Express your love through chocolate
Growing up in my family, it certainly didn't have to be Valentine's Day to whip up something chocolate. In fact, we didn't have to be celebrating any holiday at all! Chocolate flowed from our kitchen like a river full of delicious sweetness.
I can't tell you how many times I remember my mother standing at the stove in our kitchen tending to a pot full of boiling chocolate with a wooden spoon in her hand and anticipation on her face. The wonderful smell of chocolate filled every nook and cranny of our small house, effortlessly turning corners and cleverly seeping under closed doors.
There is no doubt that chocolate is a powerful force!
As you know, the aromatic smell of chocolate can't be disguised. No matter where I was in our house, when the smell reached my nose, I stopped what I was doing and, in some sort of trance, made my way to the kitchen.
"I think I'll make a batch of fudge," was one of my favorite things to hear Mother say. I eagerly helped her measure the sugar, cocoa, cream and butter. The only difficult part of the process was waiting until the fudge had time to cool and become firm in the pan.
My mouth watered as I watched Mother try to cut straight lines into the pan of fudge. More times than not, her fudge squares weren't perfect. That never bothered me. The shape didn't affect the taste at all!
On rare occasions, our fudge refused to "set up." Instead, it was a sticky, gooey blob in a buttered pan, a little embarrassed it didn't quite make it to the fudge stage. It never bothered us. At our house, it would not be wasted. Spoons were passed out and cavities began to form while we chewed away every trace of chocolate from the pan.
Other times the fudge ended up in, let's say, a more liquid form, as a result of insufficient cooking time. We could have cared less. We always had an alternate plan. Ice cream was quickly dipped into bowls and our fudge was renamed hot fudge sauce and spooned on top.
The ice cream melted upon contact with the hot chocolate. A few creative swirls of a spoon later and you have a gourmet chocolate marbled ice cream sundae. No one ever knew it was supposed to be fudge. It still "hit the spot," as Mother used to say.
Chocolate-covered memories fill my mind like visions of sugar plums as I write this column. Brownies, chocolate cakes, chocolate pecan fudge, chocolate pudding and fluffy meringue-covered chocolate pies dance in my head as the years blur together in a sweet dream. As we now know, this may not have been healthy, but it sure brought many smiles and satisfied tummies back then.
In my childhood, love was freely shared disguised as chocolate. Whether it was for a church supper dessert, a lunchbox treat or just a plain old Friday night watching television with my family, chocolate always made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Although it was a nice touch on Valentine's Day, we never waited until Feb. 14 to indulge.
Perhaps it is that loving quality of chocolate that makes it the perfect mascot for the day set aside for telling those around us how much we care. Each February, millions of fancy heart shaped boxes are filled with perfectly formed and decorated pieces of chocolate wrapped in shiny foil or proudly sitting in brown ruffled papers.
While it's great to receive these, as I remember the taste of the extra ingredient of love that Mother added to her chocolate confections, the perfectly presented store-bought candies pale by comparison. Mother's chocolate may not have always been perfect but its taste was undeniable. I guess that's why I've always been a "from scratch" kind of guy.
On this Valentine's Day, there are many ways to tell the ones around you how much you love them. There are also 364 other days to do it this year. One thing is for sure, chocolate will work most of the time and on any given day of the year.
I'll leave you with this advice I carry with me from my past. If you make it "from scratch" and stir in a little extra love, you are guaranteed to receive brownie points.
Mark Ballard's column runs each week in The Telegraph. Send your questions or comments to P.O. Box 4232, Macon, GA 31208; call 478-757-6877; email markballard@cox.net; follow him at instagram.com/markcreates; or become a subscriber to Mark's Facebook page.
This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Express your love through chocolate ."