"Over the lips and past the gums, look out stomach, here it comes!"

No, not that kind of grace. And not the fancy words our grandparents, parents (or ourselves) pull out at Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter dinners because it's as traditional as the turkey, goose, and ham.
I'm talking about a few, simple words spoken over the food we ingest. To say a blessing. (To bless simply means "to speak well of something," it's not an exclusively religious word.)

If you read this blog regularly, you've probably surmised that I tend to buck tradition. Religious or secular. Why? Because if you don't know WHY you're doing something, it's not doing you any good. Explain the purpose of a tradition and I'll probably jump right in. No reason for that tradition? You might as well stop doing it.

Why would I advocate the old-fashioned tradition of saying grace before meals then? Because it's good for your body and good for your soul, and these days, when our food seems to be as dangerous (or more dangerous) than it was back in Bible times, doing things that are good for us is important!

• A new study revealed colonies of nasty, icky bacteria dwelling in the bottoms of those eco-friendly reusable grocery bags just waiting to get all over your food. (I'm wondering if the study was paid for by the plastic grocery bag manufacturers?)
• In the last few years thousands of Americans have become ill from contaminated peanut butter, lettuce and spinach, and eggs. (Which makes me wonder if anyone has ever gotten sick from contaminated Double Stuf Oreo cookies? Doubt it.)
• We really have no idea what's in our food. Pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics, preservatives. Not to mention the ugly rumors about things like fast food chili made from the burger patties that fell on the floor and expired deli sandwiches rewrapped and redated - after someone picks off the mold. Gross. 
• The farther away we get from our food sources (not just distance, but processing) the more likely we are to be eating things that aren't really good for our bodies.

What can we do? Be educated and read labels, for starters. Health food stores, local farmers' markets, and organic foods are another possibility. However, not everyone has access to those benefits. And what about those times when you go out to eat, or get invited to great-grandma Sue's house for dinner? There is still something you can do: say grace, or speak a blessing, over your meal.

Why? Because everything responds to words. God spoke the world into existence; Jesus spoke to the fig tree and it withered, He spoke to the wind and it stopped, He blessed the bread and fish and it multiplied to feed at least 5,000 people - with leftovers. The Hebrews marched around the walled city of Jericho for seven days, shouted once, and the walls fell down.

The blessings of God listed in Deuteronomy 28 say He will bless our bread and water and take all sickness away from our midst. The apostles said no food would be considered unclean if it was received with gratitude.

Saying "grace" or blessing your meal doesn't have to be a big, showy production, just a word of thanks to your Creator that what you are about to eat is nourishing and healthy for your body, and brings no sickness with it.

Good eatin'!
.

I made doughnuts this morning.


(Is it donuts, or doughnuts?)

Making them from scratch was a first for me. I generally shy away from making anything that requires boiling oil. Not just because fried foods aren't my favorites, but because of the greasy clean-up  involved. Add powdered sugar and glaze to that and you've got all the makings for a real mess. It took me as long to clean up afterward as it did to create those little golden-brown globs of fried dough, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Of the five-and-a-half hours I've been awake on this Labor Day holiday, I've spent three of them cooking and cleaning up. And there are two more meals to go! Holiday? Who are we kidding? My to-do list is now divided into categories that have categories.


How about you? Do you rest and relax on these long weekends, or find yourself running around like a squirrel on speed playing catch-up on all your projects?

Chocolate.
We eat it. We crave it. We love it.
A majority of us will eat at least a little chocolate between now and Sunday. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, let's find out more about this substance that has inspired such adoration and devotion over the centuries.

Without the cacao (ka-KOW) tree, there would be no such thing as chocolate. Like coffee (one of our other favorite addictions) the cacao tree is native to Central and South America, although the majority of cacao is now grown on the Ivory Coast in Africa. The tree produces flowers and fruit (the cacao pod) year-round. Wild cacao beans, collected by splitting open the ripened pods, were probably gathered and used long before people began to cultivate cacao as a crop. At one point, cacao beans were used as a form of currency.

