This year, for National Chocolate Day, October 28th, we’ve got Part 2 of our exploration of chocolate and cheese pairings.

The chart below joins our other chocolate pairing articles:

 
The best way to appreciate these pairings is to get a group together to taste them.

What if each participant took on a different pairing group—say, one tasting a month?
 
 
CHOCOLATE HISTORY

 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF CHOCOLATE: A GLOSSARY

Here’s the vocabulary of chocolate.

Learn how to talk the talk, as you deepen your knowledge of the many forms of chocolate.
 
 
CABOT CHOCOLATE PAIRING CHART

Cabot Cheese Co-op put together the chart below to showcase how to pair chocolate with some of its cheeses.

The pairings in this chart themselves can create a really terrific cheese and chocolate tasting.

While Cabot has paired particular cheeses with particular chocolates, you can create a tasting with the pairings, rather than the flavors; for example:

[1] Chocolate pairs with many different cheeses, including the blues (photo © Éclat Chocolate).

[2] Red wine, chocolate, and raspberries: a great pairing, missing only the cheese. We vote for a ripe Brie or Camembert (photo © Discover California Wine).

[3] Merge these beer and chocolate pairings with these beer and cheese pairings (photo © Lake Champlain Chocolates).

 
And, you can pair the chocolate with other cheeses beyond Cheddar. Mix, match, and see what works for you!
 

[4] Chart © Cabot Cheese Co-op.

[1] Turn meatloaf into Feetloaf (all photos © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] Perhaps you can borrow a knife from Michael Myers.

[3] Sliced, plated, and ready to eat.

This is one of the best Halloween dinners ever. “Feetloaf,” designed by Hannah Kaminsky, turns meatloaf into food fun.

In fact, her recipe is vegan, and we promise it’s delicious. But you can make Feetloaf with your own meatloaf recipe.

Standard meatloaf recipes will only make enough material for a single foot, so double the quantities if you want two feet!

You’ll want to remove the natural toenails, which are pretty tough and sharp. Sliced cipollini onions make excellent replacements, adding flavor and covering any unsightly toe stumps at once.

Expect any side dish to be largely overlooked when you have such a grand show-stopper on the table.

Beyond Feetloaf: More Spooky Halloween Recipes

 
 
RECIPE: FEETLOAF HALLOWEEN MEATLOAF

What sides are best to serve with Feetloaf? A leafy green salad, steamed broccoli or peas, and meatloaf’s best pal, mashed potatoes.

Prep time is 25 minutes, and cook time is 1 hour.
 
Ingredients For Black Bean Meatloaf

 
For The Garnish

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°Fand line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil; set aside.

2. ROUGHLY CRUMBLE or chop the tempeh and put it in A food processor along with the nuts. Pulse lightly to begin breaking them down into a coarse meal. Add the black beans and pulse to incorporate, but do not blend them into a paste. The mixture should still have a rough consistency. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. LIGHTLY PULSE the onion, carrot, and garlic before adding them into the bowl as well. Add the ketchup, soy sauce, seasoning, vinegar, paprika, salt, and pepper, stirring vigorously to incorporate. Once well combined, add the oats, flaxseeds, and olive oil. Stir with a wide spatula until everything is thoroughly blended.

4. SHAPE the feet. Divide the mixture in two and place them as separate rectangles on the prepared baking sheet. Use moistened hands to form the toes and to bring up the ankle slightly.

5. PRESS slices of cipollini onion into the toes for the nails, and then push the daikon into the ankles for the bones. Squirt ketchup all around the ankle stump where it meets the bone.

6. CAREFULLY PLACE the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake for 1 hour. The toes should be a bit crispy around the edges and the daikon will be fork-tender.

7. SLICE and serve with additional ketchup, if desired. Enjoy hot.

8. TO REHEAT LEFTOVERS: Cut the loaf into individual portions and either microwave for 1-2 minutes or bake in a 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes, until it is hot all the way through.
 
 

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*If you can’t get daikon, substitute leeks (white parts only), parsnip, peeled potatoes, white carrots, or whole hearts of palm.

Tay Tea offers some of the finest loose tea blends we’ve had. And they’re having a “fall sale” on their chai teas, through November 5th.

Tay Tea invites you to “steep, sip, and settle into fall.”

The options include two black tea-based chai blends and two caffeine-free rooibos blends. Each is custom-blended by master tea blender Nini Ordoubadi (photo #2).

Check out Tay Tea’s four chai blends in the chart below.

Then, head to TayTea.com and use the code FALLCHAI2022 at checkout (applicable to online sales only).

But before we leave, we have a bit of Food 101 and a masala chai recipe for you:
 
 
CHAI VS. MASALA CHAI: THE DIFFERENCE

In India, the word for tea is chai. That simple word refers to a cup of black tea, usually taken with milk.

Masala chai takes the flavor up a notch, with the addition of spices.

In the U.S., chai fans have referred to this Indian-spiced* tea with milk as “chai tea” or “chai latte.”
 
There are many variations of spices in a masala chai mix (as in any spice blend). The typical array includes allspice, black peppercorns, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg, and star anise.

Every home cook, restaurant, and spice seller has a mix tailored to their (or their customers’) palates.
 
