She Knits By The Seashore

Trying New Things -- Raw Chocolate Class

One of my goals for this year is to try new things. I have to remind myself that I won't necessarily fall in love with every experience, and that's OK. Learning in itself is fun, and I don't have to commit further to anything unless I really want to.

The raw chocolate class I took last Sunday afternoon is a perfect example. My yoga teacher is also a chef and health counselor, and from time to time she offers workshops on various aspects of wellness. Her chocolate class, held at a nearby inn, seemed like a perfect way to pursue my fledgling interest in cooking and nutrition. She is an advocate of the raw food diet, and uses entirely organic, preferably local ingredients in all her recipes.

At the beginning of class, my teacher explained why she included each ingredient in her recipe, and which varieties of that product were best. This was very useful; I didn't realize that oils readily absorb the chemicals from the plastic bottles they are usually sold in, and will try to buy only glass-bottled oils going forward. I also didn't know that you can buy vanilla in powder form, so as to avoid the alcohol base in the liquid version, and the difficulty of managing the beans in the pod version. After this introduction, she mixed the ingredients together, and this is where things got complicated.

 

I'm not much of a cook; I experiment with basic recipes, but don't have instincts of any sort when it comes to how much of each ingredient to include. Some people just seem to know the proportions, and, like my teacher, taste as they go rather than use measurements. It would have helped me if she'd given us a basic recipe to start, especially because I've never worked with most of the ingredients in this chocolate: cacao powder, cacao butter, tahini paste, coconut oil...I wrote down the names but knew I'd need to find a recipe on the internet, like this one. (Substitute local raw honey for agave).

Once the ingredients are mixed, all you need to do is to roll small amounts of chocolate into balls and refrigerate them. You can put a dash of sea salt or pepper on the outside to enhance the flavors too.

At the end of class, we tried samples of the chocolate, which was tasty and definitely different from the milk chocolate most of us know and love. The fact that it had such healthy ingredients made it even better! Unfortunately, some of these ingredients are hard to locate, even at natural foods stores. I tried to look up links for the vanilla powder and cacao butter for this post, but without the specific brand names, came up empty.

In my previous post, I shared that while I'm interested in the nutritional aspects of raw food and clean eating diets, the amount of time they would take to prepare doesn't work with my busy life. The class inspired me to make small changes, like glass-for-plastic bottles, but rather than make my own chocolate, I'll continue to enjoy the pre-made Endangered Species Chocolate available in the organic foods aisle of my regular grocery store.

What new things have you tried lately, and how are they working out?

How is Your 2012?

One month into the new year, and I'm thinking about how I'm doing so far with my hopes, dreams, and goals for 2012. Focusing on things that make me happy, rather than things I "should" do, is a lot more enjoyable. It's a little more guilt-free dessert, rather than all broccoli, all the time. :)

Keeping a Food Diary & Doing a Workout 3-5 times a week: just as I get into the groove with one, I lose momentum with the other. I think to just keep starting over and over again is the key; practice makes nearly perfect. Identifying healthy snacks is an interesting piece. All the things I am reading about clean eating and raw foods are challenging; I can see the benefits with these types of diets, but I'm not sure how easy they are to incorporate into a busy lifestyle. Frankly, there's a lot of kitchen time, and I'm just not willing to do that. What do you think about the clean eating/raw food movements?

Work: I have two new clients for my freelance business, and tomorrow I start a three-month temp job at our state capitol. Working a normal, 8:30am-5pm schedule is going to be a challenge, as I've had a flexible schedule for so long, but hopefully I'll make lots of new contacts. How is your job searching going?

 

Exploring New Things: 2012 feels like a year of transition to good things. After drifting for a bit -- and mourning the loss of some things in my life, like no longer working for my local animal shelter -- I decided it was time to be more open to change, check out some new options, and rediscover old ones. This goal is working out well!

There are two local social groups, one all women and one mixed group, that I have joined (the latter with Chris). I'm attending CT Votes for Animals meetings, which I've known about for some time, but never made the time to go. There is also a local writer's group I want to try, and there are some art history classes in March at the Florence Griswold Museum that sound fascinating. What new things are you trying this year?

Knitting: I'm discovering that many of the sweater patterns I've wanted to knit no longer appeal to me. When I cleaned out my closet last month, I took out two things I'd made that I had to admit had not aged well. My Fantine bolero got way too fuzzy, and I never wear the felted wool jacket.  As I think about what I'd like to make next (still struggling with the flowers for the Rose scarf), I'm not excited by anything in my queue. Has this happened to you -- your taste has moved on, but you're not sure to what?

One of the interesting things I've realized is that the whole New Year's Resolution concept starts off with one huge disadvantage for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere. We are encouraged to think "fresh start" at the coldest, darkest, shortest-days time of the year! If you think about it, it's a real uphill battle, trying to be motivated to exercise before or after work when it's dark and cold outside, and where I live, usually too snowy and icy to walk, run, or bike. The weather makes us want to eat more carbs rather than less, and filling foods rather than the cool and crisp fruit and salads that are not in season yet! We don't want to go out and network or take classes; at the end of a workday we want to get inside our warm homes as soon as we can and curl up with a book or favorite TV program. So...if you are struggling to stick with some of your goals just one month in, realize that it might be the weather, cut yourself some slack, and focus on how much happier you'll be if you can hang on and persevere to March. That's what I'm trying to do!

On a totally different topic, have you been watching Downton Abbey? Amazing show, and I read that they are already planning for season three. Lots of great TV knitting time!