Abigails Herbs

Last night after work, I was invited to a dinner to celebrate my friend’s birthday.  We ate at Max Brenner’s; a restaurant dedicated to making and serving chocolate. The smell inside of the restaurant was so captivating and inviting. It was  rich and sweet.  I ordered a chocolate drink and I tried my friend’s onions rings. The onion rings were huge and served with a melted dark chocolate-ginger sauce on the side. I dipped an onion ring into the chocolate-ginger sauce and it was so good! I ordered an asparagus crepe with asiago cheese. I felt happy and full of  laughter.  The chocolate drink and sauce gave me a very full feeling, so I did not order a high calorie dessert.

I really believe that the chocolate curbed my appetite and gave me a full, warm feeling. I actually felt content and satisfied. I had a good time at the dinner, meeting new acquaintances, laughing and talking freely. Raw cacao contains over 300 polyphenols (chemicals) which balance our emotions. Some of these chemicals, (anandamides, flavinoids) are actually opioids. When the opioids reach the brain, we get a feel-good effect, much the same way that marijuana works. This is why chocolate lifts depression and generates a feeling of well being. Remember; the darker the cacao, the greater the plant chemical content. If you are eating regular milk chocolate with lots of sugar in it, chances are that the chemical benefits will  not  be there. Stick with the organic, dark chocolate for the best health and emotional benefits.

You can make your own chocolate-ginger sauce. It is fun to experiment with different recipes or to make your own creative recipes. Chocolate fondue pots can be used to melt different ingredients into interesting and tasty recipes.

After a long hard day at work, dark chocolate may be just the right thing to help you unwind and relax. When I get home from work, it takes me a good hour or more to de-stress and readjust to being home and to clear my mind of  job-related mumbo jumbo. European researchers have recently found that dark chocolate helps to lower stress hormones (cortisol) and (catecholamines), probably due to the antioxidants found in dark chocolate.

Melt a small piece of chocolate and drizzle it over fresh cut orange slices, which contain Vitamin C. Vitamin C is another antioxidant which may help you to manage stress also. Use your imagination and dip strawberries and other fruit into the melted dark chocolate or cocoa. Strawberries and kiwi fruit contain even greater amounts of Vitamin C than oranges. I have tasted candied ginger; experiment and dip candied ginger into melted chocolate. Let me know if you think of any other creative food which you think would taste good if covered with dark chocolate.

This article features more natural aphrodisiacs which can be found in our home pantries and in our refrigerators and gardens. The herb basil is an aprhodisiac;  just the fragrant aroma of basil is known to stimulate the warm desire of the human touch.

Garlic also creates the desire for the sexual contact and intimacy. The critical plant compound found in garlic responsible for increasing blood flow to the genitals is allicin. I love cooking with garlic and basil. Garlic is great for improving blood circulation and it boosts the immune system. Be careful not to eat too much garlic at one time. I went to a wonderful Italian restaurant with my family one time and I ate too many of these rolls which were dripping with fresh garlic. I had to go home and lay on the couch, (moaning and groaning), all night. I had developed garlic poisoning; stomach ache , headache and just awful physical discomfort.

Honey is another food which  stimulates sexual desire. Honey has boron in it, which helps metabolize estrogen. It also enhances testosterone levels in the blood. Testosterone helps generate healthy sexual energy in both men and women. Honey also contains a large quantity of B vitamins and we all need vitamin B for energy and healthy nerve functioning (and more).

Figs are the oldest fruit known to humankind. Adam and Eve used a fig leave to cover up their private parts. The fig was Cleopatra’s favorite food. The Greeks regarded the fig as sacred. Just cut a fig in half and observe that the inside of the fig resembles the female sex organs. A  long time ago when I was in Verona, Italy, (the home of Romeo and Juliet), my friends and I tried eating fresh figs. We washed our figs in a  water fountain in the town square.  Up until that time, I had only tasted the boxed, dried figs. Those dried figs are boring. These fresh figs were absolutely delicious. It was a whole new experience! So refreshing.

Last of all, chocolate is the king of the aphrodisiacs. The “feel good”  phytochemical in chocolate in anandamide – it is psychoactive. The PEA or phenylethylamide in chocolate is the love chemical which releases dopamine into the pleasure centers of the brain. This action increases seratonin and tryptophane into the central nervous system, which makes us feel  immeasurably happy, joyful and amorous. Remember, the darker the chocolate, the higher the cacao amounts. Chocolate is healthier and more effective if consumed in its raw, organic  form.

