It's almost that time of the year again!
Although I have been "clean" from chocolate, other candy, and most desserts for nearly a decade, how I used to love spring! Easter candy was as delicious as lilies, tulips, and daffodils, and then one year a Jewish friend introduced me to Passover chocolates:
look, the irises and crocuses are blooming too!
When I was a child, Christmas was about cookies (and, if my mother was in the mood, homemade peanut-butter cups

), but I never could get excited about marshmallow Santas, and absolutely
hated candy canes: hard candy, yuck; peppermint, double yuck. Give me Easter: chocolate, chocolate, and
more chocolate! We also received jelly beans in our Easter baskets, but I never really liked them much, especially the licorice flavour, which fortunately my sibling loved. . .good for trading!
If I recall correctly, Cadbury "creme" eggs were introduced when I was a young teenager, and quickly became a favourite. Everyone else in my immediate family, of course, thought they were disgusting, so I had to learn to buy them after school and enjoy them with friends or in private.
When I was in college, the corner stores near campus sold Cadbury eggs
year-round. Fortunately this didn't make me a glutton; knowing they were regularly available, I limited my purchases to about twice per month. After I moved away from my college neighbourhood and its steady supply, however, I began to engage in serious seasonal misbehavior.
During the weeks before Easter, I would stock up on Cadbury eggs and Reese's peanut-butter eggs (my other mass-market favourite) at pre-Easter sales. I am ashamed to admit that even in my post-bulimia days, I could still occasionally eat up to four Cadbury eggs
or up to six Reese's eggs (not nearly as sweet!) in one sitting. Some people celebrate Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday before Lent, but for me, "Fat Monday" came the day after Easter: leaving work, I stopped at both the independent pharmacy
and the chain pharmacy in my neighbourhood, and cleared their shelves of the following, all at 50% off:
- Cadbury "creme" eggs
- Reese's peanut-butter eggs
- Russell Stover vanilla-"creme" eggs: too expensive to buy at regular price, at least in mass quantities!
At clearance prices, I had enough Easter candy to fill a small grocery bag. It lasted about a month, a sort of Halloween in springtime.
Now you may have a better understanding of why I don't eat chocolate anymore.

Now you know why I had to have so many dental restorations as a child!
If you cannot eat a particular food in moderation (and chocolate was the one thing I really, really couldn't, no matter how much I tried),
don't eat it at all.
You may be surprised to learn that my husband likes Cadbury and Reese's eggs. . .
in moderation. Last year, we bought 2-3 packages of each for him on clearance, which of course was my suggestion.

Most of them are still on the "candy shelf" in our pantry. Recently, I told him that since it's almost Easter season again, if he doesn't eat them soon, I'm going to feed the peanut-butter eggs to our yard's resident squirrels and buy him some new ones! Whenever I tease him about his dietary issues (such as an intolerance for hot peppers, which I
love), I remind him that he can do one thing I have never, ever mastered: eat chocolate, candy, and dessert in limited quantities.
Does it bother me to have Cadbury and Reese's eggs in the house all year? During the first two years of my life without chocolate, I don't think I could have done it. By the time we were married, however, I was more than five years clean. Whenever I look at the chocolate (only when I'm in pursuit of some other pantry item), I just remind myself that it's not for me. Like dental visits, life without chocolate eventually became easier.
If you like Cadbury eggs, eat
one extra one this year for me. . .and brush well afterward!
