Chocolate is the Food of the Gods
February is a good month to think about chocolate – and a good gig in retirement! The fun events started when we were the Valentine’s Day love story in the San Jose Mercury News on February 14, 2004, reporting on our chocolate presentation at a dinner meeting of the ACS Silicon Valley Local Section in Palo Alto. It has rolled on since those days of using viewgraphs…remember them? In March 2008 we were the invited scientist/author lecturers on the cruise line Cunard’s Queen Mary II, and later on the Grand Princess.
“Mr. & Mrs. Chocolate” gave four presentations in 21 days in February, 2026:
- February 1 we presented on a new fun slant: Chocolate – A Religious Experience. The flyer is below.
- February 7 we spoke at an ACS California Section public outreach event at California State University, Chico. This event also included a speaker from UC Davis on the Flavors of Coffee. We presented the usual fun Chocolate Food of the Gods with samples and a free raffle at the “bitter” end.
- February 13 we presented to a new group, the Rebekahs group of the Odd Fellows of San Francisco on a dark and stormy night.
- Finally, we did our usual fun talk Chocolate: Food of the Gods again for Professor Dick Zare’s popular Kitchen Chemistry course in the Stanford University Chemistry Department.
We’re not finished! We will be keynote speakers at the ACS Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting – MARM 2026 – in Hershey PA on May 17 where a Hershey chocolate-champagne reception is planned. We are regulars in the ACS mid-Atlantic region, having presented at MARM 2006 and Marm 2014 in Hershey PA. See https://marm2026.com
Who knew that this chocolate talk would be such a great gig in retirement! Learn more about us by searching “Howard Sally Peters chocolate chemist” on the Internet.


By Howard & Sally Peters (aka Mr. & Mrs. Chocolate)