I'm in a chocolate kind of mood...

Once upon a time, there was a quiet little village in the French countryside, whose people believed in Tranquilité - Tranquility. If you lived in this village, you understood what was expected of you. You knew your place in the scheme of things. And if you happened to forget, someone would help remind you. In this village, if you saw something you weren't supposed to see, you learned to look the other way. If perchance your hopes had been disappointed, you learned never to ask for more. So through good times and bad, famine and feast, the villagers held fast to their traditions. Until, one winter day, a sly wind blew in from the North..."

And so begins the movie, Chocolat.

If you've never caught this one, you've missed a fantastic performance by Juliette Binoche and a very sexy Johnny Depp as her gypsy love interest. I just find this to be one of the best feel good movies around so when I saw it in the late night listings after all others in this house turned in tonight, I had to tune in.

Only problem is, now I'm in a chocolate kind of mood. I sat here digging through my recipe collection while watching the movie, trying to find just the right, chocolatey, quickie item that I could whip right up. I settled for throwing a box of brownies together during commercials. After all, I don't want to be up ALL night!!

The boys should be happy in the morning when they meander into the kitchen and find this surprise. I don't get up until after they leave in the morning as they are up and out long before 6! (For those who are now really concerned about our household, let me clarify. They are grown men, not children. They do much better without my interferene in the morning.)

Now that I've put chocolate into your mind, too, let me share a few great chocolate quotes.

• In the beginning, the Lord created chocolate, and he saw that it was good. Then, he separated the light from the dark, and it was better.
• I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process. It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?
• Exercise is a dirty word...Every time I hear it, I wash my mouth out with chocolate!
• I don't eat candy bars with nuts in them. Nuts just take up space where chocloate ought to be.
• "All I really need is love, but a little choclate now and then doesn't hurt!" - Lucy Van Pelt

I'll leave you with this one piece of advice:

Put "EAT CHOCOLATE" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

Chocolate dreams, y'all!