Chocolate Mansion

Chocolate

2007-07-16T14:52:00.001-07:00

Chocolate is a psychoactive food. It is made from the seeds of the tropical cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. The cacao tree was named by the 17th century Swedish naturalist, Linnaeus. The Greek term theobroma means literally "food of the gods". Chocolate has also been called the food of the devil; but the theological basis of this claim is obscure.

Cacao beans were used by the Aztecs to prepare a hot, frothy beverage with stimulant and restorative properties. Chocolate itself was reserved for warriors, nobility and priests. The Aztecs esteemed its reputed ability to confer wisdom and vitality. Taken fermented as a drink, chocolate was also used in religious ceremonies. The sacred concoction was associated with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility. Emperor Montezuma allegedly drank 50 goblets a day. Aztec taxation was levied in cacao beans. 100 cacao beans could buy a slave. 12 cacao beans bought the services of courtesan.

The celebrated Italian libertine Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) took chocolate before bedding his conquests on account of chocolate's reputation as a subtle aphrodisiac. More recently, a study of 8000 male Harvard graduates showed that chocoholics lived longer than abstainers. Their longevity may be explained by the high polyphenol levels in chocolate. Polyphenols reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and thereby protect against heart disease. Such theories are still speculative.

Placebo-controlled trials suggest chocolate consumption may subtly enhance cognitive performance. As reported by Dr Bryan Raudenbush (2006), scores for verbal and visual memory are raised by eating chocolate. Impulse-control and reaction-time are also improved. This study needs replicating.

A "symposium" at the 2007 American Association for the Advancement of Science - hyped as a potentially "mind-altering experience" - presented evidence that chocolate consumption can be good for the brain. Experiments with chocolate-fed mice suggest that flavanol-rich cocoa stimulates neurovascular activity, enhancing memory and alertness. This research was partly funded by Mars, Inc.

Coincidentally or otherwise, many of the worlds oldest supercentenarians, e.g. Jeanne Calment (1875-1997) and Sarah Knauss (1880-1999), were passionately fond of chocolate. Jeanne Calment habitually ate two pounds of chocolate per week until her physician induced her to give up sweets at the age of 119 - three years before her death aged 122. Life-extensionists are best advised to eat dark chocolate rather than the kinds of calorie-rich confectionery popular in America.

In the UK, chocolate bars laced with cannabis are popular with many victims of multiple sclerosis. This brand of psychoactive confectionery remains unlicensed.

Chocolate as we know it today dates to the inspired addition of triglyceride cocoa butter by Swiss confectioner Rodolphe Lindt in 1879. The advantage of cocoa butter is that its addition to chocolate sets a bar so that it will readily snap and then melt on the tongue. Cocoa butter begins to soften at around 75 F; it melts at around 97 F.

Today, chocolates of every description are legal, unscheduled and readily available over the counter. Some 50% of women reportedly claim to prefer chocolate to sex, though this response may depend on the attributes of the interviewer.

In 2007, a UK study suggested that eating dark chocolate was more rewarding than passionate kissing. More research is needed to replicate this result.

More than 300 different constituent compounds in chocolate have been identified. Chocolate clearly delivers far more than a brief sugar high. Yet its cocktail of psychochemical effects in the central nervous system are poorly understood. So how does it work?

CHOCOLATE : the Psychoactive Cocktail

Chocolate contains small quantities of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid found in the brain. Sceptics claim one would need to consume several pounds of chocolate to gain any very noticeable psychoactive effects; and eat a lot more to get fully stoned. Yet it's worth noting that N-oleolethanolamine and N-linoleoylethanolamine, two structural cousins of anandamide present in chocolate, both inhibit the metabolism of anandamide. It has been speculated that they promote and prolong the feeling of well-being induced by anandamide.

Chocolate contains caffeine. But the caffeine is present only in modest quantities. It is easily obtained from other sources. Indeed a whole ounce of milk chocolate contains no more caffeine than a typical cup of "decaffeinated" coffee.

Chocolate's theobromine content may contribute to - but seems unlikely to determine - its subtle but distinctive psychoactive profile. Surprisingly, perhaps, recent research suggests that pure theobromine may be superior to opiates as a cough medicine due to its action on the vagus nerve.

Chocolate also contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid. It is the rate-limiting step in the production of the mood-modulating neurotransmitter serotonin. Enhanced serotonin function typically diminishes anxiety. Yet tryptophan can normally be obtained from other sources as well; and only an unusually low-protein, high-carbohydrate meal will significantly increase its rate of intake into the brain.

Like other palatable sweet foods, consumption of chocolate triggers the release of endorphins, the body's endogenous opiates. Enhanced endorphin-release reduces the chocolate-eater's sensitivity to pain. Endorphins probably contribute to the warm inner glow induced in susceptible chocoholics.

Acute monthly cravings for chocolate amongst pre-menstrual women may be partly explained by its rich magnesium content. Magnesium deficiency exacerbates PMT. Before menstruation, too, levels of the hormone progesterone are high. Progesterone promotes fat storage, preventing its use as fuel; elevated pre-menstrual levels of progesterone may cause a periodic craving for fatty foods. One study reported that 91% of chocolate-cravings associated with the menstrual cycle occurred between ovulation and the start of menstruation. Chocolate cravings are admitted by 15% of men and around 40% of women. Cravings are usually most intense in the late afternoon and early evening.

Cacao and chocolate bars contain a group of neuroactive alkaloids known as tetrahydro-beta-carbolines. Tetrahydro-beta-carbolines are also found in beer, wine and liquor; they have been linked to alcoholism. But the possible role of these chemicals in chocolate addiction remains unclear.

One UK study of the human electroencephalographic (EEG) response to chocolate suggests that the odour of chocolate significantly reduces theta activity in the brain. Reduced theta activity is associated with enhanced relaxation. This study needs replication.

Perhaps chocolate's key ingredient is its phenylethylamine (PEA) "love-chemical". Yet the role of the "chocolate amphetamine" is disputed. Most if not all chocolate-derived phenylethylamine is metabolised before it reaches the CNS. Some people may be sensitive to its effects in very small quantities.

Phenylethylamine is itself a naturally occurring trace amine in the brain. Phenylethylamine releases dopamine in the mesolimbic pleasure-centres; it peaks during orgasm. Taken in unnaturally high doses, phenylethylamine can produce stereotyped behaviour more prominently even than amphetamine. Phenylethylamine has distinct binding sites but no specific neurons. It helps mediate feelings of attraction, excitement, giddiness, apprehension and euphoria; but confusingly, phenylethylamine has also been described as an endogenous anxiogen. One of its metabolites is unusually high in subjects with paranoid schizophrenia.

There is even a phenylethylamine theory of depression. Monoamine oxidase type-b has been described as phenylethylaminase; and taking a selective MAO-b inhibitor, such as selegiline (l-deprenyl, Eldepryl) or rasagiline (Azilect) can accentuate chocolate's effects. Some subjects report that bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban) reduces their chocolate-cravings; but other chocoholics dispute this.

chocolate refs
and further chocolate.org reading

MoodFoods
Future Opioids
Selegiline .com
Sensualism .com
Phenylethylamine
The Chocolate FAQ
Chocolate Videoclips
The Good Drug Guide
Search Chocolate.org
Some Chocolate Hotlinks
Chocolate and Mood (PDF)
MDMA: Utopian Pharmacology

LG Ke800 Chocolate: Handset With Multiple Features

2007-07-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

The LG KE800 Chocolate Platinum has been well designed by the LG and is also known as the LG Chocolate Platinum or the LG Chocolate. You can find a good-looking slide opening camera which comes in a black coloured casing and has a silver section that can divide the display from the touch sensitive keys. The KE800 comes with a 2 inch colour screen which can provide you with a clear and bright colour display having a screen resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.

It comes with a 60 MB of internal memory that can be expanded using the microSD cards. The battery attached to it can give you six hours of talk time with two hundred and seventy hours of standby time. The KE800 weighs meagrely ninety five grams with a fitted battery which can give you a sturdy and solid feel.

As far as camera is concerned, it has a 2 megapixel camera with an automatic flash feature. It also has a video recording feature that can be used for recording, playing and streaming videos. You have the flexibility to change photo and the video setting that would suit the effect and finish at the time of capturing the image and the videos.

The KE800 can work over the tri-band network which will allow you to cover GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 that can automatically switch between the networks. You can either use the Bluetooth wireless technology or the USB connection to connect it to the other compatible devices that would allow you for a high speed download and a fast web browsing.

The handset comes with a messaging service that could allow you to stay in touch with friends and relatives. You can easily send receive text messages, multimedia messages and emails on this handset. There is a flight mode function attached to it that can allow you to use the handset in the restricted areas like hospital and the aircrafts.

It certainly has an edge over other handsets as far as the features are concerned.

Female Chocolate Lab Names

2007-07-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

A new puppy is always fun, especially when it's a lovable chocolate Lab. One of the first things puppy gets, in most cases, is a new name. Giving your chocolate Lab a name can be a lot of fun. A name may just come to you with little effort, or you may labor to find precisely the right name.

Female chocolate Lab names can be comical, sweet (as in chocolate), or dignified. There are many choices, and many ways to make those choices. Below are some names and their meanings. You may find the exact name you want, or you may see a name that gives you an idea for your chocolate Lab name.

Whatever you call your female chocolate Lab, chances are good that she will grow into it, and it will soon be as normal as though no other name existed.

Female Chocolate Lab Names Chosen for Meaning

One way to name your female chocolate Lab is to think of names that have an appropriate meaning. The name may focus on your chocolate Lab's color. It may call attention to the Lab temperament. And, if your chocolate Lab is a gun dog, the name's meaning may hint at hunting. Here are 37 examples drawn from countries around the world.

1. Female Chocolate Lab Names Linked to the "Chocolate" Color:

When focusing a name on the chocolate Lab's color, you can go with the brown hue or the sweetness of chocolate.

* Anoush - sweet, sweetness
* Blanda - sweet and friendly
* Brownie - brown
* Brune - brown
* Candy - sweet
* Carob - chocolaty-tasting carob tree pod
* Ceinlys - beautiful, sweet
* Chocolata - chocolate
* Cocoa - cocoa
* Dulciana - sweet
* Kamea - sweet darling
* Mandisa - sweet
* Sisel - sweet
* Truffles - as in chocolate truffles

2. Female Chocolate Lab Names Linked to the Lab Temperament

The chocolate Lab, although soft and delicious in appearance, has a boisterous, fun-loving temperament. When you consider female chocolate Lab names, you may want to focus on your chocolate Lab's energetic, amusing personality.

