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Hand me a kiss, please
Liberty foodie
chocolate day

I’m not one to indulge in many sweets. I don’t usually make room for desserts after a meal. It’s just not my thing.

Don’t get me wrong, there are moments where I will give in to a piece of cheesecake or get a doughnut to go along with my morning coffee.

But I don’t go out of my way while doing groceries to hit the snack section.

But as Halloween approaches, my one sweet tooth does start to tingle for the one thing that truly calms me to the core — chocolate.

Fittingly, today is National Chocolate Day.

Today we celebrate all things chocolate and allow ourselves to gorge on chocolate shakes, chocolate ice cream, candy bars and the best of all of my worlds colliding together — a chocolate martini.

YES PLEASE, and while you’re at it make it a double.

I could bore you with the details of where chocolate comes from and how it is made. But why?

I mean does it matter? It’s chocolate!

Growing up, my all-time favorite was a plain and simple Hershey’s kiss followed by a Hershey bar.

And Mom knew that my birthday cake had to be chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

During a camping trip one time, my friend made s’mores, which were yummy to begin with, and then she dipped the finished product into melted chocolate.

Heaven wrapped in chocolate. Best s’more ever.

I can recall joking with friends and wishing the world had chocolate drinking fountains. Then, boom! In the early 1990s, a man named Ben Brisman invented one.

Why was he never given a Noble Peace Prize?

Of course, as soon as those fountains became a commercialized product available at the local department store, I bought five of those babies.

Chocolate-covered bananas, strawberries, grapes, cookies — I mean, I dunked everything possible under that fountain, including my head (which I don’t recommend doing, trying to get chocolate out of your hair and ears is a pain in the rear).

And I have a chocolate choice for various occasions.

Watching a movie at a theater means Milk Duds. Out at a fancy restaurant means finding its version of death by chocolate on the menu and ordering two. If I need a quick energy boost before a workout, I reach for a Snicker’s bar.

Waking up and not wanting to get out of bed requires a Butterfinger to the rescue, while the ever annoying self-pity party means I need a mountain of Hershey’s kisses.

Because one just won’t do.

Fried bacon covered in chocolate, yes, why? Ummm why not?

Now, as a full-grown adult I can add chocolate to my second most-desirable activity aside from eating — drinking.

You have just not lived until you hit Jen’s and Friends in Savannah and had a Snicker’s martini or Reese’s white chocolate or tiramisu whipped chocolate martini.

If you want to make it a double threat, hit Lulu’s Chocolate Bar in Savannah and get the triple chocolate chip brownie with house drink, the Lulutini, which is like four varieties of chocolate all mixed together in a wondrous drink.

Martinis not your thing? No worries, there are a variety of chocolate margarita recipes you can try as well as a variety of spiced chocolate adult beverages, perfect for the colder months ahead.

Under 21?

Well then, how about a good old-fashioned hot chocolate or chocolate float?

My favorite float during my adolescent years was two scoops of chocolate ice cream into a tall glass covered with Coca-Cola.

Ah, the youthful days of not counting calories.

And for today, calories need not be counted. It is a holiday of chocolate for chocolate lovers.

Just for today, calories don’t count.

Tomorrow, well now, that is a different story.

In the meantime, indulge and enjoy.

Email Leon at pleon@coastalcourier.com.

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