Things that are almost as good as chocolate #6

Brazil nuts! (Obviously not chocolate covered ones ... )
I've just discovered brazil nuts. Must be careful not to scoff the whole packet. Maybe 2010 will be '365 days without brazil nuts'. hmmm.

Things that are almost as good as chocolate #5

My brother's girlfriend's mother's tiramisu.
Try saying that 5 times quickly!
Mmmmm.

Easter

Well, got through Easter OK. And actually, it wasn't too bad. My brother's girlfriend brought her mother's home made tiramisu to Easter lunch and to be honest, it was WAYYYY better than eating all those chocolate eggs.

Plus, the next day I didn't have that 'oh I ate too many chocolate eggs yesterday' feeling.

Next stop - Mother's Day.

Clayton's chocolate: the chocolate you have when you're not having chocolate ...

This chocolate soft toy is not only cuddly but it smells just like a coconut rough!

Smelling it made me remember how I used to walk 15 mins to a deli when I was ten, with 30c burning a hole in my pocket. And I would buy a coconut rough and slurp on it all the way home. (There were mint patties too, and they were also 30c. But who would choose a mint patty over a coconut rough? Not this bunny!)

Maybe I could start carrying this little toy around with me like a security blanket (this is assuming I could wrest it from my little boy's arms, and I'm not convinced I could. And NO it wasn't ME that bought it for him!!). But I'm not sure if it would prove to be more temptation than solace, a la the chocolate scented flowers (which I haven't planted yet).

Happy Easter. :-)
PS This chocolate bunny is sold through Target stores.

Things that are almost as good as chocolate #4

Getting real mail in a real letter box (and I don't mean bills).

I used to have 13 penpals, back when I was 17 and had time to do things like write newsy letters. I had penpals from many different countries - some were friends that moved overseas when I was younger and I kept writing to them, and some were the friends of new friends (the new friends having moved to Australia from overseas).

Now, I admit, email (and Facebook) are great for keeping in constant touch with people. Instant touch. But they are nothing at all like the letters you would get in the mail box in the front garden.

And that zing of joy that you'd get when you found a fat envelope in the mail, with stamps, and your name on it. I would take it inside turning it over and over, looking at the handwritten address and sit down with a happy sigh, and read it. There is nothing like getting and reading a real letter.

These days my hand gets cramped after half a page of A4 handwriting. Those muscles just don't work anymore.

So I think I'd trade a block of chocolate for a fat envelope in the letterbox any day. Of course, now I HAVE traded in the chocolate for a year, it's extra disappointing only to find bills in the letterbox. But, as my mother used to say (when my brothers complained that I always had mail and they never did), 'you have to write letters to get letters'. So perhaps I'll go find a pen. I'm sure there was one in the bottom draw in the back room last time I looked ...

What about carob?

So in the 'not eating of chocolate', where does carob sit?
Frankly, it doesn't really matter because I am not a big fan of carob and I don't eat it anyway. :-P
(Apologies to all you carob eaters out there ... perhaps later in my year choc-free I might feel more inclined to sample carob again ... but probably not.)

Change of subject ... so ... read any good books lately?

Our bookclub is reading The Mayor of Castorbridge (Thomas Hardy) at the moment. I read it years ago (like about 20) and remembered enjoying it. This time around it's going a bit too slowly for me. Possibly because I can't sit down and read it all in one hit, but have to nibble at it just before bedtime each night. So far, not much has happened except a lot of walking (yes, I'm not far into it at all).
Now, my husband is reading my children The Wishing Chair (Enid Blyton), a chapter each night at bedtime. And it's ALL happening in The Wishing Chair. So far it's been three nights of adventure, delicious-food eating, new friendships and magic.

I'm adding 'large wishing chair' to my Christmas list.

Triggers for chocolate cravings: grumpiness

Yes, it's true. I'm a grumpy boots tonight. And I'm even more of a grumpy boots because I can't drown my sorrows in a decent block of Cadbury. Boooo.

Chocolate accessories

This chocolate 'medic alert' tag was pointed out to me by a kindly friend. Of course, it could be dangerous to wear it until my 365 days were up. Someone might see me walking about listlessly and follow the directions ...

Chocolate flower

I have discovered that there is a yellow flower (a daisy sort of thing), called a Chocolate Flower, which smells just like chocolate. I can't decide whether I want to rush out to buy some and plant them right near the front door as a sort of chocolate substitute, or to buy some for myself as a reward at the end of the 365 days. Would it induce cravings instead (and actually work against me) to have them growing at the front door?

Apparently the plant in question is called Berlandiera lyrata, or Chocolate Daisy and is also drought tolerant (so it would make a good addition to our West Australian garden).

I think I have to buy some seedlings ...

Chocolate-free in Lent = acceptable chocolate avoidance

We're now into Lent, and I've noticed that people are quite happy for me to have given up chocolate 'for Lent'. As in:
Me: 'No thanks, I've given up chocolate.'
Them: (unemotionally) 'Oh, you've given it up for Lent have you?' (I have been known to do this.)
Me: 'Um no. I've given it up for a year.'
Them: 'You're KIDDING????'

Well, OK, so a year is a bit longer than 40 days, I'll give you that. But a year is really not that long people! You've been saying yourself how fast the year is going. It's March already, how about that?
I'm 1/4 of the way through already!

But I admit that I may find it ... challenging ... at Easter.