* Babianne - fun-loving
* Buffy - clown
* Chaka - energy
* Cuckoo - silly
* Energizer - keeps going
* Escapade - adventure
* Eshe - energy
* Funny Girl - from the play
* Mahira - energy
* Quirky - fun-loving
* Reah - water-lover
* Ria - water-lover
* Umi - energy
* Venita - loving
* Venus - loving
* Wacky - crazy
* Zula - one that loves the country

3. Female Chocolate Lab Names Linked to Hunting

* Gunnerette - female gunner
* Huntress - female that hunts
* Kainda - hunter's daughter
* Quicksilver - winged retriever
* Synergy - working together
* Winda -hunter

Miscellaneous Female Chocolate Lab Names

Female chocolate Lab names that are not linked to the dog's color, temperament, or gun-dog abilities may still be the best for your puppy. At Next Day Pets, you can learn what dog names are currently in the top twenty. You can also do an alphabetical search there, looking at dog names that begin with a particular letter of the alphabet.

An Australian website, Bowwow is another good place to look for female chocolate Lab names. Bowwow lets you search in various ways, and gives you information about the name if you do a meaning search. For example, a search on "Fido" produced results showing that this name means faithful and loyal. Bowwow also showed that one US President owned a dog named Fido, and that this is a perfect name for a faithful companion.

Tips in Choosing Chocolate Lab Names

You will use the name you choose for your chocolate Lab many times every day. You will use it in a praising voice and in a scolding voice. Be sure you like the way it sounds. Be sure you like the shortened version, too, because nicknames will inevitably happen.

Your chocolate Lab will respond better to a name with only one or two syllables. Such a name will be easier for you to call, too. Steer clear of names that may sound like the commands you will be using with your chocolate Lab. "Fay" is too close to "Stay" for regular use. Your puppy may have trouble distinguishing between its name and the command.

Whatever name you give your chocolate Lab puppy, help her learn it by using it often and in a friendly tone of voice.

Applying Chocolate Moderation Within your Diet, Awww... Do I Really Have To?

2007-07-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

We don't think about chocolate moderation when we're feeling low, sad, angry, or just plain upset. I know that I certainly don't!

Despite the fact that chocolate is very appealing, a feel-good antidote, can help relieve stress for certain individuals, and is a comfort food, it still contains a lot of calories.

Of course, the amount of sugar that chocolate contains depends on the cocoa percentage of the chocolate. But whether it contains 75% of cocoa powder or none at all, chocolate is still a high-calorie food. (One of the main reasons why it should be eaten in moderation.)

And we all know that once we get started on a piece of chocolate, the next thing we know, half of the chocolate bar or box is gone and we're most likely asking ourselves how come we were able to eat so many. Don't worry, you wouldn't be the first to do this!

But, how do you apply moderation to eating chocolate especially when you have the blues or are just way too upset to care?

Before sitting in that couch with your box of chocolate, I suggest, go take a walk outside and look at what is around you. Take it all in and just watch the outside world. If it's raining or you don't have the option of going outside, call a friend that you know you can trust and talk to her/him about what is upsetting you.

If you can't do the above, try emotional writing. I personally recommend this one. Write, write, write, and write some more until you feel a relief or feel better.

"I just eat chocolate all the time, whether or not I have the blues!" How do I apply moderation to that?

Um... I see the problem and I can only tell you that self-discipline is the only way that you will get around this. What would be a good idea is for you to not buy chocolate anymore, or to buy less. Reduce the quantity of chocolate that you buy on a gradient. You don't want to go from having a lot of chocolate every day to having none because it just won’t work. You will only drive yourself crazy that way. (And we certainly don’t want that to happen to you!)

Try to cut back a little every day. As the weeks pass, you will find that you're eating less and less until you've reached a "correct" amount of chocolate to eat.

When you feel the urge to eat some chocolate, try eating an apple or a small healthy snack. Another good alternative would be for you to drink a long glass of water.

Being able to only eat a small amount of chocolate is a constant effort on your part. You always have to watch it before you go overboard. And don't think that you are the only one, we all have to watch how much chocolate we eat.

If it is still too hard to cut back, eat quality chocolate! With quality chocolate, you will eat less chocolate because quality chocolate is made with rich ingredients and you will feel satisfied sooner (therefore, eating less chocolate).

The "correct" amount of chocolate.

And what is the "correct" amount of chocolate for a person? Well, that really depends on your diet and how much you exercise. If you have a poor diet (lots of carbohydrates, sugar, and junk food) and little exercise, chocolate isn't going to do you a favor.

On the other hand, I find that with a regular amount of exercise, a good diet (lots of veggies, proteins, little fat and sugar) chocolate does not affect my weight. And that is, as long as I eat it in moderation! A square of dark chocolate ever two to three days does the trick for me.

It's really up to you to find out what is the correct amount of chocolate for you.

Chocolate-- The Newest Health Food?

2007-07-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

There are now even more reasons for chocolate lovers to rejoice! As more amazing research news comes in about chocolate, the substance is moving from a bad-for-you candy to an important health food. Those of us who had always continued to indulge in occasional chocolate treats can stop feeling guilty and now easily justify our cravings.

You may have already heard that chocolate contains beneficial flavonoids and antioxidents. Flavonoids are naturally-occurring compounds found in plant foods that are full of recognized health benefits. There are more than 4,000 flavonoid compounds, which are a subgroup of a large class called polyphenols. Phenols are believed to help reduce the risk of heart disease by helping prevent atherosclerosis. The flavanols in chocolate appear to help the body use nitric oxide, which is crucial for healthy blood flow and blood pressure, which means that chocolate might help reduce hypertension as well.

Red wine is know for its high phenol content, but an average bar of dark chocolate contains more phenols than 8 ounces of red wine. Scientists at Cornell University and Seoul National University examined the cancer-fighting antioxidant content of hot cocoa, red wine, and tea, and found that cocoa had nearly double the antioxidants of red wine and four to five times more than tea.

Holland's National Institute of Public Health and Environment found that dark chocolate contains 53.5 mg of catechins per 100 grams. (Catechins are the powerful antioxidants that fight against cancer and help prevent heart disease). By contrast, a cup of black tea contains only about 14 mg of catechins and green tea has about 30 mg of catechins.

A study at University of California Davis found that participants who ate chocolate showed a reduction in platelet activity. This means that chocolate has an anti-clotting, blood-thinning effect that can be compared to aspirin.

A Harvard University study of 8,000, with an average age of 65, revealed that those who consumed chocolate lived almost a year longer than those who did not. Those who ate one to three candy bars per month had a 36 percent lower risk of death (compared to the people who ate no candy), while those who ate three or more candy bars per week had a 16 percent lower risk.

A study of older men in The Netherlands, known for its chocolate, showed that those who ate the most chocolate, an equivalent of one-third of a chocolate bar every day, had lower blood pressure and a 50 percent lower risk of death. The researchers also noted the men eating the most cocoa products were not heavier or bigger eaters than the men who ate less cocoa.

And it's not just dark chocolate that is the only healthy type of chocolate. Most studies talk about the benefits of dark chocolate, but some of the most recent news about chocolate includes good news for milk chocolate lovers, who have been left out in the past.

The Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia did a study that shows that milk chocolate seems to boost brainpower. The groups in the test consumed, on different occasions, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, carob and nothing. Then they were tested for cognitive performance including memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem solving.

According to Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, "Composite scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher for milk chocolate than the other conditions." The study also found that consumption of milk and dark chocolate was associated with improved impulse control and reaction time. It seems that by consuming chocolate you get stimulating effects from substances found in chocolate, such as theobromine and phenylethylamine, which then lead to increased mental performance.

Chocolate really does make you feel good, too. It is known to stimulate the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasurable sensation similar to the "runner's high" a jogger feels after running several miles. Chocolate also contains a neurotransmitter, serotonin that acts as an anti-depressant. Studies in England show that even the aroma of chocolate gives a bout of euphoria and will help lift the spirits.

And now people are looking at chocolate for skin care. According to Marlies Spinale, director of Tru Spa, "Like many other antioxidants, cocoa polyphenols are thought to offer the skin protection from free-radical damage caused by sun, pollution, stress, alcohol consumption and other factors. I believe that we will hear more about the benefits of chocolate in skin care."

Some people have been avoiding chocolate because one of the main ingredients of chocolate is cocoa butter. It was thought that it was an unhealthy fat, but actually cocoa butter is not unhealthy. It is made up of the beneficial fatty acids-- oleic acid (a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat also found in olive oil), stearic and palmitic acids. Stearic and palmitic acids are healthy forms of saturated fat. Plus chocolate contains vitamins A, B1, C, D, and E, as well as potassium, sodium, and iron.

So go ahead and indulge in a little chocolate, in moderation of course. I would recommend that you try to find organic chocolate, and stick with darker chocolate because it has more chocolate flavonoids and less sugar. (Sugar weakens the immune system; so don't consume sugar if you are ill.) And a little bit of milk chocolate is alright when you need an occasional milk chocolate brainpower boost, such as before a test. All you students take note!

Chocolate as a health food-- can life get any better?

Chocolate Labs - Images For Proud Owners

2007-07-16T11:15:00.001-07:00

Chocolate Labrador Retrievers, like large energetic candy bars, are growing in popularity in the U.S. Once viewed as second rate to other Labs, chocolate Labs are now becoming desirable. Chocolate Labs are the least common of the three true Labrador Retriever colors: black, chocolate, and yellow. In that sense, they are a "rare" dog.

Because they are still fairly uncommon, it can be difficult for proud owners to find images of their chosen breed, especially puppies. Such images are available, however, and the suggestions below may be of help.

Black and White Images of Chocolate Labs

Black and white images of chocolate Labs cannot portray their "chocolateness" in its uniqueness from other Labrador Retrievers. The shape of a Labrador's body will always be the same, and without color, chocolate Lab dog art work becomes simply Lab dog art work.

Black and white images of chocolate Labs can, however, please proud owners of these affectionate, eager dogs. Chocolate Lab dog art work, photos, and other images can be found on websites such as Webshots and Clipart. Owners who are comfortable with a graphics program such as PhotoShop can quickly change any of these to black and white images. Whether the Labradors are black or chocolate in the original makes little difference in black and white images.

Your puppy's own photograph can be scanned into a computer and changed to a black and white image.

