Saturday was a great day! My co-worker/friend Robin and I toured Kailua Chocolate Factory and The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory cacao plantation. Too cool. This, after a Thursday night class teaching us the finer points of tasting chocolate. I will never look at a Hershey bar the same way again. I think, in fact, I shall become even more of a chocolate snob than I am a wine snob.This photo (left) shows a cacao pod, from which the elixir of life that is chocolate eventually flows.
The second photo depicts the contents of a pod spilled
out onto the table. The seeds or beans are coated in white, fruity, sticky stuff. If you pop one of these slimy white segments into your mouth, it tastes like sweet citrus. As you can see, the gecko likes it, too. The white stuff is fermented off, leaving the seed, which is dark purple, brown or even brown with a white center. The beans are dried, their parchment or husk removed. The inside of the bean is ground into either a paste or what they call chocolate liquor. Eventually, sugar, cocoa butter (which I think is separated from the liquor when it's made) milk (if you're making milk chocolate) and an emulsifier like soy lecithin are added to create chocolate. The lecithin acts as a binding 
agent to keep all the components well blended. Viola! Yummy! I learned that white chocolate is not chocolate at all. There is no chocolate in it, although there may be cocoa butter in it. It's good, it's just not chocolate.There were nine ladies, including the driver, who made the trip from Hilo to Kona and back on Saturday, enjoying our tours, lunch. I'd like to say I enjoyed the ride too, but I don't do well in passenger vans. Thankfully, we made just enough stops along the way to keep me from being much more than mildly head achy and queasy throughout the trip.
Today, we are breathing easier about our Mr. Sox. He disappeared last Thursday night and didn't re-appear until Sunday night. It was then I noticed a nasty wound on his chin, which made it painful for him to eat. He was gone most of the day today, too. When I saw him able back weakly this afternoon, I grabbed him up and whisked him off to the vet. He was none to happy about that, telling about how much he hated the ride all the way to town. Poor kitty. His chin sports quite a gash and is still looking a little pussy. He got a shot of antibiotics and vaccinations while we were there. When we got home, I dabbed some ointment on his ouchy and he snuggled up with me for an hour or so on the couch. Right now, he's sound asleep on a dining room chair. I think he'll be fine, though it will probably be a few more days before he's really comfortable eating. He can manage a little soft, wet food, but can't quite crunch the dry stuff. Luckily, Mr. Sox has some nice reserves. He's lost a little weight, since he didn't eat at all for nearly three days. But he's still got a little spare tire left. I was really worried about him all day today. I've missed him sitting next to me on the couch or waking me up early in the morning. Now, I'm confident he's on the road to recovery. He's a tough little buggah.
A hui hou. Aloha!
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