Chocolately Goodness

With a thousand apologies to all of you who are successfully finishing your second week of New Year dieting, I fear simply glancing at the picture above may cost you 200 calories.  Yesterday I ran solo to the grocery store at 7am, knowing that I had less than half an hour to fill our almost bare pantry with groceries, but that the supermarket sweep was worth not bundling two stuffy-nosed kids up to shop, to say nothing of the fact that very few groceries actually fit into your cart when you have an infant car seat in the rear and a toddler in the front.  But, there was a hidden cost to this early morning, child-free grocery blitz.  A seductively delicious hidden cost!  I found my normal sense of stringent list abiding reason flew out the window in the excitement of rushing down aisles, and  I threw in several items that were not on my list, not necessary, and not in the best interest of the pre-maternity jeans lurking the farthest corner of my closet suffering from an abandonment complex.

I’m aware that Nutella is not exactly gourmet fare.  The decadency is more emotional: it warms my heart to think of my Pops who first introduced me to the delicacy, and the wonder that filled my little heart at the concept of chocolate spread on crackers.  Amazingly, the taste lived up to my memory (which has a tendency to exaggerate the positive).  I was happily surprised to find that not only the taste, but the look & label of Nutella remain unchanged.  In an aisle of bright colored, cartoon endorsed, bubbly fonted peanut butters, Nutella stands like a time capsule. I love the simple lettering, and  of course the image, from a day when hazelnut chocolate spread on a piece of bread was a suitable snack.  Here at this home, that day is today! Mmmm…