cocoa

Chocolate, what could be better than chocolate for Valentine's day?

 

This large fruit is from a chocolate tree at Phipps Conservatory. One of the few living/breathing cocoa trees in North America.

 

Well here is the source of the chocolate, One Amazing Chocolate Tree!

 

In the Fern Room at Phipps Conservatory stands one of the few Chocolate Trees to be found in the Continental United States of America. Most Chocolate Trees grow in tropical climates, and Phipps has one of the few found in our temperate climate.

 

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a complex of buildings and grounds set in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (near the Carnegie Museums in Oakland).

 

"Inside the Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens stands a tropical tree with multiple yellowish, gourdlike pods full of seeds. It's a chocolate tree -- scientifically called "Theobroma Cacao." It takes some time to harvest the bitter cocoa seeds and turn them into edible and palatable delicacies such as milk chocolate bars.

 

"Chocolate trees grow in areas close to the equator in South America and Africa, so unless you have a sophisticated greenhouse, forget about trying to grow one in your backyard. But you can come visit the Phipps' tree, which is more than 50 years old, and then head out for chocolate cake if it tickles a craving."

 

 

Try some Rossini String sonata for the holiday:

youtube.com/watch?v=Jo83JqTOwgE

Done