The many cows of Christmas – Part 4

This is my last cow sighting report for 2012 and it’s very special. It’s the last of the cow gifts I received for Christmas and it’s very, very cute. The clue I gave you previously was, it’s something you wear but it’s not clothing. Did you guess? It’s a cow brooch!

Purple cow brooch

There have been all sorts of cows on this blog but this is the very first cow brooch. Apparently, it’s not that unique because there are a lot of cow brooches out there. Who knew?

And look, it’s a purple cow, how special! Of course, it holds its special place among the other purple cows on this blog, including:

- Seth Godin’s Purple Cow
- The Milka cow (here too)
- A real purple cow

There you have it, a whole herd of purple cows. I can’t think of a better way to say goodbye to 2012 and welcome the new year.

Happy 2013, everyone!

There’s a new purple cow at the San Diego Natural History Museum

Since we’re members, I took my kids to the San Diego Natural History Museum this past weekend and we got a chance to visit their new exhibit on chocolate. Check out the entrance of the chocolate exhibit, it looks great! I almost felt like I’d won Willy Wonka’s golden ticket and was about to enter the chocolate factory.

Chocolate exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum

And the inside of the exhibit is just as great as the entrance. We learned a lot, played a lot, watched a lot and read a lot about chocolate. For a chocolate fan like me, it was a real treat. A few weeks ago, we saw an episode of The Magic School Bus where the class visits a rainforest and learns about the role of midge flies. Guess what, it’s the first thing we learned about when we entered the exhibit. No midges, no chocolate!

Of course, you can’t visit an exhibit about chocolate without learning more about the various types and brands of chocolate today.  Throughout the exhibit you can spot blown-up versions of your favorite chocolate candy and chocolate bar wrappings on the walls. I was pleasantly surprised to see my favorite cow there: the purple Milka cow!

Milka, the purple cow at the chocolate exhibit, San Diego Natural History Museum

Of course, it’s not the first time the Milka purple cow has appeared on this blog (see my Milka presents here and here), but this one has to be the largest.

If this exhibit comes in your town, I highly recommend it. It was a lot of fun for all ages. The only thing missing? The faint smell of chocolate…

It’s a Milka chocolate surprise!

Earlier this week I received a care package from my mom, coming all the way from France. It contained lots of goodies, as well as a few presents for my son’s upcoming birthday. I had requested most of the items in the box so it was a pleasant surprise to notice an unexpected item – Milka chocolate!

It was added to the box by my cousin, who purchased it during a recent trip in Egypt. Wow cow, you can say this Milka chocolate package traveled half way around the world!

Milka chocolate gift bag

Isn’t this a cute gift package? I love the Milka purple cow on the pouch and of course, it’s full of chocolates!

Oh, did you notice the plush Milka cow? It’s so cute, I have a feeling it’s going to become a favorite at our house. And I bet it can’t wait to get out of the pouch!

 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas #4: cow gifts

My mom is planning to visit us during the Christmas holidays and I know she’s planning to pack a number of goodies and gifts for all of us in her suitcase. Actually, she had so much to give us that she sent a care package ahead of her visit to lighten her load.

So many yummy things for us to eat in there! Fresh madeleines, some cookies, lots and lots and lots of chocolate, books in French for the kids… I felt like it was Christmas morning when I opened the box. But then I saw this and I laughed out loud!

Milka cow with belly stuffed with Milka chocolate

It’s a Milka cow and its zipped belly is full of Milka chocolate bars! The kids had some chocolate tonight, they seemed to like it quite a bit. My mom refused to take credit for this cow and said my cousin saw it in an airport and couldn’t resist buying it for me. Now I just have to find a nice place for it after we’re done eating its “guts”.

And you’d think this would be the only cow in the box, right? Well, it wasn’t! Here are more cows on a metal box of French cookies called galettes (similar to shortbread, but thinner).

Box of French galettes - metal box with cows

I want to guess there are plenty of cows on the box because the galettes are made with butter. But then again, there’s a whole herd of sheep on the front panel of the box, and I don’t think the sheep are part of the ingredient list in any way.

This box is great, it will keep company to the other cow box sitting in my pantry, the one my mom gave me in the past. Cows galore in my kitchen!

The original purple cow is finally making an appearance

When I started this blog at the beginning of the year, I wondered how many days it would take for this special purple cow to make its first appearance. I really thought it would appear sooner than today. A lot sooner. But somehow it didn’t. Thanks to a special request from my oldest child, this purple cow is finally making its first appearance on day 226 of the year 2011. It’s about time!

How did this come about? My son has been asking for white chocolate and I bought some at Trader Joe’s not long ago, but I’m not too crazy about the taste and I don’t think he is either. So today during a trip to the store, we took another look at our choices. I ended up choosing some Lindt white chocolate with grated coconut (how yummy is that?!) and Milka white chocolate.

Milka white chocolate with the purple cow

For those of you who know me on a first name basis, you know my first name happens to be Milka. Not French in any way, it’s actually Yugoslav. Not sure why Suchard (later bought by Kraft) chose to name one of their chocolates Milka, except for making my childhood somehow full of “interesting” jokes, but it would seem logical for a chocolate made with cow’s milk. Why the purple cow? I don’t know, but Seth Godin probably does.

Growing up in France, there was Milka chocolate everywhere. When I moved to the US 18 years ago, I couldn’t find the brand anywhere. After Kraft bought it a few years ago, it started importing Milka chocolate to the US, which brings me back to today and my white chocolate find. The kids loved the chocolate, it made my cow of the day, among many, many cow sightings today. We’re all happy.