Birthday Surprise

For some reason, people maintain that I'm hard to shop for. I have no idea why they say that, since I have no trouble finding things to buy for myself. Nevertheless, it's rare when someone comes up with something that I want that I've never even heard of until I receive it as a gift... but that's what Susan came up with.

Pictured here is Frey's Dark Chocolate with Chilli Pepper (no, I didn't misspell it... "chilli" is the manufacturer's spelling, so that's what I'm going with here). The best way to describe it is a richly flavored chocolate redolent with the intensity of a 70% cocoa base, to which have been added crisply piquant bits of dried chilli peppers that add an almost toffee-bit crunch to the candy. The chillis are fresh enough that opening the wrapper conveys the bouquet of chillis along with the headiness of dark chocolate.

I admit to being slightly dubious when I first saw it, but curiosity outweighed caution as I unwrapped it and broke off a square. The combination, it turns out, is inspired; I think those Mayans were on to something!

Susan tells me that she found it at Target--and she advises that, if you're interested, you act quickly. No, they're not selling out--in fact, they're not selling any at all! The bar she bought was the only bar taken from an otherwise full box, so the odds are it'll go on close-out very soon...