A day without chocolate....

....is just stupid.

I'm 51 and I have chocolate nearly every day. That kind of sounds like "I'm Shirley and I'm an alcoholic" doesn't it? Although I do like the occasional glass of wine or fruity mixed drink, I could give them up in a heartbeat. I could not, however, give up my chocolate.

I'm thinking you are like me. If you weren't, you wouldn't have Googled "eating chocolate" and ended up here after sorting through the gabillion sites that particular search brings up. Enjoying chocolate is complex. It is fun and satisfying on a very basic level, and it can also be a complicated endeavor. I prefer dark. Given the choice, I rarely go for milk chocolate, but it will do in a pinch. I prefer my chocolate to be of a little better quality, but the waxy drugstore bargain brand will take the edge off until I can get the good stuff. I prefer it to be unencumbered, but will eat it with (certain) nuts, fillings, fruits (dried), baked in a cookie or hardened on the outside of an ice cream cone.

I'm not really overweight, but I've got about 20 pounds that I can probably blame on chocolate. (I almost changed that number to 15 but I need to be honest here.) I think that's a small price to pay for the happiness factor that chocolate brings. It's good anticipating it, it's good going down, it's good savoring the flavor in your mouth long after it's gone. It's pretty. It smells awesome. Heck, it's better than most dates.

So maybe I just need to celebrate it. I have recipes and anecdotes, and I'm always getting more. It seemed like a good idea to put them together and invite others to add their own. I'm not a chocolate snob. Recipes can be simple, complex, or just a recommendation of a good brownie mix. It can even be just a suggestion to use it in a way that is unusual. Here is mine for the day:

I made come caramel corn the other day and when it had cooled, I drizzled lines of melted semi-sweet chocolate bits on top. It went over big at my office where I took it so I wouldn't eat the whole darn thing.

So let's see where this goes.