It's that time of the year where people get all dressed up and go out to get treats. This year I saw a little girl dressed up as Princess Mononoke and her parent dressed as the wolf goddess Moro, which totally made my night. There was a a lot of people celebrating Halloween in my neighborhood, apparently is a pretty big deal. My area was relatively untouched by Hurricane Sandy, although we had the bathtub filled with water just in case we didn't have running water and needed to flush (this was a new experience for me as well). Today I went grocery shopping to restock some supplies when I overheard this lady at the counter fussing about some chocolate.

She was looking for a really particular round shaped chocolate from mexico. She was elated when she finally found it. Seeing as how it is Halloween and I didn't have any sweets, I decided to buy one also just to see what the fuss was all about. It's called Taza Chocolate.

I'm not a big fan of chocolate, and to be honest I still feel like it's a bit more money than it's worth. Apparently that lady doesn't agree with me. It's really hipsterish with no dairy, no soy, no gluten. It's also not the melt in your mouth super silky smooth chocolate. In fact it's the exact opposite. The texture is very grainy/powdery similar to the texture of biting grains of sugar; it's definitely a rough experience. That's what she said. They make sure you know it's stone ground.

I bought the Guajillo Chili flavor because it was the most popular (there were only a few left). It's quite tasty, the bitter dark chocolate with very strong earthy nutty after tones and a subtle spice to it. The chocolate comes in two discs which are further divided into eighth's. I found it sort of messy to break apart because it's so brittle, and the chocolate is already sort of powdery. All in all, a decent chocolate, but not worth the money in my opinion. Go get a snickers for a fifth of the price.

Here's a close up. You can actually see the grainy texture I'm talking about.

Here is an image of the festivities I described earlier on Clinton Hill. Dancing singing zombies on stage and parents in children from all over NY gather to celebrate, despite how chilly it is. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Stay safe.