Simple Pleasures, Number 20

I joked on Twitter the other day that, for a man who's written a book about chocolate - which I might have mentioned once or twice - you might have thought somebody would have given me an Easter egg but no, the chocolatey treats are only noticeable y their absence. There was some salvation though, courtesy of Mrs L's lovely Auntie Sheila who, I discovered, has a tradition that highdays and holidays should be marked with the giving of Terry's Chocolate Oranges. I can't remember the last time I had one of these and, yes, sure, as the author of a book about chocolate that I might have mentioned once or twice, maybe I should be marking this weekend with something by Amedei or Valrhona or one of Rococo's finest, but: a) you should never look gift chocolate in the mouth; and b) one segment in, and it was like being a kid again. Like the cheese roll in the previous Simple Pleasures post, it's remarkable how quickly smell and taste take hold of your emotions. You could easily argue that the Chocolate Orange is too sweet or too artificial and you'd probably be right, but that's missing the point. It's fun, I'm struggling to resist just one more segment and I'm grinning from ear to ear. All of that and it's probably one of my five-a-day, right? Thank you, Terry's - and thank you Auntie Sheila.