Single Origin Chocolate Bars

Have you ever wondered how chocolate gets made.  It starts by drying the cocoa beans produced from plants in their country of origin.  The beans are then exported to chocolate manufacturers worldwide for processing.

Bean to bar chocolate manufacturers like TCHO make chocolate directly from the cocoa beans.  Chocolatiers like Purdy's melt their bars from these manufacturers.

Single origin chocolate refers to chocolate bars made from beans from a specific region or country, thus having a distinctive flavour, much like how fine wines are distinguished.  I found some of this chocolate at Purdy's chocolatier  in Canada. They use TCHO single origin craft chocolate to make these bars.

Purdy's sell 3 of these single origin bars for $15, or $5.25 each.  Here are the ones I tried. Single origin chocolates tend to be very dark chocolate and can be bitter, but I liked all of these.  The Ghana one is a milk chocolate.  The Peru one has cocoa nibs.  My favourite was Ecuador.

Wonderful Initiative

Vancouver has built modular homes for the homeless in a wonderful initiative. Toronto is interested in doing this too.

'Each modular home is about 320 sq. ft. in size and includes a bathroom and kitchen. The buildings are managed around-the-clock by a not-for-profit housing society, and residents are provided with various health and wellness support services, life employment skills training, and volunteer opportunities.'

AND Rain is starting a new art challenge on Thursdays if you are interested in joining.  Her first challenge is 'drips, dots and splatter'.

A handy device

Finally!

new leaves

One of my sisters alerted me to this Brix Jarkey jar opener.  This video demonstrates how to use it. It pops the lid on the can free with a simple lift and is inexpensive.  This is great for people who have trouble gripping things.

Gluten Free Biscotti

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

unbaked

baked 

I found a simple recipe for gluten free biscotti in the newspaper and decided to use it as a guide. Here is the recipe with a few changes. I used stevia instead of sugar, cranberries instead of chocolate chips, also finished up a package of gluten free flour blend I had as opposed to using almond flour. After watching some biscotti  videos on youtube, it seems you should cut the biscotti on the diagonal and bake with the cut sides up.  I will do that next time, as I am now curious to try making biscotti with actual flour.

2c gluten free flour (eg almond flour)
1c potato starch (or corn starch)
1c sugar or 1/2c stevia
1/2c olive oil
2 eggs
(I needed to add 1c water)
1/4c dried cranberries

preheat oven 350F

combine dry ingredients
add oil, eggs, mix well
add cranberry, mix together
shape dough into a roll approx 20" long (add the water if it doesn't seem to be coming together)
flatten it to a 4 - 5 inch width
bake 20 min at 350F
cool
slice into 1/2" slices on the diagonal
lay flat on tray, with the cut sides up
bake at 300F for 15 mins (optionally can turn half way thru baking)

Carmelized Pear

I had an idea to make carmelized pears, inspired by the carmelized bananas I made the other day. It just required slicing the pears and cooking them for 3 to 5 mins a side. I added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla at the end and served them with whipped cream.

Paint Party Friday - Tulips

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! These are some spring tulips for you today, done on textured cardstock (6" x 6") in permanent markers, outlined with a PITT marker.

Strawberry Muffins and yesterday's puzzle solution

Yesterday's puzzle was indeed tricky, thanks to those who tried!  Here is the solution:

The answer is 43. boot=5 points, the man =5 points, a telescope=2 points. 
5 + ((5+4+10) x 2) =43. The last man is a bit different, notice he is wearing 2 extra boots and carrying 2 telescopes. It is a good puzzle more about noticing the details I think.

So:

5 + ((5+4+10) x 2)
Gives you 5+ (19 x 2)
Gives you 5 + 38
Which equals 43


Marie of The English Kitchen posted a recipe for 'Little Blueberry Puddings'. I think 'pudding' refers to 'dessert' in England.  I decided to adapt it to strawberry muffins using fresh strawberries and strawberry jam. They were delicious!

ready for baking