Chocolate Lab Dog Art Work

Chocolate Lab dog art work can be found on the websites of several artists. Most of the paintings we found were hunting scenes, which will please the owner of a gun dog - or a Labrador puppy that dreams of becoming a gundog. When searching for chocolate Lab dog art work, try making art and work one word: artwork. Do a search with the word "print" or "painting" instead of art work. These various combinations should get the results you need.

Chocolate Lab dog art work is not limited, of course, to wall hangings. You can find chocolate Lab dog art work on many things.

Chocolate Lab Mailboxes

Proud owners can proclaim their love of the breed to the world with Chocolate Lab mailboxes. Look for such mailboxes at Labrador Retriever gift stores. A quick search of the Internet will bring results such as these:

1. White mailbox with chocolate Lab head beside your name and address

2. White Box with grass and flower pattern, chocolate Lab lying atop it

3. Chocolate mailbox with chocolate legs, head, and tail attached

Chocolate Labrador Retriever Figures

Chocolate Lab dog art work can be expressed in figures - bookends, figurines, and small statuettes for indoors or front porch. Again, Labrador Retriever gift stores would be a good place to hunt. If the figurine or statuette is bronze, it can be a black or chocolate Lab. Try a company such as Sandicast for lifelike chocolate Labrador Retriever figures.

Clothing Images and More

Black and white images of chocolate Labs, as well as more colorful Chocolate Lab dog art work, can often be found on shirts, caps, and bags. If you want a do-it-yourself project, you can create your own chocolate Lab images on clothing, mugs, and more at Café Press. You supply the design, and they produce professional results for you. Or you can purchase one of the many chocolate Lab designs created by other amateurs like yourself.

Black and white images of chocolate Labs are less common, but we found a beautiful one on T-shirts at All Dogs. The same black and white image is available on a number of things there - including postage stamps.

Helpful Tip

Your Chocolate Lab dog art work search will go better if you try a variety of words in your search. Unless you specifically want a wall hanging, a framed picture, try adding words such as "card" or "figures" to your search entry. You may be surprised at the variety of chocolate Lab items available.

Chocolate and Dogs and Cats

2007-07-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

Before we begin to give you additional information on this topic, take a moment to think about how much you already know.

Dogs and cats must NOT eat chocolate. while the reply to chocolate varies from dog to dog based on the measure eaten in relative to its mass, chocolate is venomous to dogs and it can be incurable. Chocolate contains a element called theobromine which is lethal to dogs. Chocolate should be reserved away from dogs at all time beinstigate they regularly like and make off with foods that are melodic.

The quantity of theobromine varies with the style of chocolate. From most to slightest here are some joint theobromine burdened chocolate styles; Cocoa Beans - Cocoa Powder - basic/Baking Chocolate - darkness Chocolate - Milk Chocolate - Chocolate cocktail Mixes - pasty Chocolate.

The quantity of chocolate that it takes to poison your pet depends on the style of chocolate eaten and the dog's load. pasty chocolate has the slightest quantity of theobromine at 1 mg per degree. Baking chocolate or cocoa beans have the uppermost. Baking chocolate has 450 mg of theobromine per oz; partly-melodic chocolate 260 mg/oz; milk chocolate, 60 mg/oz; and hot chocolate, 12 mg/oz. Here is a catalog of the most joint sources of chocolate and the quantity that leads to venomous parallels:

If you feel that you havent learned anything new thus far, there is a whole new realm of information in the rest of this article.

pasty chocolate: 200 degrees per batter of body load. It takes 250 batters of ashen chocolate to instigate cipher of panicky-practice poisoning in a 20-batter dog, 125 batters for a 10-batter dog.

Milk chocolate: 1 degree per batter of body load. Approximately one batter of milk chocolate is venomous to the panicky practice of a 20-batter dog; one-half batter for a 10-batter dog. partly-melodic chocolate has a parallel lethal parallel. Keep in brain that the median chocolate bar contains 2 to 3 oz of milk chocolate. It would take 2-3 sweetie bars to engender lethality in a 10 lb dog.

adorable cocoa: 0.3 degrees per batter of body load. One-third of a batter of melodic cocoa is lethal to a 20-batter dog; 1/6 batter for a 10-batter dog.

Baking chocolate: 0.1 degree per batter body load. Two one-degree squares of bakers' chocolate is lethal to a 20-batter dog; one degree for a 10-batter dog.

cipher of chocolate poisoning in dogs contain vomiting, diarrhea, leftover urination, vomiting, seizures, crooked heartbeat and blackout. Symptoms commonly shrink inside a few hours of eating but can take up to 36 hours. If you construe your dog has eaten chocolate, hustle it to an animal sickbay or veterinarian immediately. The best diagnoses come from pets who were brought to the vet early.

while chocolates are likewise bad for cats, cats are choosy and many cats won't eat it. If your cat does eat chocolate still, discuss the position as life threatening. Cats are small and it takes minus chocolate to murder them

subject, it is best to use a popular search engine, such as Google or Yahoo.

Let the Magic Work With Chocolate Gifts

2007-07-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Do you think that you need a reason to enjoy your favourite chocolates? Well, the majority doesn’t think so. For these little sweets are irresistible and are catalytic in gushing positive vibrations into your thought process. Chocolates define happiness. And this inexpensive happiness can be afforded by all of us. So gift this happiness to someone you love.

Chocolates can be an ideal gift for all the occasions. Whether it is Christmas, Easter or Valentines day, this is in fact the most favourite gift of all times. There are those unhappy times when you end up arguing with your beloved over a romantic dinner. The best way to 'ceasefire' is to present a boxful of chocolate to your beloved. And you can let the magic work for you in bringing back the smile on your her face.

There are several Valentine chocolate gifts that are available in the market. Chocolate kisses, chocolate heart box, Valentine chocolate card, chocolate fountain, chocolate boxes, chocolate tours and so on. They may come in various flavours and shapes like truffle, milk chocolates, caramels and the list continues. All you have to do is to make someone feel special by these chocolates.

Chocolates as a gift convey different meanings according to occasions. They may be an expression of endearment when you gift it to your mother on mothers day. It conveys greetings for the occasions as Christmas or Easter. Chocolates can also make you fall in love on Valentines day.

Spread happiness in the form of chocolates gifts. They can surely work wonders for you!

Chocolate Gift Basket

2007-07-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

Chocolate gift basket is bound to work as everyone love chocolates. It has that soothing taste which is loved by people of all age groups. There are people who love a particular flavor of chocolate and there are other who just crave for chocolate be it any flavor, any brand. For example, some people like chocolates to be very sweet, some like the bitterness that comes with dark chocolate, some people just love white chocolate, some like chocolates filled with nuts and some like caramel filling in a chocolate. Various kinds of chocolates and chocolate lovers can have them all day.

Chocolate gift basket becomes the best and only option if the receiver is a chocolate lover. Also, chocolate gift baskets are a hit among kids. If it's your girlfriend then you can always buy heart or rose shaped chocolates and let them know how special she is for you. If you are planning for a romantic evening with them on that special day then you can add up a nice wine bottle in your chocolate gift basket. Chocolate and wine are ideal combination specially when going on a long drive with your dearest one.

You can choose from variety of chocolates when packing a chocolate gift basket. It is a good idea to send a chocolate gift basket to someone who you don't know that well. Here, you don't have to worry about that person not liking your choice. You also get special low calorie chocolates, which you can send to a friend who is a health conscious. He is really going to relish this thought of having chocolates without affecting his health.

Today, some people even claim that chocolate have some medicinal benefits. Is it a fact or just a saying, it is debatable. But one thing is for sure whether chocolate has medicinal benefits or not, people who love chocolates will continue eating them.

Texas Loves Its Chocolate: An Ancient Treat From The Mayans Just Gets Better

2007-07-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Very few of us don't have at least one good memory of chocolate. Remember warm chocolate chip cookies after school, or brownies pulled straight from the oven on a cool, fall day? Hot chocolate is still the beverage of choice for many children, and few of any age can resist a scoop of chocolate ice cream. With a hot Texas summer approaching, and cities like Dallas, Houston, and Austin already getting a hint of the heat to come, a hot fudge sundae just might be the cooling cure for a lot of maladies. Not even health insurance can provide a sweet cookie and fresh glass of milk when it's really needed, after all.

The first records of chocolate consumption date back to the Mayan Classical Period, or between the years 250 and 900 on our modern calendar. Cacao beans were cooked, ground, and made into a paste. When mixed with water, a bitter beverage important to Mayan, and later Aztec, ceremonies was created. That means chocolate has not only survived thousands of years of conquests, changing political maps, shifting cultures, and natural disasters, but also managed to grow more popular. That's fairly impressive.

When Spanish conquistadors came to the Mesoamerican areas now called Belize, southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and parts of El Salvador, they, too, discovered chocolate from the indigenous peoples. The Spaniards soon brought the seeds of the cacao back home with them, where the traditional recipes were modified and sweetened. The modern uses of chocolate in Texas and the rest of the Western world are now so varied as to be impossible to name in brief -- from a shake or two added to cooking pinto beans, to rich layers worked into decadent flourless cakes.

One of the reasons quality chocolate is so prized is that the preparation process is long and sensitive. The pods must be harvested from the trees at the right moment, dried and fermented for the right amount of time, and then ground, mixed, aerated, tempered, molded and otherwise processed to perfection. The level of quality depends on the beans, as well as the composition of the final mixture, the roasting, and the types and amounts of additives. The most sought-after chocolate is organic, single-bean origin chocolate, which simply means that all of the cacao beans were grown organically and gathered from the same source. Most commercial chocolates, for instance, will mix inorganically grown cacao beans from different regions in different countries, and of varying qualities.

There's been a boom of higher grade chocolate sold in American markets recently, including in Texas. It's common now to see a supermarket or health food market devote an entire section to various types of gourmet chocolate -- and one need not go to cities like Austin, Dallas, or Houston to find them. They're all tempting, oh so tempting, but it's easier not to give into that temptation when it's unclear how to use them properly.

"What's the difference between dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate?" "Should I pay attention to all the percentages? This one says it's 65% pure chocolate, and that one says it's 45%. Which one do I want?"
The best choice depends on for what the chocolate will be used. To make giving into temptation that much easier, here's a basic run-down of the main categories of chocolate:

White chocolate usually has very little chocolate in it. In other words, the cocoa content in white chocolate is very low, and most of its composition will be of other ingredients: butter, sugar, milk, emulsifier, vanilla, and flavors. Because there are no non-fat ingredients from the bean, its appearance is very pale. Some "white chocolate" marketed in the U.S. may not even have any cocoa content at all.

