Merry Christmas!

There is no time like Christmas time! 

Do not allow anything or anybody 

to take the joy of the Season away from you. 

Celebrate like never before! 

Merry Christmas to you and yours! - Dominique

Image: Naughty Cat and the Christmas Tree by Dominique Allmon©2015

Homemade Apricot Cardamom Pralines

Here is something I indulge in without any guilt whatsoever. I have a sweet tooth and love sweet treats, but I also know that sugar, especially the refined version, is really bad for my health. A piece of fruit may satisfy sugar craving, but is not always what I want.

I created these delicious pralines that can be made any time of the year, but especially when the Holiday Season comes. They make a perfect gift for Christmas and are very easy and fun to make. If you have children, they would love to do the work for you. This recipe makes about 34 delicious pralines. They are vegan, gluten-free, and suited for people who follow raw food or paleo diet.  No sugar added.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried, non-sulfured seedless apricots
• 1/2 cup raw cacao
• 2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil (melted in water bath)
• 1 1/2 cups coconut flour (you can also use almond flour)
• 1 Tbsp grind cardamom
• 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp mixed spices: allspice, nutmeg, cloves, dried ginger
• 1/2 tsp Celtic salt
• coconut flakes for garnish
• raw cacao mixed with with cinnamon for garnish
• coconut flour mixed with ground cardamom for garnish
• raw sesame seeds for garnish

 Method:

• Place washed and cleaned apricots in a medium large bowl. Add enough purified or spring water to cover the apricots set aside. Allow to macerate over night.
• Strain apricots but do not discard the liquid. It can be added to smoothies.
• Place apricots in a food processor and mash using the S blade. Process until you receive a smooth paste. Add melted coconut oil and mix again. To melt coconut oil fill a medium large bowl with hot water. Put the measured amount of coconut oil into a small bowl. Place the small bowl in a bowl of hot water and allow it to sit there until coconut oil turned into liquid.
• To make the dough you can use the food processor, I prefer to do it the old way - by hand in a large bowl. I use large spatula. It is quite a fun and a good exercise, but it takes a bit of time.
• If you decide to follow me in the exercise, transfer apricot paste into a large bowl add spices, salt, raw cacao and mix well with a wooden spoon. Gradually add coconut flour and mix well. You should be able to make a dough that is firm, but sticky enough to form small round pralines. 
• To make the pralines portion out a chunk of dough (about 1 Tbsp) and roll it to shape between your palms. Set each praline aside. 
• Prepare four small plates with garnish ingredients. I leave the proportions to you. Divide the amount of pralines you formed out of the dough into four groups and give them the final touch rolling them in garnish ingredients. Shape pralines back to shape if necessary. Ready!

You can place the ready pralines in individual candy paper cups and box them or leave them on a platter for everyone to enjoy right away.

 

 

This candy never lasts long in my home so I have no need for refrigeration but I suggest that you keep your pralines in the fridge if you want to preserve their goodness. You probably can dehydrate them in your dehydrator on the lowest possible temperature, but this will, most probably,  alter the texture a bit. Experiment if you are brave enough. And whatever you decide to do, enjoy it!

 

By Dominique Allmon

 

Dominique Allmon©2015

 

This recipe was first published on my raw food blog Passionately Raw! 

Climate Change

First it was global cooling (1970s), then global warming (mid-1990sand on), now, probably out of pure embarrassment, it is simply the climate change. The heated debate brings protestors, skeptics, climate change deniers, fanatics, and the hypocrites to, or near, each climate conference. And while the skeptics and the deniers are being ridiculed, the fanatics are ready to damp their cars and ride on bikes in cold and snow. The hypocrites, on the other hand, are not in the slightest ashamed to travel in private jets from one corner of the Earth to another. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is chilling indeed. 

The current conference is under way in Paris where delegates of 195 countries responsible for negotiating a climate agreement are working together to pass a binding document that will put an end to, or at least slow down, the change of climate on planet Earth. The treaty may, or may not, include a plan to extinguish the Sun whose activity is in great part responsible for the irregular weather patterns and climate formation on Earth.

