I haven’t done a ‘curious product’ post in a while; I guess I haven’t been as adventurous lately.

Today’s product isn’t really a curious product, it’s chocolate from Ghana; Dean and Deluca’s single origin 60% dark.
I’ve been curious about single origin chocolates for a while; they seem to be everywhere these days. 
These chocolates are marketed by chocolatiers for being made from beans from a specific country, region or farm.

They’re packaged and sold as sets in most specialty supermarkets.
It looks like while I wasn’t paying attention single origin products became hip. 
It’s not limited to wines anymore; it’s coffee, chocolate, tea, honey etc. 

The idea is that food tastes unique to the region it is grown and perhaps that differing taste is lost when we mix it up.
With this bar I also wanted to see if it tasted anything like the other made-in-Ghana bars I’ve tried.
I assume those are made from wholly Ghanaian beans.

Chocolate from Ghana tastes different.
For years people have tried to determine why chocolates made in Ghana tasted different from those made in… say… Hershey, PA
But I really picked up the bar at Dean & Deluca because I liked the earthy brown and bright yellow packaging.

It doesn’t say on the package whether the beans are from a specific farm or region in Ghana, so the claim of single-origin is still a tad vague.

What I liked most were the ingredients…. simple and few; dark chocolate, sugar, vanilla and an emulsifier.
The taste was surprisingly similar to the other Ghanaian cocoa bean bars I’ve had, the texture is smoother.
It’s firm with a bold cocoa taste, it has slight fruity notes and a mellow nutty flavour.

It also has the same deep hints as Divine Chocolate’s 70% dark, except the Divine bar is richer (taste wise).
It wasn’t too bitter or too sweet except for a mild bitter aftertaste that lingered.
In all, it’s a delightfully centred bar; smooth, rich, dark with nutty hints.
Maybe the proponents of single-origin-beans are on to something after all.

My Other Chocolate Posts:

• Mink Chocolate
• Terra Nostra Ricemilk Chocolate
• Kingsbite Chocolate
• Kras Dorina Chocolate 

My friend M. found her perfect golden-hued dried maple leaf this morning.

She laid it on her desk and smiled with a glint in her eye.

There’s just something splendid about life’s little pleasures.

Sort of like the little glee in my heart when I found the new Marmite snacks.

I’ve told a Marmite story before, I haven’t always liked Marmite – it somewhat grew on me.

It was at the Clapham Junction Asda; whiling away time and waiting to go to dinner.

I saw a lady with a pack of rice cakes; the packaging was black with the visible yellow and red Marmite label.

I had a brief ‘is that…. ?’ moment.

Not sure where she got it from, I started following her.

I find that I’m braver when I’m alone, especially in a place where no one knows me.

I followed the lady for a few seconds, gave in and asked where she got them from.

She very excitedly tells me three aisles down, and asks if I’ve tried them.

I say no and that I’ve never seen them before.

Apparently it’s new, they (Unilever) put out a variety of Marmite snacks, and the rice cakes are her favourite.

She asks me where I’m from; she says I’m lucky when I tell her.

She offers to walk me to where she got them, she may have taken the last one – there’s none left when we get there.

We ask one of the store clerks, the kind man offers to check the back; I’m hopeful and excited again.

He has no luck, they’re sold out.

(more…)

It’s been a very busy week for me; I’m trying to cram a month’s worth of work into two weeks.

I‘ve been going to work at 8AM everyday this week; my co-worker looked at me suspiciously yesterday and asked; “Seriously, what’s going on with you?”

Preparing to go on vacation is such a bitch sometimes.

I’m working more and doing less of everything else. Surprisingly, I’m enjoying this pace, the day goes by briskly and there’s little distraction. It’s a nice change.

I wish I could say I’m too busy to cook so I’ve been eating Knorr soups instead, that would have been a nice segue, but I’m trying to cut back on lies, I haven’t cooked in years (I do bake though).

I’m not big on soups; I used to really hate soups when I was a kid. It goes to reason that I mostly avoid soups now, but last winter I started incorporating soups into my diet.

It just seemed silly to hate soup.

I figured it’s been too hot to try to make soup and it so happened that these little packets of Knorr Minestrone soup were on sale.

The ones I tried are from Knorr Italy, but with Unilever (Knorr’s parent company) being in every part of the world, I’m sure Knorr soups are every where.

I hadn’t tried any of the Knorr soups before – but I figured I could just throw it out if it turned out not so great, besides everything tastes better in Italian.

Each packet serves about three and cooks in five minutes. The packet says it’s ‘senza conservanti’, Italian for ‘no preservatives’. The soup turned out ok, it wasn’t sensational but ok for a soup from dried ingredients. The dried veggies were a little on the shrunken-up side. It smelled good, had to add a bit of pepper, chives and a dash of balsamic vinegar (seriously, I put balsamic vinegar in everything!).

