Like stealing candy from a baby

Well, here it is the day after Valentine's Day. Time to put another year of conversation heart sorting behind us. The culprit was new this year, and she is not only too cute to stay annoyed at, but also truly does not like the taste of the flavors she leaves behind. (Yes, obviously her cuteness also makes her silly excuses seem completely plausible to her mother.) I was especially troubled this year as the color scheme on my counter was really disrupted by the odd blue and green confectionery remnants. I completely regret my decision to go with the Necco hearts again this year, and not giving Brach's a try. Not only were the flavors slightly toxic, but I see now that Brach's refrained from adding electric blue to their packages. I felt obligated to have tiny messages in at least one candy bowl though, so I acted impulsively.

The nougats were just a bonus, as I found many heart shaped dishes when I unpacked our holiday decor (the dogs treats even got a heart-y facelift). The new candy bowl was a gift from the hubby, and the chocolate in it came from my mother. It amazes me how much chocolate ends up in our house in relation to how much I actually purchase. It's the good stuff too! I am also naive enough to still be surprised by how fast the Candy Man can sniff out the yummiest single piece of Ghirardelli dark chocolate with mint filling that was somewhat hastily put in the bottom of the bowl. I could've hidden the treasure in my latest secret hiding spot, but he was RIGHT THERE. I also could've quickly unwrapped it, and shoved it in my face, when it fell out of the bag, but that is a moment to savor.

I was driven by December events to find a better place to care for candy that I actually intended to keep for myself. WE were given a decent sized festive tin of Ghirardelli squares of goodness that I put on the dining room table. I was under the impression that there was not another person in this house who actually ever stepped foot in the dining room, unless that table was open for business to actually eat at. I broke the seal and had one piece, of the probably twenty, during a break from the pre-holiday insanity...fabulous. I passed by the tin several other times, but didn't feel it was quite the right moment to treat myself. Hershey Kisses I can cram in my mouth while lugging laundry upstairs, but I feel like my fancier chocolate requires some element of civility and relaxation. (I also feel like I might be a bigger lunatic than I realized, but hope you will still feel my pain as this tale unfolds.) With only a couple of days until Christmas, and feeling satisfied with that day's accomplishments, I opened the tin...to find it empty! Not just my favorites were gone...it was ALL gone! And he left the empty tin just sitting there as some cruel decoy. Before I got too far in to my rant, as the Candy Man had the pleasure of being home when this happened, he said "oh yeah, I meant to throw that out". When? How many times had I glanced at the tin, and moved on? With it empty?

I didn't have my wits about me, or enough time left in that day, to blog about the situation. However, I had plenty of time to verbally let some key people know what happened. I am sure it was no coincidence that my mother put each of our names on one of the two separate boxes of Ghirardelli chocolate that were with our Christmas presents. Nor was it a complete surprise that my aunt also gave us some scrumptious mint filled squares. The only mystery was where I was going to put my fair share (oh, and MY fair share included all of the minty ones!). My original intent was to fill the empty tin with some sort of substandard cocoa butter gems for the Candy Man's stocking; something one step up from coal. That would've been a waste, but I neglected to dispose of the tin.

I left some goodies that I didn't feel as strongly about as plants in my previously doomed spots. I didn't want the Candy Man to find empty shelves and keep looking. My stash is nestled, in what I hope registers as an empty tin, in a completely different cabinet (that I am fairly certain nobody else ever opens, for fear something will fall on their heads). In case there is any question left, I included a note this time...