A box of Daffin‘s chocolate sits within reach of my bed. I want you to know I don’t over-indulge. One chocolate piece a night suffices. I started eating from this box, a two-pound assortment, shortly after receiving it as a birthday gift at the beginning of May. In mid July, I’ve just now moved to the bottom half of my two-layer box of fine quality candy.

My mild obsessive, compulsive disorder forces me to eat the cream centers first. At least the first tier afforded me a chance at some nutty, chewy varieties before I was back at the task of ridding myself of the creams. I am committed to nutty, chewy varieties.

Not only do I have a cream/ nut/chew dilemma, my daughter caught me counting the milks and the darks. I explained to her I had to even up their numbers, early on, in order to alternate eating them, night to night. Yes, I’m OCD serious about my chocolate.

With some brands of chocolates, I don’t bother with the creamy ones. I eat the pieces that appeal to me and send the rest to work with Mark. It’s amazing the things that are gobbled up in the lunch room of his workplace.

I suppose the fact that they are … well, Daffin’s, in the first place, compels me to eat them all. A two-pound gift like this one is an investment to be appreciated and not to be taken lightly.

Nearly 100 years and three generations of experience has earned Daffin’s a national reputation in the world of fine chocolate. Let me quote a famous witch, “Oh, what a world! What a world!”

Boxed chocolates didn’t catch on until the 1920s, a fact due not to a question of taste, but that coincides with the development of air conditioning (according to Daffin’s Web site*) which made chocolate sales possible year-round.

Daffin’s, located in Farrell, Pennsylvania, offers a chocolate factory tour, which would be much closer to me than traveling to Hershey. For years, I’ve thought about making a trip there. Before a holiday, I might find special decorations … but more customers; after a holiday, I might find special reduced prices … but more customers.

I want my first visit to be a calm experience so I can take it all in on my terms. If I go there, I’ll buy something chocolate, anything chocolate. I don’t need more chocolate, not now; not yet.

The quality of the Daffin’s chocolates, despite my dislike of overly sugary cream centers, makes it necessary for me to eat the lot of my two-pound box. The smooth, quality chocolate surrounding each piece usually compensates for a second rate center.

So I wait for the evening when I open the box, lift the protective liner above the glistening milk and dark delicacies and discover that only square and lumpy, nutty shapes remain. Mmmmm.

(I must tell you, I do brush my teeth after my nighttime candy indulgences. Very important.)

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