Tuesday Tea and Tomes: The Emperors of Chocolate, Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars

Here at BTS, we hold this truth to be self-evident:  the only thing better than reading about chocolate, is eating it. 

"The Emperors of Chocolate, Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars" by Joel Glenn Brenner, serves up a delightfully tasty and fascinating book that details the true stories behind two of America's best known makers of  chocolate bars and the facts aren't always as sweet as the candy they produce.

I was motivated to buy this book after recently watching the History Channel's series, "The Food that Built America" (released in 2019).  Each episode tells the tale of "new" food products created over a century ago with such familiar brand names that, today, it's often lost on us consumers that those eponymous products derived from real people:  Kellogg, Post, Heinz, MacDonald's and, our chocolate makers, Milton Hershey and Frank Mars.

Much like the History Channel's "Men who Built America" from 2012,  which told of groundbreakers of industry including Cornelius Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller, "The Food That Built America" reveals their  stories with a combination of dramatization of real events and interviews with authors and other subject matter experts.  Here's where I "met" Joel Glenn Brenner and her accounts were  so riveting, that I found I was not only craving chocolate, but her book on the subject as well. 

Brenner was a reporter for the Washington Post in 1989 and was assigned to do a story about Mars, Inc. and their reaction to Hershey emerging as the number one candy maker.  What she discovered through two years of research, was the world of chocolate is more secretive than many government agencies. After Brennan's repeated efforts to get inside Mars, Inc., the executives finally gave in. This resulted in a warts-and-all article of the still family-owned candy company along with  the wrath of the Mars, Inc. who shut their doors permanently to the author in response to such airing of their business.

While researching Mars for the article,  Brennan also hit on a long-ago tie between that company and Hershey and it was clear, the story of chocolate's success in America was due to an early partnership between the two companies.  Although their management style was vastly different, both men took big risks, believed in their products and, through trial and error, launched an industry we take for granted today.

It's also a tale of marketing mishaps and genius.  One of my favorite chapters tells the story of  Reeses Pieces (which I am very fond of, by the way).  After years in development (just to get that peanut butter center inside a candy-coated shell took an incredible amount of time), and favorable results in focus groups, the mini-candies received a sluggish response once on the market. All that changed when a Hershey executive got a call from Universal Studios. They were making a picture about an alien who befriends a young boy. The script called for the boy to lure the alien to his house with M & M's. But, in a colossal error of judgement, Mars, Inc. passed on the opportunity. In exchange for one million dollars, Hershey got licensing rights for its Reeses Pieces. Within two weeks of the premier of "ET",  the sale of the peanut butter treats tripled. Distributors reordered as may as ten times in that same period.  ET phoned home and Hershey collected.

And, yes, the executives at Mars deeply regretted that decision.

Mars, Inc. is still run by descendants of Frank Mars and, through an aggressive play in the global market, eventually triumphed over Hershey as the biggest chocolate maker. But Hershey's legacy has  something Mars Inc, doesn't - a town and a museum, which my daughter, Rachel and I visited in 2014. Here we saw personal artifacts of the Hershey family, including a tea set that belonged to Milton Hershey's wife. Rachel and I also went to candy bar school at Hershey's chocolate lab. (I wish they had a graduate program).

The Emperors of Chocolate, Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars is a fantastic read. It's about the boldness of entrepreneurial skills and all that comes with selling innovation:  ambition, tenacity and ruthless belief in one's creations.  And, when the subject is chocolate, it's as hard to put down as Snickers bar.

Pretty in Pink: Raspberry Mousse Cakes from Trader Joe's

Raspberry Mousse Cakes from Trader Joe's are pretty and scrumptious

At BTS, we love  when "pretty" meets "scrumptious" and Trader Joe's Raspberry Mousse Cakes deliver that match-up splendidly! The pink-frosted mini pastries are a delightful blend of charming presentation and sweet tasty deliciousness.

