August 1st, 2019
~ 7:30 am – One of my favourite rituals is beginning my day with a cup of hot chocolate. I may say cup, but usually it’s closer to about 1/4 cup liquid. Sitting and savouring a cup of hot chocolate while thinking of all the things I am grateful for has been a ritual for me this year. I intentionally looked for a way to add time to my mornings to enjoy chocolate – just enjoy it. It’s usually something different each day. Really I pretty much wing it. This morning I used an Ancient Chocolate Drink mix I picked up while I was in Hawaii earlier this year on a tour with Maui Chocolate and Coffee Tours. This mix has spices added to it as was the ancient style of making hot chocolate.
~ 10:18 am – I sampled four chocolate bars with raspberries in them. I took photos of them all before eating them, and for photos I prefer two pieces of chocolate as it shows a cross section as well as the top of the bars. So in this photo, I only ate one piece of each kind of chocolate. The other four pieces were shared with a friend. I ate the four pieces over about an hour, allowing my mouth time between bars to better enjoy their flavours and textures.
~ 4:34 pm – Not chocolate, but chocolate related, I had some Cacao Juice (1/4 cup) mixed with some bubbly water from my Soda Stream (3/4 cup) as a refreshing drink after spending a few hours out on the water on my SUP. Cacao juice is not ‘chocolatey’ at all as it is made from the pulp of the cacao pod. It’s very bright and acidic and different. Worth a try!
August 2nd, 2019
~ 7 am – A few sips of hot chocolate before heading to work. It was a mix of various pieces of bars I had kicking around. I love mixing it up sometimes.
~ 8:11 pm – I supported a kick starter campaign for Mary’s Brigadeiros earlier this year and arrived home to find a box of treats as part of my reward. So exciting. Besides the expected treats there was a Brigadeiro tart in the box. It had a few bumps in its travels from Toronto to Ottawa, but I happily pulled it out and shared it with hubby for dessert this evening.
August 3rd, 2019
~ 9:45 pm – Yes that is correct, no chocolate until the evening. I do eat a fair amount of chocolate and some days I choose not to have any. I had a small glass of tea instead of hot chocolate. Truthfully I am still learning to enjoy tea, but it gave me a moment of mindfulness this morning. This evening though, I ate a Tree of Sweetness from Tulip. I knew it was in our plans to visit the restaurant tonight, and I was expecting great things. I wasn’t disappointed. It was beautiful. Chocolatly and unique, it was a flower pot full of chocolate mousse, covered with chocolate crumbs, with a chocolate tree trunk, topped with a purplish cotton candy canopy. Stunning. A work of art. I hope to indulge in it again.
August 4th, 2019
~ 9:44 am – I had a mug of hot chocolate, this time a hot chocolate mix from Soul Chocolate that I added almond milk to. On the side I had a mini banana chocolate chip loaf that I baked the day before. A lazy start to a Sunday.
~ 8:43 pm – I indulged in several Mary’s Brigadeiros, I had three and there were white and dark chocolate beauties in the bunch.
August 5th, 2019
~ 9:15 am ish – Today is a holiday here in Canada, so it was a later than usual morning. I did some yoga on the deck beginning about 8:30 and afterwards I had a bite of a Pisa bar from Palette De Bine with a glass of water. I absolutely love eating chocolate right after yoga as I find I am distracted and my tongue and pallet pick out flavours I may not have caught previously.
~ 9:45 am – I had hot chocolate made from the same Palette De Bine bar with hubby, who had tea, while we shared a few more Brigadeiros. Yay for holidays and starting the day slowly with delicious treats.
~ 10 pm – One Brigadeiro before bed after returning from a 20 km bike ride, I wanted a little snack.
August 6th, 2019
~ 9 am – Hot chocolate. This was a few bits of 100% bar of chocolate to which I added some water and maple syrup (to sweeten it up a bit).
~ 2:33 pm – a small bite of Hummingbird’s Maple bar as I worked at my desk.
August 7th, 2019
~ 8 am – A mug of hot chocolate to start the day. Various pieces of chocolate mixed with warm water to create a tiny drink. I just took pieces from my random jar of chocolate bits and I am sure there was a bar with pine in it. My drink had a distinctly tree flavour to it today.
~ 1:15 pm – A few bites of Sirene Chocolate’s Dark Milk bar at Parliament Hill after doing a yoga practice there.
~ 2:50 pm – Some Mary’s Brigadeiro spread on some fresh bread I picked up while I was out.