I did not eat any chocolate candy for Valentine’s Day. It just wasn’t given to me. Instead, I went out to eat yesterday and I devoured some decadent chocolate cake with luscious syrup and cream. I usually do not eat chocolate cake, but I figured, “It’s Valentine’s Day;  live a little.” As a gift, I received a four-ounce bottle of this organic chocolate massage oil made by Esutras. 

I rubbed some of the oil on my arms and it actually felt smooth and not oily. So I applied more oil to my legs. Plus, it smelled really good. It was relaxing but it had such a wonderful fragrance that it smelled almost edible. I usually do not use massage oils because I hate that greasy, gooey feeling on my skin. However, this chocolate oil felt actually clean. It softened my rough, winter skin and made it softer. Breathing in the fragrance filled my senses with the desire to ask for more and more of this sensual massage oil.

The best thing about this chocolate massage oil is that it contains no unhealthy additives or dangerous chemicals. It is purely organic. I  plan to feed my thirsty skin with this oil every morning and night. I just love this stuff. It is really unique!

The classic Maya civilization thrived dring the period between 250 to 900 B.C. Cacao beans were used throughout Mesoamerica as currency, but the artifacts that survive from the golden age of the maya suggest that the consumption of chocolate was, as for most of its subsequent history, restricted to the society’s elite. This literate civilization apears to have once had entire libraries of books, although only four survived the Spanish occupation (the Spanish arrived and decided it was a good idea to burn all the books). Wow- I never knew this!

In two of  those books which were saved, cacao is mentioned often, as does the “Popol Vuh, ” the sacred book of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala, which was transcribed into the Spanish alphabet shortly after the Europeans arrived. The tombs of the Maya nobility have been found to contain pottery vessels bearing the hieroglyph for cacao and depictions of the process of its preparation. Analysis of the traces of their contents indicates that they probably contained the chocolate drink.

This evidence doesn’t provide a real way to know all the forms in whch the Maya consumed chocolate, but it seems to have been most common as a drink. The drink was made by mixing the roasted, ground cacao beans with water, flavoring it with herbs and/or spices (chile was common), and then agitating the mixture until foamy by pouring it from one vessel to another. One of the variations might have involved adding honey to chocolate, but the Maya did not commonly sweeten the chocolate drink, as we do today. They must have been very health-conscious.

As you enjoy this Valentine’s Day, remember the Maya with admiration and thanks!

Greetings everybody!  I am still digging out from nearly three feet of snow. It is that icy, hard kind of snow, so it is a longer and slower task than I thought it would be; I am trying to do the independent woman thing, however, with the snow being so heavy, I have to take it slow. I should have taken that free snow blower when I had the chance. Now I am back, stronger than ever, with important information.

Valentine’s Day (tomorow) may be for lover’s, but be careful from whom you purchase your chocolate or cocoa. Do not use chocolate that is tainted with child slave labor. This problem started back in 1998 and by the year 2000 the U.S. State Department estimated that 15,000 children were actively enslaved on cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast in West Africa. In 2002, two reporters from the Philadelphia Inquirer published a series outlining the brutal conditions suffered by boys as young as nine who work in the cocoa fields. The series explained how slave traders would lure boys from Mali with promises of high wages and gifts of bicycles in exchange for picking beans from the cacao trees in Ivory Coast. Frequently the boys were told they could earn as much as $175.00 per year (about five times what they could make in the same period in their home countries), and could leave at any time. But once on the plantations, some of the boys were rarely paid, and more often beaten with chains, whips and switches. When they tried to leave, they were beaten and sometimes killed.

There is still an ethical battle raging between the Chocolate Manufacturer’s Association and, let’s say, “the people who fight for ethical treatment of children.” Rep. Eliot Engel(D-NY),  crafted a rider for an agriculture appropriations bill that happened to be on the floor of the House of Representatives the week the series came out in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The rider set aside $250,000.00 to implement a system for labeling chocolate and cocoa products. The proposed labels would have read “No Child Slave Labor” , similar to “Dolphin-Safe” labels on tuna cans.

Engel’s bill passed in the House of Representatives that June, but the chocolate makers feared that this bill would taint their image and cause a disatrous public relations headache to their industry. So, they mustered support from a handful of high-powered senators (from both the Democratic and Republican parties of the USA), and they lobbied Congress before the Senate could pass a similar bill. Sadly, the bill was never initiated.