I had it for dinner one evening and it was nice, not too heavy but filling.

Next time I’m going to try to make my own minestrone soup, I’ve had way better homemade soups, plus I prefer the taste of fresh veggies.

I probably won’t buy this again.

So I’ve probably mentioned it before (only about a hundred times!) that get most of my pantry staples from the Italian store. I’ve developed amazing skills at reading product labels in Italian, maybe a trip to Italy is due?

I buy these gluten free crackers regularly; it’s become quite the staple.

According to the Celiac Association of Canada 1 in 133 people have celiac disease and only a very small percentage of Celiacs have been officially diagnosed.

I don’t think I have celiac disease although I’ve never been tested. I also know people who’ve noticed tremendous health improvements after eliminating gluten products from their diets, also many doctors recommend gluten free diets for children with autism.

But those aren’t the reasons why I love these crackers. I actually picked them up by mistake while reaching for their wheat counterpart. I saw ‘Senza Glutine’ on the package and decided to give them a try since I’ve sometimes toyed with the idea of going gluten-free.

The crackers are made with maize, rice and potato starch. These are super flaky and taste lighter than regular crackers. It’s quite different and delicious, the corn and the rice gives it a nice crunchy light flavour that goes well with everything. It’s a cross between chips and crackers. They’re pretty delicate though, they break very easily.

It doesn’t have the weird after taste that wheat crackers normally do. They’re so addictive I start snacking on them right out of the store, good thing there’re fourteen in a pack. I sometimes have to hide them from myself. There are four crackers in individually wrapped portion sizes. It’s quite handy for lunch packs and snacks.

Galbusera is an Italian manufacturer of healthy bakery products. Their products are made in Cosio Valtellino in the Lombardy region.

From what I’ve gleaned, products from the “ZeroGrano” line are all gluten-free. I haven’t tried the other products from that line. The ‘Frollino’ (shortbread) looks delicious, maybe I’ll try those next.

The company also has a No-added-sugar and a cholesterol-free line.

I’m always on the lookout for all natural health and beauty products. This frustrates my friend J. whose response to this new obsession with going back to natural health remedies is “Science and research matters!”

The other day I was at Holt Renfrew picking up a birthday gift when I drifted over to a display of deodorants, I curiously picked one up for a quick whiff because it was “all natural.”

I think I may have blinked a little too hard when I saw the price because a saleswoman walked up to me and said� “It contains no aluminum or other harmful ingredients” I look at her still unconvinced thinking… Yeah, but is it worth the $30 you want for it? She senses my hesitation and dismisses me with “Yeah well, it’s for women who do not want to get breast cancer.”

I found it hilarious that she’ll try to scare me into buying an expensive deodorant but it also underlined the reason why we’re scampering back to “naturals”

Bentonite Clay has been used in Central Africa, the Andes and Australia for centuries. I only discovered this clay a couple of months ago while researching natural black hair care.

It comes from volcanic ash and is often used in facial masks because of its ability to absorb excess oil and dirt from the skin.

It can also be used internally for detoxification, when taken internally “acts as a sponge to bind and eliminate non nutritive and harmful substances from the colon.” It’s a great multipurpose clay.

I’ve been using Bentonite clay now for several months, for facial masks, in my soap and also to clean my hair.

The brand I buy is primarily marketed as a facial clay, it claims to be the “world’s most powerful facial” and promises deep pore cleansing.

I get breakouts sometimes when I henna my hair and the clay helps clear up all blemishes quickly.

For facials, I follow the instructions on the product, I mix a bit of clay with raw apple cider vinegar and apply it liberally to my face, I let it dry for a few minutes or until I feel it pulsating (yes, you feel your face pulsating when it dries), and then wash my face with warm water. After that my face feels soft and smooth; it’s worth using it just for that feeling.

For hair cleansing, I tweak the recipe a little by mixing apple cider, water, honey,� a bit marshmallow root powder (for slip) and rice bran oil. I slather it on to my unwashed dry hair, leave it in for a few hours, wash it out and follow it up with conditioner.

It clarifies my hair without stripping it; my hair usually comes out feeling clean, soft and very moisturized.

I can’t get the Aztec Indian Healing Clay in Vancouver. I get mine from across the border, Whole Foods has it for around $8.00USD for the 1lb powder, a little goes a long way because it expands to almost double when mixed with water.

It’s become quite the staple in my beauty arsenal; it’s one of those products that does just what it’s supposed to do.

It’s all natural, has no addictives, no fragrances or animal products.