I cheated

I'm no big fancy Catholic or anything, but I love me some advent calendar chocolate. There is just something about the fake chocolate goodness that is the surprise chocolate behind those little cardboard windows that gets my saliva going. Advent calendar chocolate is a treat. When I was in London I bought myself a fancy Harrod's advent calendar which, I'm unhappy to report, did not have any bells and whistles. The chocolate did taste as perfectly un-chocolate as the best advent calendar chocolate I've ever eaten, so I was happy with it. Like most children, I cheated and finished it early. It started out simple. Starting on about the 10th, I skipped a few days, so that on the 15th I could eat six pieces of chocolate. Then, for a couple of days I ate one every day. Then, on the 20th and 21st I slacked and forgot to eat any, but made up the difference on the 22nd. Last night, I did the unthinkable (to an adult it might be unthinkable anyway) and ate today's chocolate piece and finished the box of advent calendar chocolates early. This morning, I am depressed. I don't have any advent calendar chocolate to eat today and I feel like my whole Christmas is ruined.

Luckily for me and my funk, I saw a bunch of chocolate articles today that helped me feel better. Two are sad so I feel guilty about my cheating and therefore am happy to have had an advent calendar at all. The third makes me happy that people are using cacao refuse in ways other than dumping them in a, well, dump.

First, the sad chocolate:

The price of cocoa is rising, so it is believed that manufacturers of chocolate and chocolate artisans might be raising their prices or using more milk chocolate and artificial ingredients to make up the difference. For me, this just means that I will be able to buy the good chocolate less often, but I will stock up on Reese's peanut butter hearts and eggs when the time comes and create what I can only describe as a makeshift chocolate bomb shelter for when the chocolate economy crashes completely and I need my sustenance.

The shit is hitting the fan in the Ivory Coast Cacao World. There are cocoa regulators in jail right now for suspected embezzlement and their employees are not getting paid.

The happy chocolate news:

UK company Biomass UK Limited is working with Ghanaians to process cocoa pods for electricity and stuff for export. This news will surely make you want to sing Electricity, Electricity!