While there may be a million things to think about right now, the chocolate that you're buying is still an important topic.

Theo: Peppermint Cocoa Cups

In addition to the three flavors of chocolate-dipped marshmallows, this year Theo has also put out these Peppermint Cocoa Cups. While the cute and Christmasy box is still something you could give as a gift, the fact that these are individually wrapped makes them ideal for sneaking into gifts separately or stuffing stockings. I'm considering stocking stuffing their main purpose.

And I love that. You see, it isn't just a festive box; the wrappers are also fun. Sometimes the fair trade chocolates, well, they look like the "ethical" option. Which is sometimes okay--but other times you just want to blend in with what we're come to expect from holiday candy. The red label mentions the whole organic and fair trade thing, but the peppermint stripes add in the merriment. So your friends and family can see that this was an ethical choice, but they won't feel like you're trying to shove it in their faces that you bought the fair trade chocolate and wrapped their gifts (shampoo bars and loose tea) in old socks to save on wrapping paper waste. Do I digress? (And I'm not making fun of anyone who chooses ethical/environmental options. I do, too--but I also know that not everyone gets it.)

Theo's slightly-heart-shaped chocolate cup sits inside the striped wrapper. Right on opening, I wished that I could share the scent with you. A burst of peppermint, nice and strong and fresh. Especially after the, um, rather non-pepperminty marshmallows from yesterday, this minty burst was quite welcome.

Officially the labeling describes these cups as having a "creamy milk chocolate shell" with a "peppermint dark chocolate meltway filling." That sounds a lot like Lindor truffles--which is fine as those are always popular.

The chocolate has just the texture you'd expect. It's creamy and melty, in a different way from the usual chocolate way. How did they achieve that texture (which is also distinct from ganache and also must be able to have a long shelf life)? Coconut oil, like what Alter Eco uses in their truffles. No coconut flavor, just a soft and melty texture that is also not oily. If you're going to take this approach, coconut oil is a good way to go.

Taste-wise, the peppermint oil gives this chocolate a flavor like Andes mints, except that you can taste the chocolate more. I taste more milk chocolate than dark, so I'd put them on the sweeter side of the scale. They have just enough dark chocolate in there to keep the mint grounded. And yes, if you're looking for a peppermint chocolate product this winter, I'd definitely recommend these over the marshmallows.

They're good and they're a familiar flavor, so they're going to have mass appeal. This is something that can be great for kids and adults alike, for those who usually choose fair trade (aka. the person who buys them) and for those who just get regular candies (aka. the relative of the person who buys them who receives them as a gift).

So it's great to see something like this on the shelves. It's a good product made with good ingredients. Theo used something that they already make (the chocolate cups) and they gave it a holiday spin and they made it like something we as consumers already like (Andes mints) and so by putting all this together they made a product that is specific to Theo but also approachable. New and different but also not so different. The perfect stocking stuffers.

Theo: Peppermint Marshmallows

Click here for my review of the Vanilla Bean Marshmallows and here for the Cinnamon Marshmallows.

I tried to get a head start on seasonal chocolate, but it turns out that I have still a few more to go. Since I don't want to cut it too close to Christmas, I'm going to just put out four holiday chocolates in a row this week. It might be a little much, but I'd rather give each product its own space than stick them all into one or two posts. Perhaps I could have put all of the marshmallows from Theo into one post, but I started off unsure of whether or not I would even review all of them--and honestly, I prefer to keep products individual if I can, unless there is truly nothing unique to say about each one.

The packaging has gone from a white box to red and now to blue. I thought right away that the chocolate-dipped marshmallows looked a little different in the bag this time. Maybe they were stacked more neatly but the surface seemed different, as well. The reason? The Peppermint Marshmallows are made with Theo's 70% dark chocolate instead of the 45% milk chocolate. So they're naturally a shade or so darker in color. I neglected to notice the difference on the label because I was more focused on the flavors.

