Cinnamon Vanilla Chocolate Bar

I've made chocolate many times and posted several of those recipes. Today I made my first chocolate bar using a silicone bar mold. I used the same ingredients I always use, Navitas Naturals Cacao Power and Cacao Paste with a little agave and stevia and a pinch of cinnamon and vanilla. I also made a few candies using white chocolate to top coconut flakes and goji berries. I couldn't resist dipping a few dried figs in the white chocolate as well. The white chocolate uses Navitas Naturals Cacao Power. I added to that some date paste, some cashews, some agave and a bit of vanilla. I didn't keep track of proportions because I was mostly just having fun with different molds. Next, I'll design a wrapper for the chocolate bars so they look like the real thing. Making raw chocolate is easy, but using these molds takes it to another level. I'm going to give the bar to a friend as a gift. Who wouldn't like homemade chocolate made with love and joy?

Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The last market I visited was more of a tourist attraction. Queen Victoria Market is a large market of vendors selling everything from meat to dairy to fruits to nuts to fish, etc. They also had stalls for clothing and other novelty type things, but I stuck to the organic produce area. I prefer smaller neighborhood markets, but while here I did find a booth operated by Loving Earth, a local company that made the raw foods I had been subsisting on while in Australia and New Zealand. It was fun to find them and to talk with the guy behind the table. Tasting their organic raw caramel chocolate was worth the long walk I took to find the place. I'll be trying to reinvent that flavor in my own kitchen. I think I had already tried almost every item shown in these photos during the month I was there, but still I was just happy to let him know how grateful I was to have their raw food available to me.

So to anyone who fancies a trip to either of these countries and wants to eat raw, this is the company to look for. There are others, to be sure, but Loving Earth is the most accessible and plentiful. Organic produce is readily available.  You'll have no trouble eating your way through either country. I just hope you have as much fun as I did doing so.

Queen Victoria Market

Organic produce section of the huge market

The Loving Earth booth is the entire length of photo.

Buckwheat granola, which came in handy for  me.

Raw nuts and dried fruits

More raw chocolate; caramel white chocolate on right

Abbottsford Convent Farmer's Market in Melbourne

I spent a great day wandering Saturday farmer's markets and artist's markets in Melbourne.  My favorite farmer's market was at the Abbottsford Convent, which is no longer a convent but is now used by art organizations.  My best find was a big container of plump, ripe figs. These were perhaps the best I have ever had, and I've eaten a lot of fresh figs. Absolutely perfect.  Even the figs I lived on for a month in Greece (that I picked fresh every day) weren't as good as these.  Honestly, these were divine.

I also found some other beautiful stalls, my favorite being the Hi-Fye pistachio stall. There I discovered almost a dozen varieties of raw pistachios. It's usually pretty hard to find one kind of raw pistachio, let alone a variety. This discovery delighted me. I also talked to an interesting vendor of organic honey. We had a nice discussion about how they make their raw honey. Talking to vendors directly about their passion and where it meets mine is my favorite thing about these public markets. The people watching is pretty good too. I love seeing people riding in on their bikes with their baskets ready to be filled, or people carrying their totes anticipating this week's find. Farmer's markets are one of the few places left that feel like community, and I love being in the energy of this feeling.

 Here are some pics of beautifully displayed organic produce because, to me, it looks as lovely as any piece of art. I am blissfully happy when walking farmer's markets. Such a simple thing, but I am always so grateful to be among other people who share a love of good, pure food and who work really hard to provide it to the rest of us. 

The tub was twice this size to start.

How perfect is that?

Thank you, Ian and Glennis Haw!

 certified organic greens

more organic produce

Hi-Fye Pistachios--these are different raw varieties

Cornucopia of Delights

As I awaited the Saturday farmer's markets in Melbourne I journeyed to the smaller local produce sellers to get me through in the interim. On this particular Thursday I was in heaven. Not only was it great to buy a peach in February and have it be considered in season because of where I was, but I also found fruits I can't get in the U.S. At this particular market I found passionfruit (my favorite), mangosteen and apple custard. I've certainly used mangosteen supplements and juices, but I had never eaten a fresh one. I had also never eaten the apple custard fruit. I don't even really know if that is what it is called, but that's what the sign said, so that's what I'm calling it here.

I took my bounty back to the Nunnery where I was staying, went out to the back fire escape, and had myself a feast. While I was trying all of these delectables, someone was playing a ukelele down below on one of the hostel's patios. As the music wafted up to me on this beautiful sunny day, I indulged in a mountain of fresh fruit. It may not sound like much, but I was so happy with the richness of beautiful, colorful food and some accompanying music, that I was about to burst. Ok, a little of that feeling was from all the fruit I had consumed, but I couldn't resist. I was about to head back into freezing cold winter where many of these fruits wouldn't be in season for another six months and some would never be available to me. So I filled myself up (though I didn't eat all of this at one sitting) on local produce from Australia. It was all delicious. This day will be one of my favorite memories from my trip.

Organic market on Brunswick St.

Mangosteen upper right; passionfruit lower right

Peaches in February in season!

