Friday Five: Lent Edition

KathrynZJ brings RevGalBlogPals this Friday Five:

What about you? What are some things you appreciate about the season of Lent? Perhaps you would share 5 of them with us. And for your bonus question feel free to share one thing you could do without.

1.
2. I treasure the special worship opportunities in the season of Lent, including Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. The latter two services are what clinched my decision to move from the Methodist Church back to the Episcopal Church some years ago. The solemnity and awe impacted me greatly and still do.

3. Having the intensified focus of 40 days before Easter helps me to live more in the Presence. As others have suggested, this also includes more consistent practices lived out.

4. Adding to my posts on Lent.

5. I am pondering if I will have a practice of adding to or letting go for Lent. It seems delusional to give up chocolate for Lent, because I already have done so for Fair Trade reasons--plus I need to lose some weight. I have a friend who used to fast from dinner the night before to 3 pm the next day; that has always sounded easier to me. Perhaps this Lent, I'll try that, but I haven't decided yet.

Bonus: I dislike the pretense that Jesus was not bothered by his suffering on the cross, because he knew he would be okay in the end. (I remember that was another reason I left that particular Methodist Church with that specific minister years ago as he preached that on Good Friday.) Too often we give complete divinity to Jesus in his earthly life, while doctrine says he was both human and divine. (I could go on and on. . . .and will not.)

Movie: The Dark Side of Chocolate

Happy Halloween!

Awhile ago I ordered a book of vintage Halloween postcards from Amazon.com. They quickly arrived and soon I misplaced them. I had intended to send them to friends, but am now reminded of this saying my father used to repeat: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," as I have not done so.

Happy Halloween!

This is the first Halloween I have not bought any chocolate for trick-or-treaters, because I am committed to buying only Fair Trade Chocolate candy. (Husband CB complained that we don't have any "good" candy, but that's healthier for us, too.)

Whatever Halloween candy you have in your house, Hungry Girl has a handy guide to those treats. She posts the calories and the Weight Watcher points for each "fun size" and other handouts.

Anne has a cheery Halloween reflection at her Reverent Irreverance blog.

Raise the Bar Hershey!

There is an excellent article "Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate?" by John Robbins from the September 24, 2010 Huffington Post that I urge you to read. He gives anecdotal and solid info, with many links about chocolate, including the following report.

"In 2006, Hershey acquired the Artisan Confections Company21, which produces Dagoba Chocolate and Scharffen Berger chocolate22. By acquiring the company, Hershey inherited Dagoba’s cocoa purchasing policies for its specific branded items, which include the “Conacado Bar” that is made using cocoa from the Conacado Fair Trade cocoa cooperative in the Dominican Republic. Dagoba’s drinking chocolate, syrup, and cacao powder are also Fair Trade Certified™.

"Of 22 different chocolate bars, baking products, and drinking chocolate produced by Dagoba, seven are made using Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. No products under the Hershey label outside of the Dagoba subsidiary use Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. When considered as part of Hershey’s total product line, these Fair Trade Certified™ products constitute less than one percent of the company’s offerings."

Download the entire report "Time to Raise the Bar: The Real Corporate Social Responsibility Report for the Hershey Company" HERE.

Friday Five: Fall Word Association

Trees in Calgary last week

Singing Owl offers this Fall Word Association for RevGalBlogPals:

Give us the the first word that comes to mind (you know how that works, right?) and then add a little something about why, or how or what.

1. Pumpkins--carved

2. Campfire--rarely experienced, because we did not go camping. My dad was a career Marine and felt that "camping" was too much a part of his job description.

3. Apples--crisp and juicy

4. Color--fall leaves, which do not occur in south TX. I miss colorful and cool autumns.

5. Halloween--costumes, trick or treating
However, this Halloween is different for me since I have become aware of child slavery in the growing of cocoa beans, so I am not buying the usual bags of chocolate mini-bars to hand out to trick-or-treaters. My commitment to buying Fair Trade chocolate bars is getting me to buy non-chocolate candies to hand out. (That is a healthy choice for me--less snitching!)

For more info about child slavery/fair trade chocolate, go here.