Like with the Cinnamon Marshmallows, you get a chocolate scent (a little darker here) when you open up the bag but no peppermint. While the Cinnamon Marshmallows had a great cinnamon flavor to them, the mint here is still light even when you bite in. On my first one, I don't think I tasted mint at all. Then I tried to press my tongue against the marshmallow specifically searching for the peppermint (since Theo adds the flavoring to the marshmallows, not to the chocolate). That helped, but it's still a very light mint. While some people might like a lighter rather than stronger mint taste, I do have to mark these down for being so light. Unnoticeably light really doesn't cut it when they're called Peppermint Marshmallows--not even "Marshmallows with a Hint of Peppermint." Maybe I got a bad batch?

The marshmallows are still excellent, like before. And since I don't really have a peppermint flavor to compare to the other two, the biggest difference between this set of marshmallows and the previous two is the dark chocolate. Now, I very much favor Theo's 45% milk chocolate, but they do make quality dark chocolate, as well. And that's great: sometimes the companies that will tend to make the confection/candy type products like chocolate-covered marshmallows don't make/use very good chocolate. They usually have that weirdly sweet confection dark chocolate that I can't stand (so if you're planning on buying me a confection, err on the safe side and choose milk chocolate, not dark). So I can't overemphasize how good it is to have a decent dark chocolate on these marshmallows. It's a basic dark chocolate, nothing too fancy, but it has good and solid flavor. It's quality. Why shouldn't marshmallows get quality chocolate to enrobe them?

Honestly, milk chocolate sounded more appealing with marshmallows to me, maybe because of my averse associations with confectionery dark chocolate. But the dark chocolate is good with the marshmallows, as well. It's less sweet, and yet that semisweet flavor can evoke cookies, too. So it has more of a wintry feel. Less thoughts of cuddling up by a fireplace and more thoughts of flurrying snowflakes and going out to build snowmen and putting on a glittery dress for a party.

As far as which of the three marshmallows is the best, it's going to go off of preference. Do you like milk chocolate or dark? Do you like plain and classic? Do you like some spiced cinnamon? If you're looking for hot chocolate marshmallows, I'd probably go for one of the milk chocolate options. These would go well with ice cream, though, if you wanted to do a kinda crazy sundae. The Cinnamon Marshmallows were my favorites for eating on their own. The Peppermint Marshmallows would be excellent as part of a dessert board. Whatever you choose, just have fun.

The Brontës Who Walked and Lived

I approach movies based on the novels of the Brontës with hesitation: some are good, while others are so far from the content or theme of the original that it hardly seems fair to slap the same title on them. I've literally stopped watching at least one no more than ten minutes in. It would follow, then, that I might wonder how filmmmakers would approach a movie about the Brontës themselves.

2016's To Walk Invisible (written and directed by Sally Wainwright), however, does not aim at romanticizing or embellishing. As such, it is quite a stark film. It just shows life--how three women in the nineteenth century came to be published writers. Emily, the fiery and bold one who is somehow also the most private one. Anne, the solidly good woman, the peaceful spirit in spite of all she has seen in life. Charlotte, somewhere in between the two. Then also their brother Branwell, who has given in to the worst of life and so has, essentially, chosen alcoholism over the childhood hopes of writing. Their father, who is getting up in years.

The very title suggests the anonymity and quietness of these sisters (in certain contexts) and the film does indeed show it. They talk amongst themselves and they talk to others, but they are also largely silent even during moments when a modern script might inaccurately choose to have them speak. For instance, their father will come in and speak to the sisters are length, then leave. They listen but don't speak. Not because they had nothing to say but because that was the place of a nineteenth century woman. We're used to period films in which the women are always talking, but that's because the scenes are either inaccurate or because they mainly take place in social situations. Day to day life for a Victorian woman included much silence. This film expressed that--and not in a way that criticizes it, either. Charlotte still goes to talk to her father about important matters and to give her opinion and they have a good relationship; things were just different.

What captivates me (and so many of us) about the Brontës is their blending of fantasy and reality. Charlotte uses the greatest touch of fantasy in her writing. But even Emily, who would seem not to, who would seem to be writing about very harsh and real things, is writing with this sense of the fantastical. What is so captivating is that these women loved imagination and they also had very much seen the real world and all that it is (both the good and the bad) and so they saw the importance of real life. They, in a sense, saw that fantastical quality in real life--and then wrote about real life in a way that gave it that elevated sense of meaning.

