…and so it begins.  Wait! Not yet…

… one more sip of decadently delish dark chocolate…

So, for real, tomorrow is ASH WEDNESDAY.  Which means?  LENT BEGINS. Which means? NO MORE CHOCOLATE FOR 40 DAYS (if you, like me, give it up for Lent.) Maybe on Sundays you can technically sneak a taste, but usually I forgo chocolate the whole of Lent.

‘tis so very hard for a Chocoholic like me.  Today it feels a little like the Israelites in the wilderness trying to eat up all the manna (emptying out the chocolate stash hidey holes …& more as you will see…)

…back to drinking Hot Chocolate, but we’re not talking Nestle here! Oh no, this is good stuff – from the Chocolate Café in Lititz, PA.  Actual chocolate chunks melted into steamed milk.  The ooh-la-la make-your-heart-smile heavenly kind. My sis brought me not just one, but TWO CONTAINERS for Christmas.  Alas, the manna drive to finish them both off by today is off by a box (must leave the 2^nd box all nicely wrapped up until Easter. Under lock & key, with the key custodian some place far away. Far, FAR AWAY!  :  )

…& there are were the Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Turtles.  Yep, if you like Turtles (the chocolate kind with caramel & pecans) & if you like Dark Chocolate(!)  Russell Stover now makes their famous turtles IN DARK CHOCOLATE. I discovered this at Christmas… & unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) I must pass the Russell Stover display on my way to the Pharmacy counter for my Papa’s meds, like at least once a week, or sometimes (like last week) THREE TIMES!   (The pharmacists & I are on 1^st name basis— as Debbie noted last Tuesday, “but Virginia, you bought a box of these chocolates last week!” … a week? for a box of chocolates? Hmmn. Maybe for normal chocolates but that’s a Bit Long for a box like these Dark Chocolate Turtles to ‘hang around.’)

…And, of course, Valentines Day is THURSDAY. The DAY AFTER Ash Wednesday.   A sad state of affairs (not the mushy kind) for those of us who enjoy indulging in a chocolate (or two.) A fact duly noted & pre-celebrated yesterday with Mama (& a chocolate layer cake & tea in my pink china tea pot & dainty pink cups…)

…& last week, the Ghiradelli chocolate brownies Had To Be Baked – for Mama (!!)

This whole ‘manna-empty-out-the chocolate-stash’ drive has been pushed along for a week or two (the hilarious thing being several ‘replenishments’ during the emptying process.)  But then, today, Mardi Gras blues really hit.

Maybe we should back up a little, like what’s the big fuss?  Must be careful here as in Uni I wrote a 35 page paper for a grad seminar on Mardi Gras & German Fasching.  It seemed rather interesting at the time to compare how Germans & American ‘blew out’ during the rambunctious Carnival days before Lent… I seem to recall the Germans doing political satire while Americans did food (!!) … & both had riotous drinking & cavorting in common.

Actually, as a university student I thought God wanted us to have FUN – abundantly. All I needed was Suchard’s Swiss Chocolate (there was a supply at Macado’s on “The Corner” at my University.)   Out & about, folks would ask where I got ‘my stuff’ (the chocolate made an already hyper Virginia literally bounce off the walls!  : )

Now (many years later) I still enjoy getting out & about & having fun, but no more slam dancing. Alas, it’s too much for my battered knees.  (in my early 20’s I fractured my knee out dancing in D.C.  In the Emergency Room at 4:30a.m., I asked Roy Cook what was on his mind? He said, “I wonder if they could develop a serum so that when you hear the music, you remember the pain?!”)

So, no dancing today (maybe just a few bobbles around the kitchen) but this year for Mardi Gras i decided to really do it up — WITH CHOCOLATE.  Guess that might be obvious, but earlier today when the Mardi Gras blues hit, I made a quickie last-gasp dash to one of my most favorite places in Williamsburg:

MAD ABOUT CHOCOLATE.   (for those of you in Williamsburg not giving up chocolate for Lent, it’s located across the street from the Library downtown.)

ooh la laa – what they call their ‘brownie’ is a true delight.  Layers of moist cake-like brownie with chocolate ganache.  I usually eek out 3 servings from one ‘brownie’ but today, it’s MARDI GRAS.

(& it’s waiting on the table for the completion of this post.)

Gotta dash!

grace, peace & CHOCOLATE

Virginia  : )

HAPPY MARDI GRAS… !!!

p.s.  See you tomorrow (post Ashes) & the next day as we move into the Lent groove. Methinks Virginia, the blogger (after she recovers from her chocolate hangover) will try to do that Lenten Challenge post-a-day again. Like an inspirational quote, photo, reflection, book, movie (somehow managed to include ‘The Closer’ last year, go figure )…

You won’t be bored if you tune in…