Life without chocolate?

   
     Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  Since I have known Lanny, he has given me chocolates and roses on this occasion, as well as dinner out at some local romantic spot. Last year we went to a fondue restaurant where there was a bouquet of roses greeting me at the table, and chocolates to go with them. We dined on cheese fondue as an appetizer, various meats and veggies in hot oil with side sauces to go with them and finally ended the meal with a dark chocolate/Grand Marnier fondue that was to die for. I can still see the melted chocolate swirling in that heated pot, and taste the gooey goodness... it was heaven.

     I am a chocoholic... I love the stuff. There is nothing quite like dark chocolate over raspberry cremes, or mint or well, about anything. Once, when I was a bit emotional, I ate an entire 2 pound box of Whitman's sampler chocolates while weeping over the phone to my best friend. 2 pounds of the stuff in one sitting!!! When I was a kid, my father, from whom I inherited this affliction, used to bring home bulk milk chocolate in big hunks from the grocery store. They sold it wrapped in plastic wrap in big chunks, and after dinner each night he would carve off a piece for each of us. He believed it had medicinal properties. I can still hear him say, "It keeps you regular!!" We had never heard of antioxidants or endorphins back then-- but science has proven he was right-- in modest quantities the stuff is good for us!

     This Valentine's Day I am in the middle of a "get healthy" program. I have lost 60 pounds over the last year and have a few more to go. Of course, being laid up with the bad foot, I can't exercise like I should, so these last pounds have been coming off very, very slowly. I am still trying to shed the pounds  I regained over Christmas. That means I had to tell Lanny "NO Chocolate!"  We had that discussion yesterday. We both agreed we would miss the stuff, but if we got started eating it, we'd be goners for awhile, just like at Christmas. I will miss the dark chocolate covered raspberry cremes, and Lanny will miss the brownies. Oh yes, the brownies... I suspect that secretly he married me for them!  I bake them at Christmas and when the kids come home for a visit (they were Matt's favorite!) and for pitch-ins and well, just about any time we want a chocolate blitz or to celebrate something. Lanny loves them so much he can't stop eating them. I have to bake them when he isn't around and sneak them into the freezer before he finds them!  What are these wonderful treats? I'll share the recipe with you, just in time for Valentine's Day. You can make someone very happy with these!

photo courtesy of Hersheys

                            

The Best Brownies in the World

            1 box of whatever brownie mix you prefer- make sure it is for a 9 x 13 pan!

            eggs, oil per brownie mix instructions

            1 12-oz bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

            1/2 bag Heath Bar chips

Prepare the brownie mix as directed on package. Just before pouring the mixture into the prepared pan, stir in 1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with the remaining chocolate chips and the Heath Bar chips. Bake as directed on package.  

Cool before cutting into squares.

     We will be going out to dinner, and I am hoping for some roses too. And a mushy card... but no chocolate. I will try to eat healthy too, which will take a little of the pleasure out of the meal. Or maybe not-- being healthy is the best gift I can give my husband, and myself too. But boy, I will miss the chocolate. Try the brownies... and have one for me!!!

This is me with my Valentine!!