[1] and [2] Buy lots—you’ll love Noosa Mexican Chocolate Yoghurt (photo courtesy Noosa). [3] Actual Mexican chocolate is melted into hot chocolate (photo courtesy Taza Chocolate). In the rear: the roasted cacao beans from which chocolate is made.

Just when you think there’s nothing more to discover in yogurt, you get a surprise:

Noosa Mexican Chocolate Yoghurt (that’s how yogurt is spelled in Australia).

We’ve tried other brands’ attempts at chocolate yogurt, but they had only a hand-shaking acquaintance with chocolatey indulgence. Noosa gets it right.

One of our favorite brands and a Top Pick Of The Week, Noosa is a whole-milk yogurt, which gives it the richness and creaminess of a good dessert.

The new Mexican Chocolate flavor is ¡delicioso! It’s made with Fair Trade cocoa powder, a splash of cinnamon and a dash of cayenne.

It leaves you saying “Mas! Mas! Mas!” and recommending it to every yogurt-eater you know. We promise!

Here’s a store locator.
 
WHY IS IT “MEXICAN” CHOCOLATE?

Cacao was first cultivated in Mesoamerica by the Olmecs, around 1200 B.C.E.; who taught it to the Mayas, who taught it to the conquering Aztecs.

In the New World it was a beverage for the wealthy and elite, an unsweetened beverage, flavored with cinnamon, chiles, cornmeal, musk, peppercorns and vanilla.

The Spanish conquistadors, who arrived in 1527, didn’t like the drink at all. But they brought the beans back to Spain, where chefs “Europeanized” it with milk and sugar, keeping the cinnamon but leaving out the chiles, cornmeal, musk and peppercorns.

In the 19th century, a method for making hard chocolate bars was invented in England. The technique traveled back to the land of origin, where Mexicans flavored their hard chocolate with cinnamon, sugar and almonds.

But, true to tradition, they turned those hard disks back into a beverage: hot chocolate!

Here’s a history of chocolate timeline.

And for true foodies, here’s the full history.
 
ARE YOU A CHOCOLATE LOVER?

Test your knowledge of chocolate in THE NIBBLE’s Chocolate Section.

You might want to start out with our Chocolate Glossary: all the terms you need to know to become a chocolate expert.

Are you thrilled with your current food storage containers?

Is there some improvement that you’d like?

Take a look at the new Rubbermaid Brilliance Food Storage System: It has it all.
 
WHAT YOU GET

This new line of storage containers sets a standard in fabrication and utility. We’re so excited about the Brilliance line. Nothing has been left out!

 
FIVE SIZES

There’s everything from mini, to to store cut garlic and onions, to large, which holds the contents of an entire pot of stew.

 
WHERE TO FIND BRILLIANCE

The containers available at major retailers nationwide, including:

[1] Store anything, beautifully. [2] The 100% leak-proof design lets you transport soups, dressed salads, anything. [3] An airtight solution for marinating. [4] The containers are a permanent gift, after the cookies are gone (all photos courtesy Rubbermaid).

 
If your goal is to better organize in the new year, treat yourself. The result: Brilliance!

Discover more at Rubbermaid.com.
 
________________
*Confusion alert: Manufacturers and retailers often call what consumers would think of as an 11-unit set as as 22 pieces, counting the bases and lids separately.

Bacon, bacon, everywhere: That’s what you’ll have with a container of bacon sea salt. Crumbled bacon is blended with crunchy sea salt and a hint of spices.

There are countless ways to use it. For starters:

 
A four-ounce container is $9.73. Larger sizes are available.

Get yours at FoodShedExchange.com.

Express your inner artist by turning miniature pumpkins into bowls for pumpkin soup.

The next fun part is garnishing them with whatever appeals to you. Some of our favorites:

 
Here are some recipes to start you off:

PUMPKIN SOUP RECIPES

 
THE DIFFERENCES: BROTH, CHOWDER, SOUP & MORE

[1] Get a mini pumpkin for each serving (photo courtesy Tablespoon). [2] This recipe has a garnish of mint pesto (photo Annabelle Breakey | Sunset). [3] This recipe has a garnish of sage pesto and fried pumpkin seeds (photo courtesy Half Baked Harvest). [4] This recipe has a simple garnish of creme fraiche* and pimenton* (photo courtesy Noob Cook).

 
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOUP

THE HISTORY OF SOUP

[1] Turn a plain 3.5-ounce chocolate bar into a Thanksgiving bar (photo © Livestrong).

[2] You can present the bars whole, or break them up into bark (photo © The Nutrition Adventure).

[3] You can use your favorite chocolate, whether dark, milk, or… (photo © Chocolate Inspirations).

[4]…white chocolate (photo © My Catholic Kitchen.

We love to make chocolate bark, especially since we discovered this easy technique from Australian blogger Erika Rax. You can make bark almost instantly: for family, friends or gifting.

In the conventional technique, the chocolate is chopped and melted, the inclusions mixed in, the mixture spread on a baking sheet to set and then broken up.

Here, whole chocolate bars are topped with the inclusions, then placed in the oven so the bar melts and the inclusions set in.

The result: chocolate bars with your favorite toppings, that can be broken into bark if you wish. Personally, we give them whole as gifts and break them up when serving them with coffee.
 
 
RECIPE: THANKSGIVING CHOCOLATE BARS OR BARK

Use the chocolate of your choice—dark, milk, white—or make one of each. Just ensure that the toppings contrast with the color of the chocolate.
You can use raw or roasted pumpkin seeds, as long as they’re hulled and unsalted.

You can use as much topping as you like, from elegantly spare to voluptuously overloaded.

You can place the toppings in an artistic pattern, or just toss them on.
 
Ingredients For 2 Chocolate Bars

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 170°F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on the ends.

2. SPACE the bars on the baking sheet bottom side up, with ample space between them (the pattern normally on top of the bar is on the bottom so the toppings have a level base). Arrange the toppings on top of the bars.

3. PLACE the baking sheet in the oven for 3-5 minutes until the chocolate just begins to soften. Don’t overheat or the bars will lose their shape.

4. REMOVE from the oven, lift the parchment from the hot baking sheet, and place it onto the counter to cool. Once cooled, store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. While bark will last longer, for gifting make it no more than 3 days in advance, and wrap it in plastic or foil before gifting.

You can also make your own paper chocolate bar label on the computer.
 
GET READY, GET SET, MAKE YOUR THANKSGIVING CHOCOLATE.