Genuine white chocolate is usually used for specialty deserts.

Milk chocolate is roughly 10 - 20% cocoa solids, although some gourmet varieties will have more. The rule is that milk chocolate should have no less than 12% milk solids. It's not usually used for baking -- except in cases of cookies, of course.

Dark chocolate is a sweetened chocolate with high cocoa solid content. The more cocoa content, the more bitter the taste. Dark chocolate contains a maximum of 12% milk solids, although many gourmet brands have no milk at all. Varieties of dark chocolate include sweet, semi-sweet, bittersweet, and unsweetened.

Dark chocolate is used in many recipes, including a lot of baking recipes. These directions are usually very specific, however, and, when it calls for semi-sweet dark chocolate, for instance, use it. Each type of dark chocolate has specific baking properties.

Semi-sweet dark chocolate is often used for baking cakes, cookies, brownies, and other sweet treats. Its composition is 40 - 62% cocoa solids.

Bittersweet dark chocolate is a sweetened, dark chocolate that contains at least 35% cocoa solids. Good quality bittersweet bars will have a much higher percentage, though, usually between 60 and 85%. The more cocoa, the less room for sugar. That means the higher the cocoa content, the more bitter the taste.

Unsweetened chocolate is very bitter and is only used for baking. It is almost 100% cocoa solids, half of which may be fat (or cocoa butter).

So now that you've had a brief history lesson and run-down of the different types of chocolate, a whole world of cooking has opened up. Try a traditional chocolate beverage recipe, dare to bake that luscious chocolate flourless cake, and try a bar of bittersweet dark chocolate, with at least 65% cocoa content, to really appreciate the true taste of its main ingredient -- cacao. Watch out: over time, you, too, will become a chocolate connoisseur, passing up low-grade chocolate for that organic, single-origin, Venezuelan bar.

Moderate chocolate consumption, according to many studies, is not harmful, and may even be good for you. What you put in your body will certainly affect your health as you age, and eventually your wallet.

Chocolate Full of Health Benefits

2007-07-15T14:59:00.001-07:00

Chocolate the proverbial food of the gods can slightly lower blood pressure in people with mild hypertension, doctors report today in an analysis that spotlights the medical benefits of a tasty treat.

German researchers writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association say dark chocolate is so rich in the class of biochemicals called flavonols that it actually produces favorable effects on the cardiovascular system. Just 30 calories worth -- about the size of a Hershey's Kiss -- not only helped lower blood pressure but raised levels of nitric oxide, which relaxed blood vessels.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, of Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, thinks it's time for dark chocolate to move from the candy store to the clinic.

"The best part of this study is that it allows us to give whole-hearted recommendations to those patients with high blood pressure who might have a sweet tooth," she said.

Going into the study, Dr. Dirk Taubert of University Hospital in Cologne, Germany, hypothesized that "small, habitual" doses of dark chocolate might prove beneficial. He gathered 44 adults between the ages of 56 and 73 with untreated pre-hypertension and mild, stage 1 hypertension, dividing them into two groups. One consumed a daily dose of dark chocolate; the other the same amount of white chocolate. The test ran 18 weeks.

For those eating dark chocolate, the average systolic blood pressure declined by 2.9 millimeters of mercury. The systolic pressure is the upper number in the blood pressure fraction. The average diastolic blood pressure dropped by 1.9 millimeters of mercury. No change occurred for those who nibbled on white chocolate.

Still, some doctors aren't clamoring to recast dark chocolate into a medication.

"There are probably a lot of naturally occurring compounds that have beneficial effects on blood pressure, but it just so happens that this one comes packaged in dark chocolate," said Dr. David Brown, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Stony Brook University Medical Center. His conclusion: "It's not ready for prime time."

Dr. Stephen Green, associate director of the cardiac catheterization laboratories at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, said patients with hypertension should stick with their medications.

"I've noticed that people, especially here on Long Island, don't like the idea of having hypertension, but they're always bringing me lists of supplements and vitamins and stuff out of the health food store that they want to take,"

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2007-07-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so admittedly, I am sitting here taking a little breather and eating my 4th, or is it 10th (?) chocolate chip cookie of the day. It's not quite as enjoyable as the first, but I know I will eat it anyway. Oh, you ask, "Why is it not as good as the first?" Well, it is because this one can't be rationalized away - this one is just plain over-the-top, filled with guilt, packed with pain and too much of a good thing.

Well, now that we are all clear on my addiction of choice. Let's look at what the cookies are dying for me to know, and what your indulgences want you to know as well.

We all have our little indulgences in the work place, which take us away from our work for a moment and allow us to mentally take a break. Whether it is the extra 10 minutes we spend chatting with a co-worker about her love life, the couple of extra personal calls we make each day, the extra ½ hour we take for lunch, or maybe it's just gossiping about how "Mary" is taking an extra ½ hour for her lunch. Any one of these little breathers alone, like that first chocolate chip cookie, can be rationalized away and can even be a little bit of a good thing. They are indulgences that make us feel better in the moment.

We all know that it is ok to indulge once in a while, or what the heck, once a day everyone needs a little breather to pick ourselves up. It is when we have hit our 10th indulgence of the day that we have to take a more serious look at why it is we are driven to indulge.

If we are over indulging in one thing, then we can be sure we are disengaging from something else. Indulgence is the symptom, not the problem. The real problem is that we are disengaging from our work and there is a reason we have made the choice to disengage. It is a choice that many more people are making and when professionals disengage from their work we all pay the price. Disengaged workers miss 3.5 more days of work per year than average employees. In addition, a study by Robert Hall International shows that two months of the average worker's year is wasted time, costing business a total of $1.5 billion in lost time.

There are many reasons why we disengage; my reason du jour is "creative avoidance". If I'm eating a cookie, I don't have to write an article. However, more and more frequently we are seeing that workers disengage because they have lost their passion for their work, or worse yet they never felt the passion to begin with.

Passion is lost when we are not working in our gifts and strengths. If you were created to be a teacher and share your love of learning with the world, no matter how hard you try you will never feel passion when you are selling office equipment. Conversely, the born sales person will never feel their passion teaching history to the next generation.

The problem is that even after we have heard what the chocolate chip cookies are trying to tell us, many of us remain stuck in the cycle of indulgence. Yes, you heard your 10th cookie telling you that you don't want to sell any more copiers, but you ignore that little voice because you don't know how to put away the cookies and find your true passion.

Well, that is one of the purposes of career coaching. Career coaches act as guides on a journey of greater self-awareness and clarity. Coaches help you to find your true passion, and then help you to create an action plan to get from where you are to where you want to be in your career and in your life. Once you are working in your strengths you will find you are fully engaged in your work, loving what you do each day, and you haven't eaten "your 10th chocolate chip cookie" in weeks.

To find out how a coach can help you to identify your passion and strengths and then guide you in creating an action plan to get to where you were always meant to be, contact SmartWork Career Coaching 805/376-1906 or e-mail sfreiberg@verizon.net. One of our Career or Executive Coaches will be happy to discuss your coaching options.

Does Chocolate Have Health Benefits?

2007-07-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

Chocolate – real chocolate that is – is now recognised as having many qualities that can be beneficial for your health. By 'real chocolate' I mean chocolate containing Cocoa, Sugar, Milk Solids, Vanilla, Lethicin and nothing else.

THE UPSIDE OF CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate contains high levels of beneficial chemicals and antidioxants such as Seratonin, Phenylethylaminea, Pentamer and flavonoids. It is also high in essential trace elements, minerals and vitamins such as iron, calcium, potassium, vitamins A. B1, C, D, and E as well as many nutrients. Cocoa powder is also the highest known natural source of Magnesium.

Because it contains Seratonin and Phenylethylamine, chocolate can be good for mental health. These substances are 'mood lifting' agents which are released naturally into our system by the human brain when we are feeling happy or in love. Eating chocolate also releases Seratonin and Phenylethylamine into the system, thus (as all chocoholics know), when we are feeling down or depressed chocolate can provide a 'lift', instantly improving our mental state.

Studies indicate that a chemical found in chocolate called Pentamer help can protect against cancer.

Chocolate is very high in anidioxants in the form of flavanoids Also found in lesser amounts in tea, fruit and red wine, studies indicate they protect the heart and arteries from damage by free radicals.

Magnesium deficiency is linked with hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, joint problems and pre-menstrual problems, otherwise known as PMT or PMS. This condition is caused by a pre-menstrual drop in progesterone levels and it's this which precipitates the violent mood swings familiar to so many women (and their families). Adding magnesium to the diet has been proved to increase pre-menstrual progesterone levels, helping to reduce or even eliminate the problem.

There are benefits for men too, as well as the high Magnesium and flavanoids content which are beneficial for the heart, arteries and hypertension, studies indicate that the cocoa butter in high quality chocolate, although technically a 'saturated fat', does not fur up the arteries or contribute to high cholesterol levels.

Chocolate is an unsurpassed nutritional source, providing high levels of vitamins, minerals and nutrients, a single chocolate chip can provide enough energy for the average man to walk about 170' or 50m. Napoleon carried chocolate with him on his campaigns and today most armies provide chocolate in daily ration packs for soldiers in the field. For over 100 years the British, army have issued soldiers with emergency or 'Iron Rations' of chocolate, containing very high levels of cocoa (80%+), for use in emergencies. Each 'iron ration' of 8oz's – 227g of chocolate can not only provide enough nutrition to keep a soldier going for 7 days or more, it also helps keep up moral in difficult circumstances.

STOP PRESS Nov, 06: Results of a study by Johns Hopkins University indicate that chocolate acts in a similar way to Aspirin in effectively preventing blood clots in the arteries, reducing the likelihood of heart attacks.

THE DOWN SIDE OF CHOCOLATE!

They say "there's no such thing as a free lunch" and chocolate, like all good things in life, has it's problems too. It contains sugar and fat in the form of chocolate butter and eating too much of either will cause health problems. As a result, chocolate has developed an undeserved reputation for being unhealthy.

But, although recognised as being addictive to many people, particularly to Women, chocolate itself is not really the cause of the major health problems it's been associated with.

These problems are caused by the simple fact that many chocoholics choose to satisfy their chocolate cravings in the unhealthiest way possible, by buying heavily advertised, mass produced, brand name, milk and white chocolates.

These products are generally very low in chocolate solids (ave less than 20%) and very, very high in sugar and saturated fats. The beneficial cocoa butter has usually been replaced with Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (HVO's), and there's no question that HVO's are catastrophically ruinous for your health. To make matters worse, because of the very low chocolate content, chocoholics have to eat 3 or 4 times more of this type of product to satisfy a craving for chocolate.

