Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse?

I love Earl Grey tea.

I love dark chocolate.  I somehow almost never manage to blog about chocolate, although, in the description of my blog, I mention "the importance of chocolate in a well-lived life".

Just in time for chocolate prices to soar. 

I am fortunate that my life situation right now allows me to indulge in chocolate.  And, I have someone to celebrate Valentine's Day with.

For years, my spouse has made chocolate mousse for me for Valentine's Day.  True, he has, the past few years, switched to chocolate covered strawberries, but this year, the strawberries he found in the supermarket that were affordable also didn't look that great.  So I was intrigued when I opened up a supermarket magazine and found a recipe for Earl Grey Tea Chocolate Mousse.

Apparently the combination isn't a new thing.

I never would have thought of combining the two.  It turns out the combination of Earl Grey tea (which is flavored with oil of bergamot.  Bergamot (Citrus bergamia), I am told, is a type of citrus fruit grown in Southern Italy. The fruit itself is said not to be edible, but the oil extracted from the rind is prized.

And, it (and Earl Grey tea) pairs well with chocolate.

So my mental wheels started to spin.  As a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, I do eat dessert but in small quantities.  What if....???

I found a recipe online for a two ingredient earl grey chocolate mousse.  

I can't vouch for it and I don't know if my spouse will like it but I am going to mention it to him.

We'll see.  Of course, there is always the chocolate covered strawberries.

Enjoy it while we can?

Easy Chocolate Milk Pudding

Today, in the Northern Hemisphere, it's the first day of winter.

It's close to Christmas, and I would bet that some of my readers are feeling pretty stressed.  They would love an easy, three ingredient dessert.

I've written several posts about making a cooked pudding with almond milk.  I am not allergic to cow's milk but I prefer almond milk for a couple of reasons.

But recently, I was gifted some chocolate milk from Vermont, and I thought to myself, I have here almost all I need to make a quick chocolate pudding.   Why not celebrate the first day of winter?

So, yesterday, I assembled the ingredients.

1 pint (16 oz) cold chocolate milk

3 1/2 tbsp potato starch (you can also use cornstarch)

1 tsp vanilla extract.

All I did was combine the ingredients in a saucepan and then cooked it on low heat until it thickened, which took about five or six minutes.  Then I poured it into 4 serving cups.

It will make two desserts for the two of us.  I might even get fancy and top each pudding cup with a chocolate covered almond or cashew.  One could also use chocolate covered coffee beans if caffeine isn't an issue.

I think some may find this not chocolatey enough but I didn't want to add cocoa because then I'd have to add more sugar.

If you try it, please let me know if you liked it.

Winter Chocolate Puddings

It's time for chocolate!  Pudding, that is.

Back in 2016, I sought to make a chocolate pudding for the Jewish holiday of Passover. Years ago, I had learned to make homemade cooked chocolate pudding in Home Ec class (dating myself!) and it was so much better than a mix.

After some Internet searching and an experiment, I came up with a recipe, which I've since adapted for year round use.

The original recipe used almond milk, coconut sugar (which I didn't have in the house), vanilla extract (which I couldn't use because it contained corn syrup, forbidden during Passover) and cocoa powder. Instead of the cornstarch the recipe called for, I  used Kosher for Passover potato starch.  Outside of Passover, I use cornstarch.

This winter I've made it several times, with variations.  The beauty of this is, it's all mixed and cooked in one saucepan, so cleanup is minimal.

Here is something you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy:

Homemade Non Dairy Chocolate Pudding (Makes 4 servings) (sorry, metric readers; you are on your own)

Ingredients
2 cups almond or cashew Milk (I use almond milk, but there are other non dairy milks available. Sadly, almond growing makes a big environmental impact.
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon cane sugar (you can also use about 3 tbs of a stevia/sugar blend, if you are watching calories. I am.)
4 tablespoons black or regular cocoa (both should work fine - I use black.)
4 tablespoons potato starch (or 4 tablespoons cornstarch) either will work
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I didn't use for Passover but I use the rest of the time.)