So - what constitutes 'chocolate' for the purposes of the giving up of chocolate?

When I announced I was giving up chocolate, I meant eating chocolate. As soon as I announced it - and people realised I was serious - the questions began.

Does this include white chocolate? While I was thinking about this question, someone else said 'yeah, of COURSE it does'. Thanks, but I don't see YOU giving up the chocolate, I think I get to decide.
Answer: Technically I was not giving up white chocolate too since I don't find myself craving or eating copious amounts of it. But given that I could gorge on it as a substitute for actual chocolate, I will avoid eating it as a bar, block or white Lindt balls (I can't believe I'm writing that). But if you offer me white choc chip macadamia cookies I will eat them and not consider myself to be cheating. So white chocolate IN stuff is OK. (Real chocolate IN stuff is not OK.)

Does cocoa count as chocolate? What do you think?
Answer: NO. I'm giving up CHOCOLATE not cocoa. You can get all technical but cocoa in something is not the same as eating chocolate. It's the actual chocolate eating from which I am choosing to abstain.

Does this include chocolate icecream? There is some debate as to whether any chocolate is actually harmed in the making of chocolate icecream.
Answer: Welllllll. Sort of. OK, usually chocolate icecream doesn't list chocolate though it may list cocoa. But I'll give it a miss. I will avoid icecream with choc chips, chunks or bits (to save you asking). And I'll eat icecream with white chocolate in it, as well as cookies and cream Connoisseur. :-) But only if someone else has bought it. If I'm doing the buying, I'll choose another flavour.

Does this include chocolate cake? As mentioned earlier, I don't include cocoa in the giving up of the chocolate.
Answer: I will not eat mud cake, choc chip muffins or somesuch that obviously contains discernable chocolatey bits or resembles a chocolate bar in texture and possible taste. But if it looks like a cocoa-based butter-cake thing, I reserve the right to eat it without me being labelled a cheater. It's. not. the. same. as. eating. a. bar. of. chocolate. But I haven't eaten any yet, so you can get off your high horse right now. :-)

Does it include bars of chocolate?
Answer: yes.

Does it include flakes of chocolate sprinkled on top of a cake or icecream?
Answer: yes

Does it include chocolate ganache?
Answer: yes

Does it include chocolate mousse?
Answer: yes (but white chocolate mousse will be OK - though I will endeavour to choose a different dessert altogether where possible)

Can I check out what you're eating and point out the possibilities of cheating?
Answer: no. Give me a break.

Can I still eat chocolate if you're around?
Answer: sure. Go for your life.

Things that are almost as good as chocolate #3

A tidy house.
Seriously.

Triggers for chocolate cravings: a messy house

I am naturally an untidy person. I think it's a bit nature and a bit nurture. I grew up in a messy family and I just never really learnt to tidy up as I go along through my day. Some people assume this means I LIKE mess or at the very least, that it bothers me not. This is not so.

Nothing is as energy sapping as gazing sadly about at an untidy house. And it makes me want chocolate. I'm not sure if it's because mess = chocolate craving, or just that looking at said mess makes me feel tired. (Tiredness having been identified earlier in this blog as a trigger for chocolate craving.)

Whatever the cause I'm in a bad spot now because a) the house is messy and b) I can't indulge in the comfort of chocolate goodness.

I guess I just have to tidy up. This leads me onto my next post ...

Triggers for chocolate cravings

Now if one is going to impose suffering on ones self for a year, one feels the need to Learn Something From It. And since you're here, I'll share some of my wisdom with you: I have discovered that there are certain things that trigger chocolate cravings. The most obvious one is when I'm tired. It is now very clear to me that when I am tired, I really feel like a bit of chocolate.

I am not a coffee drinker and have always secretly thought pitying thoughts about friends (and husband) who stagger about uncopingly until their first cuppa of the day. Now I think perhaps chocolate was a source of caffeine for me that I never considered. I no longer think pitying thoughts about coffee drinkers (well, OK, maybe sometimes) and I am slightly alarmed at how often my thoughts turn to chocolate when I'm tired.

Which is quite often as it turns out, since I have three young children, and a husband who snores.

More on that later ...

So I think I'll just go take a nap and then maybe the hallucinations of purple chocolate wrappers (that I keep seeing out of the corner of my eye) will go away.

Things that are almost as good as chocolate #2

My mum said this one. Enthusiastically. 'Raw zucchini.'
I have one thing to say.
NOT TRUE.

Things that are almost as good as chocolate #1

Good Reading Magazine which arrived in my letterbox yesterday.
Mmmmm good books.

In which I decide to give up chocolate, and make the mistake of mentioning it to people ...

So on New Year's Eve 2007, I throw the idea out there that I might give up chocolate for a year. I love chocolate. No I LOVE chocolate. So much so that I think perhaps it would be a Good Thing to give it up for a year to prove that I am not ... well ... addicted to the stuff. When everyone starts talking about new year's resolutions I toy with the idea and am howled down. You see, I make desserts for friends. And many of my desserts are chocolate desserts. And those friends DIDN'T want to give up chocolate for a year.

On New Year's Eve 2008, after a year of contemplating what it would have been like to have given up chocolate for a year, I eat my last Lindt ball and announce, this is it, I AM GIVING UP CHOCOLATE FOR ONE YEAR.

Oh. Did I say that out loud?

Bother.