The Chocolate Fudge Cafe

Click on this link to see a funny story about the day Sarah Lewis received fudge:

http://www.somethingepic.com/happiness-delivered/

Valentine’s Chocolate Alternative

Americans spend more than $600 million on chocolate for Valentine’s Day alone, but only a tiny fraction of this money reaches the farmers who grow cocoa. In fact, most chocolate in the United States is purchased from cocoa farmers at a market price that is far below a living wage. For example, in Côte d’Ivoire – the country where 75% of American chocolate comes from – cocoa farmers received only 11 cents per pound of dried beans in 2006.  More than 200,000 children of cocoa farmers have never attended school; many instead work as laborers on these farms. Cocoa-growing communities frequently face widespread poverty despite producing a commodity that yields annual sales of $13 billion. Given this picture, most Valentine’s Day chocolates are hardly sending a message of love. It’s with this in mind that two San Luis Obispo, California companies joined together to make SLO Chai Chocolate.  SLO Chai and Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates, offer a blend of Sweet Earth’s award-winning 65% bittersweet Fair Trade chocolate and SLO Chai’s incomparably warm and spicy chai mix that not only tastes delicious but is helping to support cocoa farmers in West Africa.  The ingredients in this deliciously sweet drink are Certified Organic, ensuring that no harmful pesticides were used in their production.  Fair trade chocolate paired with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, star anise, and other Indian spices make a truly delicious combination.  By supporting 100% Fair Trade Certified you are helping to ensure that cacao farmers receive fair prices for their labor and participate in democratically-organized cooperatives that ban child labor, promote gender equality, and practice environmentally-sound farming and processing.   

    Raw Cacao, Hemp & Banana Shake

This recipe comes from the book “Naked Chocolate” by David Wolfe and Shazzie 

This is a great, not-too-sweet drink, containing lots of life-giving stuff.  Serves 2

1 ripe banana, peeled

1 young coconut

1 dessertspoon of chocolate powder (crushed cacao beans or nibs)

2 dessertspoons of cold-pressed hemp seeds

1 teaspoon of cold-pressed hemp oil

Open the coconut your preferred way.  Pour the liquid and scoop the jelly into your blender.

Add all the other ingredients and blend until smooth.