CSN Giveaway (For Some) and Smoothies (For All)

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Hannah

Hiya folks! I was planning to show you the brownies I made for a friend today, but instead the opportunity arose for me to offer those of you living in the US or Canada the chance to win a $50 gift voucher for any of CSN’s 200+ online stores. I’m guessing that many of you will be interested in the kitchen appliances that CSN sells, but you could also buy yourself some swing sets. You know, in case you’d like to have the feeling in your tummy of swinging up, up, up, higher, higher, higher, instead of the feeling in your tummy of having eaten eight peanut butter cookies in a row. Your call.

Here is how you can enter (each of the following actions counts as a separate entry):

Leave a comment on this post telling me what you might buy from CSN if you win.
Follow me on twitter (my username is wayfaringchoc), and leave a comment here telling me that you did so.
Link to this giveaway on twitter or your blog (if you have one), and leave a comment here telling me that you did so.

As I mentioned, this giveaway is (sadly) open only to US and Canadian residents. I hope to one day host a giveaway open to absolutely everyone, but that might have to wait until I have a teensy bit more disposable income and can host it myself. Until then, CSN has your American and Canadian backs.

Entries close midnight March 7^th, Australian Eastern Standard Time. US and Canadian peeps, I’m going to trust in your ability to google when that is for you, as there are so many different time zones in your respective countries that my mind goes ZAP-SQUISH-PING when I try to work it out.

* * *

Now, on an entirely unrelated note, I thought I’d share my favourite recent smoothie creations because everyone in the world has an equal opportunity to like, loathe, or recreate them, regardless of geographic location.

I dub this one The Charcoal Smoothie.

Frozen banana, frozen blueberries, spinach, non-dairy milk, agave, vanilla extract, ice, cinnamon, and (sometimes) vanilla protein powder. This smoothie is pretty much the awesome.

This one I call Pinky And The Brain. It’s made of pear, frozen raspberries, vanilla extract, chocolate protein powder, and ice. I’ve also made this one with the addition of raw carrot. Vita-Mix, I love you.

This Weet-Bix Golden Crumble cereal, on the other hand, did not emerge from my blender. However, the “bites” smell deliciously like Anzac biscuits, and work well as mini sandwiches when squished together with sunflower seed butter.

I just thought you needed to know that.

Vosges Naga Bar

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Hannah

I have a friend called Jenny, and she is one of the kindest, sweetest, and strongest women I have ever known (or could hope to know). It’s probably just as well that cloning doesn’t really exist yet, because if it did, everyone would want a copy of this girl.

Once, several years ago, we were sitting on couches in our uni library when I told Jenny, in a perfectly calm and rational voice, that I liked the way the BBC Robin Hood looked in his pants. Jenny realised that this was the closest I could bring myself to admitting that I thought a man had a nice bottom, and then she laughed so hard she cried.

More recently, Jenny demonstrated her deep understanding of who I am by bringing me back a Vosges chocolate bar from England. To truly understand the generosity of this action, you need to know that Jenny had rushed to England on a last-minute trip to visit her sick grandmother, and had spent most of her time there in hospital.

The fact that she saw and bought this chocolate for me, simply because it was the craziest flavour she’d ever seen and she knew I’d love it, meant rather a lot.

And now you get to benefit from her kind-heartedness too.

Vosges Naga Bar

As you can see from the package above, this chocolate bar is comprised of 45% milk chocolate, coconut, and sweet Indian curry powder. I’ve previously tried these flavours in Theo’s Coconut Curry bar, so I was eager to see how Vosges’ version compared.

When I unwrapped the bar, I was greeted with a lovely red-brown sheen to the chocolate and an aroma marked by notes of caramel, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Already it seemed that the curry powder here was more on the sweet than savoury side of the spice spectrum, as opposed to Theo’s Phinney 3400 bar which made use of intensely savoury spices like turmeric and fenugreek.

The first flavours I noted upon nibbling this bar were cream and toffee in the milk chocolate itself, and cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves in the curry powder. Vanilla also came through nicely, lending another level of sweetness to the overall taste.

The curry powder in Vosges Naga bar is certainly noticeable and distinct, but in comparison to Theo’s Coconut Curry bar it is warmer and more subtle in spirit.

The texture has a pleasantly fudge-like quality, punctuated occasionally by small shreds of coconut. As my friendship with coconut is akin to two seven-year-old girls tentatively sharing their Barbies one afternoon then steadfastly ignoring one another the next, I was glad that the coconut was present but not aggressive in flavour.

All in all, I really enjoyed this Vosges Naga Bar. Slightly less hot and spicy in its curry flavours than Theo’s version, Vosges’ chocolate nevertheless provided pleasantly intriguing notes of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, vanilla, caramel, and cream.

