Monday, May 9, 2011

Confession Time

Dirty little secret:  Sometimes I eat raw chocolate sauce by the spoonful while reading Oprah magazine and watching Dancing with the Stars.  I admit it, not that I could deny it with the chocolate dribbles down the front of my shirt.

I've been out of raw cacao for a while, but when my stash arrived I decided to go big.  Kelli from animal friendly eating inspired me to make a raw ice cream cake.  I started with a crust of coconut, cacao, and coconut nectar.  The second layer was leftover banana cream pie filling from Sweet Gratitude, poured around a small glass bowl and left to freeze for a few hours.  Then I pulled out the glass dish and filled the empty space with chocolate ice cream.

Rich Chocolate Ice Cream
3/4 cup brazil nuts
3/4 cup cashews
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp raw cacao
dash of vanilla
pinch of salt
3 tbsp melted coconut oil

Yum, this was good.  After blending, I processed it my ice cream maker, but I think it would have been easier to leave it in the liquid form for ice cream cake construction. 

After freezing that layer, on top I spread blond buckwheat crunchies (from Sweetly Raw's Ultimate Ice Cream Cake ebook).  Then I stuck the glass bowl back in the springform and spread more chocolate ice cream around it.  Once that was frozen, out came the bowl and more banana cream was added to the cavity.  



Back in the freezer, then:



Oh. My.  Can you believe I had room for spoonfuls of chocolate sauce after licking this plate clean? 

The reason I had to admit my Oprah habit is because one of the featured stories was a fascinating article about a guy (Darin Olien) who gets paid to travel the world hunting down super foods.  Where was the recruiter for this job when I was in high school??  Anyway, one of the interesting things mentioned in the article was biomimicry, or the idea that nature holds the answers to all the problems we face. The article talked about how certain foods look like the body parts they can benefit.  (Click here for examples from Woman's Day).  I thought this was intriguing, but TH believes it's a lot of hooey, mostly because earth's environment developed long before humans evolved.   

Question:  Did anyone else read this article, and get all tingly thinking about the secrets of our natural world?  

10 comments:

  1. Hi there. I didn't read the article, but what you are describing is actually a philosophy developed by herbalists in the 1600's to help them identify useful attributes of plants. It has a name: it's called the Doctrine of Signatures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures This modern super food hunter evidently read about it, but didn't know the proper name for it. Biomimicry actually is a bit different as a concept http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomimicry , and it is taught in science courses. He is evidently saying that the Doctrine of Signatures is an example of biomimicry, but modern scientists would call him on that, because just like your husband, modern scientists think the business about signatures is a bunch of hooey, but then, there's a lot they don't know also. I heard an interesting interview with herbalist Brigitte Mars (author of Rawsome!) on Raw Food World Radio. She was talking about the value of eating wild edible weeds in supporting our health. Then she mentioned the Doctrine of Signatures. She talked about how "weeds" continue to grow and thrive without any of the care that we have to heap on our garden plants, even sprouting and growing in the cracks of sidewalks. Her point was, she believes the signature for these wild weeds is "survival", and given all the challenges we face in the modern world, she thinks they are expecially helpful for us now (not to mention free!). I have just begun to learn to identify edible weeds for my smoothies and salads. It's very empowering. P.S. That ice cream cake looks incredible! It also looks like a lot of work! Makes me feel tired thinking about it. I must need more super weeds. :)

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  2. oh YUM! i want a slice!=)

    i believe that nature cures, because i also believe the same force that creates plants creates humans and animals.

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  3. Are you kidding me??? That cake is stunning.
    Peace and Raw Health,
    E

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  4. A friend passes her Oprah mags onto me sometimes, and I'll look out for that article. But wow, what a creative bombshell, exquisitely and beautifully crafted, you produced with that ice cream cake!

    Wow, so stunning...

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  5. @Mindy
    Thank you, Mindy, for your fascinating insight. I will have to read about the Doctrine of Signatures now.

    I love the idea of eating more weeds. In the summer I eat tons of chickweed, but should really expand my horizons.

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  6. @kelli

    Good point, Kelli! I'm right there with you.

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  7. @Elizabeth

    Thanks, Elizabeth. It is pretty darn tasty.

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  8. @Ela

    Hey, Ela! Let me know if you come across that article. I'd love to know your thoughts.

    Enjoy the last days of your vacation!

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  9. LOVE the idea cream cake. my husband requested one for his birthday, now I'm extra inspired to get going on one.

    I actually took a college course on ethnobotany from a guy who did just that, hunt down superfoods. it was one of my favorite classes ever! he gave us samples and stuff. loved it.

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  10. Bitt, that sounds like an awesome class. With a professor like that I would have been one of the super nerds in the front row.

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