After mixed but before cooking

Method
Place almond milk, sugar, cocoa powder, potato or cornstarch, and vanilla extract in a saucepan over low heat.   Stir together until thick and smooth. 

Take off heat and immediately pour into 4 small serving bowls.  Let cool.  

One other thing I should mention - this creates a skin almost immediately, even as you are pouring. That's something you may want to keep in mind if you don't like skin on top of your pudding.  I do. 

And, of course, you can use dairy milk if you want.

Variation- Eggnog Chocolate Pudding (above picture)

After Christmas, I had leftover eggnog from Purity in Ithaca, New York, a somewhat local ice cream store that makes the world's best (I think) eggnog.  Because I am not lactose intolerant, I decided to substitute 3/4 cup of the almond milk for 3/4 cup eggnog. (If you do this, reduce sugar substantially). I also had a retort of unsweetened chocolate almond milk, which I bought by mistake, so I used that for the remainder of the almond milk (reducing the cocoa I added).  It was delicious.

I could also imagine adding chopped nuts into this pudding.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Friday is Valentine's Day.  For some it is a day of happiness - a day for lovers to celebrate themselves. For people not in a relationship, it can be a genuine time of sadness and depression.

On Friday I hope to be doing something I love to do - watch the sky.  And, oh, something else - eat chocolate.

One of our supermarkets is taking chocolate covered strawberries to a new level.  In a case by the front of the store, various flavors of chocolate covered strawberries are displayed for sale.  They've been doing this for several days now, and I expect it to continue until "V-Day".

You can buy toffee, cinnamon, dark chocolate, white chocolate with curls, maple with bacon, and more.  For $2.50 each.

But we thought $2.50 each was a little steep, as good as they looked.  So I talked my spouse into going to the local Aldi and getting a quart of strawberries for $1.69.  We had the other ingredients in the house already.

Using a recipe we found online for inspiration:

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1/2 cup high quality semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp coconut oil (not essential but it helps with the hardening process)
8 strawberries
Parchment paper

Method

Rinse strawberries, pat dry.  Unfold parchment paper.
Melt the chips and the coconut oil (coconut oil is a solid at room temperature) in the microwave, about 30 seconds at a time until melted.
Dip strawberries into the chocolate
Immediately place onto the parchment paper, then refrigerate until chocolate shell is firm.
Take out of refrigerator before serving and let them come to room temperature.

My spouse is an excellent cook, and I know these will taste good.  Being artistic with food, though, takes talent neither of us have. So giftable they are not.  For that, I would recommend the $2.50 each strawberries made by pros.

Have you ever made special Valentine's Day desserts?

Homemade Non Dairy Chocolate Pudding

It's time for me, a person not known for her cooking skills, to entertain her readers with my cooking adventures.

Back in the 1960's, when I was growing up, I had to take a subject called "home economics" (home ec, for short).  Meanwhile, boys got shop classes. Although I failed home ec (and I wasn't the only one - see the comment from fellow blogger Sue McPeak in another post)  - yes, I really did fail it - I took home some nice recipes from the cooking part of the course.  One was for homemade grape jelly (yes!  I learned to make homemade jelly in New York City) and another one was for homemade chocolate pudding.

Thank you, home ec!  Because now, with my need to increase my calcium intake through food, I've discovered non dairy nut milks, and puddings have become one of my favorite desserts.

Interestingly, I've found that the nut milks (almond, and cashew) don't work well with commercial instant puddings.  The puddings don't thicken.  Nut milks do work with commercial cooked puddings, so I've learned to make the cooked puddings. 

There's just one problem this week.

For me and others of the Jewish faith, it is Passover, an eight day observance when various foods (many grains, legumes, and a number of other foods) are fully or partially banned from our tables. One banned food is corn and items made from corn.  So commercial pudding is out.  Well, there is commercial Passover pudding mix, but the one time I had it - Yuck.

It's time for homemade pudding. 

Um...not so fast.  One of the key ingredients of home made pudding is cornstarch.  Time for research!

After some Internet searching and an experiment, I came up with this recipe.  The recipe needs to be perfected, but it's a good start. 