Canada beats the USA

Today I found Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate at a local pharmacy here in Calgary that is clearly marked "fair trade." Whenever I look at Cadbury milk chocolate bars in the USA, they are not marked "fair trade" at all. Of course, I have only looked at selected stores in TX and WA State, but I think they are indicative of the products sold all over the USA.

Obviously, there has not been a demand for FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE in the USA to Cadbury. I guess Kraft bought Cadbury, so that would be the place to write. I emailed Cadbury and asked about American Cadbury Dairy Milk bars not being fair trade and never received a reply. Most annoying.

So I ask you, have you ever seen the above wrapped chocolate in the USA? Please tell me where!!

Reverse Trick-or-Treating!

Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Cocoa Campaign
presents the Fourth Annual:

Reverse Trick-or-Treating!

This Halloween, it is kids who will be giving treats to adults!

Media: Click here to cover Reverse Trick-or-Treating.
Click here for Reverse Trick-or-Treating in Canada!

Thousands of groups of Trick-or-Treaters in the United States and Canada will unite to help:

• END poverty among cocoa farmers
• END forced/abusive child labor in the cocoa industry
• PROTECT the environment
• PROMOTE Fair Trade

How? By distributing Fair Trade chocolate to adults, attached to a card explaining these problems in the cocoa industry and how Fair Trade presents a solution.

Scroll down to request your kit TODAY, while supplies last.

You can also participate by distributing flyers on Halloween!

Reverse Trick-or-Treating is an initiative of Global Exchange’s Sweet Smarts network, in partnership with worker-owned Fair Trade cooperative Equal Exchange, whose vision, leadership, and generous contributions have made Reverse Trick-or-Treating possible.

Thanks to generous donations of Fair Trade chocolate companies listed below.

• Equal Exchange
• Sweet Earth
  
• Coco-Zen

Participating lead nonprofit organizations:

• Ballston Spa Fair Trade Coalition
• Fair Trade Federation
• Fair Trade Resource Network
• Fair Trade Towns/TransFair USA
• Global Exchange
• Green America
• International Labor Rights Forum
• Jeannette Rankin Peace Center
• Montclair Fair Trade Coalition
• NY State Labor-Religion Coalition
• Oasis
• Public Citizen
• San Diego Friends of Fair Trade
• Sustaining Cultures
• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
• UMCOR of the Board of Global Ministries
• UMC General Board of Church and Society

Participating organizations include: Africa Faith and Justice Network, Americans for Informed Democracy as a Participating, Chicago Fair Trade, DC Fair Trade Network/Meetup, Durham Fair Trade Coalition, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Four Corners of the World/Fair Trade Milwaukee, InterReligious Task Force on Central America.

Organizations (schools, congregations, youth groups, etc organizing multiple groups of Trick-or-Treaters)
Dates to request kits –- October 1 - October 8 (unless supplies run out sooner)
Price: $24 per box of 150 cards/chocolates (maximum 2 boxes per organization) + shipping costs

Organizations: Click here to request a kit

Individuals (one group of Trick-or-Treaters):
Dates to request kits -– September 1 - October 8 (unless supplies run out sooner)
Price: FREE + shipping costs Click here.

A diet aid-->Fair Trade!

Do the supermarkets in your neighborhood have these candy racks right next to the checkout counter? The ones at our local HEB's are much wider and more abundantly supplied.

The last time I was shopping at the store, I was hungry and looked longingly at the candy bars. I rationalized that one would be about 200 calories or maybe 4 Weight Watcher points, which wouldn't be that bed. Then I remembered that none of the candy offered was FAIR TRADE, so I will not buy it. Since I am very aware of the reality of slave labor in the production of cocoa beans, I am trying to be committed in NOT buying such chocolate.

I know I am not completely supporting Fair Trade chocolate, because currently I am still eating desserts and/or ice cream with chocolate components that are most likely not Fair Trade.

I have decided that my small effort to only buy chocolate candy that is Fair Trade chocolate is one little step towards justice. This decision is also helping me to resist the impulse to buy a quick snack of a chocolate bar, which is a healthier choice for me. I feel confident that I will be able to continue on this path, narrow though it may be. (It will definitely alter my Halloween candy buying for this year!)

Where is Fair Trade Chocolate?

Fair Trade Chocolate?