That's what this film reminded me. Real life can be brutal. Real life can be gorgeous. Real life can be dull. Real life can be exciting. Life, with all of its intensities, whether family, friends, sickness, wealth or lack of, weather, fear, faith--life.

Sometimes it is when we walk quietly that we are able to see all that life is. Maybe no one even sees us as we're doing so--but it doesn't matter because we are living. The Brontës didn't create their great work later on when all the world knew their names (well, okay, Charlotte did some of it once she became publicly respected, but even then her fame wasn't to the degree that it is today). They did it in the quiet--and they would have done so even if time forgot them. Do you see what I mean? It's great when time remembers people (like John Keats) who didn't receive much recognition during their lives. But the truly wondrous thing is that, even if time forgets your name, if you lived, then that is your incredible achievement and it is not negated.

Old Town Cottonwood Chocolate Walk 2019

I first attended the Old Town Cottonwood Chocolate Walk in probably either 1999 or 2000. When you're a child, an event like this is fun--it's like trick-or-treating except that you get all chocolate and it's filled with Christmas cheer instead of Halloween fright. But being in December, it was also cold. As the night got darker and colder, we would just skip the last places on the map rather than run over to them in the cold. And after you've done it a couple years, you just kind of stop.

Revisiting good memories from the past in a new way, though, can be great fun. So this year I decided to go for it again--about twenty years later for me, it was the 26th Chocolate Walk for Cottonwood. And it's changed a bit.

I remember getting a hand-decorated bag. It had a glittery Christmas tree on it. Not to say that there was anything wrong with the sticker-bedecked bags this year; it's just a difference. And this year the hours were 3-7. I doubt it started so early twenty years ago; I don't think we waited until dark just because. Maybe we did . . . but I'm thinking they've just brought the start time earlier. If that's the case, I'm all for it. Cottonwood, for those of you outside of Arizona, is in the very center of the state. Phoenix is in the southern half. So Cottonwood (which is two hours from Phoenix) and the rest of the Verde Valley experience cooler temperatures and greater temperature drops than the Phoenix area. In winter, especially after the sun sets, it's cold to be spending much time outside.

Plus, there was some rain on the forecast for evening. So three o'clock sounded like a great time to start to me. Everyone else seemed to be there right at the beginning, too. There are some tickets available at the door, but mainly you'll want to purchase them ahead of time, then you pick them up at the Club House. It was built in 1939 by the WPA with local river rocks. 

Old Town Cottonwood itself has changed so much in twenty years. It's been remodeled so much, mainly for the better. It was a little beat up in the nineties; now it has that cute small town look again. And it's filled with restaurants, shops, businesses, and lots of wineries. 

The Chocolate Walk gets you your little bag with a map to take to 30 different spots. You have each participating business mark off your map and they give you a piece of chocolate. So it's a great way to refresh yourself on what businesses are there, maybe visit a couple you'd never stepped in before. I did have to do a quick walk through of Papillon Antiques; they have some great pieces there.

There are window displays to check out as you go along, as well as some indoor decorations. 

A couple spots had hot chocolate, too, which is great when you are starting to get a little cool. 

I took a picture of the bacon chocolate not because I like bacon chocolate (I confess, I picked off the bacon) but because it was the only chocolate that wasn't in a bag. So I figured it was deserving of a picture with Old Town in the background. That white building on the left side is the Tavern, which was once a movie theatre that caught on fire. I remember seeing it like that, as a former theatre.

Technically you can go quickly and finish in an hour. I finished in probably an hour and forty-five or fifty minutes, something like that. Then I bought a tamale to eat on a bench with some of my chocolate while I waited for the lights at 5:30.

They call it a light show. And it may have covered a small space, but hey, it was still pretty great. If this were Disneyland, it would be packed shoulder to shoulder. The lights set up over the buildings can light up to show different shapes and characters. It's all synced to music so that you'll see certain images to go along with certain songs. The images turn on and off and switch up. They're Christmas lights; it's fun. 

It was all pretty awesome timing, too. The raindrops started as little speckles once the lights turned on. So I got to enjoy it all without turning into a wet duck. 

I took my bag of chocolate and departed through the growing rain. 

