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31 Days of Happiness Countdown: the mesmerizing process of making chocolates. (Day 23)

Thanks for stopping by for Day 23 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into our lives and yours. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note, with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

[rebelmouse-image 19482349 dam="1" original_size="400x400" caption="GIF by FoxADHD/Tumblr." expand=1]GIF by FoxADHD/Tumblr.


In the months between Halloween and Valentine's Day, candy is never far from my mind.

Eating it. Buying it. Gifting it.  Finding it in the bottom of fireplace socks. (How weird of a tradition is that?)

But despite my not-so-secret dream to give it all up and go to pastry school, I never gave much thought to how candy, specifically chocolate, is mass-produced.

The tiny, delicate chocolates on Great British Baking Show or Zumbo's Just Desserts, sure. But the millions of boxed chocolates produced by Russell Stover or See's? How on Earth do they keep up? And how do they get all of those creamy fillings inside?

The answer, like the smooth milk chocolate itself, is incredibly satisfying.

This wordless video by the National Film Board of Canada reveals how delicious chocolates get their centers. It is hypnotic, mouthwatering, and informative in equal measure — which is pretty much all you can ask for in a video.

And if you don't believe me on that mouthwatering part, let these borderline-pornographic GIFs do the talking.

First, you need to get that milk going.

GIFs via NFB/YouTube.

Then twist and turn the chocolate ... as one does.

Prepare your fillings. This one has cashews.

Allow the fillings to be draped in chocolate. I've never wanted to be a cashew so bad in my life.

Then fill 'em up, just for good measure.

And finally, roll 'em out.

To see more footage of this intoxicating process, watch the video in its entirety.

Bonus points if you make up your own dialogue. The National Film Board of Canada is basically asking for it.

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5/ DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / DAY 15 / DAY 16 / DAY 17 / DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / [DAY 23]/ DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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A new study seems to reinforce this idea. And much to our surprise, it's centered on headlines used in Upworthy stories.

Using a public archive of Upworthy headlines and traffic data from 2012 to 2015, two separate teams of researchers analyzed whether people's click tendencies changed with negative or positive words in headlines. In those olden days of Upworthy, a handful of headlines for a single story were tested on the website to see which one would receive the most clicks. The research teams analyzed those results and found that negative words in headlines led to more people clicking on a story (2.3% more), and positive words in headlines led to fewer clicks (1.0% fewer). They also found a preference for headlines that express sadness over those that express joy, fear or anger.

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Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

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via drkristynsommer / TikTok

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Woman was mocked online for calling an $80 purse a 'luxury item.' Her response went viral.

"I'm so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money.”

@zohtaco/TikTok

Zoe Gabriel, showing off her new purse from Charles & Keith

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In January 2023, Singapore-based Zoe Gabriel was on the receiving end of this particular flavor of mockery when she posted a TikTok about a purse from local retail brand Charles & Keith—a gift bought for her by her father.

In her excitement, the 17-year-old called the bag, which costs around $80, a “luxury” item as she unwrapped it. Her excitement was sadly cut short by some of the negative comments she received.

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