Guilt-free Chocolate

Did you know? Cortez introduced chocolate to Spain in 1519. Before that, the Aztecs made a bitter drink from cocoa beans, I suppose a little like coffee. Today it's the world's favorite confection and mood enhancer.

This Halloween you can feel a little less guilty as you consume those chocolate treats!
Here are some reasons why:

This morning the news lady told us that they've found that we are indeed what we eat. A recent study showed that "chocolate eaters are more likely to volunteer and help those in need, compared to people who ate crackers." Well, DUH!

Chocolate also helps prevent cavities!! This is due to the benefits of tannic acid or tannins found in a variety of food like chocolate. Tannins are naturally occurring Polyphenols and prevent cavities. Polyphenols are what make wine and many other fruits astringent and make variety of flowers and autumn leaves colorful. Polyphenols also cause precipitation of proteins. What that means is that it prevents bacteria from sticking to the teeth. (so maybe a Dove dark chocolate bite before bed is basically GOOD for me?!)

Read more: Chocolate helps prevent cavities

Chocolate lovers have less strokes.

Chocolate Lovers have Less Strokes


There is a downside, in that the cocoa trade is very controversial, even involving child slavery. They are now pushing the big chocolate companies to make sure they are buying their ingrdedients from suppliers who do NOT use such practices. You can do your part by purchasing a chocolate product that is 'Fair Trade certified.'

The Bitter Truth

All in all, it's a fascinating food. Learn more if like -
History of Chocolate

Ode to Cannoli

If you've ever lived near Boston, or had the opportunity to tour the city, you most likely have been to the North End... and you are salivating about now.



Besides having just about the BEST Italian food to be found outside of a Mediterranean nation, one can find there this icon of Massachusetts, Mike's Pastry.

Truly, people come from all over to visit. When anyone asks what's good to do or see in Boston, Mike's is right at the top of the list.

I'd forgotten how tasty ANYTHING from Mike's could be, but then my darling daughter flew over 2000 miles to bring me back a treat or two.... isn't she so sweet!! She asked us all what we would like from her trip to Beantown. And while her sisters waxed practical and asked for T-shirts and BoSox hats, I went right for the calories!

She was so kind, she brought back a cannolo for EACH of us. And Mike's aren't measly, skinny shells with a little cheesy filling. NO! These hefty delights are BIG and HEAVY!

"Mom, I couldn't pack the Cannolis in the suitcase. My bag was too heavy and I ended up taking them out so it could make weight!"


Just as well, these babies deserve careful handling anyway. They survived the flight home and we divvied up the spoils so we could all have tastes of the different kinds - Florentine, Almond, chocolate chip... We were in heaven.

Here's what makes 'em so good:


Anatomy of a Mikes Cannolo

Magnificent Bird

I grew up in California and my dad loved to collect interesting animals. We had a bobcat for a couple of years, and he was always catching snakes and tarantulas where he worked. And we had a hawk for a while, a Red-tailed hawk even.


So it's been fun seeing one around our streets occasionally. I've not gotten really close until the other day, and the photo here was taken by someone else and I've swiped it off the internet. (The one taken by cellphone is just too small to be post-worthy.) And really, I can't be certain what kind of hawk it was, except it's fairly large and colored much like the one in the photo.



Yesterday during our morning walk, the hawk WAS very close. Nichole and I stopped on the corner ready to part ways, and looked up and there he was on the street light, surveying the yards and golf course. One mile away are a few scrubby fields, I'm sure I've seen him over there, so I was surprised he's hanging out in our 'burbs where dogs and cats far outnumber the little rodents one would think a hawk would be hunting.



While Nichole and I were gaping at him, wondering how big he really was, and how large his wingspan might be, he took off behind a house, chasing some birds. A second later the birds and he came up over the roof and he landed on a lampost nearly right over our heads!! It was so impressive, we got to see his full wingspan! He sat there, eyeing 6 Grackles that were sitting across the street on a matching street light.... they seemed to be nervously watching him. Just then a woodpecker came near, circling the hawk up high on that perch. And sort of screeching at him as he flew a full circle around him, maybe only 6 feet away! We have several woodpeckers (we see them pecking away at the stupidest things like stucco walls, metal lampposts and house vents) so maybe this one was asserting his territory toward the larger bird. (Good luck with THAT!)




Anyway, just as we realized Nichole had her phone and could actually take a decent photo, he swooped off after the grackles and they all flew away out of view.




Impressive sight! We were up close and personal with such a beautiful bird. I'm not 100% certain he is a red-tailed, I didn't pay attention to the tail to see.



And I hope he stays around. Perhaps between him (or her) and the large resident owl we've seen around, the roof-rat population will be kept in check. I don't want THAT kind of visitor again!

Advice Cookies

Saturday night we got Chinese food... well, *I* went out and brought it home. Jim's still limping around and didn't want to do any more walking. So dinner and a movie became take-out and a couple episodes of 'Fringe', which we rent from My Fliks.


And of course, in the bag I found a crunchy treat for dessert.


I quickly ate it and then eagerly looked to see my fortune.


Would I meet a handsome stranger?


Would I embark on a new career that I would find immensly rewarding?


Would I come into some very welcome financial prosperity?




My hands trembled in anticipation as I turned over the tiny paper:














What? ADVICE? No peek into my future to see what wonderful adventures await, instead I got someone telling me how to live my life. (and I'm not certain it actually makes any sense.)

I felt like Ralphie excitedly decoding his spy ring message, only to be deflated when he reads it:

"What was Little Orphan Annie trying to tell me?"
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine. "Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!"

How's th' Weathah?

Okay, on Monday it was still QUITE HOT here. I laughed when I went into the bank and they had to have hot mitts on their west-facing doors.

And then 3 days later Fall finally fell.

We got some storm activity... heavy winds, spotty but heavy-duty rain, it was so fun to finally get some real precipitation!

And apparently I missed THIS:

And then today they had snow up in the mountains, more tomorrow.

It really is lovely to finally get to have COOL weather in the mornings and not have baking afternoons. Talk is we are out of the triple-digits temps at long last.

On Tuesday Beth looked up at the clouds and said, "Wow, it's going to be winter soon!"

Heheh, it won't be quite as soon as she imagines, but anything cooler than our loooonnng, hellish summer will be most welcome.

Eternity