Something Sweet For Your Anniversary Is there really anything sweeter than receiving a selection of your favourite chocolates? As anniversary gifts go, not only are chocolates a sure-thing, but they’re a practical gift too, sure to be devoured. In fact chocolate as anniversary gifts has been a popular gift for a long time, especially as a gift of passion or affection. The History of Chocolate Gifts Chocolate’s forerunner was xocoatl, an Aztec drink which was a mix of spices, water and ground up cacao beans. Aztecs would use the beans as a type of currency and as tribute to their kings. There is even a story of an Indian Chief putting together a gift basket of cocoa beans to give to Christopher Columbus. Later on, King Montezuma gifted Cortez with cocoa beans and it is said that the Aztecs preferred the chocolate to gold. Later on in 1615 Spanish Princess Anna of Austria is to have given her new husband a present of chocolate. The drinking chocolate became popular in King Louis XIII’s court and soon spread to Austria and Italy as anniversary gifts of choice. Chocolate Boxes There’s definitely something sweetly indulgent about receiving a box of chocolates. It was chocolate giant Cadbury that first introduced the chocolate box in 1765 and boxes have been given as thoughtful gifts ever since. Fast forward to 1900 and Queen Victoria is known to have made especially moulded chocolates as New Year’s gifts to the troops fighting in the South African Boer War. And during World War 2, the American soldiers were known to gift European children with 4 ounce chocolate bars. Today, chocolatiers are hard at work continuously producing the finest, mouth-watering chocolates and elegantly packaging them to make for the perfect anniversary gifts. So What Makes Us Crave Chocolate? So why do we desire chocolate so much? Well, according to scientists we crave it simply because it’s so good! It smells great, it tastes great and it feels great melting in our mouths. And all of those feelings we experience are the result of chemicals being released in the brain in response to delicious chocolate. That means the experience of eating a bite of chocolate results in feel-good hormones, or dopamine, being released and leaving us feeling sweetly satisfied. A Little More About Dopamine Dopamine is the chemical that is released when we experience something enjoyable. It’s a reward-circuit that’s hard-wired by genetics but it tends to respond and change to your own specific preferences and experiences. It’s this part of the brain that makes us all unique. It was first thought the chocolate had compounds that could activate dopamine directly, kind of the way cigarettes do. And in fact chocolate contains theobromine which brings about feelings or arousal and increased the heart rate. The sweet substance also contains caffeine which increases our ability to focus and work and makes us feel more alert; as well as sugar and fat which are so calorie dense we just love the comfort they bring. Giving the Gift of Chocolate If you’ve been wracking your brain for perfect anniversary gifts, why not put together a hamper of chocolate deliciousness for your sweetheart? You simply can’t go wrong with a selection of their favourites or even some of the more elaborate brands they normally wouldn’t buy for themselves. What About a Chocolate Dinner? Or turn your anniversary dinner into something extra tasty. There are loads of recipes available that call for chocolate to be added to savoury dishes, for example chocolate and beef chilli; white chocolate with eggplant; silky smooth Baba Ghannouj or even Nigella Lawson’s chocolate pasta complete with pecans and caramel! If champagne and oysters are more your idea of a romantic meal, you could finish off with chocolate shot glasses for the perfect dessert. Fill them with homemade sorbet or rich mousse, or even a toffee vodka. Anniversary gifts simply aren’t the same without at least a little something chocolaty. Synopsis: Chocolate as gifts dates back to the Aztecs. And today an anniversary simply isn’t the same without something sweet and delicious! The post Something Sweet For Your Anniversary appeared first on Dealicious Mom.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 02:16:16 +0000
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