Happy Valentines

I have always been a fan of Valentines Day even when I didn't have a sweety maybe it's just all the hearts every where I couldn't help but feel the LOVE.  Who wouldn't LOVE to stop and smell the flowers everywhere?! Matt has always made me feel so special on Valentines more then any other holiday and is convinced he is going to top last years Valentines dinner. He is way too cute I love his suprises!!

 It will say it will be pretty hard to top being we had an amazing time at Meditrina a small plates and wine bar in Salt Lake City last Valentines Day....the salt and pepper panna cotta with salty carmel sauce is still on my mind!  

The Five Course Valentines Menu from Meditrina 2011 and their wine pairings I enjoyed throughly! 

They always do a special Valentines Menu.

Hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day and can spend it with the ones you LOVE!

Les Madeleines

 Wouldn't be Valentines week without a stop at my favorite pastry shop Les Madeleines Patisserie Cafe in down town Salt Lake City on 500 South (they are closed on Mondays) Their  pastries are not to miss! Their claim to fame was also shown on The Food Network Best Thing I Ever Ate show.

The Kouing Aman

Salty and sweet, Caramelized and crunchy on the outside, gooey and flaky on the inside = DELICIOUS!

Fairtrade Chocolate

More on Fairtrade Chocolate HERE

Valentines Tree

Valentines is quickly approaching. It is time to fill my seasonal black metal and green blown glass tree with some much needed Valentines decor. I can't believe how much I've used the Tree I got for Noah's Owl 1st Birthday Party it has been out ever since. I do have just about every other holiday decor for it, now all I need is some fun hanging delights for Valentines.  I found this cute shop called The Lonely Heart this is the the spot to find my HEARTS delight they even do personalized engraving. What cute Vday gifts inside, such a treat! Now it's time to get my ordering on. 

Now which ones?...

Shop found HERE

Valentines Day 2011

Happy Valentines Day!

 I always takes photos of my flowers, unlike drying them you actually can enjoy the beauty over and over again. Flowers make me so happy, here is my beautiful new Phalaenopsis Orchid Matt got me so pretty! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world this Valentines with my little Munchkin Noah and the love of my life I couldn't be happier.

 I hope everyone has an amazing sunny Valentines with the ones they LOVE!  This Valentines Don't forget to tell the ones you love how you really feel.

“Love is one of the hardest words to say and one of the easiest to hear.”

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and let it come in." 

“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.”

”“We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them. We say we love trees, yet we cut them down. And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved.”

"True Love burns the brightest, But the brightest flames leave the deepest scars."

“I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.”

Being it's the largest Rose buying day of the year I thought I'd share my favorite roses David Austin English Roses the most fragrant roses out there. Not found in florists you need to plant some in your yard this year. Forget about red roses these are so beautiful. Plant a David Austin English Rose and you'll love roses all over again! See David's spring selection HERE


“Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.”

Valentines Day Chocolate Fair Trade

I am a chocoholic and as we reach Valentines day it always reminds me of what a huge impact chocolate has on so many good and bad . Do you know what you could be supporting by purchasing Chocolates or perhaps Hersey's kisses for your loved one this Valentines Day?

After visiting Steelgrass Chocolate Farms in Kauai, Hawaii a couple years back I was informed on what does go on in the name of chocolate.  I now only buy FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE and I will not support companies like Hersey's. Fair trade chocolate bars are made from cocoa beans which are bought for a fair price from farmers. Hersey's is the largest supplier of Chocolate in our country and they do NOT  support fair trade. Learn more on Hersey's HERE. 
Now why would you care about FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE? Here is why...
Cocoa farmers are some of the poorest people in the world and many of them earn on average about £50 a year. That is about $68 dollars income a year. These farmers can not supply basic needs like food, clean water and education for their children or families. 
Most of our chocolate comes from the Ivory Coast region of West Africa, where cocoa production is an enormous part of the economy. In Ghana, 40 percent of the country’s export revenues come from the sale of cocoa. Unfortunately, very little of the profit goes to the farmers who grow the cocoa beans.  I can afford to buy a candy bar, so I can afford to pay such a small price more to get fair trade candy bar. Many of these farmers and their children have never even had the luxury of eating a chocolate candy bar.

284,000 children toil in abusive labor conditions in West Africa's Chocolate fields

In fact, the difficulty in making a living at cocoa farming has spawned an increase in child and even slave labor drawn from poor neighboring countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo. Children and other workers are forced to work long days picking and processing cocoa beans (it takes 400 of these pods to make just one pound of chocolate). Very few of the children have the opportunity to attend school. It is also reported in that about 12,500 children working on cocoa farms had no relatives in the area, a warning sign for serious trafficking.
Fair Trade cocoa offers farmers an opportunity to make a real living and STOP child slavery on the Cocoa fields.

The Fair Trade Chocolate production criteria guarantees:  

• Forced and abusive child labor are prohibited 
• Farming families earn a price that is adequate to meet their basic human needs
• Environmentally sustainable production methods are required
• Buying Fair Trade Chocolate not only seems like the right choice but the only choice

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  Below is a long– but by no means all-inclusive – list of fair trade and organic chocolate suppliers. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  These Companies that either directly support the communities of their cacao farmers or offer chocolate that is both organic and fair trade are denoted in bold. 
  
  Eat responsibly!