Good Press

Photo by Cynthia McCloud The new Hershey's Air Delights aerated milk chocolate bar is honey-combed with thousands of tiny pockets where air bubbles used to be. I can't figure out why they made such a thing. Is it to make you feel like you're eating a full-size chocolate bar but actually consuming less? I don't know. I do know what it's like to eat: It's soft, spongy to the bite. If I bit into it unaware that it's supposed to be like that, I would assume the chocolate had gone bad. It doesn't taste bad. It's just different. I prefer a creamier chocolate on the tongue than this chewy one. There are supposed to be Air Delight Kisses too but I haven't seen those.

You'll feel naughty eating these decadent brownies. A plain brownie is pretty scrumptious but I prefer dressing them up with toppings. I've done a coconut frosting, raspberry jam swirled with white chocolate chips and a turtle variation. For the past year I have made a lot of the rocky road brownies from a recipe I got from a former co-worker. This spring I started thinking about recreating a Hershey's Take 5 candy bar by topping the chocolate brownie base with pretzels, caramel and peanut butter. I didn't add Hershey's fifth ingredient, chopped peanuts, so my creation is more of a "Take 4." Good -- they won't get me for trademark infringement. I also had the urge to make a Fluffernutter topping for a brownie, but instead of pairing peanut butter with marshmallow fluff, I used marshmallow ice cream sundae topping. The result was yummy. Brownies are the perfect portable thing to tote to a potluck, picnic or reunion. They hold up well for transport, they...

My house smells like scorched dust, leftover spaghetti and hot cocoa. Mmmm. It is 39 degrees and drizzly here on the mountain. My husband turned on the furnace tonight when he got home -- unbidden. I was prepared to bundle up and take it a few more weeks. Also without much prompting he made hot cocoa from scratch while our daughter took her bath. "Smells like brownies," she said. After she was tucked in, I set to putting away our summer clothes and hanging up our winter wear. I couldn't think of a nicer way to welcome my favorite season on the first truly cold night. Here's the recipe: HERSHEY'S FAVORITE HOT COCOA Top of stove six servings 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa Dash salt 1/3 cup hot water 4 cups milk 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in saucepan; stir in water. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils; boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir in milk and heat. Do not boil. Remove from heat; add vanilla.