Magic 7 Raw Chocolate

I don't go in much for supplements and herbal powders, but this sure sounds like a tasty way to take in your herbs and antioxidants! I just wish I could make my raw chocolates look this solid and shiny - mine are always more like fudge than actual chocolates.

http://goneraw.com/recipe/magic-seven-chocolate

The Magic Seven Chocolate

Submitted by RawWill on May 12, 2011 - 7:32am

Average:

5

Average: 5 (1 vote)

Servings: 

 18 ice-cube-sized confections

Here's my favorite recipe.

The Magic Seven:

125 g cacao butter
5 tbsp cacao powder
3 tbsp lucuma powder
2 tbsp maca powder
2 tbsp organic honey
a pinch of salt
3 drops of essential peppermint oil

Cacao butter is a bit more difficult to melt but with a hot water bath and grating it small it works fine. Then add honey and salt into the fat and mix well. And finally, add powders and the peppermint oil. Mix well again and check that it tastes good. Then pour it into ice-cube molds and put into freezer for 30-60 minutes. Once the chocolate is hardened enough, get it out of the freezer and let it melt for a while in room temperature. Never eat ice cold chocolate, you won't taste all the magnificent flavors. Enjoy!

You can find more recipes and tips on my website: http://www.rawchocolaterecipes.net

Ingredients: 

cacao butter, cacao powder, lucuma powder, maca powder, organic honey, salt, essential peppermint oil

Feta Fête

The first time I set out to make a gluten-free ricotta so my husband could partake, I was stunned by how easy it was. Since then I've successfully made several kinds of yogurt cheese, chevre, and mozzarella. These are all fresh, unbrined cheeses. I'm not yet ready to try real aged cheeses yet, but feta seems like a reasonable step toward more complex cheese making. And my goat milk supplier recently told me that her two current milkers are producing an astounding 4 gallons a week, so she can easily get me enough milk for cheese making! Still not sure I want to brine cheese for 30 days (so many things possible to go wrong in all that time), but if cheese prices keep going up I'll probably risk it.

How to Make Feta Cheese

 (from Cultures for Health Newsletter)

Feta cheese makes a wonderful addition to salads, sandwiches or as a garnish for meat or vegetables.  Generally made with goat milk, it can be made with cow milk if desired. What you need: 1 gallon goat milk Rennet: 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet or 1/2 rennet tablet Mesophilic Culture: 1/8 teaspoon direct-set Feta Cheese Starter Culture or 1/8 teaspoon direct-set Mesophilic Starter Culture or One packet direct-set Mesophilic Culture or 4 oz. prepared mesophilic culture Note: It is also possible to use 1 tablespoon yogurt in place of the mesophilic starter Feta Instructions: Warm the milk in a stainless steel (or other non-reactive) pot to 86 F degrees.  Add the culture to the milk and stir thoroughly.  Allow the milk to sit undisturbed for an hour at room temperature.  Once the milk has sat, dilute the rennet in 1/4 cup cool water.  Mix the rennet/water into the milk using an up and down motion with your spoon (not a stirring motion).  Incorporate the rennet but do not over mix.  Place a lid on the pot and let the milk mixture sit undisturbed overnight.  The next morning, check that the milk has gelled and there is a clean break in the curd.  Use a knife to cut the curd into 1/2" x 1/2" cubes.  If necessary, use very clean hands to check the bottom of the pot for curds that may have been missed.  Gently stir the curd off and on over the next 20 minutes.  The curds should become somewhat retracted.  Place a tea towel, cotton bag, multi-layered cheese cloth in a colander.  Pour in the curds and allow the visible whey to drain off.  Once the whey has drained, tie the cloth in knots and hang it over the sink or a bowl.  Allow the curd to drain for another 4 hours or until no more whey drips off.   Make a brine solution using 1/3 cup non-iodized salt and 1/2 gallon of water.  Place the curds in the brine solution in a jar with a lid in the fridge.  Brine for 4-5 days if using store-bought goat milk or for 30 days if using farm fresh goat milk.   Extra tip: If you find that your curd doesn't set firmly enough, some cheese makers suggest mixing 1/8 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup water into the milk the next time you make feta.

Barbarian Cooks Menu for March 5 Farmers' Market

Well, assuming I get all this finished in time (!!) here's what I plan to be selling on Saturday. And if not this month, then next market day. :-) Want something but can't make it to the market? Call or email me - I'm going to start doing a small number of special orders for local delivery. I suppose the non-refrigerated stuff could even be mailed, too, for you folks from other parts of the country. barbarianlibrarians@gmail.com    802.779.8082

GLUTEN-FREE BAKED GOODS

Cinnamon buns (with or without pecan topping)

Brioche bread loaves

Cornbread mini-loaves

Carrot cake (individual sized)

Thinmint cookies

Gingerbread chickens

Chocolate snap cookies

Almond butter and chocolate cookies

RAW FOOD DESSERTS (all recipes are vegan)

Chocolate "cheeseless" cheesecake (by the slice)

Pineapple "cheeseless" cheesecake (individual size)

Chocolate-mint brownies

VT apple pie chocolates

Hazlenut chocolate frogs

RAW FOOD SAVORY SNACKS (all recipies are vegan)

