What I Love Wednesday

Do you have certain foods that trigger a distinct memory for you?

I had one of those moments the other day when a good friend of mine bought me one of these...

This is a Cadbury Flake, and I LOVE THEM!!!!  More than just a regular chocolate bar, this is a delightful piece of chocolate goodness that is only available in specialty import stores here in the States.  I grew up with these in New Zealand, so getting one here as a surprise was a real treat.

I'm a gifts person, so surprising me with anything is wonderful... but making it something from New Zealand... well let's just say love tank still full THREE WEEKS LATER!!!  Thank you Nicole!!

More than just a good candy bar though, this is one of those foods that triggers a very specific memory for me. 

When I was 8 years old my family made our first big move (well it was big for us then... perhaps not compared to the move we made six years later across the world...but still big).  We moved from the beautiful and popular tourist town of Taupo to the city of New Plymouth on the west coast. 

I remember thinking we were moving SO FAR away, after all it was a 3-hour drive from Taupo to New Plymouth and on a small island where you're used to reaching almost every destination in 15 minutes... that seems like an eternity away. 

So when my Dad asked me if I wanted to travel to New Plymouth with him for the day a month or so before we moved, I really had to consider hard - that was a LONG time to spend in the car.  On the upside though, it also meant I got to check out our new house before my brother and sister, and the potential to scope out my new room and claim dibs... oh yes, BIG DEAL!!!

I don't remember many details of the day - I couldn't tell you if I even got to go inside the house, or anything we did in town while we were there - but I can tell you that before we got on the road from Taupo we stopped to fill up the gas tank and Dad let me pick out a candy bar for the drive.  For whatever reason, and contrary to my normal choices (Cadbury Crunchie or a Nestle Milky Bar), I picked a Cadbury flake bar.

To this day, I still don't know how I did it but somehow by licking very slowly, and deliberately not allowing myself to take bites, I made that candy bar last the entire drive from Taupo to New Plymouth.  It was a chocolate miracle.

It might just be the most self-control I've ever shown in my life.

The same could not be said of the flake bar I was just given however.  Oh no, that was devoured almost upon sight.

So there you have it folks... I love Cadbury Flake bars, and surprises from friends, and the opportunity to practice my self-control by devouring more chocolate bars.... sounds reasonable right?