A Festive Ode to Chocolate

A handful of kitchen smells I adore:  banana bread baking in the afternoon, hazelnut coffee at 6 a.m. when the house is dark and quiet, cheeseburgers on the grill on balmy summer evenings echoed by friends' laughter, bacon and eggs on Saturday mornings with adoring puppies staring desperately at your plate, and chocolate ... any time of day. 

I think I was born asking for chocolate.  I probably asked Mama Suz if I could have some chocolate milk instead of regular milk. 

The darker the better - I love chocolate.  I love chocolate stores, especially the one in Carytown.  I enjoy savoring one or 2 small bites of chocolate, and my stars become aligned.

My dear friend, Mary Rob, and I used to spin open the Oreo cookie jar and build TOWERS of Oreos to eat while watching Full House and Family Matters.  Those memories are priceless.  I have been obsessed with Oreos ever since. 

One of my work friends, Sara, made all of us Oreos dipped in white and dark chocolate and sprinkled with delightful toppings as little Christmas trinkets this week.  I moaned my way through the peppermint one and immediately texted her saying that I did not think I had ever eaten a better Oreo. 

The smell of chocolate, to me, is intoxicating.  As Christmas is FAST approaching (how in the world did it arrive so quickly?), I am writing this post simply to pay homage to chocolate. 

Here is a divine picture of how to jazz up simple, from-a-box Ghiradelli dark chocolate brownies with a plump, tart raspberry and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Mini Brownies with Raspberries & Powdered Sugar

Strawberries dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in walnuts

Heavenly sugar cookie chocolate delights made my by sweet friend, Megan.