A Night for Chocolate Lovers

Most holidays have food or drinks associated with them—turkey and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, eggnog on Christmas, hot dogs on the Fourth of July.

But Valentine's Day takes the cake—the chocolate cake, that is. And there's a great opportunity to learn more (and consume more!) of the treat that everyone in America associates with this February holiday.

The League of Women Voters of Bedford, Lewisboro and North Salem hosts tomorrow night at the Katonah Village Library. Starting at 7:30 p.m., the evening includes a brief lecture by Dutch food writer Peter Rose, chocolate making demonstrations and of course—chocolate refreshments from and .

She's written for Gourmet, Saveur and Hudson Valley Magazine. Born in the Netherlands, she moved to the U.S. in the 1960s and now resides in South Salem.

Rose couldn't give away all of the interesting factoids she'd share tomorrow night, but she did say that chocolate was primarily cosumed as a drink long before it was made into a Hershey Bar.

"Choclate was introduced as a beverage much earlier, in the 17th century," she said (yes, Peter is a woman). "There were no candy bars until 1850."

American Revolutionary War solders received chocolate as rations, added Rose.

"Today, most of the cocoa butter—the nutritional part of chocolate—is removed. But the chocolate soldiers received was extremely nutritous. It also had a lot of caffeine—it really revved them up," she said.

The Hudson Valley is rich with chocolate lore, said Rose, and she'll deliver more of it Wednesday night, focusing on the merchant cacao trade in the 17th and 18th century.

Rose is donating her time to support the League of Women Voters because she said they do important work. "Non-partisan voter services is key," she said of the organization she's been a member of since 1969.

Proceeds from the evening will support the costs of printing the voter's guides published by the league, said Susan Auslander, a league member since the early 1970s. The tab runs close to $3,500 for the printing, mailing and distribution to public libraries.

When asked why it wasn't online, Auslander said that would be a good idea, but the printed guide was important information to get to large audiences, regardless of their computer access.

"It's a good idea though," said Auslander. "By the time a lot of us are in that big caucus in the sky, it will be online."

If you'd like to make a reservation, call Susan Auslander at 914.763.9747. Advance reservations are $15.00 with reservation but you can also pay $20.00 at the door.