The original recipe used almond milk, coconut sugar (which I didn't have in the house), vanilla extract (what I had in the house contained corn syrup, another no-no) and cocoa powder.  I had both regular Hershey's cocoa and something called black cocoa.  I decided to use the black cocoa to intensify the flavor.  Finally, the recipe used cornstarch.  I decided to use Kosher for Passover potato starch.  Based on my spouse's cooking experience, I decided to use less potato starch than the cornstarch called for, as potato starch has greater thickening quantities.

So, drum roll, I present to you, my dear readers, something you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy:

Homemade Non Dairy Chocolate Pudding (Makes 4 servings) (sorry, metric readers; you are on your own)

Ingredients
2 cups almond or cashew Milk (I used cashew)
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon cane sugar
4 tablespoons black or regular cocoa (both should work fine)
3 1/2 tablespoons potato starch (or 4 tablespoons cornstarch) either will work
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I didn't use but I think it was needed)

Method
Place almond milk, sugar, cocoa powder, potato or cornstarch, and vanilla extract in a saucepan over low heat.   Stir together until thick and smooth.  Take off heat and immediately pour into 4 small serving bowls.  Let cool.  I served it with raspberries on top.

(This is what the mix looked like before I stirred it.  The black cocoa, which is an ultra-Dutched cocoa (all the acid has been neutralized) is dark.  You can use it here instead of regular cocoa, but do not use it in any recipe that needs acidity, such as a recipe using baking soda.)

And that's it! 

The completed pudding

When I make it again, I will use a tiny bit more thickening agent, as it seemed a tad bit watery, but that was my only complaint.  If you make it, I invite your comments.

Tomorrow, back to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Quilts #AtoZChallenge

Love and chocolate.  When did the two interwine?

For Q day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge,  I wanted to blog a little bit about quilts.  I've never made one (I am not a sewing person) but I love quilts.  I have pictures of quilts that have been displayed, from time to time, at our local public library.  I so admire those who have the skill and patience to make them.

One of my earliest memory is a comforter on my childhood bed.  It had a zipper on it.  One day, I decided to be curious and unzip the comforter.

Inside was an old quilt, tattered.  I never did find out the story of that quilt and what it may have meant to my mother.  She sewed when she was younger but by the time I had conscious memories of her, rheumatoid arthritis had set in.  It robbed her of the ability to use her hands for fine work.

I've never learned to quilt, and I admire those who quilt.

From time to time I feature the photography work of a friend I call "my guest photographer".  This quilt was made by her sister, who lives over a thousand miles from here.  I post these pictures with her permission.

I love this quilt because its subject is my favorite substance in the world - chocolate.

Chocolate is a girl's best friend.  How true!

I'm no quitter, either!

Chocolate is what I must have.  No matter if it's a chocolate covered strawberry, or a chocolate covered pretzel, or even a cup of hot chocolate, my day is not complete without a piece of chocolate.

How about you?

Written for "Q" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Valentines Day Easy+Light Chocolate Mousse

It's Valentine's Day! 

Love is in the air, everywhere (especially in retail establishments).

Love is big business.  But today I want to feature a simple recipe - it doesn't matter if you have a partner, a friend, a spouse, or a child, that you want to show some love to.  This is a simple dessert and not too heavy.  It would make a nice parent and older child project, too, if you use something other than the bourbon or rum.

Valentines Day Easy and Light Mousse. (Sorry, metric folks, I did not convert). Note, this does have eggs in it.

Take three eggs - we use free range eggs from the local farmer's market - and separate them.  Reserve the yolks for another use.  Put the whites in a clean bowl.

Mix a scant 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup bourbon or rum. Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved.  Let cool. 

In the meantime, melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in microwave.  They will still look whole, but they are melted.  Stir them.  Then, combine with the liquid well.  If desired add 1 tbsp of "Just Great Stuff" (powered peanut butter).

Beat your three egg whites, with 1/8 tsp cream of tarter, until stiff peaks form.

Then, gently fold in the chocolate mixture.

