Wanna bet?
I didn’t expect to have two posts in a row about chocolate, but such is life around here. There is something extra sweet (not that these truffles need any additional sweetening) about having others buy you quality chocolate. I had just that kind of luck today. I made a bet about something with two colleagues and I won. Lucky for me, they took it more seriously than I did in terms of delivering on the goods. One of them got me some chocolate from Burdick in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The other brought me some truffles from Moonstruck in Champaign, Illinois. As you can see, we are serious about chocolate around here. (Any readers familiar with the make-up of my department may be able to guess from this information the identities of the above-mentioned colleagues.)
I have a pretty good track record in this realm. That’s mostly because I tend to suggest bets only in cases where I am quite certain of the outcome. This often happens in the realm of art. I am no art expert, but my knowledge is not too bad for a non-expert. For example, it didn’t take me long the other day to start wondering about the supposed artist behind this sculpture depicted on a Flickr photo. The Flickrite suggested it’s a Dali, but I was quite sure it was a Brancusi. The little evidence I could find backs up my hunch. But in this case there was no one around for a bet.
The curious part of today’s chocolate story is that the bet I made was more of a fluke. I must admit that I was not at all sure I would win. In fact, I thought taking my position was not very reasonable. But somehow I took it and stuck with it. Hurray for me! (I know this is very cryptic, but I will not discuss the specifics of this bet here.)
Please note that I have posted the chocolate photos in very high resolution versions on Flickr so you can appreciate the details in their larger-than-life glory. For masochists, the Moonstruck chocolate photo may make an interesting computer wallpaper.
November 29th, 2005 at 12:10 pm
I wasn’t sure if the department always loved chocolate, but it did love food. And drink. When I did the field studies program that was joint between Comm Studies and the Institute for Policy Research with John McKnight, every week’s debriefing session was held not in a classroom, but in a local restaurant/bar. It made for the best conversation and learning about the experience — and was yummy, too.
Come to think of it, I think we ate at our class sessions for the senior honors program, too…. hmmm.
November 30th, 2005 at 7:03 am
Gee, E-
Who, oh who? It’s not like choc-love is limited to the faculty. I like mine dark — 70 plus percent cocoa — with multiple fillings.
-j
November 30th, 2005 at 4:24 pm
Yea, that’s definitely a Brancusi in my photos from MOMA in NY.
And holy coincedence! I’m a fellow Evanston blogger!
November 30th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
IG – There are some people around here who don’t like chocolate that much. But hey, I guess as long as that means more for me, I can live with that.:)
Jason – I’ll have to give you an amazing chocolate mousse recipe for all that 70%& chocolate.
Paul – That _is_ a funny coincidence! I had no idea, I just did some searches for photos that may show that specific sculpture in a context that would back up my hunch.
December 3rd, 2005 at 3:01 pm
Have a look at my sister-in-laws website her sweets are out of this world…
http://www.motherruckers.com/