Chocolate is my constant downfall

Chocolate is my constant downfall. I discovered this when I saw all of the photos I had taken of various chocolate moments and shared on Instagram! This scares me because one of my friends was a chocolate enthusiast, then a chocolate lover, then discovered that she was a chocolate addict and ate nothing else. Within a matter of months, she went from a size 12 to a size 20. When she could not fit into a size 22, she realised that she needed to do something about it. This is such a sobering thought. I am not sure what defines an addict, someone else I know would eat the very biggest Cadbury's milk chocolate bar and drink coffee, but eat nothing else for 3 days and continue to drink coffee. She would have the most horrendous headaches, but failed to attribute it to this chocolate and coffee addiction.
I read an article years ago of someone who was giving a talk about the dangers of chocolate. She literally took chocolate and smeared it on her thighs, saying "When you eat chocolate, it goes straight to your thighs!". It does scare me when I eat chocolate like this. In fact, the very presence of chocolate in my house makes me feel safe, as if chocolate were the answer to my troubles! The other day, I found myself buying a couple of bars of peanut butter Kit Kats, because I had not seen them for a very long time. I do actually intersperse chocolate-eating with food, thank God, and I exercise all the time. So I am not an addict, I think...

“ ‘Without pain, how could we know joy?’ This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering, and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries, but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.”

John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

An obsession with Milo - "it's not chocolate milk, it's Milo".

We love Milo in our family and we are obsessively greedy about it. I have tried it many permutations, with marshmallows, even with a side of Milo chocolate, and Milo cereal. The worst and dumbest thing was to try and mix Milo with cocoa. A bad idea. It tasted awful. I think because I don't have Milo with sugar, and wasn't prepared for the bitterness of the cocoa. Worst of all, I added the cocoa AFTER I had made the Milo. Terrible idea and an absolute assault to the palate. Anyway, everyone in my family knows that I am uncompromising in one thing: when you make me Milo, it requires at least 3 SPOONS (not teaspoons, no!) stirred into a gorgeous froth with milk and hot water. My husband is an expert at making me Milo. That's one of the reasons why he is a keeper :)
Milo also brings to mind our naughty little Jack Russell who we now call Otie, short for Otis.  The previous owner was a dog breeder and gave him to us for free, he was in a terrible condition, full of horrible fleas and sores, she seemed to be very quick to get rid of him, we are not sure why until today, as the vet said he is a top specimen and was even slightly teary when he said it. Anyway, the dog breeder lady claimed his name was "Milo", but he didn't seem to answer to that name, and it's really strange to call a dog by a food name, especially as he looks like a little wrestler. We thought of naming him "Mike Tyson" because of his beautiful muscly physique and a penchant for barking at the LARGEST dogs, but finally settled on "Otis Redding", not sure why, though. But the name Otis seems to suit him fine!

And now, for a deep thought about Milo:

"And you're been nothing but a pain. So don't get all high and mighty. Good chocolate milk by the way."

Muscles ticked in Matthias' jaw. "It's not chocolate milk. It's Milo."

I took another sip. "Well, it's good.”  

A & E Kirk, Demons at Deadnight

Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese, as Robert Louis Stevenson said

A great substitute for bread is always a roti or a wrap. I usually find bread a bit heavy, particularly with the encroachment of old age, so I do prefer to have a wrap instead. I was wishing for a toastie with some gorgeous strong, sweet aged gouda, tomato and smoked beef and thought I would try a toastie using a roti. I was bowled over by the great, light taste sensation combined with all these strong, sharp flavours.

And now for a thought about cheese:

"Well, many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese...toasted, mostly..."

Robert Louis Stevenson III

Thinking deep thoughts about yoghurt...

After messing around on Facebook and Instagram, I finally got around to starting my work for the day, but needed some fuel, and fuel that could be put together quickly and healthily while catering to my sweet tooth. So I started off the day with some simple yoghurt and muesli, scratched around for honey, but there was literally not a drop of this golden liquid available, so added raisins which gave it the twist of sweetness I needed. Now I can get down to work with my cup of tea as an obligatory accompaniment to fuel my energy levels. And now, a deep thought about yoghurt:

"Ushikawa's appearance made him stand out. He did not have the sort of looks suited for stakeouts or tailing people. As much as he might try to lose himself in a crowd, he was inconspicuous as a centipede in a cup of yogurt"

Haruki Murakami