This information was taken from http://www.alternet.org/story/12373    So, use discretion when buying your chocolate or cacao.

In their book,”The True History of Chocolate’ “  Sophie and Michael Coe argue that the cacao tree was domesticated centuries earlier than previously thought. While in the past, scholars have credited the Maya (250-900 CE), or even the Aztec (14th century CE), with discovering the ambrosial qualities of chocolate, now many prefer to credit the Olmec civilization with domesticating the cacoa bean.

The Oltecs developed food-production processes that gave them the time to enjoy a relatively comfortable lifestyle, with plenty of time away from hunting  and gathering for mere survival. They were able to build a vast empire and create numerous works of art– and see what they could make of the humble-looking cacao bean.  Moreover, there were great Olmec settlements in the prime cacao-growing areas in Chiapas, Guatemala, and the Yucatan, and linguistic examinations of the words “cacao” and “chocolate” yield traces of languages spoken by the Olmec.

The other day, when I was snowed inside of my home, Iwatched the movie, “Chocolat”, starring Johnny Depp. It is a beautiful story about a young woman who travels to a small, provincial town in the countryside of France. She opens a patiserie (bakery) in the middle of Lent. She literally transforms the town; the villagers, who were legalistic, sullen and oppressed with religious “rules” (no candy during Lent), were trasformed to beings of  lightness, acceptance and joy. Even the mayor of the town (who was against her and had called her an agent of the devil- and immoral) had changed his attitude and  and felt a lightness of soul. If you get the chance to see it, treat yourself; it was nominated for Best Picture award in 2000. The movie is well worth watching.

Valentine’s Day is one week away. So it is at this time of year that gifts of chocolate are given as a gesture of love.  I drank a cup of hot chocolate or cocoa today after I finished shoveling the snow that the snow plow had pushed back into my driveway overnight. I was watching  TV yesterday and I saw Olympic speed skater, Apollo Ohno in a vat of chocolate with Shawn Johnson, gold medal gymnast. He and she were engaged in a  wrestling match of sorts for Nestle’s chocolate,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Well these two Olympic heroes were slinging liquid chocolate all over each other as a promotion for the candy company. It was quite a bizarre promotion of chocolate. It can be found on You Tube. Anyway, this bizarre display of chocolate gave me the idea to write about cocoa (or cacao)  today.

Remember that the higher percentage of  pure cacao means a lower sugar content. One of the most intense chocolates on the planet is Sharffen Berger. It is 99% cacao  and it is meant to be used for baking; not snacking. This is an extremly dark chocolate. Guittard chocolate is 72% cacao, so it has a low sugar content and no added butter.

Remember, cocoa or cacao is very healthy for us because the anandamide in it attaches to certain neuro transmitters in our brains to help elongate that happy feeling we get when we feel content, loved and consumed with laughter.  So, enjoy your red wine and chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Be healthy and savor that warm cup of cocoa.

I am all alone in the house, safe and dry from this 24- hour snow storm that has me blanketed in so much that I can’t even open the back door. There is two feet of snow piled up against the door. In a few hours I will be outside in the 40 to 50 mph winds, bundled up and shoveling out my car. Being alone has given me the opportunity to think and work on my own spirituality.  I also get the chance to work on my physical health and wellness. It will take me a few hours to shovel the snow. I make the best of it; I practice strengthening my abdominal muscles with every scoop I pick up.

I will drink plenty of water during rests from the snow. When it is all over and I have successfully cleared the sidewalks and driveway, I plan on having a good old-fashioned cup of hot chocolate or cacao. My mother always called it cocoa. I make my cocoa with organic cacao; no processing or additives. I will savor each sip and think of my canceled dinner date that I was so looking forward to;  my date was going to take me to a huge dinner award banquet at the Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia, but it  was called off due to all this ”white stuff.”  Last Saturday, I was stuck on Rt. 95 in Maryland in several inches of snow amidst 28 accidents that we counted. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry. I count my blessings.

Cacao has high levels of sulphur and magnesium which increases mental alertness and focus. The phenylethylamine and the chemical anandamide (found in cacao) binds to neuro-transmitters in our brains which tend to prolong that “feel-good” happy emotional state of mind. And so, the hot cup of cocoa that I am looking forward to as my reward for heavy shoveling will be well-deserved. I am thankful to be safe and dry and not out on the highway like I was last week. My sincere prayers go out to those who are out traveling to get to work and businesses. To all of my faithful readers, I wish you the gift of uninhibited and unrestrained  JOY.