A trip "north"

We went on a trip "north" yesterday, to Stuarts Draft. This is near Staunton. It is about an hour or so away. Not far.

But the change in the landscape is rather noticeable. It gets flatter as you leave Buchanan and head into the Shenandoah Valley. The picture on the bottom is near home; see how far the mountains are in the first picture? It's quite a wide valley. (I took the photos through the car window as we were traveling.)

We went to The Cheese Shop, which is an organic food store we had not visited. We brought home cheese, organic brown rice, fax seeds, and . . . chocolate.

I should not eat the chocolate but I can't seem to help myself. I went for 15 years without eating it because it gave me migraines. And then this spring I ate some chocolate and ... no migraine. I guess I will stop craving it eventually, having sated myself from long hiatus from a food I dearly love. At least, that is the hope.

I still eat it in moderation because (a) it is fattening and (b) I am not convinced it won't give me a migraine. But it is nearly or.ga.s.mic to eat it when you haven't had it in so long. It is like a little dance inside of your mouth.

But they had some European dark chocolate that looked so good, I just had to try it.

Then we went into Staunton and shopped a bit. As we were having lunch (I had broiled flounder and broccoli, isn't that healthy?) I suddenly stopped with my fork halfway to my mouth. "You did put that chocolate in the cooler with the cheese, didn't you?" I asked the husband.

Um. No. I dropped my utensil and dashed outside, barely in time. The sun was bearing down on one end of the very large chocolate bar, and that part had melted.

I folded it over and stuck it in the cooler. This morning, that end of the bar was a little white with the sugar from melting.

But it tasted very good.