All Natural Colors Used Here

FD&C colors - what are they? When surveyed, most people look at me funny, and they don't know what I'm talking about.

FD&C stands for (F)ood, (D)rug & (C)osmetic colors. They do use some natural vegetable colorings as basis for their processed colors, but many are also synthetically made. Some colors are made from certain insect shells. EE-yew!

From the beginning, Smith Organic Chocolates decided not to use any FD&C colors for our chocolates.

In giving a presentation recently to some B&B guests during a Wine & Chocolate Tour, I explained that certain FD&C colors have been linked to ADD, ADHD, and in extreme cases, some cancers.

That information alone made me not want to take a chance, even though the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has approved certain FD&C colors for human consumption.

Notice our picture of our white chocolate two-piece rose box. There are what looks to be three colors there: red, yellow & green. Red & yellow are primary colors, but green is made from yellow & blue.

Our red is made from red beet. Our yellow from turmeric, and our blue from red cabbage. We also make purple from red beet & red cabbage, and our lavendars by adding additional white chocolate to the purple. We use those colors at Easter. Notice the cross below is drizzled with lavendar.

If you have additional questions, please email us at smithorganicchocolates@dejazzd.com, and we'll be happy to answer them for you.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the best information regarding our chocolates and your overall health.

Always a Silver Lining

Ever lock yourself out of your house? Rarely have I ever done so - and it's been many, many years since I did.

But today - my precious husband was trying to be protective of our garage, and locked the door leading to the garage without my knowledge.

When I went for peanuts, that I use to make our homemade organic peanut butter - I found myself stuck in the garage without a hope of getting back in the house.

I always work in short sleeves, as I learned early on that long sleeves get dirty & wet real quickly.

I tried picking the lock with a couple different sized screwdrivers, and a even a pair of scissors. None of those methods worked. At least I know we are safe from amateur burglars.

I saw an old yellow blanket that my parents used to put on their bed. I put that around me, opened the garage door, and walked up Main Street in Akron to the Akron Nutrition Center. What a sight I was! Oh well. A school crossing guard & a local pastor got to hear I'd been locked out.

I got the car keys from my hubby at work, and he confessed to locking the door as a protective measure. I was relieved to get home so I could get back to work.

What are some of your locked out stories? Leave a comment and let me know. The winning entry gets a free Half Pound Organic Truffle Assortment.

Watch for more blog entries soon about Easter and nutrition news as it relates to chocolate.

Addendum to Holiday 2010 Post

Since upgrading the website this summer, I'm still learning that there is more to learn about the wonders of our website - at http://www.smithorganicchocolates.com/.

Each product will have it's own Holiday 2010 code that will be product specific.

For example:

Say you want to order a pound of Organic Peanut Butter Balls through our Simply Chocolate package. Go to the Simply Chocolate product, choose One Pound, then Organic Peanut Butter Balls. Your code at checkout will be: H10-SC-1. The cart will automatically calculate your price.

Happy shopping!

Holiday 2010 Specials

It's almost Thanksgiving - so we're in a holiday mood at Smith Organic Chocolates.

If you are on our email list, you'll be getting a flyer which will have our holiday specials on it. But for the rest, I'll put them here as well.

For all these special prices, when ordering from the website, use the special code - HOL-10 at checkout.

Everyday Elegance - 1-Lb. - $28.99; 1/2-Lb. - $15.99
Shown here with a Romantic Truffle Assortment, you can order whatever you like. The 1-Lb. box is square, as shown here. The 1/2-Lb. box is rectangular.

Reindeer Tower Set - 3-Box Set - $34.99; Large Box Only - $29.99; Medium Box Only - $16.99; Small Box Only - $9.49.

Order as a set, or separately. Shown here with a Nuts About You in the Small Box, you can fill these boxes with whatever you'd like. The 3-Box Set will contain about 3-1/2-Lbs. of organic chocolates. The Large Box - 2-Lbs.; The Medium Box - 1-lb.; The Small Box - 1/2-Lb.

Moose Snowman Tin Set - 2-Tin Set - $34.99; Larger Tin - $26,99; Medium Tin - $17.99

Order as a set or separtely. Shown here with a Nuts About You in both tins as a set, you can order anything you'd like. The 2-Tin set holds 1-1/2-Lbs. of organic chocolates. The Larger Tin holds a pound, the Medium Tin holds 1/2-Lb.

Simply Chocolate - Our simplest form of packaging, in White or Holiday Holly - $15.99 per 1/2-Lb. $28.99 for 1-Lb of barks or clusters.

The White box can hold either a 1/2-Lb or 1-Lb. The Holiday Holly box can hold up to 1-Lb.
There are many other options available. Check out our website at: http://www.smithorganicchocolates.com/.

The Reindeer Tower Set & the Moose Snowman Tin Set include a handmade bow. The Simply Chocolate Box will come with either a gold or red elastic string bow.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know. Our email is: smithorganicchocolates@dejazzd.com.

Your Age in Chocolate! - Try This - it Works!

A friend forwarded me this in an email - and it works - no matter what number you pick.

Try it! It's fun!

Try it several times, and forward it on to anyone you know who loves chocolate!

First, pick a number between one and 10 to decide how many times in a week you'd like to have chocolate.

Next, multiply the number by 2.

Then, add 5.

Multiply by 50.

If you've had your birthday already this year, add 1760. If you haven't had your birthday yet, add 1759.

Now - subtract the four-digit year you were born.

You'll have a 3-digit number. The first number will be the number you picked in the beginning. The second two digits will be your correct age!

Now - wasn't that fun! :-)

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the latest in product and nutritional information about chocolate. But - we also wanna bring on the fun!

Where you can find us

Here's how we look at Akron Nutrition Center, Akron, PA. We package our chocolates in clear cello bags with ingredient labels and gold & brown ribbons.

We can also be found at Green Box Boutique, in Woodstock, IL. Connie Citarelli opened this store on Friday, February 12th.

We can also be found at our website: www.smithorganicchocolates.com, www.chocolate.com, and soon to be on Nation's Grocer.

Smith Organic Chocolates is a growing company. Who knows, in a couple of years, we may even have our own storefront?

A Little Dark Chocolate a Day...

A little dark chocolate a day, can help reduce heart risk - according to new studies being published in the European Heart Journal.

Here's a quote from AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng:

"German researchers followed nearly 20,000 people over eight years, sending them several questionnaires about their diet and exercise habits.

"They found people who had an average of six grams of chocolate per day - or about one square of a chocolate bar - had a 39 percent lower risk of either a heart attack or stroke."

It's the flavonoids, found in vegetables and red wine which help to open up blood vessels and helps lower blood pressure.

More and more studies are confirming what chocolate lovers already know - that chocolate in moderate and small amounts - dark chocolate of at least 65% - is like an apple a day - it will help keep the doctor away.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the latest nutritional information about health benefits of chocolate, as well as our product information and where we can be found.