This 12-foot tall chocolate tree, complete with more than 300 marzipan oranges and 10,000 chocolate leaves was created by Art Institute Chef Instructor Rick Royal and a team of 60 students and alumni for the 2007 Celebrity Food Show in Anaheim.

The tree was created to honor the 150th anniversary of Anaheim’s existence.

The Celebrity Food Show is long over for this year but you can still see more at their website and make plans to attend next year. To learn more about all food related issues visit Food Frenzy.

Kid related fun:  

If you and the littles want to learn how to make real edible tree ornaments for wildlife visit this cool Ranger Rick article.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The Sugar Maple is considered the best source for maple sugar — read more about specific Sugar Maple characteristics. Grow Native also has some great info for Sugar Maple huggers.

NPR recently offered an alarming, but great article on the future of the Sugar Maple as global warming continues to advance. Sugar Maple trees are delicate; or I should say sensitive and while global warming is not healthy for anyone or anything on the planet it could be very bad for this beautiful tree and the generations of growers and maple sugar harvesters as well.

It’s a sad situation when trees need to adjust to our poor actions and all the more reason to try and think and act in an eco-sensible manner.

Who wants to see this tree vanish?

How kids can hug the Sugar Maple:

On the topic of tree preservation one great website for kids to visit is the Smokey the Bear kids zone. Games, stories, activities, and more make this an invaluable site that parents and kids can visit together. Kids can even join the Smokey club and receive email updates on forest and fire safety news.

Another good related website is the Maples page at Environmental Education for Kids (EEK!). There is a kid-friendly story about how maple sugar is made, legends behind the tree, and links to recipes.

One small step you can take today:

Read the NPR article and stop for a minute to consider which actions you are participating in that might be detrimental to the success of trees on the planet. That’s the best tree hug you can give.

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The best part is that any tree hugging family can grow their own organic lemon tree!

Viva Terra has some of the most amazing eco items at their website; including a tiny Organic Dwarf Meyer Lemon tree. It grows full size lemons though so lemon dishes a plenty are good to go.

For the kids check out this giant lemon! Now that is a lot of ice cold lemonade.

For the older more adventurous kids maybe a lemon battery experiment is in order.

Wow, the amazing lemon and the tree it grows in… Don’t you want to hug a lemon tree today?

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Here’s a view of the whole tree tower: 

And there are tiny sleeping branches!

You can get it with leaves, flowers, and butterflies as well. Learn more at Sitting Pretty Kitty.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

This is my contest entry; which doubles a nice autumn post for my tree hugging friends. It is autumn and that’s a great time for chocolate! Ok, anytime is a great time for chocolate. Try munching (or using) these green-based items. They also would make great gifts for a chocolate and nature loving pal.

Chocolate acorns! How cute.

Or try organic chocolate covered pumpkin seeds!

When it starts to get chilly outside you can curl up inside with Green & Blacks Organic Hot Chocolate.

Or warm up in a toasty bath with all natural, handmade Chocolate Soap from Herbaria.

So, munch on autumn chocolate foods, drink warm chocolate beverages, and then soap up in a tub of warm water. All the best things to do as the days turn brisk. Maybe even go enter Heather’s chocolate contest yourself to win some fine autumn chocolate leaves!

Post from: Tree Hugging Family