Gift Giving Guy

If you’re from Detroit, Cleveland or Buffalo, chances are, you know about Sweetest Day. According to Retail Confectioners International, those three U.S. cities top the list celebrating the fall holiday for sweethearts. For me, the day is all about giving chocolate, but flowers and greeting cards are also popular. (Hallmark has 147 varieties of Sweetest Day cards for 2008.)

But let’s get back to chocolate. My wife and I love the smooth, creamy taste and sweet aroma of the confection. Right now, I’m humming “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, imagining that glorious river of chocolate.

We both enjoy chocolate in so many forms: milk chocolate bars, chocolate pretzels, hot chocolate, fudge, dark chocolate, brownies, chocolate mousse, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate muffins, chocolate liqueur (but only the real stuff), chocolate cake, chocolate donuts, s’mores, chocolate truffles, chocolate biscuits, chocolate-covered raisins, chocolate beer, chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolate malts, and chocolate ice cream (or better yet frozen custard). I just gained three pounds writing that sentence.

Now my wife has discovered a new chocolate taste: Godiva single-serve coffee pods for our Senseo Coffee Machine. Each package (costing about $5.50) holds 16 coffee pods with 100% Arabica coffee beans infused with chocolate goodness. Godiva offers two flavors — Chocolate Crème and Crème Brulee — giving me another reason to wake up on Sweetest Day morning.