Tuesday, 2/19

Well, I finished writing my speech.

You may recall that Friday I mentioned that I'd have to write a speech over the weekend, and I did. As I also mentioned Friday, I'm not really allowed to say WHY I had to write a speech this weekend, at least not until after I give it later this week. Needless to say, once I DO give the speech I'll spill the beans on why I had to write it and why I couldn't tell you about it before hand.

Secrecy. It's a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Anyway, since I can't talk about the speech, why don't I mention one of my favorite things in the world—chocolate? Aside from writing the speech one of the things Loraine & I did (together) this weekend was to make our annual tax refund-funded chocolate purchase from Europe. A box from Belgium and another from Bavaria shall soon be gracing our apartment, and we will be gazing lovingly at the bars and truffles laid out before us.

Needless to say, we're easy to please.

There's one bar, though, we weren't able to order, and it's a bit of a bummer, if only because I just finished eating my last one. To be exact, it's this bar--

It's one of Ritter Sports' seasonal bars from last summer, a white chocolate/buttermilk/lemon bar. Normally, I'm not a big fan of white chocolate. Technically, it's not even chocolate; it's just cocoa butter, sugar, and a few other things. But I do like lemon and I do like buttermilk, so when I saw one during our trip last year I bought it. And now I wish I'd purchased more; the tartness of both the lemon and the buttermilk really plays off the inherent sweetness of the white chocolate in a way that makes you go “wow” upon the first bite.

You usually don't get that with white chocolate.

Unfortunately, because it was a special seasonal bar, we weren't able to order any this past weekend. Ritter only makes them for a summer, and when they're gone, they're gone, unless they're so insanely popular that they get to join the regular lineup. I'm not holding out hope. It'd be nice, but I'm not holding out hope. It was, however, great while it lasted.

And remember—that's coming from someone who's not a big fan of white chocolate. But never fear. I'm sure the stuff we DO have coming will more than make up for it.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)