Mysteries Revealed

So every night on the drive home from work, there's always this certain stretch of road that is guaranteed to have a few branches on it. Actual tree branches, where it is advisable to swerve around them instead of running them over. And every night I drive by wondering what is going on with the trees in that area and why hasn't anyone done anything about it because it can be dangerous when it's busy. Anyways last night I was driving home, swerved around that cursed patch, and for some reason though the street was empty, I looked in my rear view mirror. And lo and behold, some little boy, maybe like 12 years old tops, was dragging this branch out in the middle of the road and left it there. What the frig! Who lets their kid out this late by themselves after midnight? And why does this child have such a weird hobby? Strange. But at least there is nothing wrong with the trees, except for the fact that every night, parts of them are being ripped off to lie in wait for some unexpecting car...



And ever wonder how chocolate is made? Well look no further, because as of yesterday (Thursday) morning, I am now a chocolatier apprentice. And man is it ever hard work. Four hours with no break and little rest the night before... not a good mix! But it was interesting work at least. Chocolate-making is a very exact science. To create the perfect chocolate bar, the chocolate itself must be heated and tempered to just the right temperature (between two Fahrenheit degrees), cooled for exactly the right time, and stored at just the right humidity. Not to mention you must work fast because it hardens quickly and you must be very careful of your workstation because chocolate hates water of any sort. But the chocolate there is delicious. It is organic fair trade and made with top-quality ingredients shipped from Europe. Contains nothing but cocoa butter (not the cheap powder), real cane sugar, and ground vanilla beans.

So how do you tell how good the chocolate is? By using three of your five senses:

1. Smell - Bring the chocolate under your nose. Can you smell the cocoa?
2. Touch - Break off a piece of chocolate. Does it break crisply?
3. Sight - Look at the chocolate itself. Is it smooth?

If you answered "yes" to all three, then the chocolate is nicely made. Look for chocolate specially marked "organic" because that's usually a sign of better quality and never miss out on the chocolate marked "fair trade". Because though you never really think about it, but chocolate is actually harvested and made in very harsh and deplorable conditions by people making next-to-nothing.

Just some food for thought.