Junk Food Nation, it is 12-12-12, which means, according to Facebook, (1) National Soundcheck Day (“mic check, 1, 2, 1, 2”), and (2) it is also the last repeated month-day-year date for the next 88 years-ish.  Not sure why this matters, per se.  Am I supposed to make a wish at 12:12pm? (“POWERBALL, PLEASE!”)

Still, a special day requires special post, and my friends at Merci Chocolate are here to help make that happen.   This year, Merci wants to celebrate the holiday season by giving a meaningful thank you to someone. And for me, that person is easy – my father.

My father is a great man for many reasons, as he provided a great role model to whom I aspire to be. I didn’t fully appreciate my father as a kid – but not from a lack of love, as I loved my parents more than anything/anyone in the whole world. No, I just didn’t have the mental capacity as a young kid to realize everything he did to help our family thrive.  It’s the holiday season, and I remember one particularly bratty Christmas where I was loudly ungrateful for what my dad had purchased for me.  Looking back, I would’ve punched myself in the face.  My father provided for his family with every fiber of his being, and as I get older, I realize truly what that means. It meant endurance, sacrifice, and doing what needed to be done. My #MeaningfulMerci goes to my dad, who is still teaching me lessons today.

And I’d like to thank all of YOU, Junk Food Nation, with another contest.  Merci Chocolates sent me a lovely box of their European chocolates for review, and they’d like you to have one too!  A big ole box of rich European chocolate with a variety of flavors from Milk Chocolate, Cream Truffle and Hazelnut-Almond to Dark Cream and Praline-Crème. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.

To whoever wins this Merci Chocolate I am ALSO going to send:

A DOZEN BOXES OF LIMITED EDITION GIRL SCOUT COOKIE CRUNCH BARS!!  Six Peanut Butter Creme and Six Caramel & Coconut.  Ooooooooooooh yeeeeeeeeah.  A box of refined European Chocolate and twelve boxes of not-so-refined confection.  AND IT COULD ALL BE YOURS.

How? HOW!? Read on, dear friends.  I’ll review the prize first, and then get to the contest details below.

Today’s junk food: Merci European Chocolates!

Merci European Chocolates sent me this box of all their flavors.  It came in such lovely packaging, it almost felt like it was Valentine’s Day.  You trying to date me, Merci?

Merci European Chocolates are made by Storck, which according to Wiki is a German sweets producer.  Storck also makes MAMBA, a favorite of mine growing up.

See, now I’m almost POSITIVE Merci European Chocolates is trying to date me.  An “I” dotted with a heart?  Storck is run by 13-year old girls.

This box of Merci European Chocolates contains seven flavors, and their bars sort of look like mini Kit Kats.    You can buy this Merci Chocolate anywhere from Walmart, to Amazon, to even Walgreens.

Since there are seven different flavors of these Merci European Chocolates, I’m pretty sure the ingredient list had 1000 words in it.  But there’s nuts in there somewhere.  And cocoa too, I’m almost positive.

I opened the box of Merci European Chocolates and felt like I was in some weird 1940’s scene being offered a box of cigars to select from.  But, instead of cigars, it’s bars of chocolate.  Where’s my cutter?  I need to snip the ends off some of these…

There’s the lineup.  Let’s taste these Merci European Chocolates, shall we?

Merci Milk Chocolate: Sweet for sure.  Very creamy – the feel of this chocolate felt more like a Lindt truffle than a Hershey’s bar.  That made the texture feel a little waxy at first, but as the chocolate melted, the flavor was true to milk chocolate.

Merci Coffee and Cream Chocolate: BAM!  Amazing chocolate.  STRONG coffee flavor that mixed great with the chocolate flavor.  Tasted like I was chewing a well crafted mocha blend. The white chocolate added a creaminess that was perfect.  Definitely my favorite flavor of the bunch.

Merci Hazelnut Almond Chocolate: Really tasty, with great hazelnut flavor.  Reminded me SO MUCH of Baci Candy – just great chocolate with hazelnut crunch.  The almond gave the whole thing a nice texture, and the chocolate was not overpowering at all.

Merci Hazelnut Creme Chocolate: REALLY GOOD.  Ok, this might be my favorite flavor of the bunch.  Tasted pretty much the same as the Hazelnut Almond, just with a completely smooth texture and great hazelnut aftertaste.  Yummy.

Merci Dark Cream Chocolate: Very similar to the Milk Chocolate variety in that it started out kind of waxy, but the dark chocolate flavor REALLY emerged once the chocolate started to melt.  Quality dark chocolate flavor.

Merci Dark Mousse Chocolate: Very similar to the Dark Chocolate variety, but had a fluffy interior creme that was light but equally dark in flavor and very rich.  A nice contrast between light texture and dark flavor.  I really liked this one.

Merci Praline Creme Chocolate: This one….this one was good but I have something to admit – I’m not sure what pralines are supposed to taste like!  Sort of like almonds and caramel?  Whatever.  This was plenty tasty, but to the untrained chocolate eater like me, it tasted just like a light fluffy version of the Milk Chocolate variety.

So there you have it.  Seven great flavors, all in one box!  I really enjoyed these chocolates, and I am not much of a chocolate eater, normally. No oils, so none of the chocolates melted weirdly. In order of preference for me:

1. Coffee and Cream

2. Hazelnut Creme

3. Dark Mousse

4. Praline Creme tied with Hazelnut Almond

5. Dark Chocolate tied with Milk Chocolate

PURCHASED AT: mailed to me!

COST: free (but retails for about $7.50 at CVS, for example.)

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*** CONTEST DETAILS ***

Ok, so. How can you get your hands on a box of these chocolates and a case of those Girl Scout Cookie Crunch Bars?  TIME FOR ANOTHER TWITTER CONTEST:

1. Join Twitter.  This is a Twitter contest, so man up and sign up. I keep telling you to do this. So do it.

2. Once you’re on Twitter, look for my tweets about Merci Chocolate!  To best find these tweets, follow me on Twitter here – it’s not required, but it’ll make everything a whole lot easier when you’re looking for my Merci Chocolate tweets.

3. Re-Tweet the Merci Chocolate Tweets I’ll post periodically through the next week.  AND THAT’S IT.  You’ll automatically be entered in a drawing for these European chocolates and Crunch bars.

4. Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, December 18.  Get all your Re-Tweets in before then!  I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, December 19.

5. US residents are the only ones eligible to participate, and no one with PO Boxes.  I don’t make the rules.  Wait, I kind of do.  But whatever – Merci Chocolate will only ship within the US and to no PO Boxes.  So keep that in mind.

6. Friends can and SHOULD enter, since I’ve become friends with so many of you over Facebook, Twitter, comments, etc.  Family cannot enter, but is encouraged to re-tweet anyways and have THEIR friends enter.

7. The more times you Re-Tweet, the more times you’ll be entered!  The winners of the Candy Corn Oreos DELUGED THEIR TIMELINES with Junk Food Guy tweets.  You can do the same thing!

So that’s it, Junk Food Nation.  Enter my Twitter Contest and win a box of Merci Chocolate and a case of Girl Scout Cookie Crunch Bars, mailed directly to your door.  DO IT!

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s do this.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy