What would life be? ...

Chocolate arrives in Switzerland.

Heinrich Escher, mayor of Zurich, was introduced to chocolate in Brussels in 1697 and brought it back home, where it was discreetly consumed at the feasts of the various guilds which ruled the city, until the Zurich Council banned it in 1722 as unfit for virtuous citizens. (It had a reputation as an aphrodisiac.)

The Swiss in general had to wait several decades before wandering Italian "cioccolatieri" brought the drink to Switzerland. The first chocolate manufacture was set up around 1750 by two Italians in a former paper mill near Bern, the Schermenmühle. It was not a great success: the locals did not take to it, and the mill was soon given over to producing flour instead. Nevertheless, before the end of the century other factories appeared in western Switzerland - Vevey, Morges and Lausanne - and in the Blenio Valley in canton Ticino. The first chocolate shop in Switzerland opened in Bern in 1792.

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Ladies, can you imagine life without chocolate???

The thought gives me visions of thousands of women screaming, hysterical, running down the road in their p.j.'s with tin foil wrapped around their heads and fluffy bunny slippers on their feet.

Makes me want to rush out to the store and buy a giant size bar of Hershey's Special Dark and eat it right there at the counter.

But it also makes me think of things we take the ability of having for granted. Ordinary, every day snack food kinds of things.

My list: Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Blueberry muffins. Cheetos White Cheddar Cheese Puffs. Fritos Corn Chips. Tiramisu. New York style cheese cake. Celery stalks with peanut butter. Pico de Gallo and tortilla chips.

Although I don't have this stuff very often, I like knowing I can jump in the Jeep and zip to the store anytime a craving hits. Or, if I have the ingredients at home I can make stuff like my Grandmother's gingerbread, old fashioned sugar cookies or a host of other delectable edibles to satisfy my snack monster appetite.

I wonder what kinds of things would be on y'all's list of "Edibles I Can't Imagine Life Without". I'd really like to know ...

Namaste y'all ...