When I decided to do this alphabet challenge thingamabob, I swore to myself I wouldn't do the obvious topics--like chocolate. But then I told myself, Self--think of it as a challenge. A writing gauntlet, battered and oft worn, daring you to find something to say about chocolate that no one has ever said before. And Self said, I accept the challenge, though I may die in the attempt!
Nearly half a century ago, there was a little girl, then about four years old. Every morning upon waking, she would patter on her plump little feet into the kitchen, where she knew she'd find her indulgent mother stirring away at a steaming pot on the stove. The little girl would demand, in that flutey yet imperious tone that only four-year-olds possess, "I want my chockit milk!" Whereupon her mother poured milk into a saucepan, heating it to just past lukewarm (the mother had an instinct for the exact temperature). She then put a heaping spoonful of Nestle's Quik into a white ceramic mug in the shape of Santa Claus' head, added to it the heated milk, stirred briskly, and set the mug on the formica-and-steel kitchen table.
The little girl was so fond of just-past-lukewarm chocolate milk, she would gulp it all down greedily, not even coming up for air, until there was nothing but Nestle's Quik dregs at the bottom of the mug. The dregs were the best part. The little girl would scrape them out with a spoon and thrill to the intense pseudo-chocolatey/sugary taste on her tongue. When she was done, poor Santa Claus was left with a dribble of chocolate running down his snowy forehead.
Yes, that's right. That greedy little girl was Yours Truly. And that was the beginning of my love affair with chocolate. I have since outgrown Nestle's Quik and moved on to Ghirardelli Cocoa. Instead of hot chocolate, my mother bakes decadently moist (but not overly sweet) dark chocolate cakes, which the whole family enjoys. I allow myself two or three pieces of Dove dark or Ghirardelli 72% every day, because someone wise and wonderful discovered that it's actually beneficial for my health, bless him or her. I can even go as high as 85%, which many people find too bitter, to which I can only say, it's definitely an acquired taste. At any percentage, chocolate is a necessity. A staple. Chocolate is here to stay. It is what makes this world go round.
You may fill my dark chocolate with marzipan, or wrap it around a hazelnut and call it a "bacio," or roll it into spheres and call them "Mozart's balls." You may add milk to it, I'll take it. In almost any way, shape, or form, I'll take it. In a pinch, I'll even take a Hershey's Kiss. Well ... yeah, in a pinch.
What is my favorite form of chocolate? Ooh, that's tough to say; but if I really had to choose, I'd say it was Lindor's Truffles. I just love the way you bite into one and the creamy inside explodes in your mouth. Downright sinful, it is.
Very recently, I actually purchased a box of Nestle's Quik, just because I was feeling nostalgic. What a disappointment! I should have let the ghost rest, or whatever the vernacular is, and kept my precious childhood memory unsullied. You can't go home again, but you can move into a much better (and tastier) neighborhood.
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