Apple chips

Mixed veggie flax crackers

"Cheesy" kale chips

The Importance of Names

When fictional names are done well, they can give a startlingly believable feel to an imagined world (eg: Tolkien). When they are done badly, I find it hard to follow the story. Case in point: R.A. Salvatore's beloved "Dark Elf" series. After many many years of hearing about these books, I'm finally delving into them. And honestly, while I can understand how die-hard combat fans may love his extremely detailed fight scenes, I'm finding a lot that makes me stumble in the reading and stop to scratch my head and go, "WTF!?" First of all, the elf (actually, drow) is named Drizzt Do'Urden. I can't help it - this name just sounds too much like a horrific bout of something that would keep you up on the toilet all night. And even worse, his twin blades of menace are named Twinkle (hee) and Icingdeath (HAWAHAHAHA!!). Perhaps Salvatore is trying to have some fun here, but I really find the names distracting. Right in the middle of every fraught battle scene I drop my computer (I'm reading ePubs) and start shrieking with laughter and wondering if Salvatore was really jonesing for a cupcake when he came up with those weapon names.

ARTSY LIBRARIAN CONTEST EXTENDED TO NOV. 10

One of the challenges of working in your basement is that when the plumbing busts, the water has a pool party in your office! Horde HQ has been dismantled for repairs and I won't have the workshop back together by the time I'd hoped to start printing. Therefore, I'm moving the submission deadline back. Please pass on this information to anyone interested!
****************************************************************

The Barbarian Librarians Craft Collective in Woodstock, VT is pleased to announce the Artsy Librarian Contest!
Barbarian Librarians is a small but growing group of artists and crafters who believe that public libraries are one of the cornerstones of vital, sustainable communities.  Artists and book lovers in small towns share a common cause in their desire to promote a culture of literacy, creativity and inventiveness in their community. Barbarian Librarians strives to facilitate connections between artists and "book people" for mutual benefit.
 
I would personally like to invite your artistically-inclined library staff to submit digital images of their artwork to our Artsy Librarian Contest. The 5 winners will receive:
 

• A $50 donation for their library*
• One year's worth of dividends on Artsy Librarian product sales for their library*
• A gift certificate for a Barbarian Librarians T-shirt or stationery pack for themselves

* If the winner's library cannot accept donations, funds will go to the Barbarian Shares program to benefit participating libraries

The 5 winning art images will be used in the creation of Artsy Librarian Stationery and miniature insets for Artsy Librarian Jewelry (bracelet, earrings, etc.).



Artsy Librarian Contest Submission Deadline: November 10, 2010

Who is Eligible to Enter:

• Library staff, trustees, volunteers, and Friends group officers
• Must be 18 years or older
• Must work for any library in the USA (public, school, college, etc.) or be in a MLIS program

Submission Guidelines:

• Artwork must be previously unpublished and you must be the only one with rights to the work; you must be able to certify that the work is entirely your own and that the work does not infringe on any existing copyright or trademark (for example, copies of another artist's work are not acceptable)
• If your work is in a 2-dimensional medium (painting, drawing, collage, photography, cut paper, digital art, etc.) scanning is preferred, but if your canvas is too large for scanning you may use a high-quality digital photo; if you are a sculptor or do other 3-dimensional work or work in large media (quilts, for example), please take a high-quality digital photo under good light
• Scan or digital photo should be at least 5"x7" and 300dpi resolution (600dpi is preferred); larger sizes and resolutions are fine
• Color work is preferred
• Artwork should "show" well in small sizes (the images will be used on greeting cards and part or all of the artwork will be reproduced on 1" square jewelry panels)

How to Send Artwork:

• Email digital images of up to 3 pieces of artwork tobarbarianlibrarians@gmail.com (B.L. respects your privacy and will not put you on any mailing list, send you spam, or give your contact information to anyone else)
• Large digital files can be compressed with WinZip to reduce file to a size suitable for emailing
• If it will not be possible for you to get a high quality image of your work, please call or email to arrange to send either a conventional photograph or the work itself

What Else to Send With Your Submissions:

• Personal Info: include your name, preferred email address, phone number, and your library position title
• The name of your library and your library's mailing address (so a donation check can be mailed if you are one of the winners)
• For each submission please include a title, the media with which it was created, and any other information about it which you would like to include
• Please let us know whether you would like us to publicize your name along with your artwork if you are one of our winners, or whether you would like to remain anonymous
• Indicate whether or not your library can accept donations

Rights and Reimbursement:

• If your artwork is chosen, it is understood that you agree to allow Barbarian Librarians to alter the work so as to make it suitable for use in a variety of products: this may include but may not be limited to cropping, color correction, resizing, etc.
• You, the artist, will retain rights to your original work of art (for example, if you submit a scan of a painting, you can still sell the original painting)
• You agree to grant Barbarian Librarians the right to continue to use images of your artwork for products and publicity purposes, in perpetuity
• You understand that you, personally, will not receive any cash reimbursement for the use of your artwork - the image of your artwork must be freely offered for charity purposes to benefit public libraries
• At least 40% of Artsy Librarian product sales will be donated to public libraries; for one year, a dividend will be donated to the winners' libraries; after that time, dividends will go to Barbarian Librarians Featured Libraries (see the Barbarian Shares program on our website)
• Any unused artwork will be deleted or returned to the artist and Barbarian Librarians will not retain any rights

Should you have more questions about the Artsy Librarian Contest, please do not hesitate to call or email. I look forward to seeing your work!!
 
Sincerely, 
Narissa Kent Willever 
Founder & Craft Collective Coordinator 
Barbarian Librarians 
barbarianlibrarians@gmail.com 
802.779.8082