Harry & David Recalls Boxes of Candy phillyBurbs.com, PA - 3 hours ago Harry & David is recalling all lot codes of these products: Dark Chocolate Clusters The Ultimate Walnut Cherry Caramel Indulgence candies, ….
MONDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) — Cocoa-rich products such as dark chocolate may help lower high blood pressure, but tea won't do much, according to a new survey of the medical literature by German researchers.
How would you like to be prescribed dark chocolate for your ailments? Ah heaven! Well Julie The Chocolate Therapist does just that! You absolutely must go check out her beautiful website. It is well laid out in the most beautiful shades of chocolate and is a pleasure to stumble across. Not only that, Julie is a pleasure to deal with. I had a minor technical glitch trying to order a copy of her ebook so emailed her and had a very prompt, courtious and helpful, yes HELPFUL, reply. I had that ebook in my email within minutes. I have not had a chance to fully read it and do it justice here right now so look for future posts reviewing Julies book. She has a couple of other ebooks for sale on her site including a chocolate recipe book and an ebook about throwing your own chocolate party!
As an added bonus for those that live in Colorado Julie does special fundraising book signings and presents chocolate and wine pairing and many other chocolate events, often for charity. For more info on these go to her website www.TheChocolateTherapist.com
I wish I could attend the Chocolate and Tea Pairing as I love a cup of earl gray with my chocolate! Unfortunately its a bit far to go from New Zealand with an 8mth old but one day…..
I came across some recipes on a website, from a recommendation on the Chocolate & Zucchini forum, that I just loved and had to share with you. It is for old fashioned Hot Cocoa. The recipe book is The Boston Cooking School Cook Book published in 1896. I have included the recipes below but strongly recommend you visit the Feeding America website to see for yourself some of these amazing books. You can view them in pdf's, as page images (which I think is very cool) and html or xml transcripts. Now I know that this is not strictly Dark Chocolate but there are some great chocolate recipes and these cocoa recipes just made me smile!
Scald milk. Mix cocoa, sugar, and salt, dilute with one-half cup boiling water to make smooth paste, add remaining water and boil one minute; turn into scalded milk and beat two minutes, using Dover egg-beater.
Reception Cocoa.
3 tablespoons cocoa.
1/3 cup sugar.
A few grains salt.
4 cups milk.
3/4 cup boiling water.
Scald milk. Mix cocoa, sugar, and salt, adding enough boiling water to make a smooth paste; add remaining water and boil one minute; pour into scalded milk. Beat two minutes, using Dover egg-beater, when froth will form, preventing scum, which is so unsightly; this is known as milling.
Prepare as Reception Cocoa, and add brandy just before milling.
Chocolate.
1 1/2 squares Baker's chocolate.
4 tablespoons sugar.
Few grains salt.
1 cup boiling water.
3 cups milk.
Scald milk. Melt chocolate in small saucepan placed over hot water, add sugar, salt, and gradually boiling water; when smooth, place on range and boil one minute; add to scalded milk, mill, and serve in chocolate cups with whipped cream. One and one-half ounces vanilla chocolate may be substituted for Baker's chocolate; being sweetened, less sugar is required."
Scum really is so unsightly! Anyway I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did and I will have to give one of these a try sometime soon. (I think I'd be going for the Brandy Cocoa if I wasn't a cautious breastfeeding mum! lol!)
This is an excerpt from a fantastic article about a womans travels in Europe. She gives a wonderful description of Belgian [tag]chocolatiers[/tag] and Brussels. This article made me desperately crave another trip to [tag]Belgium[/tag]. The history, architecture, culture and of course the [tag]chocolate[/tag]!
….If it’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium. After breakfast, we began our morning walking tour of the 17th century Grand Place. It was actually 8:30 Sunday morning and I marveled that in over a dozen visits here, I’ve never seen this place so empty. It echoed in silence as tourists slept and the locals were gone for holiday. Sunlight brilliantly flooded the gothic cathedrals, classical facades and art nuveau houses. We were alone and it was breathtaking.
We then visited the famed confectioner “Planet Chocolate” that opened especially for our group. Pedestrians peered in the windows with curiosity. A great demonstration was given by chocolatier Jon, grandson of the founder of this factory renowned for producing 67 different flavors.
