Taza Chocolate

A few months ago (actually more than a few... I'm sooooooo sorry I haven't blogged in so long), I went to Taza Chocolate shop. Taza is this amazingful chocolate company, making organic, stone ground, INCREDIBLE chocolate. There are countless naturally flavored chocolate samples; my favorites are...  
(something I can't remember) Chile, and Vanilla. Salt and Pepper was okay. Oh, and those were only their "Mexicano" chocolate wheels. There was a rainbow of bars (really it was a rainbow of FLAVORS, the chocolates were all brown), pebbles, and even tea. An other company, Mem Tea, used Taza's pure, sugar free coco nibs in their Spiced Chai Cascarilla. I am actually currently drinking some- this sweet, spiced tea is what inspired me to blog for the first time in evers! 
On their chocolate tours, they show you how their chocolate is made from minimal ingredients; water, coco  nibs, natural flavoring (think chile... YUM!), and a teeny bit of sugar. It is ground from rotating, hand carved stones, until it is perfect! I tried making their hot chocolate once (not very good) but when they make it, it honestly tastes like liquid brownie batter. So thick, creamy and rich! Incredible.
Taza has only one location (561 Windsor St, Somerville, MA, phone- (617) 623 0804), but it is a really cool place. 


Lots of samples!

Breakfast in Sevilla

Breakfast in Sevilla was the best I had anywhere in Spain. Unfortunately, we were only there for two nights. But picture this- FRESH squeezed orange juice (when i mean fresh, I mean they have a little machine behind the counter for squeezing oranges. So let's just say when you take it to your table, it was probably squeezed 20 secs. ago.), vibrant orange, almost like it was glowing. Little bit of pulp, and a strong, but pure flavor. Then the gave you sandwiches on really good bread. On the bread you could have butter, smushied tomatoes and olive oil, or meat; called jamon. It was so so so so so so so good!

Gelato...

...the most popular type of store in Spain.  We went out for gelato three or four times in twelve days. Lemon, bubble gum, chocolate, hazelnut, coffee, orange, chocolate orange, Nutella, caramel peanut, watermelon, pineapple, and many more flavors. Our favorite gelato place was in Granada, we called it the "chunka chunka" gelato place, because in the gelato, they had big chunks of food advertising the flavors. In the watermelon, they had a half a watermelon carved-and it looked like a flower! In the coffee, they had huge, dark chocolate covered coffee beans. Sticks of vanilla, orange slices, chunks of chocolate, mango, hazelnuts... Yaaaaaaay!!!!

Dried Fruit and Spice Markets

Yummy yummy yum yum yummy!!!!  The fruit and spice markets were definitely one of the perks of Granada. From dried mango and kiwi and pineapple and melon to all sorts of spices i've never heard about to honey and eucalyptus candies, they had it all. My family got a little baggie of dried melon, mango, strawberries, and french jelly candy thingies. My favorite was the mango. Note- Trader Joe's dried mango is also very very very good. Yummy yummy yum yum yummy!!!!

Mango

Ok, it's a (very cute) clothing store, but it is called Mango!!!! It has amazingly cute clothes!!!! Colored scarves, dresses, flats, heels, shawls, jeans, skirts, bangles, tees, jackets, socks, leggings, purses, clutches, hats, wraparound belts. Yaaaaaaaaaaay!!!! Unfortunatly, it's all the way in Spain, but i can give you the link!!!!  
                          http://www.mango.com/

Tapas

In Spain, there is this wonderful little thingie, called "tapas"(also, there is a wonderful little thingie called "zapatería", meaning shoe store, but back to tapas...). When you go to almost any bar or restaurant, when you order a drink, you get a small free plate of food, a tapa. Some reastaurants have tapas menus, where others will just bring you a tapa.  Taps can be anything- from fried calamari, to dressed tomatoes, to grilled goat cheese with honey (my favorite tapa!!!!). Because of "siesta" which can be anywhere from 2-7 hours, most tapas places don't even open until 9:00 p.m. At about 5:00 p.m., it's a ghost town there, and then at 10:30,  you see three year olds tottering around with gelato! But it's worth it to stay up for tapas- free food!

Lemonade!

Soon it will be summer! Lemonade is a refreshing, sweet drink, perfect for summer, but are there different versions than classic lemonade? YES! This post will help you to make fresh, sweet, and sour lemonade that everyone will love!


Coconut Lemonade- This uses very little lemon and very little sugar, but tastes good all the same! FYI, I find it easier to make by the glasses, not in pitchers
You will need...

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2/3 a glass of coconut water (my family uses Zico)
• half a lemon

You make it almost like any other lemonade- you mix the coconut water and the sugar first. Then squeeze in as much lemon as you like! I found about 2 teaspoons is good, but you can do more (or less) lemon.

Pink Lemonade- I found this recipe in a book and tried it a while ago- it's pretty good! Instead of sugar, you use ripe strawberries to sweeten it and to make it pink!
You will need...

• glass of water
• half a lemon (although I don't use ALL the juice)
• 2 or 3 ripe strawberries

In a micorwave safe bowl, put the strawberries and a little bit of lemon juice in the micorwave for about 35 seconds; until they start to turn mushyish. Using a fork, mush and strain the juice out into the glass. Put more lemon juice in the glass with the water and strawberry juice. What to do with the extra strawberry mush? Put it in the refridgerator- it makes a great breakfast. 

Try this- plop a few strawberries in a bag and put them in the freezer for a couple hours. The juice will freeze, and you are left with strawberry ice cubes.