Last night CB and I went looking for Fair Trade chocolate here in Corpus Christi, TX. With all the foreign varieties at World Market, we were disappointed to find none carrying the label "Fair Trade." A few are organic, but not many.

In 2009 Cadbury came out advertising about their commitment to Fair Trade with their Dairy Milk Bar. They are still advocating that endeavor, but I am wondering if the company's recent sale to the Kraft Company will change that. Or is this Fair Trade Cadbury bar only sold in Great Britain or Europe? If anyone knows where Fair Trade Cadbury can be purchased in the United States, please let me know!

None of the bars at World Market carried the United Kingdom or international logos of Fair Trade. The UK logo is seen above and below.


Looking for this logo, I found a blog about Fair Trade, which looks quite interesting.

I love chocolate!

Visiting the Theo Chocolate Factory in Seattle this summer introduced me into the idea of Fair Trade and artisan chocolates. The tour was fun and informative, with snacks of various kinds of Theo chocolate all along the way. I previously blogged about that here.

Since most Fair Trade chocolate seems to be dark chocolate, I have passed it by until this visit. As I wrote in the blog post below, my love for chocolate now is encompassing Fair Trade milk chocolate, which is somewhat similar to semi-sweet chocolate chips, but richer. I feel fortunate that I was introduced to Theo Chocolate and that one store here in Corpus Christi sells it. But it still takes an effort to get over to that store!

Chocolate can also be ordered online from Theo Chocolate.

I probably will stick with milk chocolate, but since I find that the cheaper U.S. milk chocolate is too sweet now, I plan to keep looking out for Fair Trade milk chocolate. I did find that I liked the milk chocolate made by Endangered Species, which does not have the Fair Trade certification on it but is organic. I am thinking that if Fair Trade chocolate is not available, it is better to buy organic certified chocolate, because the growing conditions and hopefully the working conditions are better than the cheaper brands. (Look for the amount of cocoa beans used!)

IF I can find Fair Trade chocolate in Corpus Christi, Texas, I know you can find a Fair Trade brand near where you live!

Fair Trade Chocolate

I have always loved chocolate, especially milk chocolate. Avoiding milk chocolate is one of the difficult things about being on a diet. However, now I am not sure that I like milk chocolate best of all, because I have tasted Fair Trade chocolate.

MJ brought me varieties of Fair Trade chocolate bars from the Whole Foods Market in San Antonio, since not much is available around Corpus Christi, TX. After eating Fair Trade milk chocolate, which has 40-45% cocoa in it, I find that I prefer it much more than the normal U.S. milk chocolate bar. I bought one (on impulse) and found it to be too sweet. Plus, such an average milk chocolate bar has only 10% cocoa and lots more sugar; no wonder I find it so much sweeter.

Since preparing for and participating in the Green Fair at First United Methodist Church this past Sunday, I have learned about the injustice and cruelty perpetrated in the production of cocoa/chocolate. An excellent source to learn about this is here. This site also has an extensive chart showing whether various chocolate companies use slave labor and/or have organic ingredients. Also the book Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off has extensive data and information about the history and current production of chocolate.

Here is a little bit of info about cocoa and slavery:

• West Africa collectively supplies nearly 70% of the world's cocoa AND the Ivory Coast produces nearly half of all all the world's cocoa.

• There are about 600,000 cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, with an estimated 15,000 children forced to work as slaves on these farms.

• It is estimated that 90% of cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast use child labor.

Since 90% of most U.S. candy purchases are impulse buys, we can affect the large chocolate companies by NOT buying the "slave chocolate" so readily.

We can write to the big chocolate companies and ask them to buy Fair Trade cocoa. (I just ordered some from Amazon.com here.) Tell them that you expect something to be done immediately to ensure that cocoa imported into the U.S. is not harvested by enslaved children.

• Hershey Foods Corporation, 100 Crystal A Drive, Hershey, PA 17033; (717) 534-6799--POST on their Facebook site.
  

• Mars., Inc., 6885 Elm Street, McLean, VA 22101; (703) 821-4900

• Nestle USA, (800) 225-2270
  

Fair Trade

I finished my school project board about fair trade for tomorrow's Green Fair at First United Methodist Church. I pasted info that I typed and wrappers from Fair Trade chocolate bars, tea and coffee on it.

