With the end of the year upon us it’s always fun to look back at the previous 12 months!
Here are the most popular posts from Chocolate Bytes for 2008. Did I include your favorite?

Make your own Oreos
Two-minute microwave fudge
Layered chocolate cheesecake bars
Chocolate cake in five minutes
How to check a label for expired candy
Grilled chocolate bananas
New chocolate biscuits baffle Brits
Lindt Excellence Chili Bar
Better Than WHAT Cake
Homemade Oreo ice cream
Flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate chip blondies

This month, the Lifestyles channel decided to have a little fun with one of summer’s favorite pastimes – a picnic!
Let’s start with dessert first!
Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch by Robust Cooking
Watermelon Raspberry Lemonade at All Holiday Cafe
Rice Krispie Treats at Keeping the Castle
Homemade Oreo Ice Cream at Chocolate Bytes
Cool Summer Snacking at Inside Motherhood
Baking Delights is bringing enough chocolate for everyone to catch a chocobuzz with her favorite brownies
Nothing like sweet tea on a hot, summer day…Wait..I taste lime..mint…is that a non-alcoholic Mojito?  Kettle and Cup has the answer.
Blogfabulous is serving up a super easy, keep your butt out of the hot …read more

Father’s Day is just around the corner and dads love chocolate too! A lot of the companies below offer expedited shipping, so if you’re just now realizing too that Father’s Day is only five days away, don’t panic!
See’s has a lot of great Father’s Day stuff this year. There’s the standard Seegar that’s been around for years, and they now have a Blue Ribbon Box filled with chocolate, a Father’s Day Scrapbook Box, and a Sports Dad Box.
Target has Good Fortune Father’s Day cookies, which are fortune cookies dipped in dark and white chocolate.
Father’s Day Milk Chocolate Bar Gift Box …read more

These chocolate gift ideas are, of course, my own personal preference! I’m trying to keep a budget in mind and not going too extravagant. Feel free to comment with any additions you’d make!

I have a soft spot for the See’s Signature Red Heart. It’s such a classic, timeless Valentine’s gift and one that’s sure to please just about anyone. My mom liked it so much that we still have a “vintage” See’s heart box from the mid-60’s tucked away into storage! The satin-covered box holds two pounds of milk and dark chocolates, including Soft Centers, Nuts & Chews, Marzipan, California …read more

Chocolate is always a popular topic around the Lifestyles Channel! I’ve rounded up a bunch of links from the past week or so – make sure you stop by!
~ Arieanna at Cooking Gadgets has a Valentine’s Day Cupcake Kit, and the Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate Kit.
~ Tom at Noodles and Rice writes about Choco Pies and Choco Pan.
~ Tracey at Foodie Obsessed has the scoop on a recent Project Runway episode that involved making clothing material out of anything they could find at the Hershey’s store.
~ Marye at Baking Delights makes Chocolate Intrigue Cookies.
~ Karen at Thrifty Mommy posted instructions …read more

2007 brought a few shake-ups to the world of chocolate, probably the biggest being that The Chocolate Manufacturers Association tried to get the FDA to relax rules about what can be called chocolate and allow for the use of artificial fats instead of cocoa butter. Thankfully, that looks to have not passed thanks to sites like DontMessWithOurChocolate.com.
A few posts here at Chocolate Bytes touched on a few issues that were important to a lot of people as well:
~ Hands down the most popular post here this year is still Hershey’s planned move to Mexico [and part two]. A lot …read more

Chef Jules notified me that Moonstruck Chocolate has their Halloween chocolate out! I agree with him that the chocolate horror pizza above is the best and really would be easy to *whispers* copy! “A slice of milk chocolate pizza topped with an array of ghoulish goodies, including an Eyeball Truffle & Gummi treats.”

Wormy Jack
“A milk chocolate Jack O’ Lantern with attitude, filled with a gummy worm surprise.”
MORE after the cut! Thanks, Jules!

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Home & Dining channel has put together some lists to help you show your support. Here are some chocolate ideas to check out:

~ Pink chocolate fondue sets: one and two
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, Trudeau has created a charming line of pink products that are both fun and functional- and all for an extremely worthy cause. Have some fun with this 7-pc. Chocolate Fondue Set, which includes:
- One stoneware calla lily shaped bowl
- One Pink Ribbon-shaped metal stand with four non-scratch, non-skip pads
- One tea light
- Four pink stainless steel fondue forks
…..
…read more

I love to make treats and snacks but don’t like having to wait a long time for them to be ready (and neither do the kids). So I’ve put together a list of some easy (and mostly quick) chocolate snack recipes and ideas:

Muddy Buddies
S’more pops
Chocolate nut chews
Chocolate cake mix cookies
Hot chocolate
Chocolate and cinnamon popcorn
Chocolate crispy snack balls
Easy chocolate snack cakes
Chocolate walnut rum balls
Frozen chocolate bananas
Chocolate no-bake cookies
Chocolate dipped strawberries
Double chocolate cereal treats
Quick and Easy Brownies
Chocolate rice pudding
Chocolate chip shake
White chocolate snack mix
Chocolate …read more

Here are the entries submitted for the September contest:

Winner Melissa submitted this chocolate apple crate from Moonstruck Chocolate. “Delicious chocolate apples are sectioned in halves, filled with creamy soft caramel and smooth milk chocolate ganache. 3 with nuts and 3 plain.” Yummy! She also found a bunch more links for other autumn goodies (though she only got one entry):
~ Autumn Chocolate Truffles
~ Autumn Garden Discovery Ballotin
~ Autumn wedding favors
~ Chocolate autumn leaves
~ Godiva Autumn Roulade
~ Autumn truffles
~ Autumn chocolate cookies
…..
Leesha submitted a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
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Jennifer listed a bunch of autumn-themed chocolate goodies over at Treehugging Family, …read more