Getting down with the Good Stuff at Choccy Central...

Why, hello again.

One of the cool things about having lived here for a couple of years now is that I'm starting to form my own SF traditions (although my definition of a "tradition" may be somewhat...err... generous).  For me, the September summer in SF means just one thing - its time for the Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival!!!  Woot woot!!

Now, I am very fond of this festival - other than for the very obvious reason it spotlights one of my favorite food groups.  Like St.Paddy's day was for me in New York City, so the Chocolate Festival is for me here in SF- a built-in marker of another whole year passed.   As with the sea of green-clad drunkards roaming around midtown in faux-Irish packs, so it is that hoards of chocolate-hungry foodies and a sea of brown (hmm..) reminds me of moving here to SF (over two years already!  Where on earth does the time go?)

So, it was with joy and celebration that I bought two tickets for a glorious Saturday afternoon's scoffage  - one for me and one for my partner in sugary subterfuge, Lori.  The deal is pretty simple - one ticket gets you 15 tastings.  Easy.  You don't even need to be able to keep count, as they just cross off the boxes for you - when they are all crossed out, that is your official permission to collapse into a calorie coma, rocking gently and groaning quietly to yourself as you cradle your distended belly.  

It is ENTIRELY co-incidental that this shot happens to
contain the tasting tent for chocolate vodka.

The festival ran from 12pm - 5pm each day but I would challenge you to find a single individual who would be able to last for five whole hours of chocolate confection tasting!  Lori and I turned up at about 2pm and by 3.30pm, we were done!  Like the last time, there were dozens of little tasting tents lining Ghirardelli Square and up in the shopping plaza above the street, so our strategy was to do a complete reccy first, and then map out our game plan.  You don't want to go too big too soon or to cut loose some tastings on Ghirardelli squares when there are bigger chunks of brownie or cupcakes to be had....  

After some serious strategery, we set off and soon made dents in cupcakes, chocolate tarts, brownies, cookies and more brownies.  We got smart at one stage (steady) and had some bi-lateral queuing action going on, to reduce the time spent waiting between chocolate and sugar infusions.  Bonza.  Washed down with a free chilled-but-not-quite-enough coffee chocolate drink, we were soon feeling suitably green at the gills and so ended up in the Ghirardelli tent spending our remaining tasting vouchers on wrapped chocolate squares.  The thought of eating any more there and then was too much to bear.  

As bleurggh as we felt, though, it was nothing compared to the six kids in the Ghirardelli chocolate sundae hands-free, face-in eat-off competition!  We randomly came across it, as we were exploring the upper shopping area, just as it was about to start and it was absolutely hilarious!  I think, though, the adults were definitely having more fun by the end than the kids were.   I would be very very surprised if the overall chunder rate was lower than 50% after all was said, done and downed and back-upped.

Following that excitement, we made the executive decision that it was time to rest and digest sitting out on the green overlooking the bay.  It was an absolutely perfect Saturday afternoon and - by some amazing magical coincidence - I just happened to have a bottle of perfectly chilled Sauvignon Blanc in my wine rucksack that it would have been a shame to waste.   So we spent a very pleasant hour or so enjoying the sunshine, people-watching and amiably setting the world to rights through a cocoa haze.

And so marked the end of another year and the beginning of Year 3 here in SF.  Chocolate, sunshine, wine and good friends - its one tradition, I think, that will never grow old.  Enjoy the pics from the day - and no licking your computer screen.  I already tried that.  

Chocolate!  And Christmas!!  Its truly a festive miracle!! 

I could look at this picture for hours.

Step away from the sugar, fatty.
A salutary warning to us all of the perils
of multiple munchings.. 

The Brownie Queue.
Ultimately vanquished.

Some people's Chocolate Acquisition Devices
 were quite ingenious

Err???  Hello???  Three of my favorite words in a single
 sentence???  I'm not sure thats legal.... 

And this is why not.  Consequences of aforementioned
three words in a single sentence...

Loopy - hold yourself back, girl!!
And yes - they were as delicious as they looked.

The searing hot temperatures meant all chocolate products
 had to be consumed instantly for fear of melting....

The famous Mustard Plaza.  Former home of the Colonel. 

What the "L"?

Thomas - this is what will happen to you
 if you don't study hard at school.

The reigning champion, Hot Fudge, giving her pre-competition interview.
Its serious stuff. 

Hot Fudge death-staring her competition as Treasure Island
 takes an early lead 

But ultimately Mint Bliss takes the prize, as her mother pushes
 her onwards, reminding her of everything they've rehearsed.... 

Hot Fudge realizes its all over and sinks
despondently into the soupy remnants 

The sweet smile of success.
And impending regurgitation.

Stopping and smelling the metaphorical roses.
Wine in hand and belly full of choccy.  Perfection.

The amusingly shaped SF Nautical museum.   

And finally... Kim Kardashian's arse was in town for the weekend.
 Who knew?  Must have been the promise of free chocolate...