(NAPSA)—While Americans’ love affair with chocolate is easily expressed in desserts, the delicacy contains fruit, spice and wood notes that can enhance entres as well. One way to try this taste sensation is with Switzerland’s number-one chocolate brand—just arrived on U.S. shores. Fresh from the world’s chocolate capital, Chocolat Frey AG offers a unique opportunity for personal indulgence. The company’s confections also inspire a range of recipes for chocolatethemed meals—everything from entres to beverages to desserts. Americans will immediately notice a major difference in the chocolate: the unusual and surprisingly delicious flavors, such as Rhubarb & Aloe Vera and Hot Chilli Pepper. With a choice of white, milk and dark chocolate varietals, Frey offers the world’s most extensive range of chocolates. In all, the company has shipped 11 gourmet flavors in elegant, slim bars for Americans to sample and savor. A chocolate-themed dinner, for example, might revolve around an entre of Coquilles St. Jacques with chocolate and cranberry sauce, a soft-frozen chocolate marquise with kiwi fruit dessert, and white, milk or dark chocolate crme beverages. Gourmet chocolate, like fine wine, is at its best when properly stored and served. Frey specifies that its chocolate always should be kept in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator where the shine could be marred by frosty flecks. Other tips for cooking with chocolate include: • Always cut chocolate with a chocolate, 78% cocoa 4 tsp. whole-berry cranberry sauce Generous pinch of cayenne pepper Generous pinch of ginger Coquilles St. Jacques with chocolate and cranberry sauce. lightly warmed knife to prevent splintering. • When melting chocolate, break into pieces in an uncovered steel pan to prevent condensation from dripping into the chocolate. Water will change the chocolate consistency. • Grate chocolate by hand to produce the most beautiful curls. To help you plan a chocolatethemed meal, Chocolat Frey offers the following entre recipe: For sauce, melt butter in a saucepan and gently saut shallot until transparent. Add fish stock and cloves. Continue to heat until liquid has reduced by half. Chop up chocolate. Add to stock with cranberry sauce. Continue to cook over a low heat until sauce thickens. Add pepper and ginger to taste. Set aside and keep warm. Rinse scallops in cold water and pat dry. Sear in oil for 1 minute each side in a wide frying pan. Remove scallops from pan. Simmer vegetable strips in cooking juices for two minutes. Season with salt. Place scallops on top. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Arrange scallops and vegetable on warmed plates and pour on sauce. Makes 4 servings. Hint: This dish goes well with long-grain rice. Prep time: Approx. 30 minutes 2 carrots, shaved into long strips 1 small whole leek, cut into long, wide strips 8 to 12 sea scallops 4 tsp. olive oil Salt Sauce: 1 shallot, chopped 1 tsp. butter 1 cup fish or chicken stock 2 cloves 13⁄4 oz. Frey Noir Authentique extra dark bittersweet Americans can find 3.5-ounce bars in five of Switzerland’s favorite flavors in Target stores: Pcan & Caramel, Bouquet d’Oranges, Citron & Poivre, Caf & Cacao, and White Blueberry. Also available are 10.5-ounce bars of Swiss Dark Chocolate and Swiss Milk Chocolate. A special Swiss reserve of six specialty flavors— Hot Chilli Pepper, Noir Satin, Rhubarb & Aloe Vera, Merveille de Lait, Coeur de Macadamia and Noir Authentique—are also being offered at select Target stores listed at www.chocolat-frey.com. Ten Keys To Healthy Aging (NAPSA)—What is longevity without health? Adults today are looking not only to extend their lives, but to enjoy their extra years. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Healthy Aging simplified the barrage of health messages aimed at older adults to create the 10 Keys to Healthy Aging. The Center is promoting these sensible strategies for a long, healthy life among residents of Pittsburgh, and they hope to share them across the country. Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania has one of the highest concentrations of adults aged 65 years and older, second only to Dade County, Florida. Years of research yielded these keys: • Prevent bone loss and muscle weakness • Control blood pressure • Increase physical activity • Regulate blood sugar • Stop smoking • Maintain social contact • Participate in screening for cancer • Get regular immunizations • Lower cholesterol • Combat depression. Dr. Constance Bayles, director of the center, says these strategies can help people take charge of their health and delay or prevent disease and injury as well as speed recovery time. “Empowering older adults is one of our many missions,” Dr. Bayles said. While some keys seem basic, such as maintaining social contact, activity can become difficult as adults age and become less mobile, she said. Part of the center’s work is to help seniors access resources for social contact, physi- M AKING THE GOLDEN YEARS MORE GOLDEN . Adults are looking not only to extend their lives, but to enjoy those extra years. cal activity, transportation and other needs. The Center for Healthy Aging is a Prevention Research Center (PRC) in a network of 33 academic centers the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds. Each PRC works closely with a local community to design effective interventions. Nine PRCs belong to a Healthy Aging Network that collaborates on the best ways to promote health for older adults and transform research results into sustainable community programs. The University of Washington’s Health Promotion Research Center (HPRC), for example, developed EnhanceFitness, a physical activity curriculum for older adults that improves flexibility and strength and is shown to reduce hospital visits by participants. The program is now offered at 92 sites in nine states. The HPRC also developed a counseling program that reduces minor depression in seniors. For more information on PRC research, visit www.cdc.gov/prc. *** If you’re never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances. —Julia Sorel *** The first successful gasoline-powered automobile in the United States was built by the Duryea brothers in 1893. *** Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise. —Author Unknown *** (NAPSA)—If bad winter weather has been forecast, the National Automobile Dealers Association suggests allowing extra travel time. Also, familiarize yourself with directions before leaving home and let others know your travel plans. For more tips, visit www.nada.org. *** Sandy Markwood, chief executive officer of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, says the new Medicare prescription program takes into consideration the particular financial and health challenges of people who live with chronic illness. *** A leading expert in online safety, VeriSign helps verify online retailers such as Orbitz, Overstock.com and eBay, so shoppers are confident they’re making purchases on a legitimate site rather than a spoofed site. For more information, go to www.verisignsecured.com. *** The 2005 Financial Retire- *** Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy. —Samuel Johnson *** ment Fears Study sponsored by t h e N a t i o n a l A s s oc i at i on for Variable Annuities reported that 95 percent of Americans have financial fears about retirement, and 42 percent worry they will run out of money prematurely. Fo r m o re i n f or m at i on, vi s i t www.navanet.org. *** In “Our Lady of Weight Loss” (Viking Studio), author Janice Taylor, the patron saint of permanent fat removal, dishes out fat-free, calorie-free, carb-free, guilt-free helpings of divine diet inspiration. *** Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. —Robert F. Kennedy *** *** You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward. —James Thurber *** 11 Keeping Prescription Drugs Affordable (NAPSA)—Q: My mother lives on a limited fixed income and can’t afford her prescription drugs, let alone prescription drug coverage. What do you suggest? A: Seniors like your mother, with low and limited incomes, have access to subsidies to help them pay for Medicare’s prescription drug coverage. This coverage makes it possible for low-income seniors to afford their prescription medications. The subsidies help pay for all or part of the: •Monthly premiums •Annual deductible •Coverage gap •Co-payments Some 3 million Americans who are eligible for this help have yet to apply, according to estimates by the Department of Health and Human Services. I encourage you to help your mother apply for a low-income subsidy to help her pay for her medications. You can apply for a subsidy over the phone or online: Phone: (800) 772-1213 Web site: www.socialsecurity.gov Q: I’m worried about paying for my prescription drugs when I hit the gap in coverage in my Part D plan. Can you help? A: It’s best to budget for the coverage gap. And remember this is just a gap in coverage; it’s not a cap on coverage. Once you’ve gotten through the gap, 95 percent of all your medication costs are covered. The gap may be uncomfortable, but it is temporary. For people who prefer to avoid the gap in coverage altogether, there are plans available that cover the gap. Beneficiaries in every state have at least one such plan available to them. Answers are provided by Sandy Markwood, Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.