No Need Necessary

Chocolate called me and asked how I was doing. I told him that honestly, I was feeling a little down for one of the same reasons I have been feeling down for years: I don't feel like my friends have time for me. I asked him how he handles it when he feels this way. He said he never does. He doesn't need anyone. 

On top of being completely self-sufficient and self-reliant, he is so excited about the amazing things happening in his field of tech that he doesn't have time to think about the homies. He's got to stay at the top of his field. He's got interviews to do and professional trainings to take. If I would focus on my job hunt, fitness, writing, and professional training, I wouldn't have time to remember I had friends. 

This idea excited me. I thought of myself moving and shaking, making moves, making money. I'd be so high on my own supply that I wouldn't need a soul ...until I slowed down to look both ways and see that no one who cared was around or cared to be around. It sounds like that would be fun until it wasn't and would end up feeling very empty. I mean, I feel empty now! 

I admire how he needs no one, but I am not built that way. I need to talk and laugh and feel heard. This sucks, because when these things aren't happening, I end up feeling pretty sad. See the circle here? However, I think my life would probably be 1000% better if I tried to be more like him, making it so my need for friends was not necessarily. 

DIY Try: Delicious Freezer Chocolate with Marzipan Filling

1 cup cacao powder (sifted to remove lumps)

1/4 cup carob powder (sifted to remove lumps)
1/4 cup cashew butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed to clear liquid at room temp)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix in bowl, pour in mold or dip things like fruit in it and put in freezer. Ready in one hour.

Marzipan
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/4 cup maple syrup

Grind almonds into a fine power in a coffee grinder to make the almond meal. Then mix with the maple syrup and knead into dough.  You can eat immediately or use it as a filling for the chocolate that has hardened.  Stores in refrigerator for long time.  For a whiter-looking marzipan, use skinned or blanched almonds.

Note: This chocolate gets hard within 30 minutes of being in the freezer.  It can be kept in the freezer indefinitely, but needs to be eaten right away when taken out because coconut oils melts at room temperature.  Pure raw coconut oil is really good for you.

Visit www.loveonaplatebook.com for more info on this book and authors Cara Brotman and Markus Rothkranz.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher from LOVE ON A PLATE: The Gourmet UnCookbook by Cara Brotman and Markus Rothkranz. Copyright (c) 2014. Photo credit :  (c)Markus Rothkranz from LOVE ON A PLATE by Cara Brotman and Markus Rothkranz.