Raw Dark Chocolate...

At Christmas this last year I tasted the best Chocolate I have ever had...it was made by my niece Shawna, she had brought some for my Mothers' gift and I got to have a little taste...it melts in your mouth. It is creamy and rich and oh so delicious...and after much begging, I got Shawna to agree to share her recipe with us, just in time for Valentines Day....so let me introduce you.

This is the amazing and beautiful Shawna, daughter London and husband Laughton. Shawna is thoroughly enjoying motherhood and is embracing all the wonder it brings...she is a wonderful cook! She leans toward all the healthy options for her family...I wrote about Shawna giving birth almost 2 years ago titled Grandmothers ...she is the daughter of my brother. I hope you all love Shawna as much as I do!






These velvety, dark chocolates are always in the freezer at our house to satisfy my insatiable chocolate sweet tooth. This recipe is so quick and easy and almost guilt free with the amazing benefits of coconut oil and cacao.

Raw Dark Chocolate:
½ cup Organic Cacao Powder (Purchased from Marlene’s or wholefoods)
½ cup Pure Maple Syrup
½ cup Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
½ cup chopped nuts of your choice, dried berries, coconut flakes or cacao nibs (optional)

Just a few simple ingredients...

add all the ingredients to the blender.....

If you don’t have a blender then mix liquid ingredients together in a bowl. Add cacao powder into liquid ingredients and mix until chocolate is smooth

Pour mixture into molds or spread on a plate lined with parchment paper.  Stir in nuts, berries or coconut.  You can also sprinkle those on top after you pour chocolate into molds

Place in the freezer to harden

Remove from freezer and Enjoy !!

Thank you Shawna! I can hardly wait to make these...They taste like a truffle with a fraction of the work!

Cheers to Happy  !!

Grandmothers......

This morning, very early my brother stopped by my restaurant and when I stopped by his table to visit he had just finished writing a little story in his tablet.....he is a storyteller and poet...he plays a native American flute and has many beliefs as the Natives Americans do, even though he is not Native American. He is the father of three and grandfather  to now five.....to the left is a picture of my brother playing his flute at the Glass Museum in Tacoma in front of a 'pear' of course...(his name is Perry) and no he is not blind....

His second daughter had just given birth to her first child 5 days ago and he was at her side as she labored for 13 hours. The last 2 hours of labor were very intense, as he listened to his daughter crying out in such pain for such a long time he started to call on his greater power to help her.... (I am not sure if this was a chant or a prayer, but that is not important).... Well there was not an answer, or not fast enough for him, and he soon realized he better go to the greatest of power, grandmother power....so he called on his paternal Grandmother Mable, who herself had bore 10 children, surely she would come to her great granddaughters aid...but no, nothing happened, still his beloved daughter was in agony....then he called on his maternal Grandmother, he knew she would come, she had loved them all so very much and would never want her children to suffer, but no not her either....then he thought of his daughters maternal Grandmother, she had recently died and she loved her grandaughter very much and she could bring comfort and help get that baby out.....nope...so then, so distraught and worried, and ready to jump out of his skin,  he went back to Grandmother Mable and demanded she come and help! She could not possibly ignore her grandson's plea's... and then, right before him, he saw a very clear vision of Grandmother Mable....and two minutes later London was born and my brother heard her first cries...and he knew then he was not alone and his Grandmother did not ignore him in his despair..... she had come to help...my question still is, did she come to help her grandson or her great grandaughter? I guess we will never know.....

Shawna and baby London....

that is truly an angelic baby's face...

Cheers to Happy  !!