Its that time of the year again, the season of love. Yup, start up your cars, drive to See's Candy (or Trader Joe's, they have great dark chocolate bars) and buy some of those classic, red-heart boxes. Unfortunantely, I will be out of town over Valentine's Day, so I won't get to munch up some truffles with my other single friends. Nope I will be up to my neck in politics; but that is for another time.
So! Some background on the...3rd most delicious (and least nutritious) holiday of the year!
- Named after St. Valentine, who was a christian martyr who lived, and died, in Rome
- About 58 MILLION lbs. of chocolate are consumed PER YEAR on Valentine's day
- $345.00 million dollars are spent a year on Valentine's day chocolates
So with this in mind, why not save some cash and make your own treats? I once went to this chocolate class, we made bars, hearts, sculptures, etc. There were molds and such, but I went for the classic, flat bar. Not with the little squares, like Hershey's, but smooth and flat (but feel free to use whatever mold you want). You melt some baker's chocolate, add in a teensy it of milk, some flavors, nuts, dried fruit, and mix it all up. Or, if you're super fancy, marble dark and white chocolate together. And if you want to REALLY impress your valentine, or your single alter ego, go to any respectable food store and buy some edible shimmer power. It looks stunning.
I'm an ameture here talking, but if you are seriously into this "do it yourself" thing, check out this guy's (David Lebowitz) blog, he is a fab foodie for sure:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/01/how-to-make-chocolate-bars-recipe
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Happy (Belated) New Year!
Wow. My most sincere appologies for not having posted since... last year. I've been so busy with work, and life, and being incredibly sick over Christmas, and then omygoodness just Life. Well, I'm back and I hope to be more of a regular blogger. Anywho, my life's been good. Thus far, no complaints about 2013, except that I haven't been able to cook much. Don't get me wrong, I haven't reverted to frozen food tv dinners, but the creativity of my food has...slipped. I have been trying to eat healthier, eating lentils, fresh produce, and my favorite: quinoa.
Quinoa is a tricky thing, as you can read in this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa.
Though it is undisputedly healthy, it has serious affects on the economic status of peoples and on the environment. Though I don't want to give up this delicious grain, I think this is just a good time to pause and think about how our food intake affects the lives of people globally. No, don't just think of the starving children in Africa, think about native people who have to give up their multi purpose fields for one food source they will never eat. Think of sugar plantations, think of exploitation. Just reflect on how your life choices affect everyone, near and far.
Goodnight!
Quinoa is a tricky thing, as you can read in this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa.
Though it is undisputedly healthy, it has serious affects on the economic status of peoples and on the environment. Though I don't want to give up this delicious grain, I think this is just a good time to pause and think about how our food intake affects the lives of people globally. No, don't just think of the starving children in Africa, think about native people who have to give up their multi purpose fields for one food source they will never eat. Think of sugar plantations, think of exploitation. Just reflect on how your life choices affect everyone, near and far.
Goodnight!
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