Here is what 30 chocolates minus a couple that I had on the night look like. Sure, tickets can be a little pricey at $25, but you're paying for a community event and you are in fact getting a pretty decent amount of chocolate. If you're going with a group, you don't necessarily need a separate ticket per person. Depending on how much you want to share, one ticket can be good for two to five people. Of course, I realize I'm saying that as someone who got to keep all the chocolate for myself. 

As you can see, they're mainly handmade. Most are pretty simple. Fudge or toffee or pretzels, or this adorable Oreo/Hershey's-kiss/cherry-cordial mouse. But remember, there are also many restaurants (some with quite good food) and wineries in Old Town. So they're not necessarily going to hand out basic fudge and call it quits. A couple of these are going to be quite good, the type that you would spend $2.50 on in a chocolate shop. 

So you get the fancy piece of chocolate bark or a great cake pop without the stick and you get the chocolate rice crispy treat and the chocolate cookie. You get a mix and most of it is in what I'd call the "holiday cookie" variety. Homemade sweets, essentially. I mean, if it were going to be about gourmet truffles, well, tickets would be more than $25 and all the businesses would be taking chocolate making classes from Black Butterfly in Prescott beforehand. It's glorified trick-or-treating, remember.

That being said, I'm quite glad I went again. The novelty was great. I had fun. It was a pleasant way to spend a December evening. And I'm enjoying eating my chocolates. Community events are fantastic. 

Spun Light: Aztec Chocolate Cotton Candy

I make another departure this week from the "normal" chocolate review with a look at some cotton candy. This is, of course, the cotton candy I mentioned finding at the Chiles & Chocolate Festival at the Desert Botanical Garden. Spun Light makes appearances at other festivals and events around the Phoenix area, but I've only seen the chocolate flavors at Chiles & Chocolate.

What makes Spun Light unique is not just their flavor choice; it's the type of sugar they use. They make their cotton with organic cane sugar--and they add the flavor with organic and natural flavors, many of which they make themselves. So you get the same attention to quality that is often reserved for "healthier" options and not something like a simple candy/dessert. And it makes sense. If you're going for a sweet, cotton candy isn't bad. It's literally straight sugar stretched out, so as long as you're not eating a truckload of it, it probably has less sugar total than plenty of other sweets.

They were making fresh cotton candy and giving out samples generously at the festival. So I first started with the Chocolate Mint. Amazingly fresh not just in the mint but also in the sugar flavor. I was hooked--this truly was a different type of cotton candy. I tried the plain Chocolate next and then the Aztec Chocolate. The Chocolate was nice, but I chose to take away the Aztec Chocolate to review because the way that it builds flavor is absolutely amazing and unexpected for something so simple as cotton candy.

Since Spun Light sticks to the natural side, only the flavors that naturally bring in color are colored. Most are just a light, cream color. That suits me just fine. And honestly, if it's the novelty of cotton candy that you love, even then, a freshly made batch on its paper cone is still going to have just as much novelty even if it isn't bright pink or blue. You can also buy them in little plastic tubs, which is of course the option I went for since I was bringing it home to dissect.

We all already know the texture of cotton candy. A fluffy substance that you can tear easily that dissolves in your mouth. This fluffy substance smells of cinnamon and sugar. In your mouth, it gives an initial feeling of warm chocolate, then the cinnamon comes in to give it all more of a hug, and the habanero becomes most present as the cotton melts. So you have that quick melting experience happen simultaneously with the flavor explosion; the sensation in your mouth is quite unique. After you taste the chile, you go back to that warmth of the cinnamon and then reflect again on the chocolate and sugar.

There is definite spice to this one. So if you can't handle any spice, it probably won't be for you. I wouldn't call it strong, though. No more than medium and probably not even that strong if you stick to small pieces. In fact, I recommend smaller pieces. You might get more flavor with bigger pieces, but the flavor development is superior with the small pieces, the little fluffs. So while the habanero is a definite spice in here, I would ultimately call the strongest flavor cinnamon. It might not actually be, but the cinnamon is mentally the flavor that connects chocolate and sweetness with spice. So cinnamon is the strongest flavor concept.

