Doctors Are Touting the Benefits of Chocolate Again

Wow, it was a hot, humid day today. Hope your air-conditioning is working and you're staying cool.

Have you seen the headlines about Chocolate. Doctors are discovering that "moderate" amounts are very good for you in more ways than they thought. In fact, those who ate the dark, rich chocolate I talked about yesterday from Europe, had the best health results. Oh, and don't have a glass of milk with your chocolate if you are specifically eating it for it's health benefits; it interferes with the absorption of the anti-oxidants and lowers the effectiveness.

What is it about dark chocolate? The answer is plant phenols - cocoa phenols, to be exact. These compounds are known to lower blood pressure significantly.

Chocolates made in Europe are generally richer in cocoa phenols than those made in the U.S. So just remember: Darker is better when eating chocolate to benefit from the plant phenols. Milk chocolate is not the same.

In this hot weather, your kids are probably enjoying ice cream for a treat to cool off. How about a home-made Chocolate Syrup to turn that bowl of ice cream into a real treat.

Old-fashioned recipe: Just put 4 ounces of chocolate, cut into fine pieces in a saucepan. Add 1 pint of water and one and one half cups sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and then bring to a boil, cook 10 minutes, and then add 6 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in one-half cup water plus one teaspoon cinnamon.

Bring to a boil and stir continually and cook for 5 minutes. Cool and add 1 tablespoon vanilla. Place in a fruit jar for storage, or put into one of those squeeze bottles like restaurants use for ketchup so kids can easily squeeze it over their ice cream to turn it into a Sundae.

Sprinkle your Sundae with chopped nuts and finish off with some whipped cream. Now that's a treat to enjoy on a hot summer night while sitting on your porch.

Take care, and God bless.
Donna