Chocolate

My life has been blessed with chocolate. Growing up, we didn't always have a lot of candy. There was usually some hard candy around somewhere, and we did get chocolate at Easter, a bit at Halloween, and of course at Christmas, but even at Christmas it wasn't all just chocolate. We would usually make some fudge to leave for Santa along with the specially frosted sugar cookies, and in return he would leave a big box of chocolates under the tree and a variety of goodies in our stockings. My favorites were probably the hershey's miniatures.

We grew up on a dairy farm, so we always had plenty of milk to drink, and there was usually some Hersey's chocolate or Nestle's Quick in the cupboard for the special chocolate milk treat. I remember when I was in Kindergarten that the fad for a while was to bring a little bottle filled with chocolate milk powder to mix into the carton of milk that we received at snack time. So I did that a time or two, but if I remember correctly, the practice was not particularly approved of by our teacher, so after a while we didn't do that any more.

We also received a monthly allowance as children to spend as we saw fit, and as we grew older we were expected to pay for most of our own expenses. I remember sometimes walking or biking into town with siblings or cousins and buying a bag of penny candy at Hoyt's general store. One of my favorites were Sixlets . . . chocolate filled candy balls, similar to M&M's only spherical. Sometimes I would stop at the Hi Mountain Drug store on my way home from school and buy a full sized candy bar. I really liked Almond Joy, and another candy bar that had toffee and nuts and chocolate, similar to heath, but I can't remember the name of it now. After school we would come home and find a snack . . . often chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream or chocolate milk.

During my High School Years there was a vending machine with candy and other snacks available, but I don't think that I bought much candy. I preferred to save my money for things like books and clothes and school supplies, and preferred real food for lunch. I still came home to awesome afterschool snacks that often included chocolate. Onetime during my teenage years my Grandpa gave me a box of chocolate covered orange sticks for my birthday. They're still one of my favorites . . .

I don't remember a whole lot of chocolate during college. I'm sure we had brownies and chocolate chip cookies often enough. And there was the one part time job where they made regular donut runs to the Cougar Eat in the Wikinson Center. But my favorite donut was an apple spice cake donut, not chocolate.

My true addiction to chocolate has come in my later years. I've enjoyed it off and on while my children were growing, and of course for the traditional Easter, Halloween, and Christmas candies, but I think I truly became addicted to having a bit of chocolate once I started working part time. Just a little hershey's kiss or nugget or maybe two or three, preferably dark, and with nuts as a bonus, was just what was needed to make it through the afternoon. We have a candy tin in the office that many dear co-workers take turns stocking with various forms of candy, mostly chocolate. My dear MIL has also helped by introducing me to such delightful brands of chocolate as Dove, Lindt, and even Godiva. All in small doses of course. And my DH, well, he has been a good giver of chocolate as well. Thank you DH!

I was initially drawn to one of my favorite bloggers by the title of her blog: Chocolate On My Cranium. With a name like that, the blog had to be great, right? Well, it is. It is often humorous, often informative, and always uplifting. And the author, Cocoa, has chosen other chocolate product names for various members of her family as she talks about them on her blog.

So, how has chocolate blessed your life?