Mary Cicchirillo

hocolate, chocolate everywhere. We are never at a loss for a reason to celebrate its sweet, seductive taste.  

As if the temptation wasn’t enough when paying at the checkout counter at grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores and even fitness facilities? Guess it’s good for business.

We are no sooner finished with the Halloween stash when Christmas stock hits the retail chains.  

Some stores were offering to take back any unopened packages of Halloween candy.

What unopened packages?  Everyone has their favourites and who hasn’t had a few while shelling out to trick or treaters?  

I defy anyone to hand it out without eating at least one of the tiny portions. A few of those tiny pieces add up to a whole bar or two or …

Back to Christmas.  Boxes of Turtles, Pot of Gold, chocolate covered cherries line the shelves, wrapped festively, some in limited editions of collectable tins. I have a weakness for beautiful tins. How anyone can throw them away when empty is beyond me.  

Who hasn’t received a Toblerone bar as a gift? I decided to get rid of one by using it in my Christmas baking. Everyone in the house within hearing range seems to gravitate towards the kitchen while I’m cutting up the one lone bar, almost as though hypnotized by the chop, chop, chopping sound of the knife on the cutting board, as though summoned, trancelike to nibble on a piece or two or three.  

OK, so that was one less Toblerone bar hidden away in my low-fat biscotti, but it’s portion control, right?

With Christmas chocolates finally gone, we start with Valentine’s Day as early as January.

Beautifully adorned heart shaped boxes, too pretty to throw away, are a guaranteed reminder for even the most forgetful boyfriends and husbands.  

There is absolutely no excuse for forgetting a sweetheart.

Chocolate is right up there with roses for the perfect Valentine gift, followed by jewelry, of course.

With Valentine’s chocolate out of the way, Easter confections abound.  

From sweet little bunnies and chicks to Kindersurprises to the old favourite — tiny, pastel coloured foil-wrapped eggs that have been around since I can remember, not to mention chocolate-covered marshmallow bunnies.

There should be a law against the way-too-early sale of chocolate.  

Ever try giving up chocolate for Lent? It’s on par with giving up smoking for some, but a true test of faith. And just perfect to start thinking of bathing suit season.

I finally watched the movie Chocolat, many years after its debut. It is impossible to sit through the whole movie without intense cravings for the stuff, but I was strong, considering I still had an unopened box of Christmas truffles hidden away for an emergency hankering.  

Magical powers of the cocoa bean, silky, melted chocolate, special hot cocoa spiked with chili, acting as a boost from health problems to flagging sexual appetites, chocolate weaves its magical spell as the story unfolds on the screen.  

It may very well be the cocoa bean that Eve tempted Adam with, not the healthy apple.

Yes, its seductive allure is hard to resist. Small wonder schools continue to use this perennial favourite as an annual fundraiser, raking in funds as high as the thousands.  

Who can say no to a youngster earnestly selling you chocolate-covered almonds to raise money for computers for their school?  

Not only are you helping the cash-strapped school boards, but you are rewarded with an enticing treat for yourself.   

If your child is a participant in the event and has a few unsold bars from the heavy case he lugged home, surely you are not going to embarrass him by returning them to the school, are you?  

As a doting parent, you will buy the leftovers, which will have to suffice for the summer until October, when the cycle starts all over again.

Mary Cicchirillo is a creative writer who lives in Vaughan.

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Slice of Life is an occasional series where readers share their own stories about a topic of their choosing in their own words.  E-mail your idea to editor Kim Champion at kchampion@yrmg.com