the chocolate mouse

Getting Paid To Read

2010-08-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

I was looking for ways to earn in the internet and I found this site that pays you to read and rate articles.
It seems easy and I love reading so I just gave it a try.
Right now I still have $0.90.
I hope this works.
If interested just click on the banner below..

2009-12-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

Worldwide Chocolate Sales Defy Recession
www.csnews.com

December 27, 2009 - CHICAGO -- Mintel, the international research firm based here, reports that chocolate sales around the world have busted through the recession.

In China and the Ukraine -- two countries not necessarily recognized for their rampant chocoholic populations -- chocolate confectionery sales rose 18 percent and 12 percent, respectively, this year. Each country has seen steady sales increases since 2005 and Mintel predicts continued growth through 2013.

Other countries have also seen chocolate bars, bags and boxes flying off the shelves, albeit at lower rates. Brits drove their chocolate market up 5.9 percent this year, while Americans purchased 2.6 percent more chocolate than in 2008. Argentinean sales rose 1.8 percent from 2008, while in Belgium, a country noted for producing some of the world's best chocolate, sales increased 3.2 percent.

"It's clear that despite economic trouble this year, the world's chocolate lovers didn't deviate from their favorite treat. Chocolate is a small, affordable indulgence for shoppers who are cutting back on spending elsewhere. Even in countries not known for chocolate consumption, sales are on the rise," commented Marcia Mogelonsky, global food and drink analyst at Mintel.

The Swiss flash the most cash for chocolate, forking over the equivalent of U.S. $206 per person per year. Brits and Belgians follow, spending U.S. $106 and $90, respectively, to satisfy their chocolate cravings. In the U.S., individuals spend just $55 each, while Argentineans devote an average of U.S. $35 per year on chocolate confectionery.
Manufacturers are determined to keep consumers melting over new chocolate varieties. Despite worldwide economic troubles, Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD) reports that manufacturers launched nearly the same number of chocolate products this year as in 2008. In Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, companies have already released more new products than last year

____________________

Chocoholics will always be chocoholics. hehe
and besides in times like these... you need some pampering of chocolates. =)

Guilt-free chocolate inhaler

2009-06-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

Chocolate? Breathe In!

Tony Cenicola
The New York Times

David Edwards, a professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard University, wanted to know. In the fall of 2007, he came up with the idea of “eating by breathing” while opening the Foodlab at Le Laboratoire, an experimental art and design space in Paris. Later he asked his students at Harvard to think about where the idea might lead.

The result, introduced in April, is Le Whif, a lipstick-size inhaler filled with chocolate particles but with less than a single calorie. (An early prototype of the product, introduced over the past year, became something of a hit in Paris, Dr. Edwards said.)

Dr. Edwards advises taking small breaths for maximum effect. “A little bit of powder on the taste buds gives you all the flavor of a lot of chocolate mass that you chew on and break down in your mouth to accomplish the same purpose,” he said, adding that when you eat chocolate, “the actual percentage of that chocolate that stimulates your taste buds is very minor.”

Le Whif, he said, provides “the best of all worlds. You have your agreeable chocolate experience and yet you’ve not had the calories.”

_____________
what?
cool!
i want to try these...

Facts about Chocolates

2009-06-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

taken from www.squidoo.com

Many believe that chocolate is an aphrodisiac, possibly because of the simple sensual pleasure of its consumption. Scientists suggest that theobromine and other chemicals do act as mild sexual stimulants. But we all know chocolate will win their heart.
The word Chocolate comes from the Aztec word xocolatl, meaning, bitter water.
71% of American chocolate eaters prefer milk chocolate.
It's true! Chocolate is The Food Of The Gods. Cacao beans come from a tree that is a species of the genus Theobroma, which translated is food of the gods.
Chocolate is a great natural antidepressant. It contains tryptophan which helps you create serotonin, your body's own antidepressant.
Contrary to popular belief, chocolate does NOT contribute to acne. However the milk in milk chocolate might, so enjoy the benefits of dark chocolate.
Chocolate is poisonous to dogs (and other domestic animals). The Theobromine found in chocolate is a stimulatant, and can be too much for small animals.
Chocolate contains high-quality anti oxidants that can protect you from developing cancer and heart disease.
Chocolate is rich in magnesium and iron, which your body needs.
Chocolate makers use 40% of the world's almonds and 20% of the world's peanuts.
Chocolate's melting point is just below your body temperature, so it melts in your mouth. Melting chocolate in your mouth raises brain activity and heart rate more intensly than passionate kissing, and lasts four times longer!

How are Hershey's Kisses made?

2009-06-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

found this on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo3-AEO-rR0

cool!
so tempting to take some kisses....

How is Chocolate made?

