for chocolate lovers.....

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I can't remember when I started to love chocolates. I guess, since I was young. As much as I try to resist the temptation of eating them, not that good for the body you know, I still succumb to temptations once in a while. I know a lot you is also like me. Chocolate lovers who are trying to say no to it once in a while. But have you ever wonder about the history of chocolates? What it is really about that makes it so addictive? And because I am wondering about these things, I researched some facts about chocolates. Ahhhh, the wonder of internet. Information in your fingertips.....So here are some facts that I found and am interested in. That is why these are the only ones I listed. There are a lot of info but I am not interested in those. These are the only ones that I found interesting: 1. Christopher Columbus is believed to be the first European to discover chocolate. 2. The cacao tree's botanical name, Theobroma cacao, pays homage to its mythical origins. Translated from the Greek, "theobroma" means "food of the gods". 3. Cortez, who described chocolate as "the divine drink ... which builds up resistance and fights fatigue", and his countrymen, conceived the idea of sweetening the bitter drink with cane sugar. 4. The famous historic figures Casanova and Madame DuBarry both believed that chocolate was conducive to romance. So popular did chocolate become that in 1657 the first of many English "chocolate houses" was established, to serve the drink to the general public. 5. Chocolate drinking arrived in the American colonies in 1765, when the first chocolate factory opened in New England. Even Thomas Jefferson extolled chocolate's virtues, describing "...the superiority of chocolate for both health and nourishment". 6. Mass production of chocolate began when the steam engine, invented by James Watt in 1770, mechanized the cocoa bean grinding process, thereby replacing the time-consuming hand method of manufacture. The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 by C.J. Van Houten did much to improve the quality of the beverage by squeezing out part of the cocoa butter, the fat that occurs naturally in cocoa beans. 7. Since that time, chocolate has been manufactured in solid bar form and to enrobe confections, as well as an ingredient in baked goods, ice cream, and flavored milk. The value of chocolate as a portable food for both energy and morale has long been recognized. DONT YOU THINK THESE ARE ALL AMAZING. IMAGINE IF YOU WERE ONE OF THOSE FIRST PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED THE FIRST TASTE OF CHOCOLATE....WOULDN'T YOU THINK IT WAS DIVINE TOO!!! SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY INDEED!!!