There’s a Holiday for That?
Yes, yes there is. Take a moment this Friday, July 8th, to seek out the crunchy and heavenly combination of rich, hearty chocolate and perfectly roasted California almonds for National Chocolate with Almonds Day. Confectioners have been combining the buttery, flavorful tree nut with rich, luscious dark or milk chocolate for years in all their creations.
Who doesn’t love a chocolate covered whole almond or a chocolate bar laced with chopped almond pieces? What can make this even better?
How about using only Fair Trade Cocoa and California Almonds pasteurized with steam versus Propylene Oxide (PPO) gas. That’s right, all California harvested almonds that are sold commercially have to be pasteurized. Make sure to choose almonds that have been steamed versus the residue leaving PPO solution. On the chocolate side, Cacao production has been notoriously linked to slave and child labor issues. When we eat chocolate, we should choose Fair Trade Certified cocoa products so that our sensory delight has a much more meaningful purpose.
We’re not just limited to chocolate and almonds themselves…how about adding ghost pepper, sea salt, cinnamon, vanilla, orange, or caramel? The list goes on…Yummmm!
