Family and chocolate

What are two of the best things in the world?  Family and chocolate!  Recently, our whole family got together, something we don’t get to do often due to distances and work schedules.  To gild the lily, we went to Le Chocolat du Bouchard, http://lechocolatdubouchard.com/, bastion of all things chocolate in Naperville.  What ensued was a chocolatey delicious time!

“The divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits man to walk for a whole day without food.” – Hernando Cortés (1519)

Three of the four of us ready to dive into chocolate heaven

“Chocolate is a divine, celestial drink, the sweat of the stars, the vital seed, divine nectar, the drink of the gods, panacea and universal medicine.” – Geronimo Piperni, quoted by Antonio Lavedán, Spanish army surgeon,1796

A beautiful ceiling

“It has been shown as proof positive that carefully prepared chocolate is as healthful a food as it is pleasant; that it is nourishing and easily digested… that it is above all helpful to people who must do a great deal of mental work.” – Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Just some iPad photo fun

“Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power. It is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits.” – Baron Justus von Liebig

“If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?” – Marquise de Sévigné

Reflections

“There’s nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate.” – Linda Grayson

My cup of vegan dark chocolate yummy-ness

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” – Charles M. Schulz