Sounds good in this thread, hmm. Any recipes to shareeee.. :D

This is very interesting...

Nice blog. ))

Art and Science, yuupp!! <3

thanks thom!!!!!

gonna visit this site..

Aw really, thanks for telling us

Whoaaa. seriously?

Me too!! I was having hard time googling... anyone? pleaseeee, need it badly asap. :<<<

First there are a few forms that caramel will come in.  The most common is the individual blocks wrapped in cellophane.  Whereas these are the most economical ($1.98 for 14 ounces) they are also the most time consuming to use.  It takes time to unwrap each block and then of course, you can’t help but eat a few of them as you unwrap them – that’s just a given in my kitchen and should be in yours too.   Since they are larger blocks of caramel, they also take a little longer to melt.  So if you are more cost conscious than time conscious , these are the ideal caramels for you.  You can find these in the candy aisle.

Then there are the caramel bits – little balls of caramel.  These have been around for about 5 years but up until about a year or two ago, they could only be found in the stores during the holidays.  Now they are a constant on the shelf.   The bits are easy to measure out and use just what you need.   Of course, when I use them, I still sneak a few – just another given.  The caramel bits cost more ($2.98 for 9 ounces) but will save you lots of time by not having to unwrap them as well as less melting time.  So if you are more time conscious than cost conscious , these are for you.  The caramel bits can be found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.  flagen.se

Research points to flavanols – substances that help lower blood pressure and improve vascular function ,  improve cognitive function , and even provides UV protection for our skin! Dark chocolate has a higher proportion of flavanols than milk chocolate.

Known as The Highland Chocolatier, Iain Burnett is an award winning chocolatier based in the heart of the Scottish mountains, His lovingly handmade chocolates are specially crafted  to give an authentic, world-renowned taste of the Highlands. International award-winning artisan chocolatier Iain Burnett and his highly skilled team bring you a taste of Scotland you will not forget.  

Thanks to my beautiful sister, D, I have two quality blocks of koko samoa standing on my kitchen table. I mean REAL Samoan koko! On my kitchen table. I feel like throwing a party because I haven't had Samoan koko since...I can't even remember the last time, and now it's right HERE.

Tempering is a heat treatment technique applied to ferrous alloys, such as steel or cast iron, to achieve greater toughness by decreasing the hardness of the alloy. ...Tempering is accomplished by controlled heating of the quenched work-piece to a temperature below its "lower critical temperature".

The boy with the machete is watching us. We’re sitting in an SUV in the middle of a rugged, red-dirt road about 10 miles outside the city of Abengourou, in eastern Ivory Coast. It’s just after 8 a.m. on a Saturday, and the early morning haze hasn’t yet burned off, so a mist hangs over the fields around us. We’ve been slowly bumping along on our way to meet some farmers in a nearby village called Appoisso but stop for a moment to take in the scene. Suddenly the boy is standing right next to us. He looks curious, but wary too.

Around 1500 AD, a Spanish soldier who was part of the conquest of Mexico and who had observed the emperor of the Aztecs, Moctezuma II, stated that he took no other beverage than chocolate, served in a golden goblet and flavoured with spices like vanilla; his chocolate beverage was whipped into a froth that dissolved into the mouth. Sounds yummy doesn’t it? That was the first introduction of cocoa to the Europeans and became a very popular beverage by the mid 17^thcentury; the rest is history as we say. Cocoa comes from the Theobroma cacao tree which is native to Central and South America, grows the fruit and inside the fruit; there are about 20 to 50 beans.

I can’t resist its siren calls.  Whether it’s dark, white, semi-sweet, or milk chocolate – I answer every time.  I try and be polite that way.  Whether in cake, brownies, fudge sauce, candy bars, cookies, ice cream, mousse etc., chocolate makes the blissful world of desserts go-round.

Here is a list, by state, of the American small-batch, craft chocolate makers who make chocolate from bean-to-bar. They roast the cacao beans, crack and winnow them, grind them into chocolate, conche and then add their own unique spin while tempering, molding and packaging the chocolate. Many of these chocolate makers sell on their website, through retailers or at their own chocolate shops and cafes. I understand that there are many more large manufacturers, but this list is specifically about the craft movement.  If you see that I have missed any, please feel free to add it to the Comments below and I will then include it in this list, which will be updated regularly.

Mercedes Farm is located at an elevation of ~3600 feet, in Peñas Blancas within the Isabelia Range, a protected forest area. Lushly green forests surround the coffee trees, and large hardwood trees provide shade and animal habitat throughout the farm. Several beautiful streams flow through the farm and provide natural irrigation, helping to contribute to the plump sweetness of the juicy-ripe beans.

Well one would certainly think so, and if you’re buying real coffee beans let’s hope they are not artificial, but that does not mean they are natural….processed that is.  You see when we refer to a coffee as natural we mean it is natural vs washed or semi-washed in the processing.  Originally, all coffee was processed naturally, allowing the cherries to dry on the beans, but inconsistencies in this method led to bad,  over fermented, and sometimes downright nasty coffee. Eventually the washed method became more popular.

Jesús Emilio and Arley’s visit to the UK was organized with support from the human rights organization, Peace Brigade International. PBI has been working with the Community since their foundation in 1997, with the aim of keeping the eyes of the world on the dangerous human rights situation in Colombia. They regularly send volunteer observers into the field to show solidarity, and these international observers are able to bear witness to the threats the Community faces. This international presence is also a form of protection.

“Without this, we would have been massacred,” explains Jesús Emilio. Lush has played a significant role, too. “Lush has accompanied us on the recent pilgrimages that we have made to different settlements within the Community, where there has been an enormous paramilitary repression,” says Jésus Emilio. “We feel that Lush has joined our daily struggle.”