The strongest subject concept, though, is obviously still chocolate. They're crafted this cotton candy around the Aztec approach to drinking chocolate, full of spices. Probably it's more modern Mexican chocolate than specifically Aztec chocolate, but this is a great way to bring that idea into cotton candy. Again, usually you won't see this approach in cotton candy. I've had great Aztec-inspired drinking chocolate. But cotton candy? Now that's a novelty, an adult novelty. (Yes, children will enjoy Spun Light's cotton candy, too, but I'm making a different point here.) This is just a sweet treat that you can get when you're out at a festival--but it also has great ingredients and style and a pure approach to flavor. Whether you go for one of the chocolate flavors or another, absolutely don't pass their booth by if you ever come across them (they'll be at the Tempe Festival of the Arts this three-day weekend, by the way). Spun Light will give you a reinterpretation of cotton candy.

Winter Has Come

Winter and Christmastime have come to Arizona. The snows have fallen. The lights and decorations are out. 

Everything came together with Thanksgiving. There were some rains before Thanksgiving, but the big storms (the ones that brought snow to the higher elevation areas) came on Thanksgiving day. And after Thanksgiving, of course, is when everyone traditionally goes full on with the Christmas festivities. 

I welcome it all. I always welcome it all, but this year I especially do. This year has been filled with intense highs and lows. I reached up toward a spirit of thanksgiving in November and now that it is December, I am feeling remembrance, gratefulness, and rejoicing. That is the way to cap off my year.

This year, my Victorian-esque Christmas tree (it just has pinecones and glass "candle" ornaments) and my simple, white nativity set seemed the perfect dressing for the season. The theme to these decorations is light and purity. On a cold, winter night to sit with glowing lights and to remember that which is good. Hallelujah. 

Wandering through Old Tucson

Wander through the desert, past hills of saguaros and cliffs of exposed rock. Go up through curved, little roads and back down through simple angles. Turn left and left again.

And here you are, an Old West town that was never a town. Old Tucson is essentially the Old West town of Tucson that once was but no longer is--built specifically as a film studio.

Wander through the buildings, some styled rustic, some less so. Various businesses and the like. Most you can walk into, but they don't necessarily have inside what they say on the outside. There are shops and restaurants and a couple of complete insides, but mainly the outside look is simply for the outside. 

Take the train to see the desert and some more filming--and the backsides of the town buildings. 

Sit in the back of the train for best enjoying the view you leave behind. 

A little church sits up on the top edge of the town. You can walk in this one; it is in fact kept up rather nicer than some of the other Old West/Historic type churches you might find elsewhere. 

The Stagecoach will cost you a bit extra, but the pretty Carousel and the Autopia-style, vintage cars are included. 

And, you know, if you're in need of some dollars for that Stagecoach, you can try and break into a safe or something. This is the Wild West, after all. 

And then a quiet moment to take it all in. 

Old Tucson has film history, if that's your area of interest. It also has nineteenth century, western/southwestern atmosphere, if that's your focus. Then there is the beautiful, desert setting on the edge of Tucson, right by Saguaro National Park. And also you'll find plenty of entertainment, from the little train and cars to the shows. Something for everyone and plenty of photo opportunities. 

You're the one holding the camera--what story will you make? 

Theo: Cinnamon Marshmallows

Last month, I declared Theo's Vanilla Bean Marshmallows a success. Now it's time to take a look at one of the flavored options; the other is Peppermint, but the one I chose is Cinnamon. While both are wintry flavors, cinnamon and chocolate is dearer to my heart than peppermint and chocolate--especially when it comes to marshmallows that might end up in a cup of hot chocolate.

Most everything is the same here. The box has the same cut and design, just with a different color scheme. The red has a jollier, more Christmasy feel, so I'd probably be quicker to reach for this one if I were choosing a gift.

Once more, we have a clear bag inside with the chocolate-dipped marshmallows. They don't smell too much of cinnamon until you bite into one because the cinnamon is in the marshmallows, not the chocolate. I talked last time about the excellent quality of the marshmallows and their relationship with the chocolate. All of that still applies here.

What's different is the cinnamon. It immediately adds a warm and nuanced spice. And quite rightly so: besides the cinnamon, there is also cayenne in here. Not enough that they needed to call it "Mexican chocolate" or "spiced cinnamon" or anything. But enough that the cinnamon gives that extra kick. It isn't spicy. It's just, like I mentioned, warm and nuanced.

