Sunday, March 23, 2008

HOPPY EASTER!












Yes it is Easter Sunday and kids of all ages will be devouring sweet treats - mostly of the chocolate variety. I love my chocolate, but am really not that crazy about the majority of the Easter goodies on the market, as they aren't usually made of a decent quality chocolate or are filled with sickeningly sweet marshmallow/cream fillings. I used to love Easter chocolate. It was a chance to indulge in my all time guilty pleasure!
Is it just me or has the quality of Easter chocolate gone down over the last twenty or thirty years? Maybe my taste buds have just evolved to a higher standard. I would swear that some of the better known brands such as 'Allan's" is using a lower grade chocolate. It doesn't have the same texture or taste anymore. It also melts in the hand quicker than it used to.
I was never really a fan of the marshmallow or cream filled treats. Even the "Cadbury Easter Egg" was just too sweet. All I really wanted was the chocolate. Preferably the solid bunnies. The hollow ones left me feeling hollow and wanting more!
The day after Easter, I used to go to the major retailers such as Superstore first thing in the morning and buy a half dozen or so of the one pound solid bunnies at half price. When I got home, I would either grate or chop the bunnies and freeze the chocolate to use in baking, dessert toppings or in my homemade ice cream. It wasn't a great tasting chocolate on its own, but if I used it in another recipe it seemed to be fine. However, I stopped doing that a year or two ago, as I just couldn't tolerate the inferior taste anymore. Yes it was cheap, but I found that I needed to eat at least twice as much to get the same taste satisfaction of a few good quality chocolate chips. The money,I was supposedly saving wasn't worth the sacrifice in flavour.


Personally, I'd rather take a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter and coat it in an ounce of semi sweet or dark chocolate chips! Now there's a treat! All things in moderation.




Whatever your preference, remember to give yourself a small treat - you are worth it!

HOPPY EASTER!

dn

3 comments:

leelu said...

Every year, my husband and I stuff little plastic pumpkins for Halloween with about 7 pieces of candy for the kiddies. One item is always a Hershey's miniature (but we NEVER give out the Special Darks, of course!). We also keep the milk chocolate... and over the next few months, I dip the milk chocolate bars in peanut butter and eat them that way! :)

dnsyl57 said...

30 years ago when I lived in a dorm for 2 years. I used to keep a jar of crunchy peanut butter, a bag of chocolate chips and a spoon (which I carefully washed after every use!) in my nightstand in case I got a craving for a guilty pleasure or needed an energy boost for late night studying!! However came up with the choco-pb combo deserves a MAJOR award! Glad to know that we share this great love!

leelu said...

Okay, I know I've had peanut butter on a spoon with chocolate morsels - but it wasn't chunky PB! I'm going to buy some today! :)
p.s. That had to be so much healthier than drinking coffee in college. ;)