We're big fans of Trader Joe's and we understand the loyalty of the specialty market's devotees. In times of social distancing, their dedication is witnessed by their willingness to wait in line, six feet apart, for their turn to get in, past the glass doors, to a world of familiar brands with reasonable prices as well as the exotic new finds that dot display stands through the aisles.

It was on such an excursion last week with my husband, Chris, where I spotted these mousse cakes on display in the dessert section of the store. As though finding the right accessory to go with a favorite outfit, I knew just the serving ware to use for these pretty pastries. I was just hoping they would also deliver on taste.

Like finding the right accessory for a fav outfit, I knew the tiny cakes would go well with my grandmother's rosebud dishes.

Assured by our check-out clerk's affirmation when she saw the mousse cakes in our basket - she told us they were "really good" - I couldn't wait to get home and serve them up properly.

The pink cakes are accented with a dark green frosting leaf and they paired so well with my grandmother's rosebud trimmed china plates. It called for the accompaniment of a variety of rosebud decorated tea cups from my eclectic collection. Ready for a pour of Earl Grey, I was ready to see how the cake's taste measured up to its looks.

The tiny pastry has the right ratio of spongy cake to fruity mousse.

Our check-out reviewer was right on! These are "really good".  There's an equal ratio of spongy yellow cake to fruity mousse all topped with sweet icing. This would be a great addition to any afternoon tea tray.  

Raspberry mousse cakes are pretty, delicious, and, best of all, require no baking on my part!

This little treat packs a lot into a small package - it's pretty, delicious and, maybe best of all, it requires no baking on my part!

Do you refer to your house by name? The naming of property is trending, it's not just for English country estates or Gilded Age mansions anymore!

We've referred to our northern Michigan home as "Pemberly Pines" since 2007

Welcome to Pemberly Pines, our northern Michigan abode.

We've been calling the "estate" by name since we purchased twenty acres and set up a temporary pop-up camper on the  grounds thirteen years ago.  A year later, we had a house built in a natural clearing on the land, and ever since, we've been accessorizing it with  items of its own brand. Apparently, we were on the verge of a trend.

We've been accessorizing Pemberly Pines with its own brand since it was built twelve years ago.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, giving your home a name is becoming popular, mostly spurred on by increases in the vacation rental market (with the exception of current quarantine conditions). While there's no hard data  that  properties with titles sell better, there is anecdotal evidence that catchy names garner more attention.

The Biltmore Estate -  two visits from BTS, 2007 and 2019

The article quotes Bernard Herman, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as to the reason for the house-naming trend. "Once strictly the habit of landed gentry and aristocrats, house names have proliferated to reflect the democratization of estate ownership."

Um, okay.

But, he goes on to say that it is also "connected to the emergence of modern sensibilities of property and land".

Yes, that's it!  - that's why we call our up-north home Pemberly Pines.  It's due to our "Sense and Sensibilities", if you will.

Having tea at Lyme Park in 2018, one of the Pemberly's

I'm a fan of touring English estates and Gilded Age homes in the U.S - all that have wonderful names. Visits to the latter category include, Biltmore in Asheville and two of the Newport "cottages", Marble House and The Breakers,  Across the pond, we've been to many aristocratic residences, including two of  Jane Austen's "Pemberley"'s (Mr. Darcy's residence in "Pride and Prejudice"), Lyme Park and Chatsworth.  (It's probably pretty clear where the inspiration for our northern home's name derived from.)

Would Chatsworth be less magnificent if referred to as "that Cavendish place down the road"?

The WSJ article also interviewed Story Litchfield, a broker for vacation properties in Maine. She says most of the houses she works with have names, but she advises against titles that are "too pretentious or tongue-in-cheek".

Hmmm, we're two for two there.

Litchfield also stated that homeowners should stay away from nonsense words that no one can pronounce.

We're doing better!

