Yesterday, Thorntons (a British chocolate company) unveiled an 860 pound (390kg) pure chocolate billboard in London. Actually, make that the the world's first chocolate billboard. The billboard was 14.5 ft by 9.5 ft and was made from 10 chocolate bunnies, 72 giant chocolate eggs and 128 chocolate panels. During assembly, one of the panels fell off and five bunnies were broken (luckily there were spares).

Once unveiled, Thorntons invited shoppers to jump in and grab a bite. However you had to act fast, the billboard didn't last long. Three hours, that's all it took for folks to devour the billboard that took three months, 10 people and 300 hours to assemble.

"There was something for everyone from giant bunnies to hazelnut eggs," said chocolatier Barry Colenso.

As the billboard was unveiled, 50 girls from the Brownies turned up on a chocolate finding mission.

"Their jaws dropped as they asked, 'Is it real chocolate?'" Mr Colenso [ said.

I suppose since it was gone almost immediately I would have eaten some, but could you imagine if it just sat there for days and days?

To check out images of the billboard during assembly and destruction, read more

While at the fancy foods show back in January, I had the opportunity to meet some of the lovely folks at the San Diego based Chuao Chocolatier. They were launching a new product called ChocoPod and they wanted to know if I would be interested in trying some. Would I be interested? What kind of question is that!? Of course I would be interested! So fast forward a few months and a lovely little package arrived containing six Chocopods, one in each flavor: Passion, Modena, Picante, Candela, Banana, and Dulce de Leche.

The ChocoPod is an individually wrapped "bar" (I put bar in quotes because it's really more like a flattened chocolate bon-bon) that is shaped like a cacao pod. The chocolate is either 41% or 60% cacao and encompasses a small caramelized center.

Immediately we decided to ruin our lunch appetites and try a few of the flavors. First up was PartySugar's vice: Dulce de Leche. The Dulce de Leche was nice, but plain, sort of like a fancy thinner version of a Carmelo square. Next up was Banana which was also tasty, but not exactly memorable. It was a caramel center with a kiss of banana flavor. Next was the ridiculously delectable Picante (spicy cabernet caramel). OH MY (and yes, that did need all caps) this was tasty stuff. It was a nice cabernet flavored caramel with a lovely spicy bite that lingered in the back of your throat. It was definitely a winner. After those three, we took a little break, rested our palates (and let the spicy cabernet linger) and started back up after lunch. To read about the rest of them, read more

No familiar holiday celebration is finished without a to die for dessert. After you've washed the dishes from your Easter dinner, show-stop your guests with an extravagant lemon meringue pie. The sunny yellow curd filling and pillows of soft white meringue topping could be defined as spring on a plate. If you have yet to make a pie of these sorts, I suggest you make one to end your Easter dinner. Look at the recipe, and read more

On Saturday night a big group of us went out to celebrate my sister's 22nd birthday. We started the night with dinner at my favorite new pizza place and then continued the party a few doors down at a few bars. My sister has bright beautiful red hair (think young Lindsay Lohan in her Parent Trap days) and for some reason everyone kept ordering her red headed sluts. As we were taking shot after shot of this red concoction, I couldn't help but wonder where did these drinks come from and more importantly who named them such horribly derogatory names (purple hooters, anyone?). Sure we were all close friends celebrating a birthday in good fun, but how is my sister going to feel when she goes into a bar and some random guy orders her a red headed slut? Although they may be straight out of Girls Gone Wild, in honor of spring break, here's the recipe - the drink itself isn't half bad so, read more

Today I'm all about Easter menus. This morning I gave you all a brunch menu for Easter Sunday, and this afternoon, I'm solving all of your dinner menu planning problems. Start with deviled eggs and spring pea soup, continue with a ginger ale glazed ham (I've heard of hams being glazed in coke, beer, and jam but never ginger ale, so I'm super excited to give this ham a try), potato, leek, and artichoke gratin (you know I'm crazy about gratins), and classic creamed spinach side. To check out all the recipes, read more

