Dark Chocolate is Part of a Healthy Diet

A while back one of my facebook friends posted the image below. My eyes darted down the left side of the page straight to "Dark Chocolate'

Yes your eyes do not deceive you dark chocolate can and is part of a healthy diet. It is known to have antioxidants, boost metabolism and stanch cravings. 

via https://www.primalblueprint.com/

Make Your Own High Quality Chocolate Bars at Home

Our very own Laura Arendsen Rowe is busy finding ways to make all of our lives better. How about an awesome way to make deluxe high quality chocolate bars at a fraction of the cost? Check out her posts below and look out for more DIY chocolate fun to come!

I can't stop making chocolate bars! (Link in profile)

A post shared by Baking Pure & Simple (@bakingpurensimple) on Feb 17, 2017 at 11:58am PST

Part 1: DIY Chocolate Bars

"Lately, I have been reevaluating my spending. Upon reflection I found that my chocolate bar habit was up to about $90 a month! I like high quality dark (70 – 90%) chocolate. Some might even go as far as to say I self-medicate. I adhere to the theory that chocolate is an essential anti-oxidant – vital for good health..." (keep reading at Baking Pure and Simple)

Part 2: Enough with the Chocolate Bars Already!

"But when is enough – enough? Really? I know what you are thinking. Get over it. Go to the store and just buy some chocolate – but no! It’s so much fun to mess around with the different levels of cocoa and to add stuff to the chocolate bars and to master tempering the chocolate. And of course to clean up the melty chocolaty mess!..." (keep reading at Baking Pure and Simple)

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Watch: Cocoa Farmers Trying Chocolate For the First Time

I found this video via Gizmodo awhile back if you haven't seen it yet take a moment and appreciate. With the ease of having a million different kinds of chocolate at our fingertips we probably don't think about the process of getting it from cocoa bean to rich creamy sweet confection.

These cocoa farmers work hard to bring us the raw ingredients for our favorite treats, but they have never tasted the final product until now. Watch the video below. I hope it brings some perspective on the advent of the "food of the gods"

via Cocoa farmers trying chocolate for the first time is a must watch 

How it all began...

The year was 2003, I found myself studying international and indigenous peoples law abroad for the summer. I would spend the first week in Belgium and 4 more in Switzerland with a few days in Amsterdam after flying in and before flying home. Little did I know the fruits of my adventure would have much more to do with decadence, music and yes, chocolate, than it would with legalese...

I had to have it, I had to try just a taste of ALL the gorgeous Belgian and Swiss chocolates. I paid for individual pieces more than you would pay for a snickers bar and gobbled them up, at first...