Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

You can go to fizzies.com and order any flavor you like! My favorite is cherry or grape. By the case for $12 or 15 - I can't remember. But what I miss the most are those giant Charms lollipops - I was proposed to with a handful of Charms Cherry because I was always seen with one stuck in my mouth! I was in the Army and they were at the ice cream store on base and one day an officer said I should at least take the sucker out of my mouth with I salute!

Yes, I have seen it in taboulleh - I believe spearmint is the one used in Mint Julips - but maybe you can use peppermint in that as well? Maybe not - might clash with the bourbon, yes?

I have never made chocolate pudding with eggs - I use cocoa, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and non-fat dried milk. One tablespoon of cornstarch thickens one cup of milk. If you have left-over coffee, substitue 1/2 c of the water or milk used in the whole recipe - greatly enhances the chocolate flavor. I use about 2/3 C cocoa and about 1 c sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2/3 C dried milk. Whisk those together (cocoa added to liquid will not disolve easily at all). Add 2C water and stir over medium heat with a whisk - the pudding will thicken from the bottom up and you need to stir it to thicken the whole pot without thick lumps in the pudding. Take off heat when the pudding starts to bubble like lava and add 1 tsp vanilla. Put in bowls, refrigerate, and try not to eat the hot pudding!

Banquet frozen cream pies. They used to cost about 25 cents and were really good to eat half frozen. Anybody remember those?

Eggs are SO unnecessary in chocolate pudding, and honestly create more hassle than they're worth. Old-fashioned chocolate pudding is a cornstarch pudding, and the best one I know is adapted from the Scharffenberger cookbook recipe:

Creamy Chocolate Pudding
serves 6

3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
8 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the milk to make a smooth paste. Then add the rest of the milk slowly and bring to a slow boil over low heat, stirring occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk if lumps begin to form. After 15 minutes or so the mixture should begin to thicken and coat the back of the spoon. At that point, add the chocolate. Continue stirring for 2 or 3 minutes, until the pudding is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Strain if you wish (although I never do this) and pour into a serving bowl or into individual ramekins or serving dishes. If you hate the thick chocolately skin on pudding, put plastic wrap on top and smooth it down against the surface before refrigerating. If you like pudding skin, pull plastic wrap over the top of the serving dish(es) before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least half an hour and as much as 3 days. Some people love this with a big splash of cold milk -- I'm decadent, so I make vanilla-scented whipped cream with heavy organic cream to serve with this -- yum.

Here's a recipe I used and liked:

Ingredients

1 1/3 C. sugar
2/3 C. flour
pinch of salt
4 Tbs. baking cocoa
4 C. milk, scalded
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the scalded milk and the egg. Blend well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla. Spoon mixture into 6 dessert dishes. Refrigerate several hours or until set. Yield: 6 servings

Hillary
Chew on That

I would agree that Spearmint is used mostly in Mediterranean cooking and Peppermint used for sweeter foods. I am growing chocolate mint and it works nicely in a fruit salad or with honeydew melon and works great as a garnish with any chocolate dessert.

They're definately different flavors, but I'd say that whatever you prefer is the correct one. To me, spearmint is sweeter, but it may just be the variety I have in my garden. I've also got one that's supposed to be chocolate mint. It doesn't reallly taste like chocolate to me, but it's not quite the same as either the spearmint or peppermint.