Chocolate

I've got this constant craving for chocolate. You don't think I might be pregnant do you???

 

Settling in

I had a very lazy day on Sunday. I slept in until late, not getting up until coffee time to do a crossword with GB. Both of us had difficulty getting our brains in gear and it was not the most satisfactory crossword day.

I watched part of the Monaco Grand Prix and then went back to bed for a siesta. I spent some time on the computer sorting photos and then tidied up the mess I had made in GB's spare bedroom by just dumping my luggage last night. I am now nicely settled in and ready to enjoy my stay.


One of the noticeable things about staying with my big brother is that I come across reminders of my youth. This Native American, for example, lived on the wall of our bedroom at home when we were children. In those days, of course, we knew it as a Red Indian, not in any way appreciating that such terminology could be considered offensive. If you were to ask me to name one item that brought back the strongest memories of my bedroom as a child it would be this carving. It was given to our parents by 'Uncle' John Dowd next door.


How many computers does a chap need?


And how's this for a posh lifestyle - GB even has his own chocolates!!!


Actually the G & B stands for Green and Blacks but it still looks impressive.


 

Bitter water

So how much bitter water did you have over Christmas? When the Spanish arrived in Mexico they came across the Aztecs. The Aztec language is called Nahuatl. Like most Mesoamerican peoples, the Aztecs had a drink which they made from a bean they called zoco (bitter). They would put this bean into water (atl) to produce XOCO-ATL (bitter water). The TL sound is common in the Aztec language but not in Spanish. The Spaniards mispronounced the drink CHOCOLATO. This drink, whose use was first documented in 1100 BC, was brought to Europe (with sugar added) where the pronunciation and spelling in English became CHOCOLATE.

The GOOD NEWS - Recent studies have suggested that cocoa or dark chocolate may possess certain beneficial effects on human health. Dark chocolate, with its high cocoa content, is a rich source of the falavinoids, epicatechin and gallic acid, which are thought to possess cardioprotective properties. Cocoa possesses a significant anti-oxidant action. Some studies have also observed a modest reduction in blood pressure after consuming approximately 100g of dark chocolate daily.

The BAD NEWS - Consuming milk chocolate or white chocolate, or drinking fat-containing milk with dark chocolate, appears largely to negate the health benefit. Processed cocoa powder (so called Dutch chocolate), processed with alkali greatly reduces the antioxidant capacity as compared to "raw" cocoa powder. Chocolate is also a calorie-rich food with a high fat content, so daily intake of chocolate also requires reducing caloric intake of other foods.