ahhh, chocolate

"Good morning, store." I say this every day, out loud, as I walk into my shop. You might think I'm crazy, but to me, this little store is a living, breathing part of my family. There's so much of me here, it's like I breathed life into this place when I created it, and gave it a little piece of my soul. This store definately has my personality, but it takes on a life of its own too, sometimes, just like one of my children.

love being here. My family loves being here. I hope my customers love being here. I want, more than anything else, for the store to be a happy place, a magical place where, as soon as you walk through the door, you are greeted by warm smiles, inviting smells, and colorful, yummy, fun chocolate.

I know I tend to rant about the politics of the day, or wax nostalgic about my grandmother or times gone by, or relay the latest of my adventures as a mom or busness-owner here on this blog, but today I'd like to just talk chocolate...if ya don't mind.

Me and chocolate? Well, we go way back. Back to my childhood, with mom's baking or stockings at Christmas filled with chocolate santas, or walking to the five-and-dime with my brother and my grandpa to buy penny-candy. Back to my teenage years, full of angst and pimples and bad hair, when only a Hershey bar with almonds could mend my latest broken heart. Back to my college days, when a secret stash of M&M's was the only thing that could get me through Western Civ. Oh, there have been times when I thought my one true love was coffee, and it stills warms my heart, but chocolate is, and will always be, my favorite. In the words of David Cassidy, my other first true love, I think I love you, chocolate.

It's almost holiday season, and lately, I've been creating chocolate-y goodies non-stop. There are ten or so more "crunches" to make, countless chocolate lollipops, and the ever-in-demand peanut-butter balls still waiting on the list of Things To Do. But I don't mind. I love this stuff. I love the feel of stirring chocolate, melted to just the right consistency. I love pouring it into the molds or draping it over truffles. I love the shiny-ness of the finished product. I love decorating each pop by hand. And I love the smile on the face of someone trying my chocolates for the first time.

Yesterday, I made coconut bon-bons. First I made a coconut "dough," (think the inside of a Mounds bar), then smothered them in creamy dark chocolate and lined them up in rows on the baking sheet to set up in the fridge, each one topped with a few sprinkles of coconut flakes. I just stood there looking at them, and smiled. I made those. They're beautiful, and yummy, and I made them.

This morning, a lady stopped by who had ever been here before. She looked around, picked out some pops for her nieces and nephews, then a few for herself, and ate one of hers right then. Her eyes got bigger, then a smile broke across her face, and she said, "That's good!"

That, right there, simple as it is, is the reason I'm here. And that feeling of happiness, that feeling of contentment and bliss with that first bite, is the reason I love chocolate.