Marble House in Newport

The Breakers "cottage"

In a 2008 blog (An Austentacious Weekend at Pemberly Pines), I explained the story behind the naming of Pemberly Pines.  Being fans of Jane Austen, we took the name Pemberley and "Americanized" it by dropping the last "e" and "northernized" it by adding "Pines". I pondered that Jane would most likely be amused at the irony, since Mr. Darcy's estate was most formidable in size and, in most conservative measurement, Pemberly Pines is but barely 1,200 square feet.

Pemberly Pines:  easy to pronounce!

However, we believe we pay appropriate homage to the spirit of Darcy's Pemberely from Elizabeth Bennet's account of her first visit to the estate. She exclaims that "she had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste." With respect to Mr. Darcy's expected condescension due his superior rank and pride, we believe we have achieved the same with Pemberly Pines.

What's in a name? Would Pemberly Pines be less sweet with another name or no name at all?  Would Chatsworth not be as magnificent if it was referred to as "that Cavindish place down the road"?  No great changes with or without titles, but names make it clear as to what you are referring to and gives a little insight into the property owners "sensibilities".

In 2021, we're adding a tiny home to the property. . .could Biltmore Bunkie be in our future?

Pemberly Pines ahead of the trend!

Visiting the homes of Jane Austen - and now you can stay at one!!!

The Jane Austen House in Chawton, one of the homes the author lived in, but you can't spend the night here.

As a Janeite, every trip I've taken across the pond has included some Jane Austen excursion.  In 2006, we visited Bath, including the Pump Room where our favorite author would have socialized. Five years later, while Rachel was on her study-abroad in London, mom and daughter took a few days before the semester started to visit Chawton, the cottage Jane shared with her sister and mother after her father died.  On the same trip, we stopped in Winchester to see the last home of Jane Austen as well the famous cathedral where she was buried.  In 2015, we were at the British Library and, in  room where no pictures can be taken, viewed original manuscripts and letters in Jane's own hand as well as her writing desk. And, just two years ago, we toured Lyme Park and Chatsworth, English country manor homes that stood in as "Pemberley" in two "Pride and Prejudice" movies.  

Lyme Park, BBC's Pemberley

British Library  houses Jane's writing (room behind BTS blogger)

Now Airbnb allows us to "kick it up a notch" by actually staying overnight in a place Jane once resided! It's enough to make me start my own personal go-fun-me piggy bank!

To partake in this excursion, (which would be met by much approbation by this blog's author!), it would take us back to Bath, in particular to Sydney Place.

BTS visits Bath in 2006. Although not a favorite spot of Jane Austen's, it's at the heart of two of her novels.

Featured in Apartment Therapy, the accommodations available to interested tourists - or fanatic Janeites - is a portion of the home that the Austen family leased from 1801 to 1805.  The space that once housed the Austen family's kitchen, scullery and vaults has been converted into a two bedroom, one bath guest suite. As the owner of the home notes, here one can enjoy "the very place where Jane would have made tea and breakfast for her family, while looking out the window onto the courtyard".

Putting the kettle on for tea at Jane Austen's home in Chawton. Only spending the night could make this better!

The home is not exactly kept in Regency-period style, but a full immersion is not necessarily essential to channel your inner-Jane. The updated bathroom, for example, features such luxuries as  heated floors and a rainfall shower,  We're okay with paying additional cents for modern-day sensibilities.

But really, costs are not prohibitive. Current nightly rates are posted at $177.00 a night - which seems a reasonable price for these special guest rooms and their provenance. 

Winchester Cathedral where Jane Austen is buried.

Last home of the celebrated author

Although, by most accounts, Jane Austen was not terribly fond of Bath, it's at the heart of two of her novels, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Her dislike for the quaint town may be more due to circumstances - her father was ill, she and her sister, Cassandra, in their late twenties, were "aging out" of the prime dancing seats at the Pump Room - than its geography.

Rachel playing the piano-forte at Jane Austen's home in Chawton in 2011.

A place of some significance, Bath surely would be a lovely place to stay for a fortnight (give or take a week), and provide much felicity for an Austen devotee and admirer of all things in the Regency period except, perhaps, outdoor plumbing - and we're okay with that!