If Mrs. C. Was a Fruit

These are dried Marionberries. I found them at the organic co-op in a bulk bin. (Not to be confused with the Congressman from Arkansas. Or the Former mayor of Washington, DC. It would be real weird to find the Congressman or the Mayor in a bulk bin, and quite dehydrated, at that.)

At first I thought they were blackberries (they are similar) but then this dude next to me buying nutritional yeast (not to be confused with... oh... never mind) told me to buy some, that they're spetacular.

So, of course I slyly looked left, right, and checked for security cameras, then snagged a Marionberry and gave it a taste. Hmmm! Delicious! Chewy and very very berry-tasting. No big seeds like blackberries have. I bought a big bag and brought them home. They were tasty on top of my cereal the next day and turned my tongue bright purple. Bonus!

In Honor of Grandma Sue

Yesterday I made a cake. I made it in honor of my cousin's grandma, Sue, who passed away recently. I never had the good fortune of meeting her, but she was loved by many and left quite a legacy. She used to make a special cake that everyone loved, called Sue's 1-2-3-4 Marble Cake.

Here are some of the magical ingredients:



Can't go wrong, right? Here's the recipe, as it was passed on to me:



It was very easy to make, and I used some whole-wheat flour (I figured Sue wouldn't mind me fiddling with the recipe a little since she famously fiddled with it herself!



It was delicious! Thank you, Grandma Sue!

...And a Side of Gag Reflex, Please.

Wanna ruin your appetite? If so, check out this photoshop contest of unappetizing food. Some of it is truly revolting. It's funny how we can have such a visceral reaction to the wrong combination of sweet and savoury. The photo above is titled "Herring in Aspic". Not the best flavor for a cocolate-covered ice-cream. Gulp. With pickles, no less.

But then, why are chocolate covered pretzels so good? Mmmm.

Make sure to scroll down each page for full enjoyment.

Cocoa Beans - Who Knew?

I love chocolate. Hardcore. And look, I know a lot of people love chocolate. It's not that original or anything, so I'm just stating a fact. And I discovered something so great this week:

Whole cocoa beans! They were in a bulk bin at the local organic food co-op. Which means they are organic whole cocoa beans. Bonus. They are about the size of almonds.



I picked one out of the bin and thought, "I wonder what the heck you're supposed to do with these?" And I did what every curious foodie does, I bit into it. Eureka! So that's where those popular "cocoa nibs" come from!



I bought some and brought them home, where I crushed them a little and removed the outer skins. Now I have a pile of pure, organic cocoa nibs.



Chocolate at its purest. It's not sweet at this point, of course, but is slightly bitter and very cocoa-y. I have a friend who uses the nibs in his chocolate mousse - a great counterbalance to the sweetness and richness of the mousse. I happen to like just eating them as they are, but I might try using them in baking or roasting them.

Who needs a 86% cocoa chocolate bar when you can have a mouthfull of 100% coco bean?