BOOK LOOK

SHAKE YOUR BON BON

"Relax. Enjoy. Have Fun.
Eat more chocolate."

chocolate bar

rectoessand entertaining ideas

for living the sweet life

S. Ch late Bar founders Malt Laws and Alison Nelson

allimic

amazzammi

"A party is just a party,

but a chocolate party is

a swank event,"

write the authors.

hat's the philosophy shared by Matt
Lewis and Alison Nelson, founders of the
Chocolate Bar, a fun, hip, unfussy sweet
shop located in Manhattan's West Village.
Now Lewis and Nelson have written a style man-
ual that can help chocoholics across the country cre-
ate their very own chocolate-centered lifestyle.
Winner of the 2004 Gourmand Cookbook Award,
Chocolate Bar: Recipes and Entertaining Ideas for Living
the Sweet Life (Running Press; $24.95) teaches
you how to mix the perfect chocolate martini,
indulge a craving for an old-fashioned choco-
late egg cream or draw a chocolate bath.
Filled with chocolate-relevant information,
loads of recipes — from lime brownies and a
s'mores tart to banana chocolate chip pancakes
and spiced cocoa meatballs — and a full
resource guide, Chocolate Bar also reminds us
that chocolate can be healthy.
Did you know that chocolate is not only a
mild mood enhancer but raises good choles-
terol levels and contains only as much caffeine
as a cup of decaf? Research claims that pure
dark chocolate also prevents tooth decay.
Just remember: the higher the cacao content

(the actual chocolate), the healthier the chocolate.
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, you
just might want to bake a red velvet cake (page 32) to
share with that special someone.
Worried about calories? There's always the choco-
late body scrub (page 164) — for two!

❑

— Gail Zimmerman
Platinum creative editor

red velvet cak

RED VELVET CAKE:

A perfect Valentine's Day treat.

CHOCOLATE BODY
SCRUB (FOR 2)

An all-natural exfoliant for the chocolate obsessed.
1 cup turbinado sugar (a raw sugar crystallized
from the initial pressing of sugar cane)
2/3 cup cocoa
4 T. olive oil
Mix ingredients together in a glass or ceramic bowl.
Apply the mixture to moistened skin and scrub. Rinse
thoroughly.

JNPLATINUM • FEBRUARY 2°05

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