It's everything that you would want in a wintry treat: warm and cozy and sweet. Hot chocolate and wool blankets and fireplaces and all that. But it's also elegant. It isn't just cinnamon chocolate; it's a cinnamon chocolate sweet that hits a particular flavor angle. And so it also becomes holiday gatherings and marble dessert boards and shiny dresses. Essentially, these marshmallows can be whatever you want them to be and they can fit into whatever context you want. The Vanilla Bean Marshmallows I enjoyed; these I'm loving.

They remind me of something Trader Joe's might market. Something that can be casual and comforting or the type of thing you'd take out of the box and serve elegantly without telling anyone that you just bought it from the grocery store. And that's what Theo does with their chocolate bars, as well. That's why they've long been a favorite of mine for introducing people to, for instance, their first high quality milk chocolate. They create good and approachable products.

The Thanksgiving Light

Thanksgiving is a community holiday and also a private holiday. Thanksgiving is all about giving and sharing and appreciating others. And yet it is also about reflecting inward, about being graceful and thankful.

Thanksgiving is the shallowest holiday and the deepest holiday. Put a turkey on a table and there you go, it's Thanksgiving. But no, that isn't it. The tradition calls for food, but the theme of the holiday asks for giving thanks. Is that not the most amazing thing? That we would all across the country gather together at a thousand different types of tables around a thousand different types of table spreads (plenty of them don't even have turkey anymore) with a thousand different types of groups (some small, some large, some more family, some more friends, some close acquaintances, some new) and say, we are thankful.

It is the perfect predecessor to the Christmas season. To put an especial emphasis on remembrance of blessings is quite fitting for late November. 

Happy Thanksgiving

I Am Aurora

While I am aware that not everyone loves the Disney princesses, I'm a literature person, so I view everything from that perspective. The earlier princesses were mainly symbolic--and so were their princes. That is, their stories weren't really love stories, only on the surface level. Let that settle in and change your perspective on Disney princesses.

Anyway. I do like Disney. And the princesses are a part of Disney. I used to think that Belle was my Disney princess. She had my brown hair and brown eyes and she liked to read books--and that craving for something more was also something that I had when I was around twelve years old. And then Tiana came out when I was in college and I thought, oh, I want to be Tiana, that's who I should strive for. She was so hardworking. And then Elena of Avalor came out and I thought, she has my brown hair and brown eyes, not Belle--it's a different look.

And now I'm going back again. Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite Disney animated films not because I think that it's necessarily the best (though some elements of it are stellar) but because I love the music and the art and the good versus evil theme. And suddenly I find that I am Aurora dancing in the woods.

Aurora, just living her life. She's out there in the woods. She's just a peasant girl picking berries that she knows her aunts don't need. She's just enjoying being out there, dancing and singing and dreaming and making friends with who is around her, even if they're the animals. You could say that oh, she's just thinking about finding a man, putting her life on hold until she meets him, thinking everything will be fine when she does. But that isn't really what she's doing. She looks very happy out there dancing in the woods by herself. She's living her life.

And yet she also is being patient, though she doesn't realize to what extent. Even in her dream about finding someone, she isn't moping or pouting or even searching for him, wondering when she's going to find him. She's perfectly happy to just literally bump into him while she's busy with her animal friends. So she was patiently waiting for him. And she was also, unknown to her, waiting for the day when she would return to her true home, to the castle, and to her father the king. The time is long in coming but when the time comes, Aurora goes in just one night from being the peasant girl in the woods to the princess in the castle. Change is slow to come for her but when it comes, it comes powerfully.

That's how I identify. I'm dancing in the woods, enjoying my life, just being where I am right now. There are good things ahead and I'll enjoy them when they come. But right now I'm going to just enjoy dancing in the woods.

And in a sense, that basic moment is something that many of the Disney princesses share--and something we all share in our lives, as well. That's the inspiration we want to receive. No, it isn't about the princes or the dresses or the castles. It's about living with grace and contentment right where you are. That's what makes the Disney princesses beautiful--that's what makes them princesses.

Which Disney princess do you identify with?