For the love of.......

...........CHOCOLATE!

 

 

We took a trip to Washington, DC over New Year and as it is a remarkably long way, we broke up the journey at Hershey, Pennsylvania to soak up some local culture, which just happens to be chocolate!

Hershey, as you may well know, makes these:

 

But did you know they make them this big? (This one's for you, Mutti!)

There are loads of things to do at Hershey World, educational and otherwise. I'd advise you not to ask Meg about the singing cows on the train ride round the 'factory'. She is still confused about how they were taught to sing and who looks after them while they are working........

We opted to bypass the educational and head straight for the delicious. We donned the appropriate amusing attire and licked our lips in anticipation of designing our own chocolate bars.

It works like this: you choose the chocolate you'd like for the base of the bar, and a selection of chewy and/or crunchy bits to go in the middle, then follow your bar along the conveyor belt as it's put together and covered in milk chocolate before being boxed and wrapped in your own carefully designed packaging.

We only made three as per bar they are quite expensive  - $15 each in fact! Expensive enough for some of us to look quite concerned as we are doing our 'Chocolate Factory' soft shoe shuffle!

A funny thing happened at Easter.....

...when we were travelling in the car and made a brief pit-stop. I made an unusual decision: I decided to treat my children to some chocolate. Because everyone likes chocolate, right? Well, my eye happened to fall upon some small bags of Cadbury's Mini Eggs. You know what they are? Small chocolate eggs, covered in a sugar shell that looks like real eggshell but all pastel and Easter-ish and pretty.....
"Here you are children, Mummy has a surprise for you!" I awaited the sweet thank-you's and endless gratitude that would flow in my direction.
"What are they?" asked Finn, a trfle suspiciously.
"Chocolate eggs!" (Aren't I fabulous for surprising you in such a way? was what I meant.)
"They don't look like chocolate."
"They're covered in sugar," I was forced to explain, feeling the whole situation turning a little sour. "Why don't you taste one?"
Finn carefully removed one from the bag and sniffed it. Yes, he sniffed it. And examined it close-up. I turned away and helped Meg open her bag and showed her the pretty colours. "Yummy!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. At least I had scored a hit with one of them. I turned back to Finn just in time to see him take a tentative bite. Here we go, I thought, now he'll thank me. After all, what's not to like about a Cadbury's Mini Egg.
And then it happened. The last thing I was expecting. But never having seen anything like it before, however could I be expecting it?
He spat. He spat out his bite of sugar coated chocolate as if it were a live worm.
"Ugh, ugh, UGH!" he shouted, brushing his tongue with his hand and spitting  chunks all over his car seat. "That is disgusting, Mummy help me! Ugh, yuck, pew, pah....."
I sat with my mouth open in utter amazement. Chocolate coated in sugar? Two of Finn's most favourite things? I pulled an egg out of his bag and popped it in my own mouth to see if we were dealing with a tampering incident. No. Perfectly OK.
The Tom and Jerry reaction was still continuing to my left. "I need a drink, Mummy, yuk, foul, disgusting..." He rambled on, wiping the choclate covered drool from his mouth and spreading it everywhere.
I chanced a look at Meg to see how she was going. But nothing to see there except a steady bag to hand action as she shovelled small pastel eggs into her mouth with barely a glance at her brother.
"Did you see that? I asked Jodi, "have you ever seen anyone react like that over a chocolate egg? What would the Easter Bunny say?"
"Well, at least one of our children is having the appropriate reaction," he replied nodding his head at Meg. We both looked at her and noticed her bulging cheeks.
"You enjoying those, poppet?" I asked, just as I realised she wasn't actually chewing. She nodded and continued to sit there, mouth full but not chewing. She shifted her mouthful about then made moves as if to spit something out. i grabbed a tissue (reflex action, this is quite a common occurrance with Meg) and put my hand under her chin. Out came a carefully formed  ball of...........sugar coating. Small pieces of sugar coating separated from their chocolate and gathered together into a ball.
It would seem that sugar coated chocolate is not to the liking of either of my children.