This is a guest post by Prudence Tippins about how to make chocolate.
When people visit us in Costa Rica, especially those with winter cabin fever, they like to get out and active. Some like zip-lining, some like bird watching, some want to head to the beach. But no one escapes a visit to our home without a trip to the Rainforest Chocolate Tour in La Fortuna. There, the Costa Rican guides give a thorough explanation of the bean-to-bar journey of cacao, which is what I’ll share here, along with unlimited melted chocolate with all the natural goodness that makes everyone so happy. It’s a day well-spent.
Making chocolate bean-to-bar.
The guides, having seen me witness their process so often, encouraged me to try making chocolate myself, and I encourage you to try it too so you can reap those bean-to-bar benefits. Even without making a batch, though, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for that 70% cacao organic chocolate bar you see for $4.00 or more at the food co-op. (I’ll tell you the secret up front: It’s worth the money.)
Chocolate Banana Ice Cream. Photo by Cassandra Lees.
I grew up on this luscious mouth-feast. My parents and I would often have it for dinner (the justification being that it’s actually pretty healthy), and we spent years tweaking, arguing over, and perfecting the recipe. It’s still evolving. However, the basics stay the same–and its current iteration is profoundly delicious. Continue reading →
The plants on this list changed the way I see autumn. Before, I thought everything was just dying. I now know how much energy is being stored in roots, preserved in seeds, and housed in nuts. Fall is a brilliant time to search for wild edibles for just that reason—there are lots of nutrient-dense foods available. We just have to know how to look for them.
It may occur to you that the soulful experience I had with the apples was less than practical. It occurred to me when I brought them back to my kitchen, and they tasted sour next to all of the cultivated, sweeter varieties of food. They were certainly not dessert, nor were they savory enough to put into our dinner (though I might have tried if I had been cooking alone). The question seeks to be answered, what to do with sour apples?