 
RECIPE: MASALA CHAI, CHAI LATTE, OR WHATEVER NAME APPEALS TO YOU

Here’s a recipe to blend your own chai spices from scratch.

Then brew the tea of your choice, infused with spices (use a spice ball/tea ball).

The garnishes suggested (milk froth, spices) are American additions.

Ingredients Per Mug

 
Preparation

1. ADD the tea and milk to a mug and stir to combine.

2. TOP with a heaping spoonful of milk froth (we use a frother, currently this one).

Don’t hesitate to vary the spices to your tastes. Personally, we love adding black peppercorns and star anise, which many people omit.
 
 
CHECK OUT:

> Chai recipes: food and beverages.

> The history of masala chai.

> The history of tea.

[1] There are many different chai blends (photos #1, #2, and #4 © Tay Tea).

[2] Master tea blender Nini Ordoubadi, founder of Tay Tea.

[3] A blend of black masala chai (photo © Steven Smith Teamaker).

*Other countries make spiced tea, but India’s blends are more complex.
 
 

[1] Best overall beer in America: Heady Topper (photo © Alchemist Brewery).

[2] Best IPA: Brouwerij West Picnic Lightning IPA (photo © Tavour).

[3] Best lager: Notch Session Pils Czech Pale Lager (photo © Notch Brewing).

[4] Best pilsner: Allagash Truepenny Pilsner (photo © Crystal City Wine).

October 27th is American Beer Day. There are other beer holidays*, but today’s the day to grab a bottle or can of something all-American—and artisan, may we add. The big brewers get enough attention. Today’s the day to pay respect to the entrepreneurial American brewers who turn out great craft beer.

Brewing beer in America took place long before Europeans arrived. The first Americans, Native Americans, brewed beer from birch sap and corn. However, here’s the history of beer, which began before written history, in the area around Mesopotamia.

Here are recommendations for “The 13 Best American Beers to Drink in 2022,” compiled by Liquor.com. You can read the full article here, including tasting notes.

These beers are available on Drizly, so here’s a great party idea: Get a few of your favorite beer-loving friends for a “best of America” beer tasting. Assume 4 people per 12-ounce bottle.
 
 
AND NOW, THE GREAT AMERICAN BEERS

 
Beer styles that originated in the U.S. include

 
Here’s more about them.
 
And who knows what’s forthcoming next from the creative minds of America’s craft brewers.
 
Hats off to these beer artisans. Long may they malt, mill, mash, and ferment†.
 
 
> The different types of beer.
 
 
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*National Beer Day is April 27th. American Craft Beer Week is the third week in May. National IPA Day is the first Thursday in August. International Beer Day is the first Friday in August. American Beer Day is October 27th.

†Plus all the other stages of brewing.

‡A wild ale is a sour beer made with wild yeast or some other kind of uncontrolled or atypical microflora. Here’s more about it.

This seasonal approach to mashed potatoes, a Pumpkin Cheddar Mashed Potatoes recipe, is a special delight from the fall harvest through Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Not to mention October 27th, National Potato Day.

The orange color and pumpkin flavor, plus the delicious cheesiness, are a great combination.

The recipe was created by Carla Cardello of Chocolate Moosey for the Idaho Potato Commission. You can find many more inventive potato recipes on their website, IdahoPotato.com.
 
> The history of potatoes.

> The history of pumpkin.

> The history of Cheddar cheese.
 
 
RECIPE: PUMPKIN CHEDDAR MASHED POTATOES

If you’re not a rosemary fan, you can substitute sage or thyme.

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. BRING a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Once boiling, add the potatoes and garlic cloves. Cook until soft but not overdone, roughly 12-15 minutes. Drain.

2. BEAT in a large mixing bowl the cooked potatoes and garlic until mashed and smooth (do not overbeat—you’ll get sticky, not fluffy, mashed potatoes). You can also mash them by hand with a potato masher.

3. BEAT in the butter and salt until completely incorporated. Then slowly beat in the milk. Finally…

4. BEAT in the pumpkin, cheese, and rosemary.

5. TOP with pats of butter and serve.
 
 
WHAT ARE THE BEST POTATOES TO USE FOR MASHED POTATOES

Here’s the 411 from the Idaho Potato Commission’s Dr. Potato column:

Idaho’s climate and rich, volcanic soil consistently yield potatoes with a high solids content (more potato and less water), which is ideal for making mashed potatoes.

It is most likely that you’ll see two different varieties of russets coming from Idaho, a Russet Norkotah, which is typically a lower-moisture russet (better for mashing), and the traditional Russet Burbank variety popularly used for baked potatoes.

Yellow flesh varieties tend to have higher solids or starch and less water content and can be used for mashing as well.

Red potatoes usually have a waxy texture and can be mashed, but are not as well suited for this as they are for boiling or roasting.

> The different types of potatoes.

[1] Just in time for Halloween: Pumpkin Cheddar Mashed Potatoes (photo © Chocolate Moosey | Idaho Potato Commission) .

[3] Pumpkin puree is different from pumpkin pie filling. The latter is sweetened and spiced (photo © Jessica Gavin).

[4] Cheddar makes wonderfully cheesy mashed potatoes (photo © Szakaly | Panther Media).