Filled chocolates, both the commercial variety and, sadly, many handmade chocolates, are some of the worst culprits, with centre's consisting almost exclusively of flavoured Fondants and pralines – fondant is virtually 100% sugar and many pralines aren't much better.

The upshot is, if you want a guaranteed way to to get very unhealthy in a very short time, this is one of the most effective ways to way do it.

WHAT IS THE HEALTHIEST CHOCOLATE?

To find the healthiest chocolate the first thing you need to do is start reading the labels, real chocolate should only contain the following ingredients:

Dark chocolate should contain: Cocoa, Sugar, Vanilla and Lethicin in that order.

Milk chocolate should contain only Cocoa, Sugar, Milk solids/fats, Vanilla and Lethicin.

White chocolate should contain only Cocoa Butter, Sugar, Milk solids/fats, Vanilla and Lethicin.

Flavoured chocolates may also contain a natural flavouring such as Orange oil, spices etc, it should not contain Vanillin (artificial Vanilla), vegetable fats or anything else.

For our purposes here, the healthiest chocolate is going to be that which contains the maximum cocoa solids and the minimum sugar. This would make 100% pure chocolate the healthiest option, unfortunately this is virtually inedible because of it's bitterness.

In practice all chocolate has to have some sugar added simply to make it palatable. Dark chocolate containing 70% (or more) cocoa content is generally recognised as being the healthiest option, simply because it contains more chocolate and less sugar.

If you must eat milk or white Chocolate, you should moderate your consumption and make sure your milk chocolate contains a minimumn 35% cocoa and your white chocolate contains a minimum 30% cocoa butter, with the balance of both made up of milk solids and sugar in about equal proportions.

If you like filled chocolates, either handmade chocolate or otherwise, choose those chocolates with fillings containing high cocoa content, covered with high quality chocolate coverture. Not mass produced, high sugar content Pralines or Fondants covered with low quality coatings that barely even qualify as chocolate.

Chocolate should contain ABSOLUTELY NO Vegetable oils or artificial additives of any kind.

BUT ALL'S NOT DOOM AND GLOOM!

If you love chocolate and/or filled chocolates, there's good stuff out there if you look, and as chocolate lovers become more and more discerning, demand for the real thing grows, so it's getting more plentiful by the day. For the healthiest way to satisfy a craving for chocolates, you just have to be more choosy over what you buy to eat (or for gifts) remember, the higher the cocoa content, the healthier it is….. and the nicer it tastes.

Baking That Perfect Chocolate Cookie

2007-07-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

In my humble opinion, there is not a better cookie in the world than a well-made chocolate cookie. I am about to tell you how to make the perfect chocolate cookie.

The Perfect Chocolate Cookie

Cocoa drop cookie, the best chocolate cookie. They are not only delicious, but very easy to make as well.

The ingredients required for this recipe are: ¼ cup butter, softened; ¼ cup shortening; 1 cup sugar; 1 egg; ¾ cup buttermilk; 1 tsp vanilla; 1 ¼ cup sifted all-purpose flour; ½ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp salt; ½ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened; and 1 cup of chopped pecans.

1. Cream the shortening and butter with sugar; beat in egg.
2. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla
3. Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the first mixture.
4. Stir in the pecans, and chill the cookie dough for about an hour.
5. Use a teaspoon to drop the dough onto a greased baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the cookies.
6. Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until set.
7. Then cool and frost with a simple chocolate or vanilla icing if desired.

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Here is the recipe for another great cookie, the chocolate covered shortbread cookie recipe. For this you will need: 8 ounces butter at room temperature; ½ cup powdered sugar; 2 cups all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted; and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Knead with your hands to made sure they are well mixed
3. Press into lightly buttered pans.
4. Bake at 325°F for about 20 minutes.
5. Cut into wedges while they are still warm or break them apart.

There are many fabulous recipes out there but here are two of the best. Remember these recipes around the holidays and you can present your friends and family with delightful treats that will be remembered the rest of the year.

Top 20 Reasons Why Chocolate is Better Than Sex

2007-07-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Top 20 Reasons Why Chocolate is Better Than Sex.

1. You can GET chocolate.

2. “If you love me you’ll swallow that” has real meaning with chocolate.

3. Chocolate satisfies even when it has gone soft.

4. You can safely have chocolate while you are driving.

5. You can make chocolate last as long as you want it to.

6. You can have chocolate in front of your mother.

7. If you bite the nuts too hard the chocolate won’t mind.

8. Two people of the same sex can have chocolate without being called nasty names.

9. The word “commitment” doesn’t scare off chocolate.

10. You can have chocolate on top of your workbench/desk during working hours without upsetting your work mates.

11. You can ask a stranger for chocolate without getting your face slapped.

12. You don’t get hairs in your mouth with chocolate.

13. With chocolate there’s no need to fake it.

14. Chocolate doesn’t make you pregnant.

15. You can have chocolate at any time of the month.

16. Good chocolate is easy to find.

17. You can have as many kinds of chocolate as you can handle.

18. You are never to young or to old for chocolate.

19. When you have chocolate it does not keep your neighbors awake.

20. With chocolate size doesn’t matter; it’s always good.

Chocolate Recipes and Memories

2007-07-15T14:51:00.001-07:00

Everyone has a favorite chocolate recipe that is dragged out for the holidays or other special occasions. Friends and family beg you to share your delectable and sinful recipe, but so far you just haven’t been quite ready. When you decide to take the leap, here are some suggestions to get the best effect.

Chocolate Recipe Gift Basket

Gift baskets are very popular especially around the holidays, so make a few of your best chocolate recipes and put samples in a small basket along with nicely decorated recipe cards and serving suggestions. If you really want to make the basket special, include some of the dry ingredients in mason jars and attach the recipe card to the jar. This makes a lovely holiday gift or a shower gift for a new bride or bride to be.

Chocolate Recipe Memory Book

Every family recipe has a memory or story behind it and chocolate recipes are usually a favored and special moment in families. Create a scrapbook or memory book and include your chocolate recipes along with family memories, stories and even a picture or two.

Thanks to the internet and the many creations that one can find on a computer, there are many ideas to make the book special. If you have a child about to leave home, put a book together for your child along with stories of your favorite memories from their childhood that surround those chocolate recipes.

Maybe your recipe has a history. Was it Great Grandma’s recipe possibly handed down from her great grandma? Have there been changes in the recipe over the years? Or, possibly Uncle Joe asked for a goodie box with those chocolate delights while he was serving in the Army in some Godforsaken place.

Chocolate seems to bring people together, and with those people come wonderful memories to be cherished. Sharing those memories along with the recipes will bring joy to many generations to come, and help create a family history for the young ones who are not yet old enough to understand how important that history will be at some point in their lives.

When you share your chocolate recipes you are sharing a part of yourself with those who matter most to you. Enjoy your chocolate recipes with your family and friends while creating new memories.

Chocolate Candy Gifts, New Ideas

2007-07-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves receiving chocolate candy as a gift. But, you might be tired of just giving the same one-pound box or tin thing special occasions. A new and different approach which should bring spectacular results is giving chocolate works of art instead!

Paintings and Sculptures and Rooms – Oh My!

Imaging receiving a chocolate painting of yourself! Wouldn't that just be a devine treat. This is the kind of a gift that can be shared with a special someone and can be enjoyed by both the eyes and tongue. Chocolatiers like Prudence Emma Staite will create customized paintings of anyone. All you do is send them a picture and the image will be reproduced in chocolate. You can enjoy it by either eating or putting it on display. You might notice that these images resemble woodblock prints as opposed to photorealistic ones, but they are quite impressive.

Customized works are more expensive, but for those who want to spend less, you can order up a chocolate painting of your favorite celebrity such as Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley.

If you want to impress a crowd, you might even want to try one of the chocolate rooms! Giant sculpted pieces such as edible fireplaces are installed in a room of your choosing bring to life childhood fantasies of being able to eat the furniture.

Another unique group called Chocolate Deities produces chocolate sculptures of deities from various world religions. If you like Asian art and sculptures, Indian works, etc., you can get items such as a Hotei (a Japanese laughing Buddha) or Kuan Yin (the Chinese Goddess of Mercy) and the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh, all sculpted in dark chocolate.

If Impressionism is Your Thing, consider giving a chocolate candy version of their Van Gogh, Monet or Picasso! If you visit sites such as netique.com, you can find reproductions of famous works such as Irises by Van Gogh, or Water Lilies by Monet. These iconic pieces are reproduced in miniature using food coloring and look just like the real thing. If you can resist eating them, you can display these works and preserve them just like other foodisart pieces.

Thru the use of food coloring and an inkjet-like printer, these artists can do just about anything. As you can see, chocolate candy isn't just limited to the boring old chocolate bar anymore! Have fun and treat yourself to a unique work of art or give one to your favorite chocoholic!

The History of M&M's Chocolate

2007-07-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Forrest Mars Sr. invented the recipe for M&M's during the Spanish Civil War. Mars saw soldiers eating pieces of chocolate covered with a hard sugary coating. The coating preventing the candy from melting in the hot sun. M&M's were first sold to the public in 1941, packaged in cardboard tubes. In 1948, the packaging changed from a tube to the brown plastic pouch known today. In 1954, "M&M's Peanut Chocolate Candies were introduced. That same year, the M&M's brand characters and the famous slogan "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand" were both trademarked.

M&M's® Plain Chocolate Candies

M&M's® History

The History of Hershey Chocolate - Milton Hershe

2007-07-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Milton Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, in a farmhouse near the Central Pennsylvania village of Derry Church. Milton was in the fourth grade when his Mennonite father, Henry Hershey, found his son a position as an printer's apprentice in Gap, Pennsylvania. Milton later became an apprentice to a candy-maker in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and candy-making became a passion which Milton grew to love. In 1876, when Milton was only eighteen-years old, he opened his own candy shop in Philadelphia. However, the shop was closed after six years and Milton moved to Denver, Colorado, where he worked with a caramel manufacturer and learned caramel-making. In 1886, Milton moved back to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and started the successful Lancaster Caramel Company.

In 1893, Milton Hershey attended the Chicago International Exposition where he bought German chocolate-making machinery and began making chocolate-coated caramels. In 1894, Milton started the Hershey Chocolate Company and produced Hershey chocolate caramels, breakfast cocoa, sweet chocolate and baking chocolate. He sold his caramel business and concentrated on chocolate-making.

