Confession Friday - As if one chocolate confession weren't enough

Finally... the chance to write!  I have to accept that it's THAT time of year and my time is not always my own, but this too shall pass come mid to late April.  There will be ample time then to write on a more regular basis.  In the meantime, I will blog when I can and confess what I will, albeit on a not-quite-so-regular schedule.  On to the confession for this week....

Spring seems to be on everyone's mind this week as the temperatures here in the South and the rest of the nation moderated somewhat the past few days.  The weather outlook for this weekend here in Atlanta looks terrific. I am sure there are cold days ahead, but for now I can't help but feel the worst of winter is over.  Now that I have said it, I have just jinxed us all and a huge blizzard will descend upon us at the end of February, beginning of March. Still, we all know that it is just a matter of a few weeks and Spring will be here before we know it.   And that gets me to thinking about Lent and Easter.

Let's face it, Easter is a nice holiday, but quieter and more low-key, given what it represents.  For the Christian, it is a more solemn occasion and can't be compared to the frivolity of Christmas.  There are no Easter parties, no days of countless social gatherings, gift buying, baking, and exhaustion.  Families will gather to have a Easter Sunday dinner, egg hunts for the kids, and the little ones will be excited to see what the Big Bunny will leave in their baskets.  There are little toys, jelly beans, candy eggs, but most prevalent are the Easter chocolates.  And that is where my confession comes in on this subject.

When I was a child, the Easter Bunny never left the traditional chocolate bunny in my or my siblings' baskets.  Granted, we got some candy and usually a book or something of that nature, but never, never a chocolate bunny.  And as you all know from one of my recent confessions, I have been a chocolate addict from the time I could chew food.  So you can imagine my distress each Easter Sunday to anticipate a big chocolate rabbit or egg in the my basket, only to be disappointed once again.  This was entirely fueled and complicated by the fact that my cousins would arrive at my grandparents' home for Easter dinner, Easter baskets in tow, complete with a gi-normous chocolate rabbit. Can you say jealous?  Green, pea green with envy.  When I became a parent, I made sure that the Easter Bunny brought chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate to put in my girls' baskets. Eggs, bunnies, hens...the usual.

I confess.....I am fascinated by the forms that Easter chocolates come in. Over the years I have become increasingly aware that a strange trend has developed in these Easter candy offerings.   I'm not just talking bunnies and eggs here. Some people have decided that it would be really cool if these Easter treats took on a more religious, if not, shall we say...holy aspect.  If I tried to describe it, words just wouldn't do it justice, so let me share some pictures I found:

Nothing like eating The Good Book.

The Praying Hands.... I pray your children don't get this

.

Christ's Hands.....lick 'em or bite them?

For those that need a little crunch when they eat Christ's Praying Hands.

For the Protestants' Easter Baskets.  A Chocolate Cross.  Lovely.

Calvary re-enacted in chocolate and Easter grass.

Let's not forget our Catholic friends.

For the REALLY devote Catholic.

The wine and the wafer in chocolate....now that's my kind of Communion!

I don't quite think this is what they had in mind for the Body and Blood of Christ, or is it just me?

Don't know about you, but I would have a problem eating this......just saying......

 I know every child would just love to find Jesus peeking out of his or her Easter basket.  My question is this - head or finger first?

  And finally, for the chocolate do-it-yourself-er:

 Nothing says Easter joy like a chocolate and pretzel Crown of Thorns.

It all just seems so.....so....wrong......

Please, please, do me a favor....stick to the Easter bunnies, eggs, chicks.....you know, NORMAL Easter sweets.  And please, dear God, forgive me for I know what I do and I confessed anyway.

P.S.  The chocolate giveaway is still on....I'm halfway to 50 followers.  Once I reach that goal, the chocolate will be going to a lucky follower!  Help me spread the word.