Are you a chocolate lover?  Are you a tea lover?  If you answer yes to both of these then we have the perfect mid-day or afternoon break!  Give yourself a few minutes and relax with a hot cup of tea and some scrumptious chocolate -

Now you don’t want any ordinary, ho-hum chocolate - you want the perfect combination of tea and chocolates to give you just the right combination of flavors and taste.  So here are a few that we think might hit the spot:

Dark Chocolate pairs well with these teas:

• Assam
• Darjeeling
• Earl Grey
• Gyokuro
• Oolong
• Pu-erh

Milk or white chocolate pairs well with these teas:

• Darjeeling
• Dragonwell
• Oolong
• Sencha
• Yunnan

So take a few minutes and sit back, relax and savor the ultimate combination of rich, delicious gourmet chocolate and a cup of hot tea!  Cheers! 

Doesn’t everyone have a favorite memory of biting into a delicious S’more right off the campfire?  I know that I do!  But sometimes you want the taste without the hassle of having to go camping or even make a fire to get that delicious taste -

3/4 c. unsalted butter room temperature

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t vanilla

3 c. graham cracker crumbs

1/4 c. flour

1/4 t. salt

 1 1/2 c. plus milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. mini-marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Mix butter and sugar until smoothly blended.  Add egg and vanilla until well blended.  On low sped mix in graham cracker, flour and salt.  Hand mix in chips and marshmallows. 

Chocolate Coating:  Melt 6-7 oz. of milk chocolate candy bar or milk chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave.

Scoop about 1/4 c.  of dough and press slightly to flatten.  Keep about 4 inches between cookies.  Bake each sheet until top feels firm and marshmallows are melted about 15 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack. 

Drizzle chocolate coating over each cookie so that it drips over edges.  Let cookies sit until chocolate coating is firm. 

And for those times that you don’t want to make these, we at the Ultimate Chocolate Shoppe also want to mention that you might want to try some of our chocolate S’mores as well - 

Now you have two options for those times that the campfire just isn’t available!

With all that we have to do each day, it’s always helpful to find one or two things that you can do more quickly and easily each day!  Each minute you save can be put to one of the other thousand things that need doing or better yet, towards a few extra minutes just for you to sit and savor and relax!  I know that I do not get enough of that in each of my days.  In fact, each year I feel like I have less time for that!

One thing that can be done to gain yourself a few minutes and save yourself the gas and time of going to a store is order chocolates online.  You also get the luxury of sitting at home (or even the office) while you peruse through delicious chocolate offerings!  How fun is that?  Let someone else take on the time and effort of packaging, packing shipping and the chocolate delivery!

Here are our top tips for buying chocolates online, each one is chosen to help you make sure that you have a great and easy shopping experience!

1. Do they have a phone number on the front page for contacting them?  You shouldn’t have to dig around for it.
2. Is there a Contact page with all the necessry information easily accessible?
3. Does the site look like there’s “someone home”?  By that I mean, does it look like they are active and really creating a great shopping experience and regularly updating and adding to their site and their business?  Theres no need to bring your business to a shop that only deals with their online business as an afterthought! 
4. Is there a variety of products?  And are they presented well - If they care enough to do that then it is more likely that they will care for your gift or order!
5. Do they show that the site is secure by having some of the security systems on the pages that check and verify sites each day? 
6. Can you get what you want?  Because you should be able to!  That’s one of the joys of online shopping - access to products and treats that aren’t necessarily down the street from your house!
7. Freshness of products - Look at the products, see what they say - You can buy a box of chocolates at the grocery store or drug store that has sat on a shelf for months, or choose fresh, gourmet chocolates that were just made prior to shipping.  There is a huge difference!
8. Do they wrap if it’s a gift?
9. Do they give a gift message?  Some sites will charge, some will not -
10. Is it a fun site to order from?   Because afterall, that’s the bottom line - enjoying the experience and saving yourself some minutes in your day!

Good luck on your next shopping and chocolate delivery and let us know how it went and how much time you think you saved yourself!