Dazzle your Valentine with edible works
of art from Julie Hinton Chocolatier. Photo
by Evan Dempsey | THE NIBBLE.

Even in this cloudy economy, it seems that another fine chocolatier pops up each week. More than a few are leaving corporate America for second careers—and hopefully will be as successful as Joan Coukos of Chocolat Moderne, Mary Leonard of Chocolat Céleste and Kee Ling Tong of Kee’s Chocolates—other NIBBLE Top Picks.

In this edition, Part V of our search for America’s best artisan chocolate (find parts I-IV of the chocolate reviews), our travels take us to:

• Alegio Chocolate in Berkeley
• Julie Hinton Chocolatier in Greater Nashville
• Neo Cocoa in San Francisco
• Sucré in New Orleans

Click on the individual links above to go directly to a chocolatier, or start with the article overview.

Then, smack your lips, and consider buying something for any loved one who loves chocolate. Feel free to put yourself on that list.

Want to pay less for butter?

Here are tips to save money on butter, from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board:

1) Buy butter when it’s on sale and keep it in the freezer, especially in advance of holidays.

2) Butter can be frozen in its original container for up to four months at 20° to 30°F, or up to one year at -10°F if you have a commercial freezer. (Freezing for longer periods of time may affect the flavor and texture.)

3) To protect the butter, wrap the carton in aluminum foil or in an airtight plastic freezer bag prior to freezing. To thaw the butter, place unopened cartons or sticks in the refrigerator. Once butter is thawed, it should be used within 30 days.

Photo courtesy Vermont Dairy.

MORE ABOUT BUTTER

Apricot and Raspberry, two of the six flavors
of Polaner’s Sugar-Free Preserves with Fiber.
Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, most of us don’t get enough fiber in our diet. On average, American women get 12 grams per day; American men get 18.

Experts say we should get from 25 to 40 grams of fiber daily to help support a healthy digestive system, reduce the risk of heart disease and manage our weight (fiber is more filling). That’s why when you have a choice of eating foods with more fiber or less, you’re better off choosing more (most fruits and vegetables are high on the fiber list).

If you’re on a sugar-free or reduced-sugar diet, chances are that you’re already eating lots of good fruits and veggies. But now it’s sweeter to get an extra 3 grams of fiber (about 12% of your daily requirement), with every tablespoon of Polaner Sugar-Free Preserves with Fiber. They’re sweetened with Splenda.

We’ve been enjoying these jams—yes, they’re actually jam, not preserves (more about that in a minute)—since their debut, around the beginning of November 2009 (sorry we’re late in sharing the news).

The line is certified kosher. It’s just 10 calories per tablespoon, and for you carb counters:

– Sugar Free Apricot Preserves with Fiber: 4g carbs – 3g fiber = 1g net carb
– Sugar Free Blackberry with fiber: 5g carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs
– Sugar Free Grape with Fiber: 4g carbs – 3g fiber = 1g net carb
– Sugar Free Orange Marmalade: 5 carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs
– Sugar Free Raspberry with Fiber: 5g carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs
– Sugar Free Strawberry with Fiber: 5g carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs

COUPON: You can get a $1.00 coupon here. If you don’t have the Java aplet for printing coupons, start at the Polaner home page.

• Now about the difference between jam and preserves: Jam can be a purée of fruit or have a soft pulp, but it does not contain chunks of fruit. The two Polaner flavors we had were purées, without chunks of fruit. Preserves differs from jam in that large or whole pieces of fruit are suspended in a syrup base. The texture of preserves is not smooth like jelly or jam.
• See the differences among all the spreads—jelly, curd, marmalade, etc.—in our Jam & Jelly Glossary.
• Find more of our favorite sugar-free foods in our Diet Nibbles Section.

• Our Beef Glossary, featuring all the different cuts of beef. What is a hangar steak, exactly (or a cowboy steak, for that matter)? Did you know that Boneless Strip Steak, Kansas City Strip, New York Steak, New York Strip Steak, Shell Steak and Top Loin are all the same cut of meat?
• Prefer lamb to beef? Check out the cuts of lamb in our Lamb Glossary.

You can find tasty recipes for both in our Gourmet Meats Section.

The fat marbling in this beef is so extensive,
it can only be one type: kobe. Photo courtesy
of TheWagyu.com.

As with spices, the flavor of tea deteriorates
with time. Photo by Zsuzsanna Kilian | SXC.

The sniff test will tell you if the tea is past its prime: If there’s no wonderful tea aroma, there won’t be much taste, either. (If you don’t trust your nose, brew a cup and taste it straight to see if there’s distinct tea flavor.)

Going forward, don’t buy more tea than you’ll use within a year for white and green teas, 18 months for black and oolong.

Proper storage is also essential. Light, heat and moisture are the enemies of tea. Tea oxidizes and absorbs odors easily (except for pu-erh teas, which are fermented and improve with age).

By the way, you don’t have to waste old tea—use it as garden fertilizer!

• Learn all about fine tea.
• Take our tea trivia quiz.