Except in Dog Friendly Restaurants

I started looking for dog friendly restaurants online and the first site that came up was a dog friendly outdoor restaurant guide. Were they being serious? Are dog owners not wanted or loved anywhere? But keep looking and you will find that there are a lot of people with the same problem and a lot of those people have taken the time to create sites all over the world naming dog friendly restaurants. I am happy to say that I can now take Cookie to a dog friendly restaurant where we won't be turned out and I will be able to sit there and enjoy my time with my dog as well as my meal.

These dog friendly restaurants understand the love that dog owners have for their pets. They know that we want to spend time with our dogs and that the dogs are not going to be let lose to run around or lick plates. Dogs are also great entertainment for kids. I can't tell you how many times I was out with Cookie and a mother was able to stuff some food into her kid's mouth because the kid was so enchanted with Cookie. When the kid was done eating, the parents would be able to sit down and relax rather than take the kid outside for a walk in order to stop the screaming. The kid(s) would come over and put Cookie and everyone is happy.

The Beginning of Chocolate

Chocolate is believed to be consumed in a bitter and spicy drink called xocoatl, often seasoned with vanilla, chile pepper, and achiote (annatto) in the Americas. The "Xocoatl" was believed to be an energizer that was used to fight fatigue. This food type was an important luxury good throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and cocoa beans were often used as currency. Cocoa beans were commonly used in several drinks and edibles. Christopher Columbus also took some cocoa beans to show Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. However, cocoa beans were broadly introduced to Europe by Hernán Cortés, the first Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca who is known for leading the military expedition that initiated the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. Chocs was first commercially shipped to Europe from Veracruz to Sevilla in 1585.

In early days, chocolate served as beverage, but the Europeans added sugar and milk to remove its natural bitterness. They also started the Mexican indigenous spice, vanilla instead of the chilli pepper. That resulted in the improved chocolate or the modern chocs. By the 17th century, the chocs with improved taste came to be used as luxury item among the European nobility.

The first form of solid chocs were invented in Turin by Doret at the end of the 18th century. F. L. Cailler opened the first Swiss chocolate factory in 1819. Pierre Paul Caffarel sold this chocolate in large quantities from 1826. The Dutchman Coenraad Johannes van Houten in 1828 patented a method for extracting the fat from cocoa beans and making powdered cocoa and cocoa butter. The Dutch process of treating chocolate with alkali to remove the bitter taste was also developed by Van Houten; the Dutch process made it possible to form the modern chocolate bar.

Origin and History of Chocolate

Chocolates are the most popular food around the world and across all ages. Chocolates are often used to show love and affection and people even have it to lift spirits. Ever wondered where this ubiquitous chocolate originated? Well, historians believe that the word Chocolate or Chocolatl originates from the Nahuatl word xocoatl or cacahuatl meaning bitter water. Some believe that it is a combination of the Mayan words "choco" and "haa" and the Nauhatl term "atl". Recently linguists proposed another theory that it originates from "chicolatl" from the word chico-li meaning to beat or stir and not Chocoatl. A Swedish person gave the cocoa plant its botanical name "Theobroma cacao" which when literally translated means "Food of the Gods".

Most of us know that chocolates are made from cocoa beans that have been cultivated for millions of years in the South American Rainforests. An archaeological survey showed the physical residue of chocolate in some Mayan pots suggesting that Mayans drank chocolate some 2600 years ago. Some believe that the cocoa plant was cultivated in the Amazon region for more than 4000 years. According to historians, the cacao tree was worshipped by the Mayans and the Aztecs offered chocolate to the God as an offering. According to ancient history, Aztecs brewed the cocoa beans with maize and capsicum to form a spicy bitter-sweet drink, which was fermented and used for ceremonies. Aztecs valued their cocoa beans, though it was not cultivated there. They got it through trade or war but it was treated equivalent to currency, with taxes being paid in the form of cocoa beans.

Halloween's Fascinating European Roots

Halloween is one of the most controversial and celebrated holidays in American culture. It has a history that is rich and replete with tradition, blending the customs and beliefs of various European cultures. Early European settlers, the Celts, were the originators of Halloween. The Celts lived two thousand years ago in what is currently Western Europe scattered across France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

They celebrated a festival called Samhain on the evening of October 31 to indicate the end of summer and their new year, which was November 1st. The Celts believed that on October 31st the spirits of the dead returned to earth. Not only were these impish spirits believed to damage crops and cause mischief, but also they made it easier for the druids or Celtic priests to predict the future.

During the celebration, the druids built bonfires and sacrificed animals and crops to the Celtic gods. They wore animal skins and heads as costumes. In addition, they set out bowls of food to prevent the ghosts from entering their homes. The Celts are also credited with the tradition of carving jack-o-lanterns. However, they did not use pumpkins, they used turnips.