Chocolates

One of the little things I absolutely miss desperately about the United States is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It's such a small thing, I know, but they're nearly impossible to find in the BVI. Every now and again, if I happen to wander into Vanterpool Pharmacy on the right day, they'll have a few twin-packs of full-size cups, at which point I will buy one and consume it before I leave the store. My favorite Reese's, though, are the miniatures, individually wrapped in foil. For these little delicacies, I have to wait for one of our infrequent trips to St. John, where I will buy the smallest bag I can possibly find.

The smallest bag?! you might exclaim in puzzlement. Why should I not get the largest bag, so I can smuggle them back to Tortola and continue to enjoy them for as long as I can restrain myself? Here is where my chocolate indulgence gets complicated by climate. As a regular reader of this blog may have discovered, the BVI is a warm place. If you have really been paying attention along the way, you also now know that there is not much air-conditioning in the BVI. And here is what I've found: Reese's are not nearly as good when they're melted.

I've tried to get around this. I've kept bags of Reese's in an air-conditioned car on St. John until the last possible moment before departure, and then stuffed them into the refrigerator immediately on arriving home. On a cool evening, the chocolates will survive the half-hour ferry ride and the half-hour drive home, to arrive intact in the refrigerator. But then, of course, they are refrigerated. And there is a big difference from an air-conditioned chocolate and a refrigerated one -- usually about 30 degrees Farenheit, and about 30 degrees of hardness, too. So I've found it is best to buy a small bag, and enjoy them all in one go, in the air-conditioned splendor of a St. John hotel room, lying on my back in bed as piles of Reese's miniatures wrappers build on the nightstand beside me.