• Be sure not to miss this exposé into the world of waitering by The Amateur Gourmet. It's a great read. - Serious Eats
• Ever get a bottle of wine and discover it's been "corked"? A lot of people would just throw it out, but just a little Saran Wrap will help uncork corked wine. - Cheap Fun Wines



• Not everyone seems to eat Peeps, but I think everyone can appreciate these Peep S'mores. - Baking Bites
• Warning: I'm about to make a seriously bad pun. These edible cigars with garlic-yogurt dipping sauce are smoking! I can't wait to try these. - Hooked on Heat
• Think you hate tofu? Oh but think again. How could you hate something that is dredged in flour, browned in butter and then slathered in maple syrup? - Gastrokid
• The bf has been trying to get me to bake a tomato pie for the last two years. Maybe he'll settle for this drool-worthy tomato and olive tart. - What's For Lunch, Honey
• These vegan blueberry muffins look so tasty you probably won't notice that they're missing the butter. - Have Cake Will Travel
• Once again, Elise manages to make even simple things like creamy asparagus soup look amazingly elegant. - Simply Recipes
• And this is not food related in any way, but geeksugar's giving away a pink laptop carrier that is probably too fancy for the market, but if you win it, you could always try. - geeksugar

One of the reasons why I love the holidays so much, is because they allow me to make a big celebratory meal that is shared with friends and family. I adore making delectable dinners and hosting dinner parties, so this week I propose we host (me in my house, you in yours) an Easter dinner party for our friends and families. (More of an Easter brunch type? Don't worry I got you covered as well!) I've made the invites shaped like the cutest eggs and now I have to figure out what we will be eating. I can't have a dinner without at least one appetizer and what says Easter more than eggs? I'll have plates of deviled eggs awaiting my guests and follow those up with a first course of spring in a bowl: sweet pea soup. Want the recipes, you'll have to read more

Growing up my favorite part of Easter was decorating the eggs (okay, actually, it may have been the chocolate bunnies, but eggs were right up there). Even now that we're grown up, whenever my family has the opportunity to be together for Easter, we always end up boiling up a batch and dying them. Just in case I'm not the only one who's into dying eggs, I thought I'd give you a few tips on how to boil eggs.

1. Place eggs in a saucepan with enough water to cover the eggs by 1 inch.
2. On high heat, bring to a boil.
3. Cover pan, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes (3-4 for soft-boiled and 5-6 for medium-boiled).
4. While eggs are sitting, fill a medium bowl with ice and water.
5. Use a slotted spoon to transfer eggs from pan to ice bath. Let sit for 5 minutes.
6. Remove from ice bath and enjoy!

For a reason I can't exactly pinpoint, I've been craving sun dried tomatoes like mad lately. I blame Michael Chiarello for my sudden, inexplicable craving because I saw him making a puff pastry appetizer with the sweet tomato this weekend. My go to recipe for whenever I am in need of sun dried tomatoes is a pasta one but today I'm not in the mood for pasta, I'm in the mood for a baked strata. This strata is a layered dish similar to a savory bread pudding with sausage, onions, and good mozzarella cheese. Sound, deliciously tempting or what? Throw in a simple side salad, a glass of wine, and you're good to go...for the recipe, read more

Looks like Denny's is joining the fancy coffee train. They've recently introduced their new Special Blend Coffee that is "now bolder and richer." In fact, the beans are custom roasted to reach a rich, smooth flavor.

"Coffee preferences have been impacted by the popularity of coffee shops and the availability of premium roasts," said Peter Gibbons, Denny's vice president of product development. "Our new special blend has a rich coffeehouse taste that our guests enjoy in the comfortable atmosphere of our restaurants."

Wonder how it tastes? Well on April 17th (tax day), you can head into your local participating Denny's and receive a free cup. If, however, you can't make it into a restaurant (and you happen to live in LA, Chicago, Dallas, Miami or Pittsburgh) you may be greeted with a cup at post offices (standing in line filing those taxes) and specially chosen high-traffic areas.

Source: PR Newswire