Chocolate

It was billed as a "shocking tell-all" and a "world exclusive," but the National Enquirer's March 26 cover story landed with a thud. TMZ, Page Six and other major players in celebrity gossip ignored the article in which a masseur claimed John Travolta offered money for sex. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article used the term "masseuse"; it should have said "masseur. " Five weeks after the issue left the checkout aisle, a DUI attorney from Pasadena put the anonymous masseur's tawdry tale in a lawsuit and it became an overnight pop culture sensation, topping Google News, trending on Twitter and meriting a segment on "Good Morning America.

Mark Walter lives in Chicago. Stan Kasten spent most of his adult life in Atlanta. Peter Guber is an L.A. guy. So, when Guber pitched a nostalgic idea on behalf of L.A. fans, his partners in the new Dodgers ownership group listened. "Curly Coo," Guber told Kasten. "There is nothing like a Curly Coo. " Google that, and you get a bar in Scotland. Kasten had no idea what the heck Guber was talking about. Millions of Dodgers fans could have explained, the ones who cheered on Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey, the ones who rooted for Valenzuela, Hershiser and Piazza, all with ice cream dripping down the sides of their faces.

  White chocolate ganache Total time: About 20 minutes Servings: Makes about 1 1/2 cups 10 ounces premium-quality white chocolate, finely chopped 2/3 cup heavy cream 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 3 pieces 1. Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. 2. Bring the heavy cream to a boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Working with a whisk or spatula, gently stir the chocolate and cream together.

Small farmers today have to do a lot of things to make a living. Still, you get the feeling that the Lydgate family at Steelgrass Farms on Kauai is overdoing it a little. The first Lydgates arrived in Hawaii in the 1860s. Will and Emily are fifth-generation Kauaians, the great-grandchildren of John Mortimer Lydgate, in whose honor Lydgate Park on Kauai is named. In the 1990s, the family bought 8 acres of scrub on a hill above the town of Kapaa. There they started growing cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made.

'Life is short. Have an affair." That's the slogan of the Ashley Madison dating service, a website for people who want to cheat on their partners. That's right, unlike traditional Internet dating sites -- where you're expected to say you're unattached no matter what the truth is -- Ashley Madison is honest about its duplicity. Unlike match.

The dairy industry recently rolled out an expensive media campaign in praise of chocolate milk, a classic school lunch drink that's under assault for its sugar content. As trade groups spend upward of $1 million to defend the drink, three fifth-graders have come to its rescue. A year after the school district in Barrington, Ill., banned flavored milk from its elementary- and middle-school lunch menus, students persuaded administrators to give it another chance. "Kids weren't drinking the white milk," said Haley Morris, 10. "It's better to have the chocolate milk than nothing."

Small farmers today have to do a lot of things to make a living. Still, you get the feeling that the Lydgate family at Steelgrass Farms on Kauai is overdoing it a little. The first Lydgates arrived in Hawaii in the 1860s. Will and Emily are fifth-generation Kauaians, the great-grandchildren of John Mortimer Lydgate, in whose honor Lydgate Park on Kauai is named. In the 1990s, the family bought 8 acres of scrub on a hill above the town of Kapaa. There they started growing cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made.

Some of our favorite foods are having a very good week - in the usual medical journals and at the San Diego gathering of the American Chemical Society that ends today. Mash them all up with just a little help from us, and we think you have a pretty good recipe for snack heaven. Read on. Popcorn , for instance, won accolades as the “perfect snack food” because, according to University of Scranton chemist Joe Vinson, a serving has twice the polyphenols of most fruits or vegetables.

  Chocolate chiffon cake with chocolate glaze Total time: 1 hour, 45 minutes plus cooling time for the cake Servings: 12 to 16 Note: This recipe calls for a 10-inch angel food cake pan (preferably a pan with a removable insert). Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try this or any other recipe from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen, we would like to know about it so we can showcase it on our food blog and occasionally in print. Upload pictures of the finished dish here.