But you know what? Even if this chocolate bar had tasted like burnt sardines, I still would’ve loved it for what it represented to me: kindness, friendship, and the best J-girl in the world.

Music as Panacea: Strange Weather Gospel Choir and Me

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Hannah

When I was growing up, music was an integral part of my being. I started piano at age 3, clarinet at age 10, and consistently sang in school vocal groups. As a teenager, I did music theory on Mondays, piano lessons on Tuesdays, clarinet lessons and clarinet ensemble on Fridays, vocal group once a week, an hour of piano practice every day, clarinet practice a little less frequently, and I would sing to my mum the songs of her choosing whenever she chauffeured me around town.

I loved it.

(Well, mostly I loved it. Sometimes I wanted to throw tantrums and quit everything. But mostly I loved it.)

Don’t lie. You want my seven-year-old style.

However, after completing AMEB Grade 8 in piano in Year 12 and making a CD at the same time with my clarinet ensemble, I started a high-pressure degree at university and music fell by the wayside. Suddenly, everything was about studying theoretical constructs rather than symphonies. Durkheim, Giddens, Bourdieu, and Veblen became the masters of my brain, replacing Debussy, Bach, Sondheim, and Mozart.

I think a part of me went missing.

(I somewhat patched over this missing part of me with raw chocolate brownies and walnut coconut butter, but food can only go so far.)

I tell you this as a way of explaining why the gospel choir I’ve joined for (alas! perhaps only) six weeks is making such a difference to my sense of self and well-being. I already mentioned the Strange Weather Gospel Choir, Eric Dozier, and my utter glee about both in this post, but I can’t help gushing again.

Because every Wednesday night, when I walk into the rehearsal room and chat with the fellow music devotees I’ve met, my heart lifts.

Because every time we run through our warm-up songs, the roiling mercury of anxiety in the pit of my stomach disappears.

Because Eric Dozier is the epitome of inspiration, and his commitment to sharing the stories and power of gospel, while also making us laugh, is beautiful.

Sometimes music is pain. And that’s why I look like I’m crying while singing in this photo.

Because gospel movement is all about your hips and your bum, not your head. I, for one, benefit from forgetting about my head sometimes.

Because I keep raw vegan mango sunflower balls in my purse to pop for an energy boost mid-rehearsal, so that I can keep singing with everything I have.

Because last Wednesday, when we 80-odd Canberrans were working on a song that incorporates the lyrics “Tell ole Pharoah / Let my people go”, Eric stopped us to explain that this sentiment isn’t just about religion or a singular historical moment. He told us to think of our own personal obstacles, of that which is holding us back from what we want to achieve, and to sing the song to that Pharaoh, that personal, private demon.

Everyone sang with more strength, after that.

I wish I still owned lacy fold-down socks.

Music can lift us up. It can make us feel stronger, happier, and healthier. For some, such soul-strengthening music takes the form of Lady Gaga, death metal, Broadway musicals, organ concertos (hi dad!), or even, perhaps, Rolf Harris (I’m Jake the Peg, diddle-iddle-iddle-um…)

For me, it’s the music I’m a part of, the music I can contribute to, that reminds me life doesn’t have to be a narrow, grey rectangle of routine, suffocating, self-focused activities.

So thank you, Eric Dozier and the Strange Weather Gospel Choir.

Even if it is your fault that I can’t sleep on Wednesday nights because I’m too busy singing to myself in bed like a crazy lady.

Ah well. Might as well use the night-time hours to make another batch of chocolate caramel slice then.

P.S. Canberrans! It looks like I’ll be performing with this choir at a concert at the end of March. You want to come along, don’t you? Sure you do! Sure you do!

Raw Vegan Mango, Date, and Sunflower Tropical Energy Balls

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Hannah

Two things have happened in recent days of which I am inordinately proud:

1. I was driving down a busy (well, relatively speaking; this is Canberra, after all) road at 80 kilometres an hour when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a spider crawling down one of the ringlets that falls to the side of my face.

I didn’t crash the car and cause an horrific accident on Adelaide Avenue.

Those of you who were around for the Great Spider Sock Incident of 2010 will surely understand what an achievement this was.

2. I made up my own flavour of no-bake raw-ish vegan snack balls. I call them my Tropical Australian Raw-ish No-Bake Vegan Treat Snack Balls, because they have mango in them. Mango, that most beloved-by-Australians of fruits.

I’m going to tag this recipe as “raw”, although whether or not you make a truly raw or simply a no-bake version will depend on the type of dried mango you use. My dried mango, which was from the Phillipines via Costco, probably isn’t 100% raw.

