Gianduja – Raw Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

Hi and thank you for visiting Carmen Eat Joy! I am passionate about food, health and achieving total wellbeing through a paleo/primal way of approaching these, including creating delicious recipes. I did a brief intro in my first post – the one called Eat – and Introduction - but I feel like putting down here the reason I feel so inclined to write a – dread the word – blog. I really never used to be a big fan of blogs, and yet here I find myself writing one – the reason being that I have recently subscribed to some amazing ones and am now aware of how great they can be (aspirations for me!). I live in beautiful Mansfield in the high country of Victoria, Australia – on the way up to Mt Buller ski resort – and, well, I love my food. I’m the kind of girl who is always dreaming and/or fantasising about what I’m going to have for my next meal – when I’m going to have it, where it’s going to come from, how it’s going to make me feel – well, you get the drift. Yes, I am mildly (okay, that adjective is really just to console myself) obsessed with food. Food is definitely going to be a one-word titled post for me soon though – I’m going to define what I really consider to be food – and that definitely excludes a huge amount – in fact, nearly all – of what we see on our supermarket shelves. Fresh, organic or biodynamic produce – fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meats, and the odd grain – basically summarise what falls into the category of food for me. The gist of what I’ll be putting up here reflects the paleo/primal way of eating and lifestyle – basically going back to what our ancestors ate – eating what we were born to eat, rather than food – or “products” that have been created by people. But I’ll save that for another post. I'm currently studying a Masters of Human Nutrition, and my CV includes a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne (majoring in English literature – I love reading – and writing – and reading about writing), being a professional singer songwriter for about five years – now I sing just for fun!… – I’m a qualified personal trainer, barista – and in my spare time, over many years, I have read, so much about nutrition. It’s one of my absolute biggest passions; I find it to be such an infuriating paradox that in a society where statistically we are just getting more depressed, more unhealthy, and overweight, we are able now more than ever to access information about how to improve our health. Without our health, what do we have? The most wealthy people in the world are unable to enjoy such riches without health – and individually, not one of us is able to achieve what we are meant to in life without being in the peak of health. The old “I don’t have time” line is another one that perplexes me because, quite simply, health needs to be a priority. And health and food and joy=life are inextricably linked for me, hence me beginning to write about it. While the previous paragraph may sound a trifle intense (I sometimes have that tendency), for me, food is fun, enjoyment, laughter, pleasure, family – and what I really hope to do through this blog is pass on my passion and get you excited too. About food. Health. Life. So – lovely to meet you! And thank you so much for visiting this page. I will endeavour to not disappoint. Or bore… Carmen x