Chocolate Tears

I love all things chocolate – dark, semi-sweet, milk, and everything in between. But, alas, my body has decided that chocolate isn’t for me. I can eat small amounts of chocolate baked goods (like a bite), but anything more gives me a miserable migraine the next day. And forget eating a piece of chocolate itself.

I have mostly reconciled myself to avoiding chocolate most of the time. I stopped eating anything chocolate last fall, so it has been over six months since I have eaten more than a bite or two of chocolate. Yes, I went through Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas without touching it. I thought maybe the months of (mostly) abstinence would have given my body a time to reset and maybe I could eat a bit of chocolate deliciousness again. No go.

I caved the other day and ate a brownie that was left over from a school party of Calvin’s. Well, it was really two brownies. I warmed them up until the chocolate chips inside were nice and gooey, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. But the next day I woke up with a miserable headache. Calvin, dear teenage son of mine, asked me if it was worth it. Most decidedly not. I am working toward accepting my need to avoid chocolate, but I’m not totally happy about it. There are so many chocolate desserts that I love making, and eating.

I have not been baking much of anything that involves chocolate, unless it is going out of the house. I didn’t expect Calvin to bring home so many brownies when he requested them for a school treat-fest last week. He said there were so many things to eat that the class didn’t even make a dent in the brownies. I wish I had told him to leave the leftovers at school for the teachers! I need to work on my willpower.

Don’t feel too sorry for me, though. I have been managing quite well with other flavors: vanilla, caramel, spice, almond and just about anything else that isn’t chocolate. If you are combing The Cook’s Life for chocolate recipes, you will find plenty in the archives. I can hope that my body will end its rebellion against chocolate some day, but probably not any time soon. So bring on the salted caramel whatever, the almond decadence or the vanilla anything. They will just have to do for now.