Mashfa on Chocolates

I grew up knowing that chocolates are bad for my body. It’ll destroy my teeth and will cause me toothaches and cavities. It’ll give me diabetes and too much cholesterol and bad fats. All were negative notions from adults who dislike sweets in form of candies & of this famous concoction in different colors & sizes & shapes to be eaten by kids.

Numerous beauty products today contain cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is good for skin softening. Nowadays, chocolate is being used in Body & Facial Spas and Derma Clinics and the like for beauty & body treatments probably because it can exfoliate the dead skin cells and regenerate new ones. Study shows an ample dosage of chocolates in a diet can prevent the free and harmful radicals from causing damage to the skin’s elasticity because of the anti-oxidants found as one of it’s components. Also, chocolates are rich in flavanoids that maintain the skin’s collagen and fight against sun damage. It doesn't hurt to eat a bar of chocolate a day. 

My aunt’s seaman husband, Uncle Joenel came back from his 1 year trip over the sea a month ago and he brought a lot of imported chocolates from his work-travel. My loving aunt hid a portion for me so I was still able to have sumptuous bites of one of my favorite foods before 2010 turned to an end. My all time favorite brand – Toblerone, Cadbury, M&Ms and Hershey’s Kisses & Mini Bars. And because I’m a mother of all times I had to share my bag of goodies to the twins & Reese (though they also have their own pasalubong from their Daddy-lo. You know – kids, they love to get anything from your hand most likely when it’s food, you know). ^_^

A few days before we packed our bags to travel back to Davao City, I remembered visiting a family just a few blocks away from my parents’ house. They had sent me home with a plastic bag full of cacao beans. One of our house helper voluntarily roasted the beans in a large pan & right after I delivered it to a “Bukbukan” (a store in the Philippines known to shred coconut meats out from their shells, to grind nuts, grains & beans). In a few minutes I saw my first ever chocolate sauce (‘my’ first? Eh, just let me think it was). We don't have small tins so I used my mother’s ‘puto’ molders to shape the very sticky form of paste I had in a once-filled of ice cream container. The three kids at home were so delighted to see my muffin-like cacao tablets. Filipinos fondly call it ‘tabliya’ or ‘tsukwati’. Best for champorado & a morning treat for a chocolate lover like me – a cup or cups of choco drink before ringing the day’s bell.