Divide into two (or four) dessert glasses, chill until nice and firm (perhaps two-three hours), and serve.

Yes, I know.  I am using raw egg whites!  Well, if this bothers you (one reason why I am using farm esh eggs from a small farmholder), you can use  pasteurized egg whites  But it won't turn out as good, in my opinion.

Do you have a favorite dessert for Valentines Day?

Bad Communication

It's February 14, Saint Valentine's Day.  The perfect day to talk about Chocolate and Bad Communication.

I meant to have a slightly different title but my blog posts, lately, have been publishing themselves without me telling them to publish.  So, I promise I will talk about Bad Communication.

But first a little peek into celebrating Valentine's Day when you have recently had an impacted wisdom tooth pulled (and are still debating the wisdom of same) and can't eat seeds, nuts, or anything that could get lodged into where the tooth used to be.

On tonight's menu:

The Chocolate Lab wine I blogged about earlier. Yes, I'm off antibiotics.  For now, anyway.

Salmon.  It's Valentine's Day, it's soft, it won't stick in my teeth and it's pinkish red.  Spouse will serve it with a home made maple and mustard seasoning.

White asparagus.  I've never eaten it before and it is a first for my spouse, too.  But a local supermarket had a really good price on it.  I am generally not into light-deprived produce, but am looking for tender food tonight.

What is white asparagus?  Well, asparagus grows as a perennial, sprouting every spring from perennial roots.  The asparagus is the shoots before they grow too old and start to leaf out.  White asparagus is green asparagus that has been covered so that light can not hit the spears. Without the light, the spears turn white - and are supposedly more tender.

 My spouse looked up how to prepare it.  It can be prepared much the same way as green asparagus, but with one exception - it has a tough skin.  First, the entire spear must be peeled.

Then, after it was steamed, it had to be peeled some more.

So, something tells me this will be the first, and last, time I eat white asparagus.

Filet beans and winter squash.

And, for dessert, chocolate mousse. This is a recipe my spouse has used for many years.  He rarely makes desserts, so this one has to be easy.

SPOUSE'S EASY CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Take 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melt in microwave.
Beat 3 egg whites until they are midway between soft peak and hard peak.  (we use the refrigerated egg whites, which are pasteurized, as we do not have our own chickens. )
Take 1/3 cup cup rum or Firefly banana liquor.  If rum, add 1/4 cup sugar and mix with the rum until the sugar dissolves.
Next, add the alcohol mixture to the chocolate, mix till smooth, and wait until the mixture has cooled a little.
Finally, fold in the egg whites.

Pour into dessert cups and chill, at least 4 hours.
Makes 4 servings

Now, I promised to blog about Bad Communication, and if you tend towards queasiness, you may want to skip to the end.

One of the possible complications of the particular type of wisdom tooth extraction I had is exposure of the sinuses - in other words there's a hole where the tooth used to be, and if the tooth was up in the sinus cavity (as mine was), you have a hole in your sinus cavity that, hopefully, at least has a membrane between it and said cavity.  If the membrane was punctured, you have what is called a "communication".  As in "your nose communicating with your mouth".  My oral surgeon isn't sure right now if the membrane was punctured but he didn't like what he saw today.  He will know for sure in a couple of weeks as healing continues.  This is not a communication you want.

This is a great thing if you are a kid and want to gross out your friends by drinking water and having it pour out your nose, but other than that, it isn't good at all.  There are surgical options if the hole doesn't close on its own and there are also hundreds of horror stories on the internet about people and their experiences with this condition.  I'll spare you.  I'll also spare me.

Right now, I am uncomfortable and I feel on and off like I am on a plane that is descending (that ear pain you get) and my right nostril hurts, but there is no water pouring out of my nose.  Not yet, anyway.  I make snorting sounds and I get interesting sensations sometimes when I drink water.

(For the queasy, you may start reading the post again.)

As a good friend helpfully pointed out the other day, she always knew I had a hole in my head.

I wish all my readers a happy Valentine's Day, or at least, not a bad one.

Tomorrow, instead of Sustainable Saturday, I will celebrate Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  If you love flowers, stop by.