Among the Mayan culture, chocolate consumption was limited to the nobility, the priesthood, and rituals. And only given to men. Bummer. If they had known about the beneficial effect of chocolate on a hormonal woman, their civilization might have lasted longer.

For almost 1500 years, consumption of the cacao bean would have been similar to our consumption of  coffee -- the beans were roasted, ground, and mixed with hot water to create a dark, bitter beverage.  It's believed that drink possessed mild narcotic properties -- like lifting the mood and increasing one's energy. (We knew it was true, no matter what anyone says!

When Spanish conquistadors carried cacao beans back to Imperialist Europe, the new cocoa beans (probably the result of a misspelling) joined British tea, Asian opium, coffee, and American tobacco in polite society's quest for new substances to experience (read: become addicted to).

Around the 16th century, Europeans began adding stuff to their cacao drinks like cinnamon, vanilla, cane sugar, and black pepper. Mayans and Aztecs had long been adding things to their cacao, or adding the cacao to other recipes.

Roman Catholic popes were famous for their love of chocolate, and the drink was officially declared to be an acceptable beverage during periods of fasting. Hey, I could do some serious fasting on chocolate alone! Before there were coffee houses, there were chocolate houses in Europe where people gathered to sip expensive cups of chocolate and talk politics, or listen to live music, or socialize with the cultural elite. Hmm. Sounds like Starbucks, doesn't it?
It was the Dutch who discovered that pressing the beans can produce cocoa powder, easier to transport and cheaper to use. And the fat could be sold separately as cocoa butter. The cocoa in the tin in your pantry has had the fat removed. Chocolate as we know it today is made by adding new fat -- in the form of milk or butter -- back to the powdered cocoa, heating and mixing, and cooling. Voila! The chocolate bar was born.

Milton Hershey was called the "Henry Ford" of chocolate. Through his auspicious use of mass-production and marketing techniques, he made chocolate available to everyone. Yep, you can blame Mr. Hershey for those impulse buys at the grocery store counter!


In 1861, John Cadbury produced the first known heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Chocolate has been used as a substitute for alcohol, as soldier's rations, as an aphrodisiac, and medicinally to prevent stomachaches. Casanova, the famous lover, was reported to drink chocolate to improve his lovemaking ability. Judging from his picture, I'd say he plied his lady friends with chocolate, and lots of it.

In the last decade, there's been a shift away from milk chocolate and Dutch chocolate to the darker, more bitter forms of chocolate since doctors began touting dark chocolate's myriad health benefits. Benefits which include high levels of antioxidants which reportedly balance hormones, reduce blood pressure and bad cholesterol, a mild anti-depressant effect thanks to serotonin and a mild stimulant effect.

Whether your penchant is for bonbons, fudge, Lindt, or Godiva, chocolate is an integral part of our culture. And while the plain old cuppa' joe might not be considered precious (unless you haven't had your cup yet), chocolate is still counted worthy of great respect.

Think about it, you might pour a half pot of coffee down the drain, but would you trash half a Snickers bar? Nope. Whoever ends up with half a chocolate bar laying around anyway?

No longer limited to royalty or the priesthood or the papacy, chocolate is the common man's treasure, to be savored and enjoyed with great delight, though best appreciated in moderation!
Time to go scrounge up some chocolate.


Sources:
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/about.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chocolate
http://www.chocolatehistory.net/
http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/chocolate.htm
http://www.chocolatesource.com/history/index.asp
http://www.xocoatl.org/history.htm
http://www.chocolate.org/choctree.html
http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongnutrition/p/chocolate.htm
http://www.arentwesweet.com/aboutus/choco.html
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Chocolate-house-london-c1708.jpg

"Historical accounts say that for the first Thanksgiving in 1621, the pilgrims went out and killed the deer to eat and gathered food for the three-day feast.There were no worries about what groceries had what on sale. Why? Because they ate what they had and gave thanks for it.

I’m not encouraging you to stay home from the grocery store this week. I’m not encouraging you to boycott Thanksgiving grocery sales.
Instead, I’m encouraging you to take some time to remember the reason for the holiday.

 The pilgrims threw a feast like no other because they were thankful."