The Hershey Chocolate Company has made or currently owns many famous Hershey chocolate candies including: Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars, Cadbury Creme Eggs candy, Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme candy bar, Hershey's milk chocolate and milk chocolate with almonds bars, Hershey's Nuggets chocolates, Hershey's Kisses and Hershey's Hugs chocolates, Kit Kat wafer bar, Reese's crunchy cookie cups, Reese's NutRageous candy bar, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Sweet Escapes candy bars, TasteTations candy, Twizzlers candy, Whoppers malted milk balls, and York Peppermint Patties.

Hershey's Kisses chocolates were first introduced in 1907 by Milton Hershey, who trademarked the "plume" extending out of the wrapper in 1924.

Biography and Photo of Milton Hershey

The History of Chocolate Chip Cookies - Ruth Wakefield

2007-07-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ruth Wakefield invented Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ruth Graves Wakefield graduated from the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. She worked as a dietitian and lectured on food, until, together with her husband she bought a tourist lodge named the Toll House Inn.

Ruth Wakefield prepared the recipes for the meals served to the guests at the Inn and gained local notoriety for her deserts. One of her favorite recipes was for Butter Drop Do cookies. The recipe called for the use of baker's chocolate and one day Ruth found herself without the needed ingredient. She substituted a semi-sweet chocolate bar cut up into bits. However, unlike the baker's chocolate the chopped up chocolate bar did not melt completely, the small pieces only softened.

As it so happened the chocolate bar had been a gift from Andrew Nestle of the Nestle Chocolate Company. As the Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe became popular, sales of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate bar increased. Andrew Nestle and Ruth Wakefield struck a deal. Nestle would print the Toll House Cookie recipe on its packaging and Ruth Wakefield would have a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate.

"How Does Your Chocoale Chip Cookie Crumble?"
Legend tells us that Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies by mistake.

Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ruth Wakefield graduated from the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. After graduation, she worked as a dietitian and food lecturer.

Grave of Ruth Wakefield
Ruth Graves Wakefield died in 1977.

Delicious Recipes from About for Chocolate Chip Cookies
Big Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe - Home Cooking
Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe - Home Cokking
Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Stay At Home Parents

Timeline of Chocolate

2007-07-15T14:17:00.000-07:00

1500 BC-400 BC - The Olmec Indians are believed to be the first to grow cocoa beans as a domestic crop.

250 to 900 CE - The consumption of cocoa beans was restricted to the Mayan society's elite, in the form of an unsweetened cocoa drink made from the ground beans.

AD 600 - Mayans migrate into northern regions of South America establishing earliest known cocoa plantations in the Yucatan.

14th Century - The drink became popular among the Aztec upper classes who upsurped the cocoa beverage from the Mayans and were the first to tax the beans. The Aztecs called it "xocalatl" meaning warm or bitter liquid.

1502 - Columbus encountered a great Mayan trading canoe in Guanaja carrying cocoa beans as cargo.

1519 - Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez recorded the cocoa usage in the court of Emperor Montezuma.

1544 - Dominican friars took a delegation of Kekchi Mayan nobels to visit Prince Philip of Spain. The Mayans brought gift jars of beaten cocoa , mixed and ready to drink. Spain and Portugal did not export the beloved drink to the rest of Eurpoe for nearly a century.

16th Century Europe - The Spanish began to add cane sugar and flavorings such as vanilla to their sweet cocoa beverages.

1570 - Cocoa gained popularity as a medicine and aphrodisiac.

1585 - First official shipments of cocoa beans began arriving in Seville from Vera Cruz, Mexico.

1657 - The first chocolate house was opened in London by a Frenchman. The shop was called the The Coffee Mill and Tobacco Roll. Costing 10 to 15 shillings per pound, chocolate was considered a beverage for the elite class.

1674 - Eating solid chocolate was introduced in the form of chocolate rolls and cakes, served in chocolate emporiums.

1730 - Cocoa beans had dropped in price from $3 per lb. to being within the financial reach of those other than the very wealthy.

1732 - French inventor, Monsieur Dubuisson invented a table mill for grinding chocolate.

1753 - Swedish naturalist, Carolus Linnaeus was dissatisfied with the word "cocoa," so renamed it "theobroma," Greek for "food of the gods."

1765 - Chocolate was introduced to the United States when Irish chocolate-maker John Hanan imported cocoa beans from the West Indies into Dorchester, Massachusetts, to refine them with the help of American Dr. James Baker. The pair soon after built America's first chocolate mill and by 1780, the mill was making the famous BAKER'S ® chocolate.

1795 - Dr. Joseph Fry of Bristol, England, employed a steam engine for grinding cocoa beans, an invention that led to the manufacture of chocolate on a large factory scale.

1819 - The pioneer of Swiss chocolate-making, François Louis Callier, opened the first swiss chocolate factory.

1828 - The invention of the cocoa press, by Conrad Van Houten, helped cut prices and improve the quality of chocolate by squeezing out some of the cocoa butter and giving the beverage a smoother consistency. Conrad Van Houten patented his invention in Amsterdam and his alkalizing process became known as "Dutching".

1847 - Joseph Fry & Son discovered a way to mix some of the cocoa butter back into the "Dutched" chocolate, and added sugar, creating a paste that could be molded. The result was the first modern chocolate bar.

1849 - Joseph Fry & Son and Cadbury Brothers displayed chocolates for eating at an exhibition in Bingley Hall, Birmingham, England.

1851 - Prince Albert's Exposition in London was the first time that Americans were introduced to bonbons, chocolate creams, hand candies (called "boiled sweets"), and caramels.

1861 - Richard Cadbury created the first known heart-shaped candy box for Valentine's Day.

1868 - John Cadbury mass-marketed the first boxes of chocolate candies.

1876 - Daniel Peter of Vevey, Switzerland, experimented for eight years before finally inventing a means of making milk chocolate for eating.

1879 - Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé joined together to form the Nestlé Company.

1879 - Rodolphe Lindt of Berne, Switzerland, produced a more smooth and creamy chocolate that melted on the tongue. He invented the "conching" machine. To conch meant to heat and roll chocolate in order to refine it. After chocolate had been conched for seventy-two hours and had more cocoa butter added to it, it was possible to create chocolate "fondant" and other creamy forms of chocolate.

1897 - The first known published recipe for chocolate brownies appeared in the Sears and Roebuck Catalogue.

1910 - Canadian, Arthur Ganong marketed the first nickel chocolate bar.

1913 - Swiss confiseur Jules Sechaud of Montreux introduced a machine process for manufacturing filled chocolates.

1926 - Belgian chocolatier, Joseph Draps starts the Godiva Company to compete with Hershey's and Nestle's American market.

History of Chocolate

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The origins of chocolate can be traced
back to the ancient Maya and Aztec civilisations in Central America, who first enjoyed 'chocolatl'; a much-prized spicy drink made from roasted cocoa beans. Chocolate was exclusively for drinking until the early Victorian era, when a technique for making solid 'eating' chocolate was devised. Throughout its history, whether as a cocoa, a drinking chocolate beverage or confectionery treat, chocolate has been a much sought after food.

The story of cocoa begins with cocoa trees, which, for thousands of years, grew wild in the tropical rain forests of the Amazon basin and other tropical areas in Central and South America. Hundreds of years before cocoa was brought to Europe, the Maya Indians and the Aztecs recognised the value of cocoa beans both as an ingredient for their special drink and as currency.

CHOCOLATE IN EUROPE

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Xocolatl! or Chocolat or Chocolate as it became known, was brought to Europe by Cortez, by this time the conquistadors had learned to make the drink more palatable to European tastes by mixing the ground roasted beans with sugar and vanilla (a practice still continued today), thus offsetting the spicy bitterness of the brew the Aztec's drank.

The first chocolate factories opened in Spain, where the dried fermented beans brought back from the new world by the Spanish treasure fleets were roasted and ground, and by the early 17th century chocolate powder - from which the European version of the drink was made - was being exported to other parts of Europe. The Spanish kept the source of the drink - the beans - a secret for many years, so successfully in fact, that when English buccaneers boarded what they thought was a Spanish 'Treasure Galleon' in 1579, only to find it loaded with what appeared to be 'dried sheep's droppings', they burned the whole ship in frustration. If only they had known, chocolate was so expensive at that time, that it was worth it's weight in Silver (if not Gold), Chocolate was Treasure Indeed!

Within a few years, the Cocoa beverage made from the powder produced in Spain had become popular throughout Europe, in the Spanish Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and - in about 1520 - it arrived in England.

The first Chocolate House in England opened in London in 1657 followed rapidly by many others. Like the already well established coffee houses, they were used as clubs where the wealthy and business community met to smoke a clay pipe of tobacco, conduct business and socialise over a cup of chocolate.

BACK TO THE AMERICA'S

Event's went full circle when English colonists carried chocolate (and coffee) with them to England's colonies in North America. Destined to become the United States of America and Canada, they are now the worlds largest consumers - by far - of both Chocolate and Coffee, consuming over half of the words total production of chocolate alone.

EARLY HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

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The earliest record of chocolate was over fifteen hundred years ago in the Central American rain forests, where the tropical mix of high rain fall combined with high year round temperatures and humidity provide the ideal climate for cultivation of the plant from which chocolate is derived, the Cacao Tree.

The Cacao Tree was worshipped by the Mayan civilisation of Central America and Southern Mexico, who believed it to be of divine origin, Cacao is actually a Mayan word meaning "God Food" hence the tree's modern generic Latin name 'Theobrama Cacao' meaning ‘Food of the Gods’. Cacao was corrupted into the more familiar 'Cocoa' by the early European explorers. The Maya brewed a spicy, bitter sweet drink by roasting and pounding the seeds of the Cacao tree (cocoa beans) with maize and Capsicum (Chilli) peppers and letting the mixture ferment. This drink was reserved for use in ceremonies as well as for drinking by the wealthy and religious elite, they also ate a Cacao porridge.

The Aztecs of central Mexico also prized the beans, but because the Aztec's lived further north in more arid regions at higher altitudes, where the climate was not suitable for cultivation of the tree, they had to acquire the beans through trade and/or the spoils of war. The Aztecs prized the beans so highly they used them as currency - 100 beans bought a Turkey or a slave - and tribute or Taxes were paid in cocoa beans to Aztec emperors. The Aztecs, like the Mayans, also enjoyed Cacao as a beverage fermented from the raw beans, which again featured prominently in ritual and as a luxury available only to the very wealthy. The Aztecs called this drink Xocolatl, the Spanish conquistadors found this almost impossible to pronounce and so corrupted it to the easier 'Chocolat', the English further changed this to Chocolate.

