Wow, what a whirlwind week! Bradley and Tim came home this past week. They came bearing gifts; which makes sense since they were home to (finally) celebrate Christmas with all of us. (Such is the life of those working retail and living out of state.) Along with gifts, they brought chocolates – and my inspiration for this week’s blog. They had boxed chocolates; two boxes, one of which was just for me! I haven’t eaten boxed chocolates in over 6 years.
My chocolates came with “Dear Coco be transported by chocolate” printed in blue on its black cover. www.DearCoco.com This box, with its’ beautiful blue organza ribbon made my heart swoon. I LOVE chocolate and have always appreciated tasteful product presentation. I’m the girl who enjoys a beautifully wrapped package almost as much as the gift itself. I carefully slid the ribbon off the box and slowly removed the cover. Oh my, the smell was intoxicating. I removed the protective paper covering the candy. What a sight to behold. Some of the prettiest candy I’d ever seen. Yes, I am getting emotional. For crying out loud people, we’re talking about someone who has been living with a sea of chocolate floating all around her and she has been stuck in the middle on a deserted island with nothing but fruit. I savored every moment of this unveiling. I breathed in the heavenly aroma, looked over the little “key” or “map” or “index” cards they enclosed in the box identifying the different chocolates. (I actually went to ask.com to get an official name for these cards; there is none.)
Next I did what I believe most of us would do, if we could, when eating a box of chocolates. I picked up a piece of candy, took a bite out of it; enjoyed it thoroughly and put the remaining half back in its’ place in the box, to enjoy later. I did this about eight times, smiling and laughing as I did it. It’s crazy how much I enjoyed this. I had no idea how much I’d missed the sheer act of eating boxed chocolates. I can also tell you this made me think of my dear friend Dee, a fellow chocolate lover. She was famous for taking bites out of multiple candies and putting them back if she didn’t like them – even though we were all sharing that same box of candy. It was a given this was going to happen, there was no use in complaining. LOL
I have to tell you, over the next four days I ate about ¾ of that box. I can’t really name a favorite, although the Belgian Chocolate Velvet, Peppermint Powerball and Tahiti Lime all stand out in my mind. The Tahiti Lime – that was a nice surprise. I can honestly say I did not find one bad piece of candy. That’s a bit surprising to me because we’ve all taken a bite of the chocolate covered jelly whatever it is piece of candy and wished we could put it back and choose a different one. With this box that never happened, I liked them all. While some of the flavor combinations seemed a bit unusual, they really paired nicely.
The four day visit was filled with family, fun, our Christmas dinner of roasted chicken and vegetables, mashed potatoes and stuffing, a Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland visit and a trip to Whole Foods. www.wholefoodsmarket.com Yes, for us, Whole Foods is a “destination stop”. We enjoyed a glass of wine as we wandered through the aisles. I picked up foods I usually don’t try along with some of my everyday staples. I took a picture of the new foods I purchased, so if I like them I will remember what they were. I’ll be trying these foods over the next few weeks and will let you know if I’ve found something I will buy again or if I had to throw it out.
So now we all know where we can find good chocolates for our family and friends with dietary restrictions (unless they have a nut allergy) and/or those choosing a vegan lifestyle. Thanks Tim for doing the research for us and for the box of candy. Below you will see pics of my box of chocolates. Check out their website.
Thanks for stopping!
Brenda