An Australian delicacy

January 15, 2:55 pm: Have you ever been so excited to find a $20 bill in a pair of pants that were sitting on your closet floor? I haven’t either, but it sounds like it would be a nice experience. Instead of money, I found something better in the trunk of my car today. I felt like it was God’s favor on me for not smoking with those Western Digital employees. I found a pack of Cherry Ripe. This may not mean much to you, but my friend Janice travels to Australia a few times a year and brings me candy. I am a candy connoisseur and many of their candy varieties are not easy to find in the United States. Cherry Ripe is one of them. This must have slipped out of a little box of treats that she brought me back from down under. The bi-line on the packet read: “Ripe juicy cherries and coconut in old gold rich dark chocolate.” It could have read: “Sweetness so good that it can’t be described because of the fallibility of the human taste-bud.” My definition better defines the product, but their definition has several descriptive adjectives and nouns: ripe, juicy, gold, rich… cherries, coconut, dark chocolate. Tremendous words. I would consider relocating to Australia if I didn’t have Janice as a friend to be my supplier as well as internet access to occasionally buy some international treats. Speaking of friends, one of my best friends Aaron, is with me when I make the discovery in my trunk. Based on my reaction, he thought I found a winning lottery ticket. In a divine way, I kind of did. I said, “Aaron, because I love you so much and because this is a Twin Pack I would like to offer you half of this heavenly candy.” I thought it was a kind gesture, but Aaron said, “Is it because you love me or because you don’t want to getter fatter?” Like I mentioned, he’s one of my best friends and knows me too well. The true answer is neither. I wanted to eat it all by myself, but I felt like I should share my good finding. But, before we ate it, I did a google search to prove to Aaron that it was an Australian delicacy. I found a chocolate blog that reviewed my Cherry Ripe with these words: one shouldn’t merely inhale a Cherry Ripe - this is the only bar that Cadbury makes in Australia that is coated in dark chocolate – excepting the ‘old gold’ bars, so it is rather unique and automatically stands out as a bit more ‘special’ than the usual Cadbury fare. Inside the lovely almost blackish coating is a deliciously moist, Bounty-like coconut mixture generously studded with glace cherries. It tastes much nicer than its rather ordinary depiction. (http://www.chocablog.com/reviews/cadbury-cherry-ripe/)