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   I am a chocolate snob. I enjoy the finer things in life. Like good chocolate. And the darker, the better.  I turn my nose up at Palmers, I reject chocolate that comes out of the bulk bins, and PLEASE get those Tootsie Rolls out of my face.

     Please don't misunderstand. There is no judgment on you for eating those things.You have my sympathy and pity that your taste buds have not evolved.

     My parents always told me if you're going to do something, do it right the first time. So the way I see it is if you are going to eat chocolate, you had better make it count!

     I have not always been a chocolate snob. For years I was repressed, unable to indulge in any chocolate except for the semi-sweet chocolate chips that were brought to the store and placed in the cupboard for maybe two hours before they found their way into soft, gooey dough and thrust into the oven. Then there were the bi-annual holidays of Easter and Halloween where candy was introduced into the house.  The chocolate pieces were always consumed first. (Only now as I have fully embraced my snobbery do I actually throw away any candy that isn't chocolate.)

It was my marriage that brought me to the chocolate.

     My father-in-law is a confessed chocoholic and solemnly proclaims that the streets of Heaven are actually paved in chocolate, which is worth a lot more than gold. Wanting to be in good graces with the in-laws, I began to make chocolate this and chocolate that. If nothing else, I was going to make sure I was always invited to family gatherings--even if it was just for my mint-chocolate brownies. I realized it was not only o.k. to enjoy chocolate, it was liberating to confess it!  As I began my journey to the dark side (that's dark chocolate of course), I realized two things:

Not all chocolate is created equal.

The only thing better than chocolate, is great chocolate.

     I began dabbling into the other chocolates. I stopped buying M&M's because the candy coating really does interfere with the chocolate flavor. I started asking for s'mores without the graham cracker and marshmallow. Twix and Kit-Kat bars were passed over because if I wanted a cookie, I would just buy cookies! My chocolate chip cookies evolved from semi-sweet chips to eventually Quadruple Chocolate Chip Cookies as the cookies is chocolate with three kinds of chips.(And just who is the genius that invented Dark chocolate chips?? I love that man!!) I also began rejecting anything but the good chocolate. It wasn't until I passed up the candy dish at work and my boss proclaimed "You're a chocolate snob!" that I realized the truth.

     I was.

     And I never heard truer words than that.

     I also realized that my life has become somewhat like my chocolate indulgence. I realized that I do not want my life to be mediocre. I want it to be creamy, like my velvet chocolate mousse pie.  And occasionally I want it to be amazingly rich, like my Chocolate Pots de Creme. (Interestingly this is one recipe that I have not made for anyone else--just my own private indulgence;)  However, as a single, working mom, mediocre and routine is easy to come by.  I try to find the little piece of Ferrero Rocher in these days of mediocrity.  That is what this blog is about.

     So I embrace my chocolate side and do so without passing judgment on those who do not. I realize that there must needs be opposition in all things.  

Just pass hand over the smooth, dark truffles and no one will get hurt.