2009-06-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

Found this step by step instruction in food-info.net on how chocolate is made...
-------------
* Step 1. The cocoa beans are cleaned to remove all extraneous material.
* Step 2. To bring out the chocolate flavour and colour the beans are roasted. The temperature, time and degree of moisture involved in roasting depend on the type of beans used and the sort of chocolate or product required from the process.
* Step 3. A winnowing machine is used to remove the shells from the beans to leave just the cocoa nibs.
* Step 4. The cocoa nibs undergo alkalisation, usually with potassium carbonate, to develop the flavour and colour.
* Step 5. The nibs are then milled to create cocoa liquor (cocoa particles suspended in cocoa butter). The temperature (and degree) of milling varies according to the type of nib used and the product required.
* Step 6. Manufacturers generally use more than one type of bean in their products and therefore the different beans have to be blended together to the required formula.
* Step 7. The cocoa liquor is pressed to extract the cocoa butter leaving a solid mass called cocoa presscake. The amount of butter extracted from the liquor is controlled by the manufacturer to produce presscake with different proportions of fat.
* Step 8. The processing now takes two different directions. The cocoa butter is used in the manufacture of chocolate. The cocoa presscake is broken into small pieces to form kibbled presscake, which is then pulverised to form cocoa powder.
* Step 9. Cocoa liquor is used to form chocolate through the addition of cocoa butter. Other ingredients such as sugar, milk, emulsifying agents and cocoa butter equivalents are also added and mixed. The proportions of the different ingredients depend on the type of chocolate being made.
* Step 10. The mixture then undergoes a refining process by travelling through a series of rollers until a smooth paste is formed. Refining improves the texture of the chocolate.
* Step 11. The next process, conching, further develops flavour and texture. Conching is a kneading or smoothing process. The speed, duration and temperature of the kneading affect the flavour. An alternative to conching is an emulsifying process using a machine that works like an egg beater.
* Step 12. The mixture is then tempered or passed through a heating, cooling and reheating process. This prevents discolouration and fat bloom in the product by preventing certain crystalline formations of cocoa butter developing.
* Step 13. The mixture is then put into moulds or used for enrobing fillings and cooled in a cooling chamber.
* Step 14. The chocolate is then packaged for distribution to retail outlets.

---------------
man...it is complicated!
well... just give me the chocolate bar and i'm happy. =)
thank you to all the chocolate makers of the world!

The Chocolate Tree

2009-06-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

it all came from a tree...

CACAO

kəkäˈō, –kāˈ–, tropical tree (Theobroma cacao) of the family Sterculiaceae (sterculia family), native to South America, where it was first domesticated and was highly prized by the Aztecs. It has been extensively cultivated in the Old World since the Spanish conquest. The fruit is a pod containing a sweetish pulp in which are embedded rows of seeds, the cocoa "beans" of commerce. To obtain cocoa, the harvested pods are fermented by naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts to eliminate their bitter, astringent quality. The seeds are then cured and roasted. The clean kernels, called cocoa nibs, are manufactured into various products. Their large percentage of fat, removed by pressure, is the so-called cocoa butter used in fine soaps and cosmetics and in medicine for emollients and suppositories; the residue is ground to a powder (cocoa) and used for beverages and flavoring. Chocolate is a product in which the cocoa butter has been retained. Cacao products have a high food value because of the large proportion of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Cacao is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Malvales, family Sterculiaceae.

http://www.questia.com/
_______

Did you know that cacao's scientific name, theobroma cacao, means "food for the gods" in Latin?

Perfect name, isn't it? =)

When I was in high school, we had lots of cacao tree around our campus, and i remember me and my friends would take some fruits and eat it.
And since i'm small...really light weight and is not afraid of heights it was always me who would climb to get the fruits that were already far beyond our reach.
One time, while i was up on the tree, our principal came near us to talk to my friends. There was never any rule that we were not aloud to get those fruits and eat them but it was not encouraged either. I was afraid that i might be scolded so i just froze on top of the cacao tree and tried not to catch te attention of our principal. And thankfully, she left after like 5 minutes.

just reminiscing...

Chocolate: A History

2009-06-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

...who doesn't know what chocolates are?

But for a clear description, Encarta Encyclopedia states that...

Chocolate, a preparation made from the fruit of the cacao tree and used as a flavoring and as an ingredient in beverages and various kinds of confectionery. The cacao tree is native to Central and South America. The seeds produced by the tree are known as cocoa beans. When Native Americans first began cultivating cocoa beans is unknown, but residues of cocoa have been discovered on pots dating back to about 600 bc.

Chocolate was first prepared for a European by the Aztecs. The word derives from the Nahuatl word chocolatl (also spelled xocolatl), which literally means “bitter water.” The Aztecs made a hot chocolate drink from cocoa beans for the Spanish adventurer Hernán Cortés in ad 1519. He introduced it to Europe on his return to Spain in 1528. It gradually spread through Europe as a beverage. In 1847 the first chocolate for eating was produced by Fry and Sons of Bristol, England. The first milk chocolate, prepared by adding powdered milk to the pressed cocoa bean, was produced in Switzerland in 1875. In the British colonies of North America, chocolate was first manufactured at Milton Lower Mills, near present-day Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1765.

---
blah blah blah... and now we have hersheys, cadbury, toblerone, nestle, lindt, goya, tanggo, chocnut, my favorite ricoa flat tops and curly tops...and so much more. hehehe

Chocolate sure is the sweetest pleasure of mankind!

i love chocolates!

2009-06-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

chocolates!
chocolates!
chocolates!
just can't get enough of them... =)