Life is like a box of chocolates–complex and swirling with the unknown! How many of you have peered into a box of chocolates, only to be filled with trepidation? Who knows what gooey substances, what nougat-enrobed candied fruit chunks, what mushed coconut shards, lie in wait? The holidays seem to be the prime time for these uncertainties to arise, as boxes of chocolates are distributed willy-nilly.
To assuage the discomfort that naturally arises when faced with unidentifiable chocolates, many households and communities have developed rules regarding chocolate consumption. I conducted an exhaustive poll (okay, so I asked a bunch of my friends) and came up with a smattering of rules:
- In a two-layer box of chocolates, digging into the second (i.e., bottom) level before finishing off the first is completely against the rules
- The removal of empty chocolate paper liners is mandatory
- Poking the bottoms of the chocolates to see what’s inside (knives, chopsticks, and fingers have all been mentioned for pokers) is acceptable
- Absconding with one type of candy, even if it is a favorite, is unacceptable unless agreed upon by others sharing the same box of chocolates
- Cutting a chocolate in half to reveal the insides then leaving it in the box is generally okay
- Taking a bite of a chocolate then dropping it back into the box is violently discouraged by most
- Sampling a chocolate then offering it to someone else (generally a father figure) if it is undesired, is a common practice
What other boxed-chocolate rules do you and your family practice? Did we miss any? Leave a comment and let us know!
Another option is to go with a pick-your-own chocolate box mix like Wolfgang Candy’s “Truly Yours”. You get to pick exactly what chocolates you want in the box so there are none you don’t like. Genius! See’s has something similar.
My parents used to give me a Whitman’s Sampler every year, and leaving the empty papers in the box was crucial to determining the types of chocolates remaining. I suppose that only comes into play if you have a map to go by.
Cutting each piece in half in mandatory in my house. My family has all the same tastes usually so we have to cut them all for maximun sharing.
We have this page printed out for our holiday candy boxes from See’s. No weird surprises now!
We went by your rules mostly – but we would frequently toss down the heating grate the ones that we maimed too much by poking! Better to destroy the evidence than face the wrath of Mom and Dad!
I actually got a box of See’s for Christmas. I have to admit, they make some darn good candies! Unfortunately, I haven’t the faintest idea what most of them are, so reviewing them would be rather a waste of time. “And the, uh, white one with gooey pink stuff and little crunchy things inside was very good as well.” Nope, not gonna work.
I am revolted when I see someone take a bite out of chocolate, discover they don’t like it and toss it in the trash. Wasting candy is just wrong! ^O^
I wish they would come up with color-coded paper cups. White for coconut (my favorite!), yellow for lemon creme (my least favorite), orange for orange creme, and so on. They would have to get creative with some, like purple for caramel, since there really isn’t a full rainbow of chocolate centers.
That would be SO pretty if they had rainbow insides… *daydreams*
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i must admit i take a small bite of every candy in the box and leave the rest..i’m bad and i like it :):)especilly my favorite see’s