The Aztec's regarded chocolate as an aphrodisiac and their Emperor, Montezuma reputedly drank it fifty times a day from a golden goblet and is quoted as saying of Xocolatl: "The divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food"

In fact, the Aztec's prized Xocolatl well above Gold and Silver so much so, that when Montezuma was defeated by Cortez in 1519 and the victorious 'conquistadors' searched his palace for the Aztec treasury expecting to find Gold & Silver, all they found were huge quantities of cocoa beans. The Aztec Treasury consisted, not of precious metals, but Cocoa Beans.

History of Chocolate

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Chocolate Through the Years

The story of chocolate, as far back as we know it, begins with the discovery of America. Until 1492, the Old World knew nothing at all about the delicious and stimulating flavor that was to become the favorite of millions.

The Court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella got its first look at the principal ingredient of chocolate when Columbus returned in triumph from America and laid before the Spanish throne a treasure trove of many strange and wonderful things. Among these were a few dark brown beans that looked like almonds and seemed most unpromising. There were cocoa beans, today's source of all our chocolate and cocoa.

The King and Queen never dreamed how important cocoa beans could be, and it remained for Hernando Cortez, the great Spanish explorer, to grasp the commercial possibilities of the New World offerings.

Food of the Gods

During his conquest of Mexico, Cortez found the Aztec Indians using cocoa beans in the preparation of the royal drink of the realm, "chocolatl", meaning warm liquid. In 1519, Emperor Montezuma, who reportedly drank 50 or more portions daily, served chocolatl to his Spanish guests in great golden goblets, treating it like a food for the gods.

For all its regal importance, however, Montezuma's chocolatl was very bitter, and the Spaniards did not find it to their taste. To make the concoction more agreeable to Europeans, Cortez and his countrymen conceived of the idea of sweetening it with cane sugar.

While they took chocolatl back to Spain, the idea found favor and the drink underwent several more changes with newly discovered spices, such as cinnamon and vanilla. Ultimately, someone decided the drink would taste better if served hot.

The new drink won friends, especially among the Spanish aristocracy. Spain wisely proceeded to plant cocoa in its overseas colonies, which gave birth to a very profitable business. Remarkably enough, the Spanish succeeded in keeping the art of the cocoa industry a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly a hundred years.

Chocolate Spreads to Europe

Spanish monks, who had been consigned to process the cocoa beans, finally let the secret out. It did not take long before chocolate was acclaimed throughout Europe as a delicious, health-giving food. For a while it reigned as the drink at the fashionable Court of France. Chocolate drinking spread across the Channel to Great Britain, and in 1657 the first of many famous English Chocolate Houses appeared.

The hand methods of manufacture used by small shops gave way in time to the mass production of chocolate. The transition was hastened by the advent of a perfected steam engine which mechanized the cocoa grinding process. By 1730, chocolate had dropped in price from three dollars or more per pound to within the financial reach of all. The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 reduced the prices even further and helped to improve the the quality of the beverage by squeezing out part of the cocoa butter, the fat that occurs naturally in cocoa beans. From then on, drinking chocolate had more of the smooth consistency and the pleasing flavor it has today.

The 19^th Century marked two more revolutionary developments in the history of chocolate. In 1847, an English company introduced solid "eating chocolate" through the development of fondant chocolate, a smooth and velvety variety that has almost completely replaced the old coarse grained chocolate which formerly dominated the world market. The second development occurred in 1876 in Vevey, Switzerland, when Daniel Peter devised a way of adding milk to the chocolate, creating the product we enjoy today known as milk chocolate.

Chocolate Comes To America

In the United States of America, the production of chocolate proceeded at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world. It was in the pre-revolutionary New England -- 1765, to be exact -- that the first chocolate factory was established.

Chocolate has gained so much importance since that time, that any interruption in its supply would be keenly felt.

During World War II, the U.S. government recognized chocolate's role in the nourishment and group spirit of the Allied Armed Forces, so much so that it allocated valuable shipping space for the importation of cocoa beans. Many soldiers were thankful for the pocket chocolate bars which gave them the strength to carry on until more food rations could be obtained. Today, the U.S. ARmy D-rations include three 4-ounce chocolate bars. Chocolate has even been taken into space as part of the diet of U.S. astronauts.

Growing the Cocoa Bean

Cocoa beans are the product of the cacao tree. The origin of the cacao tree is in dispute. Some say it originated in the Amazon basin of Brazil, others place it in the Orinoco Valley of Venezuela, while still others contend that it is native to Central America.

Wherever its first home, we know the cacoa tree is strictly a tropical plant thriving only in hot, rainy climates. Thus, its cultivation is confined to the lands not more than 20 degrees north of south of the equator.

The Need For Shelter

The cacao tree is very delicate and sensitive. It needs protection from the wind and requires a fair amount of shade under most conditions. This is true especially in its first two to four years of growth.

A newly planted cacao seedling is often sheltered by a different type of tree. It is normal to plant food crops for shade such as banana, plantain, coconuts or cocoyams. Rubber trees and forest trees are also used for shade. Once established, however, cacao trees can grow in full sun light, provided there are fertile soil conditions and intensive husbandry. Cacao plantations (trees under cultivation), and estates, usually in valleys or coastal plains, must have evenly distributed rainfall and rich, well drained soil.

As a general rule, cacao trees get their start in a nursery bed where seeds from high yielding trees are planted in fiber baskets or plastic bags. The seedlings grow so fast that in a few months they are ready for transplanting, container and all.

The First Fruit

With pruning and careful cultivation, the trees of most strains will begin bearing fruit in the fifth year. With extreme care, some strains can be induced to yield good crops in the third and fourth years.

Everything about the tree is just as colorful as its history. An evergreen, the cacao tree has large glossy leaves that are red when young and green when mature. Overlays of clinging moss and colorful lichens are often found on the bark of the trunk, and in some areas beautiful small orchids grow on its branches. The tree sprouts thousands of tiny waxy pink or white five-pedaled blossoms that cluster together on the trunk and older branches. But, only three to 10 percent will go on to mature into full fruit.

The fruit, which will eventually be converted into the world's chocolate and cocoa, has green or sometimes maroon colored pods on the trunk of the tree and its main branches. Shaped somewhat like an elongated melon tapered at both ends, these pods often ripen into a golden color or sometimes take on a scarlet hue with multicolored flecks.

At its maturity, the cultivated tree measures from 15 to 25 feet tall, though the tree in its wild state may reach 60 feet or more.

The potential age of a tree is open to speculation. There are individual trees known to be over 200 years of age, but no one has determined the real life span of the species. However, in 25 years the economic usefulness of a tree may be considered at an end, and it often becomes desirable to replant with younger trees.

Varieties of Cacao

While the cacao tree bears fruit (or pods) all year round, harvesting is generally seasonal. The pods come in a variety of types since cacao trees cross-pollinate freely. These types can be reduced to three classifications: Criollo, the prince of cacaos, is a soft thin-skinned pod, with a light color and a unique, pleasant aroma. Forastero, a more plentiful type, is easier to cultivate and has a thick-walled pod and a pungent aroma. Trinitario, which is believed to be a natural cross from strains of the other two types, has a great variety of characteristics but generally possesses good, aromatic flavor; and these trees are particularly suitable for cultivation.

In the Western Hemisphere, strange as it may seem, plantations composed of just one species of cocoa beans are uncommon. Even single trees with all the characteristics of a specific type are rare. Uniformity exists only where cacao plantations have been developed from the rooted branch cuttings of single mother trees.

In recent years, cacao growers have turned increasingly to hybridization as a means of improving the quality of the bean and making it more disease resistant. Scientists using state-of-the-art biotechnology techniques are also trying to improve the quality of cacao and its resistance to disease.

Handling the Harvest

The job of picking ripe cacao pods is not an easy one. The tree is so frail and its roots are so shallow that workmen cannot risk injuring it by climbing to reach the pods on the higher branches.

The planter sends his tumbadores, or pickers, into the fields with long handled, mitten-shaped steel knives that can reach the highest pods and snip them without wounding the soft bark of the tree. Machetes are used for the pods growing within reach on the lower trunk.

Where Experience Counts

It requires training and experience to know by appearance which fruit is ripe and ready to be cut. Ripe pods are found on trees at all times since the growing season in the tropics, with its evenly distributed rainfall, is continuous.

For most localities there is a main harvest lasting several months and a mid-crop harvest lasting several more months. Climatic differences cause wide variations in harvest times with frequent fluctuations from year to year even within the same location.

What Happens after Picking

Gathers follow the harvesters who have removed the ripe pods from the trees. The pods are collected in baskets and transported to the edge of a field where the pod breaking operation begins. One or two lengthwise blows from a well-wielded machete is usually enough to split open the woody shells. A good breaker can open 500 pods an hour.

A great deal of patience is required to complete harvesting. Anywhere from 20 to 50 cream-colored beans are scooped from a typical pod and the husk and inner membrane are discarded. Dried beans from an average pod weigh less than two ounces, and approximately 400 beans are required to make one pound of chocolate.

The beans are still many steps away from the familiar finished product. Exposure to air quickly changes the cream-colored beans to a lavender or purple. They do not look like the finished chocolate nor do they have the well-known fragrance of chocolate at this time.

Preparing the Crop for Shipment

The cocoa beans or seeds that are removed from the pods are put into boxes or thrown on heaps and covered. Around the beans is a layer of pulp that starts to heat up and ferment. Fermentation lasts from three to nine days and serves to remove the raw bitter taste of cocoa and to develop precursors and components that are characteristic of chocolate flavor.

Fermenting is a simple "yeasting" process in which the sugars contained in the beans are converted to acid, primarily lactic acid and acetic acid.

The process generates temperatures as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit, which kill the germ of the bean and activate existing enzymes in the beans to form compounds that produce the chocolate flavor when the beans are roasted. The result is a fully developed bean with a rich brown color, a sign that the cocoa is now ready for drying.

Drying is Important

Like any moisture-filled fruit, the beans must be dried if they are to keep. In some countries, drying is accomplished simply by laying the beans on trays or bamboo matting and leaving them to bask in the sun. When moist climate conditions interfere with sun-drying, artificial methods are used. For example, the beans can be carried indoors and dried by hot-air pipes.

With favorable weather the drying process usually takes several days. In this interval, farmers turn the beans frequently and use the opportunity to pick them over for foreign matter and flat, broken or germinated beans. During drying, beans lose nearly all their moisture and more than half their weight.

