Eternal Cheesecake

Ever get blindsided by a friend or person, blink a couple times, and think, “what the bleep just happened here?!?” after they’re gone?

A once revered friend came over to drop something off, but it turned quickly into Cult Recruitment 101 for an upscale “health drink” multi-level marketing scheme. She wanted me to join, and out came the bully tactics of insults, comparisons, and speculative judgment. It was a rapid one-two-three punch.

Oof!

Wasn’t expecting that from someone I trusted. But since I’ve done a similar type of recruitment when I was in my spiritual cult, I could see the identification with the group, the lack of listening without an agenda, the threat that questioning creates. In my instance, it was an escapism-based agenda. In her instance it’s a greed-based agenda. Doesn’t matter the root cause. Same dirty playbook.

There’s nothing that can be said to someone who’s in a cult. Nothing. Don’t even bother. Why? Because they get too much out of it. They think you’re the loser for not being in it, and the longer they’re in their cult, the the more they absorb clever positions to counter anything that questions The Way Things Are.

Now my job is to not get sucked into the abusive verbal recruitment drive should I meet this friend again and just love her where she’s at. I now admire the few remaining friends who did that for me when I was in my cult and waited me out. It’s a little sticky as she’s a sometimes client of mine, but we’ll see. Wish me luck.

I get requests for this recipe all the time, and with good reason: it’s so creamy, so chocolatety, so comforting, so easy to make, and from plants to boot!

People have come to associate this recipe with me, as if I invented it… no… I’m just the messenger. It’s from the book, “Health By Chocolate“.

Even though after yesterday’s discovery about chocolate not being the “super food” as it was touted to be by marketers, I still have a soft spot for it. I’m even thinking of making a surprise batch for a friend’s birthday present.

What is it? It’s called “Quick Creamy Chocolate Avocado Custard”, or as I’ve been referring to it as my “Chocolate Avocado Mousse”. (Click for the full size view)

My heart sunk…

I started to read that chocolate isn’t a superfood as was claimed to be, by marketers, of course. That it wasn’t healthy. That it is actually a toxin for the liver, a stimulant for the heart.

Bleah.

But I read it all, and took it in, starting with Paul Nison’s post, “Raw Chocolate–Harmful for Your Health“, that goes into details.

Bleah.

Well, I have been going at the chocolate powder added to my daily plant-protein puddings pretty hard lately. Like 3 Tbsp a day. Plus some unsweetened callebaut chocolate that I like to transmute into my own nightly treats, as I’ve blogged previously.

It’s said that chocolate makes it harder for the body to detox, and so what I’m going to do is kick the chocolate, substituting carob instead, and see how I feel, and if my head gets sharper in the meantime.

I also discovered that agave nectar, one of my favorite sweeteners, isn’t what I had thought it to be due to its high fructose content. So I’m going to drop that too. See if I can find some good stevia, not the white stuff which I had been taking before, and also some honey, and play with sweet fruits more.

Maybe this will help me to get “The Thrilling” feeling back…. but damn… chocolate… wonder if I’m addicted to it…

I love sweet!

But after a short conversation with some friends at a vegan dine-out, it became apparent that my palate has been desensitized.

We were eating a yummy bean pudding desert when I happily remarked that it wasn’t so sweet. They laughed as they had just said to each other that it was too sweet, though I didn’t hear them in the moment. They have been vegan for many years, and Sean began to speak about how much pleasure he’d get from the natural sweetness of eating an apple. I don’t think I’m there yet, but it gave me pause.

In any case, sweeteners fascinate me. I used to only know about white sugar, brown sugar and honey. Now, my world has exploded. Madhava agave nectar is a favorite. Dates are divine. Carob molasses was a treasure to find.

I just ran across this article called “Essential Sugars” which lucidly educated me on the chemical nature of sugars, what they do to the body, and how some are actually essential and highly beneficial.

Have you ever thought to make your own chocolate? A friend, Kelly, recently posted something about her appreciation for chocolate, and that lead to me to say:

Chocolate definitely deserves more general praise! I just learned how to make my own variety from the basic ingredients and am delighted 🙂

She wanted to know if it was difficult. I said:

Well, I don’t start with the cacao nibs, but I do start with a big block of callebaut unsweetened dark chocolate, which is inedible, then I scrape off what I want, add some honey and cinnamon, and voila!, semi-home-made chocolate to my tastes 🙂

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