Ahhhhh. Uh. Hmm.
Sorry for missing the big day. I did a majorly stupid thing and drove across the country for Easter to see my folks. Not that seeing the folks was stupid, but driving there was not so good. You know, 12 hours in the truck. Across Canuckdia. Yea. I drove through Hamilton and my wife says “I can’t believe you drove this far for the race.” I did seem farther this time for some reason.
I picked up several new Lindt bars at the Duty Free shop that I hadn’t seen in the US yet. Maybe they are here and I just haven’t found them. One of them was a 90% Cacao bar which should be very interesting.
Saturday night I made a batch of truffles for my sister (which turned out dreadful, too much vanilla), and even though it was past midnight, I still didn’t taste any. Though it was very difficult.
On Sunday that all changed.
I started with the Nibby Bar. I decided on this one because it was one of my all-time favorites. And I knew I could rely on it for my first bite , not to be dreadful. The odd thing was, on the first bite I could hardly taste it. It was like someone had shut off the chocolate receptors in my tongue. Now, I did have a little congestion this weekend, but not so bad that I couldn’t smell things. So, I ate the whoel damn thing then and in seconds it was gone. It even surprised my how fast I ate that thing. And I didn’t even feel it. You how when you eat a chocolate bar you kinda get an instant full feeling, well I never felt it. Except for the lingering chocolate taste in my mouth, I couldn’t tell I had eaten anything.
So then I ate some of the maple chocolate from Canada, and I couldn’t taste those either. I mean I could taste them, but not like normal. So then I tried these Lindt Dark Truffles that I had not tried before. Those I could taste but they had a funky taste right when you bite into them. I’m sure what that was but tasting them again today, they still have it. Maybe its something in the recipe.
By this time I had gotten an awful lot of chocolate and decided just to go for the basics and my chocolate Clif Bar. Not exactly chocolate chocolate, but I had been saving it and they do taste good.
So, oddly enough it was not as enjoyable as I thought it would be having the chocolate again, which was somewhat disappointing. Today the chocolate tastes more like chocolate (receptors turned on again?). I think one of the important things about eating chocolate is that you can have it when you want it. When life sucks and you need something, you go get some and have it right then. Maybe that makes it taste even better. That’s not to say that I don’t like chocolate anymore (far from it), but I think eating it when you need it affects how it tastes.
Anyway, I did feel alot better after having all that. I didn’t have that twitchy nervous feeling that I had become accustomed to. Just a nic soft chocolate buzz. Kinda like the one I have this morning after eating a generous portion before breakfast. :)
I think I need to go run.
April 17th, 2006 08:44
I understand the chocolate button. Sometimes you just need a certain kind of chocolate at certain times. I’m thinking your congestion inhibited your taste. I bet after your run the chocolate will taste much better (doesn’t everything taste better then?)
April 17th, 2006 09:13
Wow - kind of scary to see Chocolate Jon off his taste-buds.
But, great job on Lent - I did nothing this year, and completely didn’t do anything even remotely challenging…
April 17th, 2006 09:34
that is kind of a disappointing story, i was picturing you as that priest or pastor in the movie Chocolat after he breaks into the Easter window display.
good job at Lent!
April 17th, 2006 11:36
Have you ever tried Purdy’s Chocolates? It is a phenomenon out here in Western Canada! If you look at the ingredients lists for their chocolate bars, there is no crap. They use just the essentials — cocoa and sugar (and cocoa butter, too, I think. No polysorbate this or nitrate that. If you want to try it, I think they accept internet orders.
April 17th, 2006 11:45
Hey - congratulations on holding out for the whole 40 days. I imagine it was extremely hard for you. Nice will power there.
And I suspect you’ll be back to savoring chocolate again in no time…
April 17th, 2006 11:45
Maybe you’re a changed man, jon. That’s one of the goals of Lent, no? And, you know “you can’t go home again…” don’t know what any of it means, but i’m pretty sure it’s profound.
April 17th, 2006 12:06
I guess in my mind this will always be Jons great lent caper taper! Glad you survived it.
April 17th, 2006 13:35
So you did have a religious experience - God took your love of chocolate and gave it a twist. This could be a good thing, you know. Running is always good so maybe it is time for more running, less chocolate? Time will tell.
April 17th, 2006 15:53
for the record? Clif bars DO NOT taste good.
ick
April 17th, 2006 17:23
I think we should all learn something from this. I’m not sure what, though. I *did* eat an entire dark chocolate bar from the snack machine at work in your honor.
April 17th, 2006 19:46
Welcome back to the chocolate world!!
April 17th, 2006 20:29
Yay! Chocolate!
I didn’t even give up choclate for Lent (or back off at all, really) and I stil went nuts with the sweets after Easter.
Welcome back to the land of chocolate!
April 17th, 2006 21:01
wow you sure made it a long time w/o chocolate man! every time i read your posts it made me want chocolate so bad (sympathy craving?). i had a piece of a very expensive dark chocolate bar the other day, partly in your honor. it tasted so good. :)
April 17th, 2006 21:08
Thx for sharing your experience with us,,, least we didnt have to go through it, lol,
Heather
April 18th, 2006 03:06
Yay, chocolate Jon is back. You made it a looong time without chocolate - now you only need to apply this determination to your next marathon ;-)
April 18th, 2006 07:51
I am impressed, Jon, but glad that the Chocolate Runner is back. I look forward to “Chocolate Fridays” in the future.
April 18th, 2006 10:34
I am in awe that you did this … and hope those chocolate taste buds are completely back to normal now.
April 18th, 2006 10:58
I am starting to see a pattern here…..you REALLY like chocolate! (that was a free assessment)
April 18th, 2006 16:34
Yippee for chocolate. After running Boston, my boys and I went to a local ice cream paloor and bought a ‘bellringer’ ice cream sundae to share. A bellringer is five scoops of ice cream with five dollops of whatever toppings with heaps of whipped cream! My mouth is watering just typing about it! Maybe i should be the Run with Chocolate Ice Cream blogger, but that would be too messy;)
April 22nd, 2006 20:20
I ate the ears off a cheap chocolate Easter bunny in your honor. I put it back in the fridge and within an hour my son had devoured the rest.