When the beans are dried, they are prepared for shipping in 130 to 200 pound sacks. They are seldom stored except at shipping centers, where they await inspection by buyers.

Marketing for export

Buyers sample the quality of a crop by cutting open a number of beans to see that they are properly fermented. Purple centers indicate incomplete fermentation.

If the prevailing crop is found satisfactory, the grower is paid at the current market price. The market price depends not only on the abundance of the worldwide crop and the quality of farmers' crops in a number of countries, but on a number of economic conditions throughout the world. The industry has set up Cocoa Exchanges, similar to stock exchanges, in principle cities such as New York, London, Hamburg and Amsterdam.

From the Bean to Chocolate

We now come to the remarkable art of chocolate making, a process that is comparable with the skill and finesse of the world's greatest chefs. The manufacturing process requires much time and painstaking care. Just to make an individual-size chocolate bar, for instance, takes from two to four days or more.

Manufacturing methods will differ in detail from plant to plant, but there is a general processing pattern which prevails everywhere. It is this pattern that makes the chocolate industry distinctive from every other industry.

For example, all manufacturers carefully catalogue each shipment according to its particular type and origin. This is very important, because it enables them later to maintain exact control over the flavor blending of beans for roasting.

Prior to Roasting

While awaiting the blending process, the beans are carefully stored. The storage area must be isolated from the rest of the building so the sensitive cocoa does not come into contact with strong odors which it may absorb as an off-flavor. Every step of the way so far reflects the close regulation of conditions which is needed to ensure the production of uniformly high quality chocolate.

The first step to actual manufacturing is cleaning. This is done by passing the cocoa beans through a cleaning machine that removes dried cacao pulp, pieces of pod and other extraneous material that had not been removed earlier.

When thoroughly cleaned, the beans are carefully weighed and blended according to a company's particular specifications. These formulas are based on experience and desirability. In the science of chocolate making, much depends upon the ability to achieve the right formula for the desired end product through the proper selection of beans available.

To bring out the characteristic chocolate aroma, the beans are roasted in large rotary cylinders. Depending upon the variety of the beans and the desired end result, the roasting lasts from 30 minutes to two hours at temperatures of 250 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. As the beans turn over and over, their moisture content drops, their color changes to a rich brown, and the characteristic aroma of chocolate becomes evident.

What Follows Roasting

Proper roasting is one of the keys to good flavor, but there are still several more steps to follow. After roasting, the beans are quickly cooled and their thin shells, made brittle by roasting, are removed. In most factories, this is done by a "cracker and fanner," a giant winnowing machine that passes the beans between serrated cones so they are cracked rather than crushed. In the process, a series of mechanical sieves separate the broken pieces into large and small grains while fans blow away the thin, light shell from the meat or "nibs."

The nibs, which contain about 53 percent cocoa butter, are next conveyed to mills, where they are crushed between large grinding stones or heavy steel discs. The process generates enough frictional heat to liquefy the cocoa butter and form what is commercially know as chocolate liquor. The term liquor does not refer to alcohol, it simply means liquid. When the liquid is poured into molds and allowed to solidify, the resulting cakes are unsweetened or bitter chocolate.

Up to this point, the manufacturing of cocoa and chocolate is identical. The process now diverges, but there is an important interconnection to be noted. The by-product of cocoa shortly becomes an essential component of chocolate. That component is the unique vegetable fat, cocoa butter, which forms about 25 percent of the weight of most chocolate bars.

How to Make Cocoa Powder

The chocolate liquor, destined to become a cup of cocoa, is pumped into giant hydraulic presses weighing up to 25 tons, where pressure is applied to remove the desired cocoa butter. The fat drains away through metallic screens as a yellow liquid. It is then collected for use in chocolate manufacturing.

Cocoa butter has such importance for the chocolate industry that it deserves more than a passing mention. It is unique among vegetable fats because it is a solid at normal room temperature and melts at 89 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit, which is just below body temperature. Its success in resisting oxidation and rancidity makes it very practical. Under normal storage conditions, cocoa butter can be kept for years without spoiling.

The pressed cake that is left after the removal of cocoa butter can be cooled, pulverized and sifted into cocoa powder. Cocoa that is packaged for sale to grocery stores or put into bulk for use as a flavor by dairies, bakeries, and confectionery manufacturers, may have 10 percent or more cocoa butter content. "Breakfast cocoa," a less common type, must contain at least 22 percent cocoa butter.

In the so-called "Dutch" process, the manufacturer treats the cocoa with an alkali to develop a slightly different flavor and give the cocoa a darker appearance characteristic of the Dutch type. The alkali acts as a processing agent rather than as a flavor ingredient.

How to Make Eating Chocolate

While cocoa is made by removing some of the cocoa butter, eating chocolate is made by adding it. This holds true of all eating chocolate, whether it is dark, bittersweet, or milk chocolate. Besides enhancing the flavor, the added cocoa butter serves to make the chocolate more fluid.

One example of eating chocolate is sweet chocolate, a combination of unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter and perhaps a little vanilla. Making it entails melting and combining the ingredients in a large mixing machine until the mass has the consistency of dough.

Milk chocolate, the most common form of eating chocolate, goes through essentially the same mixing process-except that it involves using less unsweetened chocolate and adding milk.

Whatever ingredients are used, the mixture then travels through a series of heavy rollers set one atop the other. Under the grinding that takes place here, the mixture is refined to a smooth paste ready for "conching."

What is Conching?

Conching is a flavor development process which puts the chocolate through a "kneading" action and takes its name from the shell-like shape of the containers originally employed. The "conches," as the machines are called, are equipped with heavy rollers that plow back and forth through the chocolate mass anywhere from a few hours to several days. Under regulated speeds, these rollers can produce different degrees of agitation and aeration in developing and modifying the chocolate flavors.

In some manufacturing setups, there is an emulsifying operation that either takes the place of conching or else supplements it. This operation is carried out by a machine that works like an eggbeater to break up sugar crystals and other particles in the chocolate mixture to give it a fine, velvety smoothness.

After the emulsifying or conching machines, the mixture goes through a tempering interval-heating, cooling and reheating-and then at last into molds to be formed into the shape of the complete product. The molds take a variety of shapes and sizes, from the popular individual-size bars available to consumers to a ten-pound block used by confectionery manufacturers.

Ready for Shipment

When the molded chocolate reaches the cooling chamber, cooling proceeds at a fixed rate that keeps hard-earned flavor intact. The bars are then removed from the molds and passed along to wrapping machines to be packed for shipment to distributors, confectioners and others throughout the country.

For convenience, chocolate is frequently shipped in a liquid state when intended for use by other food manufacturers. Whether solid or liquid, it provides candy, cookie, and ice cream manufacturers with the most popular flavor for their products. Additionally, a portion of the United State's total chocolate output goes into coatings, powders and flavorings that add zest to our foods in a thousand different ways.

Inside a Chocolate Factory

In touring a chocolate factory, one is particularly impressed by the close controls maintained throughout operations. Work is carried out in an atmosphere of scientific exactness and nothing is left to chance.

Precision instruments regulate temperatures, stabilize the moisture content of the air, and control the time intervals of manufacturing operations and other items necessary to achieve quality results.

The equipment of a factory is heavy, massive and complex. Often representing an investment of many millions of dollars, there are literally tons of equipment that the cocoa beans must pass through on their way to becoming chocolate.

Automation Does the Job

Besides the equipment already described, the industry employs a number of fascinating machines to do the work of shaping and packaging chocolate into the familiar forms that we see every day on store counters. Some of the shaping machines perform at amazing speeds, squirting out jets of chocolate that solidify into special shapes at a rate of several hundred a minute.* Other machines do a complete job of wrapping and packaging at speeds that human hands would find impossible.

* Separate from the chocolate industry but of interest nonetheless, is the enrober-a machine employed by many candy manufactures in the creation of assorted chocolates. The enrober receives lines of assorted centers (nuts, nougats, fruit or whatever desired filling) and showers them with a waterfall of liquid chocolate. This generally covers and surrounds each center with a blanket of chocolate. Yet other confectionery machines create a hallow-molded shell of chocolate which is then filled with a soft or liquid center before the bottom is sealed with chocolate.

The mechanized nature of the entire chocolate-making process contributes greatly to the industry's high standards of hygiene and sanitation. To keep check on these standards, chocolate factories constantly run quality tests, which show whether the process is proceeding within the strict limitations designed for each product. These tests cover an amazing range-there are tests for the viscosity of chocolate, for the cocoa butter content, for acidity, for the fineness of a product and, of course, tests for purity and taste of the desired finished product.

All chocolate manufacturers, it is important to note, must meet the standards as set forth in the rules and regulations of The Food and Drug Administration. These govern manufacturing formulas, even to the extent of specifying the minimum content of the chocolate liquor and milk used. They also impose strict rules regarding the flavorings and other ingredients that may be used.

Reasons for Secrecy

Where methods of manufacturing are concerned; however, manufacturers have a completely free hand and have developed individual variations from the "pattern." Each manufacturer seeks to protect his own methods by conducting certain operations under an atmosphere of secrecy. Modern technology, in this respect, is reminiscent of the day of the Spanish monopoly.

Today's "secrets," unlike those of old, include many small but important details which center around key manufacturing operations. No chef guards his favorite recipes more zealously than the chocolate manufacturer guards his formulas for blending beans or the time intervals he gives to his conching. Time intervals, temperatures and proportions of ingredients are three critical factors that no company wants to divulge.

A Sanitary Atmosphere

A visit to a chocolate factory certainly will not reveal any secrets; however, the visitor will be impressed by the gleaming appearance that such a place has. Chocolate manufacturers conduct all operations under sanitary, laboratory-like conditions in keeping with the purity of the products they make. They follow a daily regimen of machine maintenance and general housekeeping that is not exceeded in the food industry.

Cleanliness is, indeed, the universal byword of the chocolate industry. Chocolate factories not only have careful programs for industrial sanitation and for the personal hygiene of their employees, but they are continually striving to improve their programs.

A Plant Within a Plant

Technicians use laboratories to analyze every phase of chocolate preparation-from raw materials to finished products. They test samples for the market as well as experimental products produced in a company's pilot plants.

These pilot plants consist of miniature equipment which duplicates a company's entire chocolate making process and those of some of their customers, as well as providing sample quantities of any product desired. Chocolate manufacturers are making increasing use of pilot plants in conjunction with their laboratory research programs to develop interesting new products and find new ways of making the old ones.

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