Knitta Please

Stop the presses!

Have you heard about this group?  It could just be that I am finding out about this much after the fact, which is just my style; but I have a news story and some links to share with you.

First heard about this on David Reidy’s podcast and blog, Sticks and String.  The podcast is free and available at itunes.  You probably know that David is Australian and knits.  I have been behind on my podcasts because of trouble with itunes, but finally getting caught up.  Tonight I learned about a team of knitting taggers who call themselves “Knittaplease” and place knitted tags around various cities.  They have a site at Flickr and a myspace web site.  I simply MUST find out more about this group.  Here is an article written by the Houston Press about them, called, “Knitta Please!”

This is so amazing and I want to join… or maybe just start doing it here locally.  I love this idea…. Knitted Activism!

Sugarfree Question

Tonight I received a question about the last posted recipe.  It was submitted by Chicks Love Chocolate and I want to thank her for asking… so if anyone else needs clarification, I have reposted her question here for everyone:

“Please let me know how to make this sugarfree! I am confused as to whether you added coffeemate instead of the half and half. What was the water about?
Thanks.

Chicks Love Chocolate”

Hi Chicks Love Chocolate! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see if I can clarify what I did so that you can make this sugarfree.

The recipe called for half-and-half, so I wrote that down for people who want the full works. For myself, I use the powdered, flavored, sugarfree coffeemate to sweeten the Hot chocolate; and today, it was the Vanilla Caramel… YUM. Since discovering that people outside the United States do not use milk, but use water, I have started doing that in order to make my drink with less fat and carbs. I use 1/4 tsp. of arrowroot, per cup, to thicken it up and make it creamy… just as if I used regular heavy cream, without the calories. Oh, if you want more caffeine, you can use fresh brewed coffee instead of just plain water…. OR you can use at least a tsp. of instant coffee with the water.

Need To Go Sugarfree?

As a diabetic, I need to avoid sugar; and as you may guess, these chocolate recipes have sugar in them… OR need to be modified in some way as it avoid the bitterness that is unsweetened chocolate. As someone who has been on diets, on and off my whole life, I have learned a few tricks of the trade. Well, maybe not a whole lot of tricks, but enough to satisfy MY cravings for chocolate.

Through the years, I’ve used a variety of sources to add sweetness to things from the obvious artificial sweeteners to the not so obvious sources like fruit, and most recently, sugarfree coffeemate. The key thing here is to remember to be creative. Just try your idea out and see if it works. If it does, great; but if it doesn’t, no big deal. I just bought the sugarfree coffeemate, flavored vanilla caramel which really fits into today’s recipe. This morning, I used 100% cacao unsweetened chocolate and the new flavored coffeemate. It turned out great, I got the flavor for this weeks recipe, WITHOUT the sugar and extra fat, as I used water instead of half-and-half.

I am always on the look out that the supermarket for other ways of sweetening my HC and one thing I intend on getting, but have not seen it, looked in the right place, or asked someone for sugarfree syrups. I know they are there, just never used them before. I am guessing that there is a whole new world of flavor out there for me to experience.

~A piece of chocolate a day keeps the doldrums away!

Wednesday is Chocolate Recipe Day!

Thanks for coming back for the next recipe. I would like to invite anyone to comment on any of these recipes and their yummy chocolate experience after making one of them…. or any chocolate (or near chocolate) experiences you might have.

This weeks recipe is called “Ghirardelli ‘Square’ Caramel Hot Chocolate”, excerpted from the book “Hot Chocolate~50 Heavenly Cups of Comfort” by Fred Thompson. I highly recommend this book for anyone who really digs HC and is worth it just for the pictures included of all these decadent treasures. I’d just like to say that the caramel content really makes this recipe stand out and a “must try it”… and it’s really easy to make. Okay, nuff said… let’s get down to the good stuff:

Ghirardelli “Square” Caramel Hot Chocolate

2 cups half-and-half
One 6.9 oz. bag ghirardelli milk chocolate squares with caramel filling
(or you can try Hershey’s Kisses with caramel)
Whipped Cream for garnish
Store-bought caramel sauce for garnish

1. Pour the half-and-half into a medium-size saucepan and warm over medium heat.
   Meanwhile, unwrap all of the chocolate squares and cut them into quarters.
2. When the half-and-half is just below a boil, with bubbles around the sides, whisk in the candy, and continue whisking until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
3. Serve immediately in cups with a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Serves 4 to 6