From left upper corner: apple custard, peaches, passionfruit, cherries, peach, mangosteen, peach, fig

My new favorite yogurt

I discovered this truly amazing yogurt while in Australia and New Zealand. It's made in Australia and not available here, but I hope that someday changes. I mean, if I can buy apples from New Zealand at my co-op, why not this coconut yogurt? In full disclosure, I don't know if this is a raw product. I would bet it isn't, but I have to write about it anyway because it is hard to find a thick, creamy raw yogurt if you don't make it yourself. I also admit that normally I wouldn't have bought this if I had seen the full ingredient list. The price tag was conveniently over the one ingredient that would have prevented me from buying it the first time-- tapioca starch (which raises insulin levels much like gluten).  All the other ingredients were pretty pure, so I didn't think too much about that pesky little price tag (pesky for more than one reason; what it hid and what it stated--this stuff is not cheap).

After purchasing it, I brought it back to where I was staying, took off the price tag and let out a sigh of, "Oh well, not perfect, but I'll try it anyway." Can I just say that sometimes it is so worth it to let go of your personal rules just to experience something wonderful? This yogurt was so thick, resembling a Greek yogurt, and so smooth and not too sweet. It was definitely the full fat coconut, which I have no fear of, though I wouldn't eat this every day. It's so rich that it's better to enjoy it spoonful by spoonful, relishing each one with all the attention it deserves. I mean, really, I closed my eyes and savored each bite. Especially since I thought this would be the only time I ever tasted it. The one exception to the tapioca starch that I would make. Ha!

At this point, the vacation attitude took over and I thought to myself, "I'll only ever have it here. I can't find it at home. I'll try every flavor just once."  I almost did that. I let some flavors slide. But I did try the blackberry, the plain, and the passionfruit.  I found the passionfruit flavor while in New Zealand, long after I had said good-bye and put an end to this love affair with this Australian made product. But there it was in Queenstown, beckoning, and I indulged for the last time, pairing it with a raw cracker made in New Zealand that I found at the Mediterranean Market. The cracker was made with buckwheat, dates, and figs. Really, it was nothing fancy but paired with the passionfruit yogurt, it was divine. While everyone else in my group went out to dine at restaurants, I enjoyed my chance at solitude while indulging in each incredible bite. A bit anti-social, perhaps, but this is what love does. It puts you in your own little world where nothing else enters in, at least for awhile. And I loved it while it was happening. It was my favorite meal during the entire New Zealand adventure.

A day at the beach...in Melboune, Australia

While roaming around Melbourne on the bike loaned to me by my host, I made my way to the beach. It was well over 100 degrees, which considering the temps in Minnesota, was over a 100 degrees difference. Quite something in a matter of days. I loved it. I'm not really a beach person, but Australia is well known for their beaches, so I figured I had to see at least one. Of course, it was a city beach and was quite crowded on such a hot day. It was pretty fun to go from bitter cold to a day at the beach, I must admit.

Along with a couple of really great oranges, this is a pic of my treat at the end of my long bike ride.

Water, sunscreen, and kale chips. All I needed plus some oranges.

Ingredients: Kale, cashews, carrot, coriancer, and sea salt

St. Kilda Beach, St. Kilda, VIC, Australia

Does anyone know what these water propelling boots are called?

I haven't posted much lately because I've recently spent a month in Australia and New Zealand and didn't want to post that I was away from my home while I was actually away. I had some drafts prepared to post while gone but wifi wasn't always reliable, so that didn't really work out. But I did keep a journal while traveling of all the great raw food I found along the way. No dedicated raw restaurants to be found but plenty of options for delicious food, especially chocolate. Normally when I travel I have to give up raw chocolate because it isn't so readily available, but it is plentiful in Melbourne. I tried every kind and flavor I found from every small business. So for awhile I'll be posting those discoveries, starting with the chocolate. It was so much fun for me to search out raw food while in Melbourne. I think I pretty much discovered every nook and cranny as it relates to raw ingredients and availability. I discovered some new things, contemplated new ideas, and met some great new friends who share my passion. New Zealand was a bit harder but mostly because I was with a group and meals were planned. Still, I did just fine. Any raw foodists out there can rest assured that these two countries are easy to travel to and still eat as well as you want to. (Well, getting there isn't so easy, but traveling within the countries is easy and raw food is plentiful.) And since the people are so nice and the countries are so beautiful, I highly encourage you to find your way there at some point in your life. Truly remarkable places.

Here are some of the raw chocolate bars I found. My favorites were by Pana, especially the cinnamon flavor. I also discovered these amazing chocolate truffles that about made me kneel and kiss the ground. I cannot even tell you how good they were and do them justice in the telling. With flavors like pistachio; orange blossom; coconut goji berry; coffee infused; sea salt; and my favorite, chili pepper, these were as much art as food. The chocolate bars I can confidently say I could make myself, but these truffles were something else. I haven't quite figured out the secret, but I'm going to try. I don't know the company that makes them but bravo to you. Really beautiful, really delicious, and oh, so satisfying.

Pana Chocolates made in Australia

Made in the U.K. but found in Melbourne

Also Australian made. I lived on Loving Earth's products while in Melbourne.

The amazing truffles: clockwise from top:  sea salt; coconut-goji, pistachio, and chili pepper.