It is, however, 100% delicious. As are these no-bake raw-ish vegan snack balls. While making these, I couldn’t help thinking that some coconut would work fabulously alongside the other ingredients. But alas! I’d wasted all my coconut on a failed attempt at making coconut butter. (Dear Mum and Dad, I promise I didn’t make your food processor smoke when I was house-sitting…)

So what are you waiting for? Go forth and make these delicious chewy morsels of terrificality! For those of you who find that raw desserts sometimes taste only of dates and nuts, I think I’m comfortable asserting that the many ingredients in this particular recipe cohere into a more rounded, caramelly, mango-tinted, and nutty-buttery treat.

Also, if in doubt, eat them dipped into vegan chocolate spread or non-vegan Nutella.

Not that I did that, or anything. No sirree. (Lies!)

Raw Vegan Mango, Date, and Sunflower Tropical Energy Balls

How many different names can I possibly apply to one recipe? I do apologise for my inconsistency.
Makes… well, it really depends on how big you like your balls. I think I made around 20.

1/2 cup (60g) raw cashews
1/2 cup (60g) raw sunflower seeds
2/3 cup (100g) medjool dates
2/3 cup (90g) dried mango
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
2-3 tsp water, if needed

1. Tip everything (except for the water) into a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together in a cohesive and slightly-sticky ball. Add water if needed.

2. Roll into balls and store in the freezer. (Or roll in shredded coconut and then store in the freezer. Or dip into Nutella/Sweet William Chocolate Spread and then store in you tummy.)

Question Time: What have you done lately that you’re proud of?

The Story of the Evil Can of [Non-]Edible Doom

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Hannah

This is the story of a walk in the sun that went awry, and of the friend who reached out, grabbed my hand, and pulled me back out of the gloomy mud into which I’d stumbled.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Last week, I was house-sitting for my parents. And by “sitting”, I really do mean sitting. On the couch. With the Internet. And chocolate. Watching Gimore Girls. Cuddling the dog on my lap. Sitting. A lot.

Suddenly, I realised two things. One, that I was feeling mopey, and two, that it was a beautiful day outside. By drawing these facts together, I reached a wonderful decision: I would go for a walk in the sun, and the warmth and Vitamin D would soothe my sadness away.

It worked! Except I did something on the walk that would have turned my day upside-down all over again, had someone not stepped in to save me from myself.

This is the tweet I sent my BFF: “Don’t worry [about something that had relevance at the time], I walked to the shops and bought canned chicken (WTF?) instead.”

I didn’t think much of it at the time; I just thought the comment might make Agnes laugh. But a few seconds after I sent this message into the ether, my phone started ringing. It turned out to be my guardian angel calling from Melbourne.

“What do you mean, you bought canned chicken?” Half-shrieking, half-bemused (she knows me well), my BFF chastised me.

“Well… it was there, on the shelf. And it looked so disgusting that I couldn’t help myself. After all, it’s tandoori-flavoured chicken… in a can. I… um…”

At this point, my voice turned from penitent to panicked.

“BFF, this is what I do in grocery stores!” I wailed. “I walk in, and my rationality goes out the window! The other week I bought instant Milo oatmeal, even though I already had oats and Milo in the pantry. Oh holy bucket, the reality is sinking in! I have canned chicken in the house with me! Get it out, get it out!”

“Hannah, listen to me,” said my guardian angel. “Don’t eat it. Promise me you won’t eat it. Feed it to your dog or throw it out. Promise me.”

“Okay,” I replied meekly. With that out of the way, we kept chatting for a bit longer whilst, in the background, the Forresters fought in mute on the tv (don’t blame me, there was a cooking show on Channel Ten beforehand). ‘Twas good.

An hour or so later, I tiptoed over to the can of chicken. I read its promotional blurb:

“Succulent”? “Quality ingredients”? Mouth-watering flavours”? “Perfect partner”?

I SMELL A RAT.

The above, of course, I mean in the figurative sense. When I opened the can, however, I started to smell a rat in a rather real way. And it smelled half-dead.

Oh. Battery-farmed protein, pools of oil, and a strangely-grainy sauce.

Would you like some?

No, really, would you?

Because even my dog was suspicious.

Thanks all the same, canned chicken company, but I’m going to take my BFF’s advice and stick to less vomit-inducing, gut-wrenching, and awful-smelling foodstuffs.

Such as the Ottoman Cuisine’s pomegranate ice cream. Yes, I wouldn’t mind more of that.

Wayfaring Chocolate

adventures in chocolate, travel, cooking, and living

Monthly Archives: February 2011

CSN Giveaway (For Some) and Smoothies (For All)

Vosges Naga Bar

Vosges Naga Bar

Music as Panacea: Strange Weather Gospel Choir and Me

Raw Vegan Mango, Date, and Sunflower Tropical Energy Balls

Raw Vegan Mango, Date, and Sunflower Tropical Energy Balls

The Story of the Evil Can of [Non-]Edible Doom