We learned about the history of cocoa. The ancient Mayans considered it an aphrodisiac and Montezuma consumed it in copious amounts. It was made famous in Belgium by J. Nuehus who added the praline hazelnut cream. Each cocoa fruit contains 25 beans. The best comes from Ghana, Ivory Coast and Indonesia.
We learned all about the roasting and fermenting processes. Jon expounded on how healthy his dark chocolate is with more magnesium and antioxidants. He even asserts that it boosts energy and thus helps you loose weight…convoluted thinking. It was however, once sold at chemists as antidepressant medicine and unlimited amounts were given to soldiers in wartime to combat stress.
At the end of the lecture, silver trays of truffles were presented along with a cup of hot ganache, which tasted like chocolate soup. I never really cared for chocolate but it was infatuation at first bite.
Our next stop was Chocolate Manon which I was told is run by a “chocolate nazi” who will lock the doors if we’re one minute late. This small factory concentrates on quality over quantity and fancy packaging. The educational presentation was given by the owner Christian, who is both serious and hilarious. He only uses the highest quality vanilla, sugar, butter and 70% cocoa powder.
This is a real factory with enormous chocolate blocks piled high and brown drippings everywhere. Sorry Hershey’s, but the cocoa here is not replaced with palm oil, chemicals, coloring, vegetable fats and lard. This is as pure as it gets and it’s better than Swiss. They sell direct to Bergoff and Neimans in NYC.
There are 443 chocolate factories in Belgium all with the competitive spirit of Tour de France between them. Godiva still reigns supreme. Christian explained that white chocolate is really an oxymoron. It contains only milk, sugar, cream and 21% white cocoa butter. As he lectured, he continually dipped his finger in to vats to taste his latest batch, while quickly running back and forth with frenetic energy from molds to freezer. He has a true passion for his product and consumes about 250 grams or a 1/2 lb a day, yet is as thin as Calista Flockhart. I love my job, but would swap a month with him anytime.
Over 1000 fillings are used inside the hollow shells. One by one, hundreds of shells are filled by hand. Each piece is a mini-sculpture. We’re invited to squeeze the ganache pastry bags, but made a terrible mess and had to eat our mistakes. Nothing is discarded here. Even table scrapings will be remelted. Dark chocolate can be stored up to 15 years and molded into any shape. We’re shown pictures of intricate violins, a woman’s formal dress and a life size dinning room table and chairs all made of chocolate…
I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did, I'm off to hunt down some [tag]dark chocolate[/tag] and [tag]truffles[/tag] to quench the thirst for Belgium!
Suzy Davis is President and founder of www.AdventuresForSingles.com. For 30 years she has visited over 150 countries and practically invented the concept of singles travel.
Dog Flu Diet and Diseases Daily Dose: Stressed Cancer Patients, Dark Chocolate Benefits, Dieting NBC 10.com, PA - Apr 10, 2007 New research shows eating foods rich in cocoa, like dark chocolate , can lower blood pressure. German researchers analyzed data from 10 studies that looked …. Dark Chocolate Scores Over Tea in Reducing High Blood Pressure News Locale Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure Dog Flu Diet and Diseases Dark Chocolate , But Not Tea, Takes a Bite Out of Blood Pressure CBC News MedPage Today - Xinhua all 98 news articles
MONDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) — Cocoa-rich products such as dark chocolate may help lower high blood pressure, but tea won't do much, according to a new survey of the medical literature by German researchers.
I read in Chocolate & Zucchini's forum someone wanting to know how to chop chocolate so I did a little searching and found this video on Youtube that demonstrates a great way to chop chocolate. I had a crack at it just now and it worked great for me!
PS. shhhh secret squirrel I have some recipe videos coming soon that are all my doing, creation etc showing you a bunch of recipes and tips so keep checking back!
Wow yet another good reason to eat [tag]dark chocolate[/tag]. As if we needed an excuse!
