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Homemade citrus toffee that adds joy to my young nephews' lives
A practice to develop mindful eating in primary years
A colleague of mine brought chocolates from her home country, Moldova, last week. The tiny chocolate bars had hardened caramel, layered with nuts and chocolate — a delightful combination, always. As I began eating one, I asked her what was the name of the chocolate. She looked at me, and said, “Aah, I don’t know. The one we only got on Christmas, and special occasions, you know. The special ones, reserved for special times.”
I laughed. Of course, I knew that variety of chocolates and candies, reserved for when you scored well in exams, or could buy for the annual school picnic. These were the chocolates you peered through the confectionary’s glass cabinet, indulging yourself in the colours and flavours they came in. Being a small-town kid, the city housed a handful of confectionaries and a visit to any of them, meant finding out the new chocolates in town.
And then there were the overseas relative’s visits. From Hershey’s rice flakes milk bars to licorice stick candies, as kids, these were delicacies, not to be missed out upon. I remember how each kid would get a packet of their own, and we would regroup to mix and match, each one of us getting a taste of all the chocolates on deck.
