It is national chocolate week. What a perfect excuse, a whole week of eating chocolate because we are celebrating chocolate.
It has often been said that all I think about is chocolate. It’s not quite true – but it’s not far off.
I’m often caught out standing in the corner of the kitchen with my back to everyone, squirrelling chocolate, thinking no-one can see me. Of course, everyone knows what I’m up to, they just don’t ask for any because it’s mine.
For me there isn’t any set time to eat chocolate, I will eat chocolate anytime of the day. But there’s different chocolates for different times of the day.
A morning chocolate would have something healthy in it because we need to have healthy stuff in the morning, right? So that could be something with nuts in it or raisins, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or some other fruit are all sorts of healthy yeah?
By mid-morning I’m looking for chocolate that is going to fill me up until lunch time. A Mars bar or a double Decker fit this perfectly because it is full of nougat and fills you up just enough till lunchtime. And if I’m wanting to be healthier a snickers. Gotta get my protein.
I’m the kind of person who always makes room for pudding whether it be lunch or dinner, I will always be eating a pudding. Lunchtime puddings are light. Something like chocolate mousse, chocolate profiteroles or chocolate ice cream – anything chocolate.
With an afternoon cup of tea there are so many different types of chocolate biscuits you can have. My favourites are chocolate fingers. When I bite off each end and use the middle as a straw to drink my tea through. Kit Kat and Twix’s work well with this too – just got to time it right so that the biscuits don’t get too soggy and ruin your cup of tea.
If I’m going out for dinner, I always look at the puddings menu first. Yes, I am that person who will bypass the starters to make sure she has room for pudding. A perfect pudding is warm chocolate fudge cake with ice cream (no cream, that ruins it!). But I have been known to eat chocolate sundae sharing bowls to myself more times than should be normal
If I’m not going out, and I’m staying in and watching TV I can easily go through a large bar of chocolate in one sitting. My favourite one at the moment is the new Cadbury honeycomb one, but I also like fruit and nut, Diam and dark milk.
And then we come to adhoc chocolate bars. The ones when you pick your kids up from school and their buying sweets, so its only fair if you participate. Twirl, mint Aero, Bounty all play their weekly part.
At birthdays, my favourites are always given – box of hotel chocolat. My husband brought me a subscription box one year, a box of chocolates every month!! He cancelled it when he realised that I would accidently not tick a box sometimes and more chocolate would turn up.
I got the perfect job once. I worked part time for Mars as a confectionery merchandiser!! I got sent a massive box of chocolates each month which contained chocolate for me to give to my clients as freebies. But a lot of my customers were army based and couldn’t accept freebies as it was seen as a bribe, so I would have tons (I mean loads, like 500 bars of chocolates minimum a month) and what else could I do with it? Thankfully, I had friends and family who helped every month, and the school used to get massive chocolate hampers for raffle prizes!
Being creative with chocolate is something I really enjoy. Watching it melt, moulding it, adding in flavours, adding in crunchy bits. Whenever I create something new, I have the scene in my head from Willy Wonka when their in the new products room. If I could have a chocolate fudge river I would. And make it salted caramel as that’s my favourite.
My happiest moments are when chocolate is involved.
Send chocolate my way and I’m happy all day