… allow me to share a few thoughts about chocolate.

First, I need to share with you an issue I have with Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli, the company who makes Lindt truffles.  Their chocolates are not at issue; they are undeniably yummy.  But I find their advertising misleading.  I take particular issue with the TV ad that features a woman hosting a holiday party.  With everyone in full celebratory mode, she walks across the room, sits down and sneaks a Lindt truffle from a candy dish.  Slowly she pulls the ends of the shiny foil wrapper exposing the chocolatey orb of deliciousness.

I’m 100% with her at this moment.  Yes sister!  Sit, relax and take a deep breath.  Enjoy this moment with your loved ones.  And enjoy that velvety sweet truffle.  As a matter of fact, grab a second one, you deserve it!

But then the ad goes awry.  The woman slowly raises the truffle to her mouth. And then…takes a bite, a single bite of the truffle, implying that a Lindt truffle is at minimum a two-bite piece of candy!  It is not.

Am I the only one who sees this as false advertising?  Am I the only one who believes that the correct way, the universally accepted way to eat a Lindt truffle is to throw it in your mouth (whole) and do with it what you will?  Let it melt, immediately chew it, whatever.  If you need a second bite, unwrap another truffle.

Am I wrong here?

If you are a two-bite truffle eater, may I ask you why?  You can’t be concerned about choking.  I’ve never seen anyone choke on milk chocolate.  I frequently choke on raw carrots when I eat them, but never have I ever choked on chocolate.  If you are a two-bite Lindt truffle eater, please leave me a note in the comments below and enlighten me.  Perhaps I’m wrong.

Moving on. 

I want to share some fascinating knowledge I just acquired a couple of weeks ago.  It turns out that historically, chocolate has saved lives.  At least one during the French Revolution.

In France in the 1700’s there was a man by the name of Sulpice Debauve (pronounced day-bove).  He was King Louis the Sixteenth’s pharmacist/chemist.  Mr. Debauve was also known for his research and knowledge about the medicinal benefits of cacao.

Debauve was frequently summoned to the castle by the King’s wife, Queen Marie Antoinette.  It seems she suffered from migraines and Debauve’s prescription gave her relief.  (It’s not easy being Queen.)  However, she would complain and whine about the taste of the medication.  So, likely to stay on the good side of the Royal court, Debauve created a confection blending cacao with almond extract and sugar and then added in his headache remedy mixture.  The Queen so loved the tincture; she eventually told the chemist to leave out the medicine altogether and just bring her chocolate on the daily.  (Again, it’s not easy being Queen.)

The pharmacist became quite the celebrity for his ability to make medicines palatable.  He saw the writing on the wall and decided the real money would come from confections.  He became a Master Chocolatier about the time the French Revolution was picking up speed.  Marie Antionette was captured and beheaded via guillotine but Debauve was spared.  He was the only member of the King’s Court to survive.  Why?  Because even revolutionaries value a bloke who can make a proper chocolate bar!

A few short years later he was spared again.  While his boss, Napolean Bonaparte, was being exiled, Debauve was allowed to stay in France and start his own candy company.  He died of natural causes at the age of 78.

And last, you should know that chocolate can be an effective bribe.

A few years ago, we hired a photographer for a family photo shoot.  The plan was for the photographer to take pictures in the span of about thirty minutes.  After twenty minutes my grandsons who were two and five at the time, grew tired of posing and smiling and looking at the camera.  But she had one more ‘grouping’ she wanted to photograph to complete the sitting.  The grandparent pictures.

With the boys’ cooperation spent they began wrestling, running up and down the trail path, and well, being boy-like.  I was thinking we weren’t going to get any grandparent photos.  Then I remembered that I had stashed two snack size M&Ms into my pockets before we began just in case we needed to bribe smiles out of them.  I told the boys that if they took a few more pictures with us, I would give each of them their own bag of M&Ms.  They regained their composure and the photographer took a few quick photos of the four of us. 

The boys requested their M&Ms but I upped my ante.  I asked for a kiss on the cheek in exchange for the M&Ms.  They obliged and somehow the photographer captured the moment.  This photo is one of my most valued possessions.  And, while chocolate can’t buy you love, it can be used as an enticing bribe to garner a kiss or two.

What’s a boomer to do?  Celebrate National Chocolate Day.  Buy a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Eat the entire thing in one bite.  Trust me, it can be done!