A New Age - A new Beginning

I still don't have a cafe. Things didn't work out and I had to close the chocolate store in 2014. In my first post on this blog, many years ago, I wrote among other things:

First flowers of spring 2018

"I can dream of my cafe. I can imagine it - a place where people meet and start talking about current topics, about the things that are going on in their lives and about their pet topics and hobbies. It could be a place where you can people watch or read a good book - a mystery or a romance novel. A place where you could have a cup of coffee or tea or hot chocolate and your favourite pastry without having to worry about the calories. A place where small business owners could get together and exchange ideas for the success of their business over a cup of tea. A place where people love to come and love to be, because the food is good, the atmosphere is great and where quality is strived for in every action, every product."

I want this blog to be such a place: a place where people meet and we can openly talk about different topics. And while you're reading, I hope you'll have a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate and a little pastry, a cookie or a chocolate.

I work at a lady's clothing store in a mall close to home. I'm a client specialist and I have been in that same position for the last 2.5 years. Many of you know I had my own chocolate store for 11 years. I also was an assistant manager for a few years and I worked as a pharmacist in 28 pharmacies in the absence of the owners. I thought I would have had experience to have a better position such as keyholder, or assistant manager or operations manager. But apparently I do not qualify. I don't know why. They're never very clear what it is I don't qualify in. I don't have enough experience, apparently and also, I'm old-fashioned, one manager told me. Other than the colour of my hair, I don't see why I don't qualify. I'm talking about the colour of my hair, because everyone else has brownish red hair, mine is grey, a beautiful grey, many people say. Maybe grey hair is old-fashioned. I'm allergic to many hair dyes.

It boggles my mind that the younger generation can say to an older person: "You do not have experience.". I just hope that they do not have to experience this when they reach the grey age. There was a time where the older generation was respected and even consulted before the younger generation made decisions. The indigenous people still respect their elders, people in other countries still respect their elders. There is room there for the older generation. But not here. Here  everyone is expected to behave according to a pattern, a program, that is not written down, but it is implied. If one doesn't act according to the pattern, the program, one is written off as "no experience", "not qualified". It actually has a name, but nobody dares saying it. It's called: "Age discrimination". I think age discrimination is actually happening more than is obvious in day to day living. It is never talked about. It is hidden and as long as we don't talk about it, it will remain hidden. And it will keep happening in secret. It is not so that when our hair turns grey, that our brains go soggy at the same rate.

How to Eat Chocolate Every Day and Lose 50Lbs

Losing 50Lbs over 14 months while working in a chocolate store gives one some challenges that few other people need to consider. Yet it also has given me some guidelines that may be useful for those that consider themselves chocoholics and are unable or unwilling to give up chocolate while losing weight. But even those that are not dieting may want to control their consumption of chocolate. After all, the many benefits of chocolate have been touted in numerous articles everywhere for the last few years. Chocolate being the food of the gods, lowers the levels of bad cholesterol, increases one’s mood because it increases the levels of seratonin in the brain and it increases the anti-oxidant content in the body. A piece of chocolate a day, keeps the doctor away, I’d say!

How to incorporate chocolate in your diet in a sensible way?
1. When dieting track everything you eat during the day. This will keep you responsible and accountable. Every piece of food, every drink should be recorded. Don’t leave one little nib(ble) of chocolate out.

2. Give every food item a caloric value or a dietary value(DV). Select the total amount of calories you consume in order to loose weight i.e. 1500 cal or 22 Weight Watcher points. This amount depends on the amount of exercise, your daily activity, your age, your sex and your starting weight. You can establish this value by consulting your doctor, a dietitian or attending a few sessions of a good dietary program.
Research the caloric value of chocolate. These values can be found on the Nutritional facts labels of most food items. Assign it a WW point value if you are using these. If you are tempted to consume another piece of chocolate, think of the effect these calories will have on your total caloric intake of the day. I asked myself, every time I felt like having a chocolate: Is it really worth it? I could eat a day’s worth of calories as chocolate, but I’d be missing a lot of other nutrients that chocolate, despite all it’s godly qualities just doesn’t have to offer. After all one cannot live on chocolate alone. Come to think of it, maybe the gods can?

