“Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence.
Everything is transfixed, only the light moves.”
Leonora Carrington
Sometimes mornings on our Australian goat farm are so beautiful I can hardly bear it.
My carefully fenced in gardens become luminous blocks of light, mundane things like sun shades and plastic sheeting turned into glittering panels that seem to dance and shimmer as the sun edges ever higher over the fields beyond.
I love the diaphanous mist hovering above the waving stalks of grass, glowing brightly and softening every harsh angle and stark outline.
I can’t get enough of the jeweled spider webs hanging tremulously like diamond necklaces.
The softness of the light is gentle, quiet, soothing. If I carry over anxieties from one day to the next, a few moments gazing at this early morning world quickly dissolves them.
On mornings like this the light seems to infuse me as well. No matter how dark or stormy the day becomes, I can close my eyes and be transported back to those quiet, luminous moments when all is quiet and all is well.
When the close-your-eyes moments come, it’s lovely to open them up again to a treat like raw dark chocolate truffles. I love these little beauties for they are filled with nutritious goodness yet taste like something decadent and naughty.
Dates are filled with calcium, sulfur, iron, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, copper and magnesium and fight intestinal disorders and abdominal cancer.
Cocoa is a powerful antioxidant and fights heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure and cancer.
Walnuts are not only good antioxidants, they’re also anti-inflammatory and high in vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids, help protect against breast cancer, diabetes, depression, and the harmful effects of stress.
These truffles may taste like dessert, but they’re also wonderfully healing.
They’re also fun to experiment with. Try different nuts and dried fruits, a cold-pressed nut oil instead of coconut, and roll them in a variety of toppings such as desiccated coconut, toasted ground nuts or seeds.
What is your favorite healthy treat?
Raw Dark Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients:
1 cup raw walnuts
8-10 dates, pitted
1/4 cup cocoa
1-3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp maple syrup
pinch of salt
optional – cocoa powder, desiccated coconut, ground walnuts for rolling
Directions:
- Place all ingredients in bowl of food processor and process until mixture is smooth and holds together like dough.
- Taste to see if it needs more of anything since the mixture will vary based on sweetness of dates used. If it needs more sweetness, add more dates, for more chocolate flavor add more cocoa. If it’s too soft, add more walnuts, if it’s too dense, add more coconut oil.
- Roll teaspoons of mixture between your hands to form small balls and place in single layer in sealable container.
- When all balls are formed, cover container and refrigerate.
- You can eat them as is or roll in cocoa powder, desiccated coconut or ground walnuts.
Oh Krista!! You have me ready to pack my bags and head to your farm for vacation!! You are a bed and breakfast, right???!! 🙂
What gorgeous, gorgeous photos. I tend to miss those, especially now as the kids are on summer break and we are not waking up to an alarm. That, and the fact that we have been shrouded in fog, a low marine layer here on the coast, for the last week. I’m SO ready for sun…
The chocolate is divine too!!!
It is my dream to run a bed and breakfast one day, @kimlivlife:disqus 🙂 But no, not yet. You are always welcome to come for a visit though! 🙂 Wishing you sun very, very soon. 🙂
Gorgeous photos. Our next door neighbours came home from 2 months in Europe with a box of Italian chocolates filled with dates and nuts. I was in heaven. I’ve got to try your truffles.
Ohhh, what a lovely pressie, @OrgasmicChef:disqus 🙂 You would be such a fantastic neighbor to have. 🙂
What a stunning way to start the day! That could carry me through the darkest (wettest, around these parts) of moments that might follow! A wonderful post Krista!!
God these photos are stunning, I especially love the 2nd one. I need a truffle right this second haha!!!
The photos are so-so beautiful, Krista! I would love to take a walk with you on a morning like this!
These are too good not to try. The other day I made some healthy balls as well. The recipe was mix together two mashed ripe bananas, one cup of rolled oats, 4 chopped fresh dates and a handfull of nuts. Roll into balls and bake. The dates can be replaced with choc chips. Quite Nice. You have seriously outdone yourself with these photos Krista. Superb.
Krista my new favorite is raw fruit pie with coconut whipped cream filling. This is the fruit pie recipe http://www.lifewithgreens.com/raw-berry-pie and this is the recipe I use for the whipped cream http://www.ohladycakes.com/2013/05/how-to-make-coconut-whipped-cream.html. You can use any combination of fruits you want, but be prepared, you will want to eat it all in one setting:)
Wow that is a really lovely morning. You got some gorgeous sunrise photos. I like the dark chocolate truffle at the end too. looks delicious!
You really have so much beauty around you!! And I love those healthy chocolate balls. So delicious.
It’s those moments, for everything is a perfect beauty.
I second everyone else! Your images are simply breathtaking! Thankyou for allowing us to live vicariously through you, on your beautiful farm. It is so wonderful that you have this haven of beauty and comfort around you to assist in healing you. Spectacular scenes of beauty surround us everyday, we just need to open up our eyes and hearts to seeing them. And if we do, there is unimaginable comfort and gratitude filling us up to the very brim. Those places inside us we once thought were empty, are now brimming with sunlight. There is something about watching the sun rising over a new day that never ceases to take my breath away. No two days ever the same, unwritten stories, unimaginable possibilities and the wonderful synchronicity of events all weaving our marvellous journey x
You’ve really captured the colours of an Aussie morning Krista.
Your truffles look fab but I just love those winter morning photos. Perfect. Winter mornings are always more beautiful than summer mornings I think. Low sun and mist. 🙂
Julia
these picture are very beautiful . Australian is a beautiful country