The Largest Cacao Producing Countries
February 23, 2012
Cacao is cultivated mainly in the lands of Asia, Central and South America, as well as in West Africa. The largest cacao producing countries are Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Indonesia. Such countries account for a huge percentage of the total worldwide production of cacao.
During the beginning of 1970, growing of cacao was almost exclusively done in countries like Brazil and Nigeria as well as Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Today, the cultivation of cacao has widened its horizons and has reached certain areas like the Pacific region, in which you can observe remarkable growth rates in terms of producing cacao with countries such as Indonesia.
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Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies
February 22, 2012
Cookies can be many things to many people. They can be a daily treat or an occasional guilty pleasure. They can be a midnight snack staple just before you hit the sheets. They can be your go-to food during unannounced visits from friends. They can be practically anything you want them to be. It gets all the better when you throw nutritious stuff into the picture.
A banana can be a delectable dessert all its own since it is sweet by nature. Aside from being delicious, bananas are known for their substantial health benefits. They contain high levels of potassium, fiber, and essential vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin A.
On the other hand, oatmeal makes a wise choice too when you’re rooting for nutritional content. It’s particularly good for the heart. It’s also proven to lower cholesterol and stabilize sugar in the blood, and also, it can basically boost the immune system.
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Dark Chocolate Can Alleviate PMS Symptoms
February 21, 2012
Premenstrual syndrome or PMS is a collective term for all the physical and emotional symptoms that come with a woman's menstrual cycle. Such symptoms are due to the changes in estrogen and progesterone levels in the female body during women's monthly periods. Often times, these symptoms cause immense discomfort and distress.
Such changes can bring about a domino effect in the body which often leads to a temporary drop in the levels of hormones serotonin and endorphins, both considered to be feel-good hormones.
Being irritable and feeling exhausted all the time are among the most common symptoms experienced when PMS-ing. It goes without saying that it can be such a pain in the neck, but there are measures one can take to somehow alleviate the symptoms.
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Theo Mint Dark Chocolate
February 20, 2012
I love mint. It's one of my top 5 favorite flavor combinations with chocolate. I couldn't imagine enjoying a mint chocolate bar that wasn’t traditional 100% peppermint. You just don’t mess with tradition!
However, I really liked the unusual blend of spearmint with the peppermint.
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Saving The Best Chocolate For Last
February 17, 2012
Ed O'Brien, a researcher in social psychology at the University of Michigan, has written the paper. His idea indicates that our choices are remarkably relying on the moment associated with preference. And one especially critical instant would be the end of the experience.
According to O'Brien's hypothesis, we are enticed by endings or last chances. He said: "I think in everyday life we do have this expectation that we save the best for last."
"When people are given awareness that something is about to end, they're kind of motivated to make the most of that experience," he added.
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Chocolate Kisses
February 16, 2012
In 1907, an exquisite brand-new candy was released, and it was called Hershey's Kisses. Hershey's Kisses is chocolate brand created by The Hershey Company. They are bite-sized and possess a unique shape, typically referred to as flat-bottomed teardrops.
33 million Hershey Kisses are produced in one day in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Curiously, the city was originally named Derry Church, Pennsylvania. It was renamed Hershey in 1906 (one year before the Kiss was developed) after the growing popularity of Hershey's Chocolate.
Hershey's Kisses are individually wrapped in small squares of lightweight aluminum foil which includes a thin strip of paper sticking out from the top. The reason behind its name is not precisely known, but theory has it that they were named after the machine that makes them which looks like lips.
Ever since it was launched, the wrapping process of Kisses has always been the exact same. The tiny flag sticking out of the candy was put in 1924. Currently, their machines could easily wrap around 1,300 of these treats in a minute.
The very first Kisses were wrapped exclusively in silver-colored foil during the earlier times. However, come 1962, colored foils made their way into the picture. This started off a trend over the following years to be able to complement just about any holiday. Red, green, and silver foils were made available during the Christmas season; pastel pink, blue and green foils to celebrate Easter; lastly red and silver foil to harmonize with Valentine's Day.
Up until 1990, no enhancements were done to the chocolate itself. Now, Hershey's franchise put almonds into the candies. They were instantly and popularly accepted and have never gone away. And they've added other variations since.
After more than a hundred years, Hershey's Kisses continue to be a darling in the simple silver foil packaging. The sweet and smooth chocolate flavor has stayed pretty much pristine. They are widely known throughout the world and are recognized right away by practically anybody as one of the little pleasures in life.
Chocolate Yogurt Ice
February 15, 2012
Yogurt is widely used across the globe nowadays, and we know all too well that it's a renowned health food. It derived its name from the Turkish word "yogurur", meaning "long life".
Research has it that a cup of plain yogurt, which is around 240 mg, purportedly contains 140 calories. Not so bad for a tasty treat, eh?
More to these, regular consumption of yogurt is said to have several health benefits, and among those is that it aids in better absorption of the nutrients you get from other food.
It is a highly nutritious food on its own, containing numerous health benefits that include protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12.
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Valentine’s Day Chocolate
February 14, 2012
Valentine's Day is many things to different people. It can be a shot at new beginnings, rekindling old flames, or a chance to show your special someone how you feel about them. To others, it can be a cold splash of reminder that they are alone on a supposedly lovey-dovey day. No matter what your expectations and reservations about Valentine's Day are, you cannot deny the fact that chocolate is a staple during Valentine's Day.
From the time of the Aztecs, chocolate has always been an effective gift. For a reason not fully known to man, it is, by some means, a magical way to say "I love you." Chocolate is a lot more than just food. A quote from Patrick Skene Catling, the author of the children's book entitled The Chocolate Touch, even says "Other things are just food. But chocolate's chocolate." True enough, even the scientific name of the tree which chocolate has been derived from, Theobroma cacao, translated from Greek, means "food of the gods."
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Jelly Belly Chocolate Dips
February 13, 2012
Jelly Belly makes chocolate coated jelly beans called Chocolate Dips, and they are addicting!
These jelly beans weren't just grabbed off the line and thrown under a chocolate curtain. The jelly beans have definitely been altered because there is no hard sugar shell. The bean has been panned (rolled around in a revolving drum while being sprayed with a thin chocolate coating) with the chocolate covering the gooey jelly bean center.
The dark chocolate coating is a real chocolate made with cocoa butter. The chocolate by itself lacks a strong chocolatey flavor. Nonetheless, it is chocolatey enough! Besides, you don't want to melt away the coating first. Instead, chew up the combination together to get the full enjoyment of fruit and chocolate. The texture is perfect.
I thought the cherry Jelly Bellies was evenly balanced, neither the chocolate nor the cherry overpowering the other.
In addition to cherry, there are orange, raspberry, coconut, strawberry, and mint flavors.
To me, jelly beans are really sweet, too sweet, and I can eat only a few. The best thing about the chocolate dips is that the sweetness is toned down and a pretty authentic flavor replaces it.
The six flavors of dips get an OMG! declaration from me.