While you could probably top a pretzel with almost anything, there are certain toppings and combinations that work best. Coarse salt is always a favorite. You can find "pretzel salt" at many cooking and baking supply stores, as well as select gourmet markets. Substitute another coarse salt if you can't locate it, but stay away from fine table salt — the fine grain can melt into the pretzel as it bakes, and you won't get the same wonderful "crunch" you get with coarse salt. You can also try one or a combination of seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin, poppy and sesame.

Chocolate chip cookies Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes Servings: 12 very large cookies Note: Adapted from Joan's on Third. 2 1/2 cups (10.8 ounces) flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter 1 1/4 cup plus a heaping 2 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar 2 extra-large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon salt 1 pound 60% chocolate disks or large chips, coarsely chopped 1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Chocolate is what everyone looks for in their Easter baskets, so perhaps a visit to a chocolate factory this weekend is in order. Ethel M Chocolates in Henderson, Nev., hosts three days of kid-centric activities that include a visit from the Easter bunny. The deal: The Spring Spectacular features free activities good for families with children. Photos with the Easter bunny, face-painting and balloon creations are planned at the company's factory near Las Vegas . The Saturday lineup adds a jazz band and a show of artwork created by people with disabilities who are affiliated with Opportunity Village ; sales benefit the charity.

MUSIC The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a band with a mission- to underline the connections between American bluegrass and folk with the genres' little-known ancestry in Africa. Though the project is high minded, their searing takes on instrumental and vocal standards are virtuosic, and their between-song banter is as witty as it is enlightening. Royce Hall, UCLA. 8 p.m. Fri. $20. uclalive.org.

  Total time: About 2 hours, plus cooling time Servings: 8 Note: Matzo cake meal (sometimes labeled matsah cake meal) is available at well-stocked supermarkets and at kosher markets. If you are serving the cake at a kosher meal that includes meat, use nondairy margarine to grease the cake pan. 2/3 cup (90 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) hazelnuts 1 cup almonds (5.3 ounces) 1/4 cup matzo cake meal (1 ounce) 1 cup sugar (7.2 ounces)

Some of our favorite foods are having a very good week - in the usual medical journals and at the San Diego gathering of the American Chemical Society that ends today. Mash them all up with just a little help from us, and we think you have a pretty good recipe for snack heaven. Read on. Popcorn , for instance, won accolades as the “perfect snack food” because, according to University of Scranton chemist Joe Vinson, a serving has twice the polyphenols of most fruits or vegetables.

Those king-size Mars and Snickers bars in vending machines are about to shrink to a more princely size. By the end of 2013, confectionery giant Mars Inc. will sell only chocolate bars that are 250 calories or less, according to NPR . A full king-size Snickers bar contains more than 500 calories, according to Mars' website . But many of Mars' other chocolate confections, including king-size 3 Musketeers and Milky Way bars already clock...

  Frozen chocolate zabaglione Total time: About 25 minutes, plus freezing time Servings: 8 1 pint heavy cream 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces 6 egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup Port 1. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat just until it begins to bubble around the edges, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in the chocolate, and continue whisking until the chocolate is melted and incorporated with the cream to form a ganache (gently heat the cream a little more, if necessary, until the chocolate melts and mixes completely)

Valentine's Day without chocolate would be like Thanksgiving without turkey -- but scientists are saying that thanks to climate change and plant diseases, a cocoa shortage for future holidays is a very real possibility. Americans alone will spend about $700 million on chocolate for Valentine's Day this year. And with more of the world's growing population now able to afford the sweet, international demand is soaring, according to a report in Scientific American . Manufacturers are currently producing about 3.7 million metric tons of the crop -- an amount that is expected to be too small to satisfy customers by 2020, according to the report.

Dear SOS: My husband and I recently visited downtown Napa, Calif. The amazing chocolate dessert at Carpe Diem is absolutely the best chocolate dessert I've ever tasted! And I am not a big dessert person. Satin-smooth chocolate with a texture between a pudding and souffle, but better. Not too sweet and topped with a small drop of whipped cream and then sprinkled with perfectly roasted and salted pepitas [pumpkin seeds]. Divine. Shirley Burke Los Angeles Dear Shirley: This dessert is a chocolate lover's dream come true.