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Chocolate is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “a food prepared from ground roasted cacao beans”. Sounds so scientific, doesn’t it? Most of the people I know, the women at least, define chocolate in a much different way. . .with passion for this decadent treasure. Some research has shown that consuming chocolate triggers the brain to release endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals. That’s why many women reach for chocolate when they are stressed out. It seems to calm our anxiety. So ladies, now we can just blame it on our body chemistry, right?

When I was in my 20’s and had small children, it was difficult to keep chocolate in the house. If I didn’t eat it, one of the kids would. In those days I had an almost insatiable craving for chocolate,(I’m sure it didn’t have anything to do with having two toddlers). I started hiding chocolate bars where the kids wouldn’t find them, that way when the craving hit,the endorphin-inducing morsels were there waiting to be devoured. (There were plenty of other treats for the kids to snack on, just not much chocolate.)

Somewhere along the way, the cravings disappeared-not the desire, but the cravings. The difference is that it doesn’t have to be in the house to keep me from going crazy and I rarely snack on chocolate any more. If a chocolate recipe is on the meal plan for the day, I can go to the store and buy what I need at the time, and even change my mind without adding any stress to my day.

“Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”, says Forrest Gump, quoting his mother. How many times have you tried several pieces in the box before you found your favorite kind? My husband likes the ones with a citrus flavor, but I’m partial to the berry flavors, like raspberry, strawberry, etc. Life is like that too – you never know what each day will bring with it’s twists and turns.

Many articles have been written about chocolate, my favorite is the one about “healthy dark chocolate”. Did you ever think you’d see healthy and chocolate in the same sentence ? Of all the different kinds of chocolate, dark chocolate is my favorite. When there’s an occasion to browse a dessert bar at a fine retaurant, you’re likely to find some form of chocolate mousse, Belgian chocolate desserts, German chocolate cake, brownies and maybe even chocolate chip cookies . The latter is my weakness. Normally I can just cruise right on by the dessert bar, unless it has chocolate chip cookies. One or two will do the trick, especially with a hot cup of coffee. Any more than that will end up on my husband’s plate so I try to contain myself since he’s likely to have already eaten a slice of Mississippi Mud Pie and a few brownies.

In the early years of our marriage we had a home made dessert after every meal. Age, metabolism and calories have a way of changing our body shapes, so eventually my husband requested that I cease and desist the “dessert after every meal” routine. He loved the desserts, but the pants in his closet seemed to be shrinking in the waist, week by week. The metabolism patrol didn’t catch up with me for several more years. When it did, I tried to ignore it, but alas, it was not going away. The good thing is, when we do allow ourselves to indulge in some chocolate decadence,we savor every lucious bite. Chocolate still reigns !