better than Christmas morning
My friends and I learned our lesson from last year's festival, when we arrived at 3 pm and had to wait in ridiculously long lines for samples that were just okay. This time around, we (meaning me, Kimberly, Kaissi, and Michelle, who was a Chocolate Festival virgin before this year) got to Ghirardelli Square before the festival even began at 11:45 am, which meant no lines!
The choice of samples was much better than it was the year before as well. Kaissi and I bought a $20 sample pass, which entitles you to 15 samples total, so we each had 7 and then shared the last one. I had:
- A Ghirardelli chocolate square with caramel filling
- Mini chocolate cupcakes from Kara's Cupcakes (one with raspberry frosting, the other with java frosting)
- A mini chocolate ganache tart
- A chocolate-dipped frozen banana bite
- Chocolate chip cookies
- An ice cream sundae
- A chocolate milkshake
Some visuals for your enjoyment.
Kimberly, Michelle, and Kaissi with their ice cream sundaes. (Kaissi: "I'd eat a cupful of the hot fudge by itself.")
Me drinking my chocolate milkshake.
Kaissi with her chocolate-dipped banana. These unfortunately did not come from a Bluth family member, nor a stand shaped like a banana.
Kimberly and a cupcake with java frosting topped with a chocolate-covered expresso bean. Probably my favorite photo as well as dessert of the day.
Preparing the chocolate ganache tarts.
The fruits of their labor. Tasty, tasty fruits.
The mobile Pie Hole! I just about hyperventilated when I saw it parked on the road. For fuck's sake, it should have been in a field of wildflowers or in front of a fanciful candy shop, not on an ordinary street next to some portable toilets!
I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked, but it was hard to shoot when I was carrying a bunch of swag from the Pushing Daisies booth both in my hands and under my arms.
I stood in line for pie twice. I was given a cherry pie the first time around, but because it's my least favorite of the flavors that were given out (cherry, apple, and peach; no pear-gruyère, sadly), I went back to the booth about half an hour later. And was given another cherry pie. Ah, well. I shouldn't really complain being that they were free, not to mention delicious, as I had half of one just now :D
I actually don't bake, but I suppose that I should start doing so now that I have the supplies for it. Although on the walk back to the BART station, we decided that the pie server could also be used as a weapon because it has a serrated edge. You know, lest Kimberly's pepper spray gives out.
Now for the pièce de résistance: THE SEASON 1 DVDS!
There were two ladies from the tour who were walking around and asking people if they watch the show. No one did, which wasn't that surprising being that most of them were there for the festival and weren't even aware of what it was they were lining up for as they stood in front of the PD booth. That's when Michelle and I decided to capitalize on the crowd's ignorance, as we ran up to the ladies and yelled out, "We do, we watch the show!" They said that we could win a prize if we were to answer a trivia question, and my first thought was that it was going to be something really obscure, which had me worried. But I was worked up for nothing because it was RIDICULOUSLY EASY:
What is the name of Ned's dog?
I squeaked, "Digby!" and just like that I was handed the DVD. THAT'S RIGHT, FRIENDS, I HAVE THE DVDS A WEEK BEFORE THEY EVEN COME OUT IN STORES!
But here's the thing, and yes, there is a thing. I was of course going to get the DVDs once they were released, but I was actually going to get the Blu-Ray version because this show is made for high definition. I think I still may do that, but keep the standard DVD version as well so that I can watch it in my room (all of the HD equipment is out in the living room) or loan it out to friends in the effort of converting them onto the show ;)
Speaking of, we're having a Pushing Daisies night on Friday so that Kimberly and Kaissi can find out just what Michelle and I were being so spazzy about yesterday. Whee!
To cap off the amazing day, we went over to Kaissi's apartment and watched the most awesomely stupid show I've ever seen, Hole in the Wall. The Japanese never cease to amaze me with their absurd game shows.
This totally made up for my crappy birthday. Honestly, all cities should have its own chocolate festival. It does wonders for people's moods :D