Friday 5 October 2018

Friday Favourites

This week has been...different. I'm still hesitant to talk about it because we still don't know which way things are going to go, but we remain cautiously hopeful. Otherwise, I've been busy. I've been prepping Etsy for Christmas, sorting through ex-exhibit pieces, painting brand new pieces, working on a few character drawings that I'd decided to show for Inktober, and generally bouncing up and down for Christmas. I'm allowed. It's October. It used to start September. I'm growing up.
I've also been watching a series while working which I think is well worth the attention of anyone looking to live a healthy lifestyle: BBC's Food: Truth or Scare. It looks at food myths, scary headlines and the research behind them - if they're even true or not - and fad diets and crazes, such as the health and dangers of certain diets like raw food and veganism, and the facts behind the bullet-proof coffee and activated charcoal. All of which confirmed what I already knew about it.

I'd always been afraid of watching BBC's Food: Truth or Scare - I was worried it would tell me I wasn't as healthy as I thought I was, or that the fads were actually totally rubbish and unproven and that I was wasting my time. Or, worse, that the occasional indulgence was a bad thing. I happened to catch the first episode of the new series the other day, though, and they were talking about chocolate, and, in fact, were saying everything I already knew - cocoa content, where the good of chocolate lies, and even talking about cocoa nibs, not just high-street bars. I decided to stick around and they ultimately confirmed everything I knew about chocolate with science. I was so happy. They also debunked the whole 'chocolate cake for breakfast' diet, thought to help you lose weight - which anyone with an ounce of sense knows is rubbish - and ultimately said "yes, eat chocolate - dark will always be better, but if you enjoy white or milk, you don't have to cut it back, but the lighter the colour, the less you should eat." White chocolate is essentially just cocoa butter and sugar.
I recorded it and have worked my way through half of the series, learned a few things and confirmed many I already knew. They have nutritionists, scientists and everything on hand, and are actively tearing apart the headlines that people find both convenient and terrifying. Such as mercury in fish - you would have to eat a lot of fish for it to become an issue, the mercury is greater in larger, older fish, but even the fish guiltiest of mercury content like swordfish or shark can still be eaten no more than once a week. I mean, I don't, I typically have haddock and salmon each once a week, but ultimately, it's just another scare-story. It's well worth watching.

Also, Hotel Chocolat's pod cups are designed based on cocoa pods. We first saw them in their limited edition anniversary box, but there were too few other things in it that appealed to me so I didn't buy one. Now they're bringing out their Velvetiser - a hot chocolate maker - these cocoa cups and single-serve hot chocolate packs are appearing on their website. I need them.








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