3. Good-looking desserts and sweets tempt every one of us. A diet that is so restrictive that it doesn’t allow you to once in a while give in to temptation is not recommended. Deprivation will only give you another excuse to overindulge once you have lost all your weight. The trick is to eat small amounts of that chocolate dessert: a teaspoon or a tablespoon full is often all you need to satisfy that craving.

4. If you’re at a buffet, where many desserts are on display, choose the ones you would really like to try, because it allows you to explore new flavors or because they look attractive to you. Then have one bite of the different desserts. Of the one you like best you can consume more, maybe eat it all. I learned this technique because I have a problem digesting gluten, even though I don't have celiac disease. Eating this way satisfies my craving for what I remember good desserts taste like, it lets me enjoy it just like everyone else, it doesn’t give me a lot of discomfort and I don’t feel deprived.

5. Working in a chocolate store is very much like being exposed to a dessert buffet 8 hours/day, 6 days per week. Temptation is always there. The above (#4), actually works for chocolates too. It’s not because you just bit into a chocolate that you have to eat the whole chocolate. You are allowed to throw the rest of it in the garbage, even if you just spend your life fortune on this one chocolate!

6. To enjoy the benefits of chocolate (see above) one is allowed to consume at least one piece of chocolate per day. Actually it should be a requirement.

7. If you are going to consume chocolate anyway, make it worth your while: eat only high quality chocolate, that melts in your mouth and that gives you the feeling that you just spend a couple of minutes in heaven.

8. Eat like the Belgians eat, drink like the Belgians drink and incorporate exercise in your daily activities like the Belgians do: enjoy every bite of the food you eat, small portions are often enough, savor a drink while spending time with a friend, making sure that what your friend has to say to you is more important than the beer or wine you’re drinking and walk or bike to the store or to work as much as possible. It will force you to purchase smaller sizes of everything, because you are the one who will have to carry it all the way home. Also, you will need to go shopping more often, thereby forcing you to be more active.

9. Remember: It’s not the chocolate that makes you gain weight. It’s not the deserts that put on the pounds. Often it is the mindlessness with which we eat, the distractions we have when eating, the reasons why we eat and of course the sedentary lifestyles we live today more so than our parents and grandparents did in the past. Maybe today's focus on global warming and saving energy will have added benefits such as: fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

10. The most important thing I discovered is: Joy! Enjoy the food you eat, savor the different flavors, enjoy the company at the dinner table, enjoy the open air and nature while exercising. Consume and enjoy the chocolate you really love only and consider all others as not worth your time, your effort of losing weight and your money.

Ghislaine Cleiren imports Leonidas Chocolates into Canada from Belgium. For more information on Leonidas Chocolates and the Leonidas Chocolate Café opportunity, please visit: www.LeonidasChocolates.ca. You can also follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/leonidascalgary.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

250 ml cream
100 ml milk
1 vanilla bean
500 g Leonidas chocolate

Preparation

Bring the milk, the cream and the vanilla bean to a boil. Take the pan from the stove. Remove the vanilla stick from the warm milk. Open the stick and scrape the vanilla into the mixture. Break the chocolate into small-sized chunks. Let them gently melt in the milk.

The chocolate fondue is ready!

You can serve the chocolate fondue right away. If the fondue is ready before you need it, simply leave it to rest on low heat. Reheat while stirring frequently, making sure the fondue does not heat up any higher than 40 degrees Celsius.

from the Kitchen of : www.leonidas.com.
Visit www.LeonidasChocolates.ca for more articles and information on chocolate and the chocolate used in this recipe.

Helping you achieve your New Years Resolution

With the Christmas season gone and past, it is now time to pack all the decorations away, find place in your house for the lovely gifts that you received and to get the new year off to a good start.
Many of us start each year with a New Years Resolution in an attempt to make the coming year the best out of all the others. And we do this in many different and unique ways. In previous years unfortunately, some of those among us have been unable to stick to it for the whole year. And this again can be for many reasons. But I believe that a bit of support from those around you can bring you a long way.

