December 13

The scientific name Theobroma means "food of the Gods". The word cacao itself derives from the Nahuatl (Aztec language) word cacahuatl.  The tree is today found growing wild in the low foothills of the Andes at elevations of around 650–1300 ft in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins. It requires a humid climate with regular rainfall and good soil.

     Cocoa seeds are the source of commercial cocoa, the four intermediate cocoa products are: liquor, butter, cake, powder, and chocolate.  The largest consumers of cocoa in todays market is chocolate manufacturers, in terms of bean equivalent. Intermediate products such as cocoa powder and cocoa butter are used in several areas.  Cocoa powder is most often used as flavor in biscuits, ice cream, dairy drinks, and cakes as well as in the manufacture of coatings for confectioners or frozen desserts.  Cocoa powder is also consumed by the beverage industry for example for the preparation of chocolate milk. 
     Besides the traditional uses in chocolate manufacture and confectionery, cocoa butter is also used in the manufacture of tobacco, soap, and cosmetics (makeup and skin lotions).  Oddly enough, it is also a folk remedy for burns, cough, dry lips, fever, malaria, rheumatism, snakebite and wounds.  It is reported to be antiseptic and diuretic.

Read more »

        The cloud bank appeared as though an unknown seamstress had just spread her quilt batting upon the midnight sky.  I watched from my old porch stoop, coffee cup in hand, as it took flight on the northward winds.
     What once appeared as a solid white blanket, thick with endless rows of ridges, became less perfect as it drifted overhead. 
     Evident were the ravages of its journey; the frayed edges, gaping holes, and tears in the canopy highlighted by the very Moon it was attempting to obscure. 
     One by one the stars in its path above were swallowed into it's mass.  Begrudgingly the endless white gave way to an occasional and fleeting glimpse of the midnight sky, replete with a chorus of flickering starlight it had so completely commandeered. 
     Only the moons illumination vaguely penetrated the drifting tufts just above the leafless tree line. 
     These aren't just any clouds; majestic and finely aged, like something from a Renaissance painting, cold weather is their cargo and Winter their destination. 

Read more »