Friday, December 14, 2012

An Exercise in Essential Information



When my son was growing up he called me The Queen of Chocolate.  That's how obvious my devotion is to those who live with me, if not others. You know that old joke that chocolate is a food group?  Well, if I grouped foods by commonly eaten categories, that would indeed be true. The question for me after both lunch and dinner is not "What's for dessert?" but "Where's the chocolate?"  Twice a day, every day, as faithfully as I brush my teeth, I eat chocolate.  Well, maybe a bedtime Nutella on toast, too.

I've tried abstaining in the past. That usually just led to a binge in which two and a half brownies and a chaser of queasiness were lunch.  Now I've reached a place of moderation, savoring quality over quantity, at least after dinner. At lunch, a mid-level pre-wrapped bar will do for packability, but in the evening, I enjoy a small shot of the dark as it dissolves its edges on my tongue and melts its body between my teeth. Like a controlled lush, I've moved on to the hard stuff, but nursed like a snifter of brandy by the fire, as befits the queen of a small, flavorful territory.