A couple quotes I found from Clawson's book Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices:

"Researchers estimate that there are more slaves in the world today than there were during the four hundred years of the African slave trade during the colonial era. The current estimate stands at 27 million." (59)

"Candy companies rely on impulse buys for 90% of their sales. Altering this everyday action can send a huge message to the chocolate companies." (68)

"If we purchase items made by underpaid and abused workers, we participate in their exploitation." (133)

I'll be back on Sunday!

Well, before this long trip to Alaska and WA State, I pre-posted until a few days ago, because I thought I would be posting at friends' and family's computers. Nope! I'll be back more consistently on Sunday.

MJ and I will fly back to hot and humid Corpus Christi, TX on Sunday--it will be 20-30 degrees F. hotter there. I am so glad our house has air conditioning!

We had a wonderful four days in Bellingham with CB's family. Now we have four days in Seattle.

Today was a lot of fun. AE and KA took us out to breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe in Ballard (a neighborhood in Seattle), which is one of my favorite places in the morning because of their heaping bowls of berries, butter, and whipped cream to liberally apply to meals. Then we went on a tour of the Theo Chocolate Factory, which is not just a melter (as most chocolate factories in the USA)but a complete and organic chocolate factory. At almost every step of the tour, we were given a wooden bowl of chocolate chunks to pass around and sample. I could not try the DARK chocolate, which was 91% cocoa, but CB held it in his mouth to melt it. (I wish I liked dark chocolate, because I know it is healthier to eat.)

Then we went up on the observation deck of the Smith Tower, which was one of the first skyscrapers in the USA. The view was better than the one seen from the Space Needle.

Tonight we girls (MJ, AE, KA, Terry and me) are going out for dinner at a vegetarian restaurant called Carmelita's. I am sure that will be wonderful. I am so lucky AE and KA have planned such interesting things for us to do.

See you all on Sunday--unless our flights are delayed.

Hot Fudge Sauce!

MJ asked me if I would make our family's favorite hot fudge sauce tonight, so her boy friend CJS could try it. Of course, CB and I would like that, too!

This is such a good recipe that I give it to friends and to new brides and to anyone who wants it. I am going to share it here, as it is the BEST hot fudge sauce I have ever had. It is from an old Hershey Foods cookbook: Hershey's 1934 Cookbook. Ed. Josh Gaspero. Hershey foods Corporation: 1971. (p. 38)

Hot Fudge Sauce

Combine in a pan:
1/4 cup Hershey's cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Add and blend thoroughly:
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup milk

Bring to a boil; boil 5 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Cool, without stirring, until pan feels warm to hand. Serve.

Makes 1 1/2 cups sauce.

Tonight it was delicious!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

For the first time in my life I baked a flourless chocolate cake yesterday. I am wondering if it is like "Chocolate Decadence," which was once a popular dessert in the 1980s. A friend was having a dinner party last night, and when I volunteered to help, she gave me this recipe. It was somewhat complicated, but well worth the trouble.

Creamy Flourless Chocolate Cake
one 9-inch cake

1/2 pound semisweet chocolate
1/4 pound unsweetened chocolate
1 Tbsp. water, coffee, Cognac, OR brandy
1/ cup plus 2 Tbsp. butter
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

1. 1. Put chocolates and water in top of double boiler. Melt over warm water. Removed from heat. Add butter in 5 pieces, blending each piece into the chocolate before adding the next piece. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar until dissolved.
2. Beat egg yolks until light and thickened. Gradually beat in chocolate mixture so it does not separate. Add vanilla.
3. Beat eggs whites and salt until foamy with electric mixer; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff. Fold whites into chocolate batter.
4. Pour into buttered and sugared 9-inch spring-form pan. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes (no longer; the cake will fall slightly, then it will firm as it cools). Put cake on wire rack to cool; remove from pan.
   
5. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar or serve with whipped cream OR Brush warm cake with seedless raspberry preserves, thinned over heat with a little water.

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I baked it and topped it with raspberry preserves. It looked sophisticated and elegant. With 16 people at the dinner last night, half of it is still left. One cannot eat a large piece, because it is so rich.

My friend gave the half cake back to me, because she said it freezes beautifully. Now I have our Christmas dinner dessert!
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Go here for more chocolate dessert recipes.