Sweet Life

Over the weekend I got given some really lovely chocolates No 1 Artison du Chocolate sea salted caramels. They are wickedly indulgent treats - lightly dusted with cocoa, a hard shell and filled with the most intense caramel liquid center that simple fills your mouth with a taste explosion when you bite into them. They are seriously a strong contender to replace my all time favorite chocolate Pink marc de champagne truffles.

Now this is where D and I differ - when given a box of chocs, he will happily tuck into the whole lot and nothing would be left in a couple of hours/days. I on the other hand like to just treat myself to one or two in the day. Savor the flavour, let it melt and that would be enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. I can truly make chocolates last and before you worry they don't really go out of date and get spoiled. I have a box of Malteasers in my desk drawer - kiddies leftovers from Christmas. I have a nibble every now and then, there is still half a box left and its already half way through the month of Feb!

D thinks I have strong will power to not give into temptation.Maybe but maybe I learnt my lesson when I was a teenager. I used to help run the school tuckshop - as payment in return for my voluntary services you could eat as much as chocolates/crisps. I think I only did it for one term - but the impression it has left me, has been life long. Eating too much chocolate is a BAD thing. Seriously I ate maybe 5-8 bars in one sitting at break/lunch time. Wispa, Double Decker, Kit Kat, Flakes, Marathon (now known as Snickers), Opal Fruits (Starburst - OK not a chocolate but you know still a sweet treat). Its amazing I never did get any fillings from all that sugar abuse and I wasn't twenty stones in weight! OK so what I used to eat were nasty cheap chocolates that every schoolkid has to have. Now of course my tastes are a lot more sophisticated, the chocolate is richer with a higher cocoa level and lovingly crafted by skilled artisans. Plus it costs a pretty penny too!

When I was a Fashion student, one of my fellow students had a summer job for Caburys - he told me they used to make the Easter Egg in the summer time and they were just kept in storage to 'mature' before hitting the shops for the following year for the Easter market. I guess all that sugar is a natural preservative. They too were allowed to eat as much of the chocs during their working time but not allowed to smuggle any out - of course that would be theft!

Curly haired beauty used to be bribed with chocolate buttons when we started potty training her last year so she has now developed a taste for the sweet stuff - I used to give her just one small circle of chocolate and she would take her time eating it in tiny little bites marvelling how something so small could taste so good. Now aged three she has progressed onto fizzy pigs from Marks and Spencers (why oh why do they persist in putting temptations by the tills!). I am hoping she too will have my strong resolve and not go too crazy as an adult. But a recent attention from Grandma (in-law) where she was totally filled up with sugar all afternoon and not wanting her dinner, then waking up the next day early because she was hungry - makes me think she takes after her father.......