With that said, Manon's&Leonidas Chocolates would like to offer our support in whatever your resolution is. Our product range has the unique ability to fit into anyone's life style needs.
- On a tight budget: We have chocolates, gift ideas and other luxury products that can fit any budget
- Going on a diet: Leonidas has chocolates of various sizes and even chocolate bars containing only 100 Calories. These are perfect for those chocolate lovers who don't want to give up there favorite treat completely. With our help we can find you the perfect chocolate that is just enough to satisfy your cravings and not break your waistline.
- Eating less chocolates: Believe it or not, Manon's&Leonidas Chocolates carries various products outside to Chocolate category. Be it candies, specialty teas, cards, mugs, magnets, and so much more.

The list is endless. So stop by and see how we can help you...
You can even give yourself a reward for your great efforts by treating yourself to your favorite treat!

If you like, you can send us your Resolutions and we'll check back with you in three months on how you're doing.

Upcoming Events

Fall Fling
Ladies it’s a special event. Mark your calendars!
Britannia Plaza is having their Second Fall Fling event on Saturday September 12, 2009. Join us with your friends and family. The first 200 people at 9:30 am will receive a swag bag, loaded with gifts, discounts, prize draws and more from the plaza retailers. Pick up you swag bag at Britannia Ornamental Hardware & Gifts.

Mickey Mouse and Friends
In collaboration with Disney we introduced our Mickey Mouse chocolates in June 2009.
Today, I introduce you to the newest additions to our Kids Collection: 3 NEW chocolates with a perfect taste for children: white with puffed rice, milk with hazelnut chocolate paste and milk with milk cream

I invite you to visit our store before September 30, 2009 and receive a sample of the cat, the hamster or the bunny chocolates. Then register your child for our Birthday program. On their special day, they will receive a cup of steaming Hot Drinking Chocolate and a chocolate of their choice.

Left handed Ice cream Day:
September 11, 2009 – Manon’s announced today the launch of its latest innovation in the Ice Cream market – the new left handed ice cream cone – which will become available in Calgary on September 11, 2009 .
Mannon’s will still have 10 flavours of Ice cream, Sherbet and Sorbet to choose from. The cone however has been ergonomically re-designed to fit more comfortably in the left hand. The new Left-Handed Ice cream cone will have the ice cream rotated 180 degrees, thereby redistributing the weight of the cone so that the bulk of them skew to the left. This way less energy and labour is required to fight gravity while holding the cone. This will result in fewer ice-cream ‘spills’ for left-handed ice cream lovers.

Lace ‘n Chat afternoon:
September 9, 2009 from 1 to 3 pm – All lacemakers and would-be lacemakers are welcome to join s for coffee or tea.

First Chocolate Tasting Party:
September 10, 2009 from 5 to 8 pm – by invitation only,.

For our Calendar of Events: Send us a quick email to info@leonidas.ca

Recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Sorbet

R/ 250 g Leonidas semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups of water
1 cup raw plantation sugar
60ml Hazelnut syrup
Optional: whole or chopped hazelnuts for decoration.

fsa/ 4 servings of Chocolate Hazelnut sorbet

1. Place the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. Stir until melted. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
2. Place sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is melted. Stir the chocolate. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
3. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Place in an ice cream machine and proceed according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
4. If you don’t have an ice cream machine: place in a metal bowl and freeze. When the mixtre has begun to set, whisk it with an electric beater until creamy. Repeat 3 to 5 more times or until the sorbet is thick and smooth
5. Garnish with hazelnuts and hazelnut syrup.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwiches

When I was young we'd have sandwiches with chocolate spread at 4:00 pm in the afternoon. Only when I moved to Canada and after living here a few years I came to appreciate peanut butter as well. So one day I got inspiration and made this extremely rewarding spread. It may remind you of some very famous chocolates, but that is just pure coincidence.


R/ 2 slices of brown or whole wheat bread
1 tsp Leonidas chocolate spread
1 tsp peanut butter

fsa: 1 sandwich, 6 D.P.

R/ First spread the peanut butter on 1 slice of bread
Then spread the Leonidas chocolate spread on the other slice of bread.
Put the two slices together.
Enjoy!