Forgive me my sarcasm, but climate change is a big and very lucrative business, and much of what is going on, is happening in the "dark," behind closed doors. One can only speculate on who is really involved here and who will profit the most.

The climate is visibly changing and the powers to be decided that we will have to pay for it. Emphasis on "we" not them. I wish that someone told me why the same group of actors suppresses the research on free energy that was originally initiated by Nicola Tesla.

The climate change dogma does not tolerate dissent of any kind. It preaches that climate change is anthropogenic or man-made. It also preaches that the changes are irreversible, but can be slowed down by restricting human activities that caused them. No matter that climate changes are cyclical. No matter that some serious causes of climate change come from nature.

The natural causes of climate change include changes in Earth's orbit and in the amount of energy emitted by the Sun. Furthermore volcanic eruptions are also considered to cause variations in climate. The eco-fascists, however, do not even bother to take these factors into consideration. The wild nature only spoils the rigid models developed in laboratory setting. Such narrative supports a sinister political agenda of a certain group of people and cannot be changed.  

 

Scientists who propagate the "global cooling, global warming, climate change" theory want us to believe that recent changes in climate cannot be explained by nature alone. They claim that most of the warming since the mid-1900s is caused by human activity, most notably by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. This human activity contributes to the greenhouse effect whereas heat is "trapped" by gases such as carbon dioxide. A drastic reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels would consequently lead to cooling and stabilization of the climate. At least in theory, as postulated by these same scientists. 

That plants need carbon dioxide for their growth and development is not often considered in these equations. The systematic destruction of the tropical jungles in Indonesia and Brazil, and the deforestation of other regions, is a factor often overlooked in the debates as if the one thing had nothing to do with the other.

We've been duped before. Do you remember the Climategate? Certain scientists had to admit in the past that they falsified data in their climate models to prove that there was global warming, and yet, their theories were sold to us as the only truth that there was. Can we trust them again? Why should we?

Individually, for each of us, the changing weather patterns are only a fraction of what we have been able to observe and understand in our relatively short lives. I was born in July many years ago, and my mother told me that it was so cold back then that people actually thought it would snow. I have never ever experienced such a cold summer again. I would be lying if I told you that things right now are just the way they were five, ten, or fifteen years ago. Something is definitely going on. The summers are definitely getting hotter, the winters longer and colder. But this, of course, depends on where you live. 

In 1800s people in Northern Europe had a mini ice age to cope with. Charles Dickens witnessed a frozen Thames. In February 1814 London experienced the coldest frost it had known in many centuries. Reportedly, an elephant was led under the Blackfriars Bridge during annual frost fair. After that year Thames never froze again. From the perspective of Charles Dickens and his contemporaries this unprecedented climate warming might have felt like a disaster of sorts. And if it did not, it was only because people were so ignorant and unenlightened in the past. Right? I cannot help think that people in England actually welcomed that change and no one was thrown to Tower for causing the warm weather. There is also no record of whether the elephant was beheaded or not.

No one wants the planet to go under, but have you ever been near an oil field? The gas is often burned off, a wasteful practice that makes one wonder what is actually going on. And while the oil companies can do this without punishment, you might be fined in the future for having a barbecue party in your yard. Oil flaring seems to be an accepted practice, but a grill in the backyard might cause irreparable damage to the climate and perpetrators must be stopped by all means necessary. If this does not make you speechless, I don't know what would.

Not many people are aware of the fact that weather can indeed be manipulated and changed. The chemtrails and HAARP are not necessarily subjects of casual conversation. That this human activity may in fact be responsible for extreme weather and changes in climate does not even occur to those who decide to ride a bike to work in a snow blizzard with the hope that their humble contribution may save the Earth. There are too many unanswered questions, but when in doubt, follow the money.

Something must be done and everyone should care, but how much can you as an individual do to reverse the damage caused by the extravaganza of others?

Dominique Teng 

 
Dominique Teng©2015


Images source here