Our farm is part of a long ago cocoa plantation.
We have kept the cocoa trees and they still are doing well in spite of being covered for years under overgrown vines.
The vines are now gone and we are harvesting cocoa.
Cocoa is very much up my alley.
I am a choco-holic.
The bean pods are very beautiful to look at...many of them in two colors.
I do like the green and red one best.
The trees give so much cool shade, while fallen leaves carpet the ground.
Just a few of the many cocoa pods we have harvested.
They are already looking rather delicious.
These beans are still in their pulp and ready to be "sweated".
The beans will be laid and covered on a screen to allow the pulp juices to melt away and expose the beans.
By the way, the pulp is edible and has a sweet taste that is refreshing.
After the beans have sweated for some days, they are ready to be laid out in the sun to dry.
This is the result of natural sun drying.
The skin is then dry enough to easily come off the bean.
That is all there is to it.
The beans are then ready to use.
I roast them lightly...grind them fine...and make cocoa tea with spices, raw sugar and coconut milk.
That's my sweet hubby doing the honors of hand grinding.
We like doing things by hand.
We make our own coconut milk and grind our own spices.
It ensures freshness and tastes better that way.
It's all part of the enjoyment of doing things the old way.
It can't get any better than that.
Here's wishing you a great day-or night.