Inflammation is the immune systems way of defending against infection and disease. Sometimes your body can be thrown-out-of-balance by the foods we consume, pollutants or the lifestyle you lead. This can cause the immune system to produce excess inflammation and difficulties will develop. Sometimes these problems start off slowly and are not apparent for several years. Sooner or later inflammation will catch up to you and this will become apparent with problems appearing such as Arthritis. Besides Arthritis, inflammation can cause cancer, heart disease, lupus, Alzheimer's and other serious diseases. As you know drugs have unwanted side effects and can create problems that are worse than what they are treating. There are options such as diet, exercise and supplementation that can help without these side effects. As with most health problems, inflammation can be brought under control by being in balance with nature. It's clear that the percentage of illnesses today is far greater than past generations. This is due to convenient fast foods, processed food and pollutants in our food and water, as well as all the prescriptions we take for diseases that didn't even exist 50 years ago. What puts you at greater risk for inflammation? Obesity: Being overweight causes inflammation because the fat cells produce cytokines. Cytokine is a protein which encourages inflammation. This can further lead to diabetes. Diet: A diet consisting of prepared foods, overcooked foods and fast food will start a landslide to bury you in inflammation and other health problems. Cooking at high temperatures will oxidize fats which help produce compounds called "glycotoxins". This is the beginning of damaging free radicals which not only increase inflammation but ages you faster. Excess sugars, refined flour, starches and saturated fats are undermining your health by causing inflammation. An unbalanced ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 can be a problem as well. Most western diets have too much omega-6. To adjust for this add omega-3 to your diet. You could eat more healthy fish with low mercury content or take omega-3 fish oil. How can you decrease unwanted inflammation? Lifestyle: You can beat the battle against inflammation by changing your lifestyle. What are the most important things that you can start on right now? Lose weight in a healthy way by exercising regularly. Start eating normal portions again and make sure you eat healthier and smarter. Go for walks or join a gym. In any case get moving and you will to see tremendous results. Diet: You want to cut out all of the negative foods such as processed and fast foods. Watch your portions and eat mostly fresh organic food. Be sure to eat some raw fruits and vegetables as well. Add nuts and seeds to your diet and you are well on your way to recovery. Here is a list of foods that may help control inflammation: Salmon (or fish oil with omega-3) Garlic Onion Ginger Blueberries Acerola Cherries Lemons Raspberries Strawberries Kale Turnip Greens Spinach Sweet Potatoes Curry Quercitin Resveratrol A good quality dark chocolate also has beneficial properties. Make sure it has little sugar content and go easy. In summary Make sure you have a healthy omega-3 to 6 ratio If you are overweight then start losing it in a healthy way Eat a healthy diet full of nutritious food such as fish, nuts, fruits and vegetables Unstress Stay away from processed and fast foods Cut back on sugar and refined foods Don't overcook food Make quality friends Be happy Consider a natural supplement You can stop inflammation by starting now. This is the beginning of a healthier you!
Generally an interesting article about the [tag]health benefits[/tag] of eating certain foods as [tag]anti-inflamatories[/tag]!
SpiritIndia Dark Chocolate , But Not Tea, Takes a Bite Out of Blood Pressure CBC News, Canada - 6 hours ago MONDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) - Cocoa-rich products such as dark chocolate may help lower high blood pressure, but tea won't do much, according to a new …. Eat more dark chocolate to lower blood pressure Xinhua Eat more dark chocolate to lower blood pressure China Daily all 57 news articles
MONDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) — Cocoa-rich products such as dark chocolate may help lower high blood pressure, but tea won't do much, according to a new survey of the medical literature by German researchers.
I found this divine looking chocolate cheesecake recipe at http://www.taste.com.au/ and HAVE to try it. It has been printed and put on the fridge front and centre for next weeks groceries and for finding an excuse to make this incredible dessert. I've had to stop making them just to try them as my husband and I were ending up eating all the test recipes. Not good for the waistline, besides I like having a slightly more impartial audience to get comments from. Believe me, the first opportunity I get to make this, I will do and will post about it asap! Enjoy and if any of you try it before me PLEASE let me know how you go! Oh and the picture of this at Taste.com.au is gorgeous, I wish I could have posted it here for you but the joys of copyright!
Ingredients (serves
200g Oreo biscuits
75g unsalted butter, melted
150ml thickened cream
200g good-quality dark chocolate
150g good-quality milk chocolate
400g cream cheese
500g ricotta
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs, separated
Chocolate curls, to garnish
Method
Preheat the oven to….Click Here to read the rest of this recipe from Taste.
I know you probably think that the heading above is a marketing ploy or joke but trust me IT'S NOT! IF you are a Lindtmilk chocolate fan be warned this may seriously impact on your chocolate buying habits and is a great reason to only buy Dark Chocolate, lol! The video is not good quality and it takes a minute to get the full understanding of what they are trying to show you but the wait is worth it!
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