Have a Very Chocolatey Christmas   by Stephanie Foster

Chocolate is a great gift for the holiday season. Romantic, delicious, professional, fun... chocolate can make whatever impression you want it to.

Chocolate is hugely popular as a romantic gift. High quality chocolates have a delightful scent and taste even better. A beautiful box of fine chocolate can express your feelings very well and is almost always appreciated.

Don't limit yourself to chocolate in boxes for romance. Think about a romantic evening in front of the fire with hot chocolate. Think about delicious chocolate desserts. Think decadent.

However, chocolate can also make a great professional gift for clients if you have a business. Most people love it, and in a business setting there doesn't have to be anything romantic about it.

If you want to have a bit of fun with chocolate, try it molded into fun shapes. I've seen chocolate credit cards, chocolate moose (yes, the animal) and many other fun shapes. These shapes are lots of fun to give when you want to give a less than serious gift.

If you're having company over, chocolates make a great after-dinner treat. Try small individual squares, chocolate truffles or other chocolates that make it easy to take one piece at a time.

For a delicious dessert, chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake or chocolate cheesecake are delightful options.

As for brands, Ghirardelli is a great brand if you want something from the U.S. Their dark chocolate with raspberry squares and their mint chocolates are particularly good. Internationally, Godiva is quite well known. Leonidas also makes exceptional chocolates. They aren't cheap... not by a long shot, but for special occasions the money is well spent.

Feeling adventurous in the kitchen? Try baking with chocolate at home! Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, fudge... loads of fun for the entire family and such a sweet reward after.

For even simpler fun, get a chocolate fountain. These can be had fairly affordably, although I recommend making sure you get one strong enough to use real chocolate in, rather than chocolate sauce, which I saw in a child's version of a chocolate fountain. The one problem is the amount of chocolate required, but what a hit at a party. All you need is a good variety of foods for dipping, such as strawberries or other fruit, pretzels, cookies and so forth.

The holiday season is the time to let go and indulge yourself and those you love just a little. While you don't want to overdo it, enjoying chocolate as you celebrate is a great way to add to the fun.

About the Author

Stephanie Foster runs http://www.gimmechocolate.com/ and really wishes you could smell the chocolate online. She recommends a nice cup of hot cocoa for proper effects while browing her site.

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