(T is for tantalizing, truffle, and tongue)

Is there anything more delicious than hazelnuts enveloped in a thick coating of chocolate? Dark chocolate, preferably. The smooth outside, the crunch of the interior, the slight sweetness of the confection on my tongue—I could eat an entire box, and have on occasion.
The trouble is, the rest of my family feels the same way. No truffle lovers in my house. A gift box of creams stays intact until it goes stale. But if I bring home a dozen hazelnut chocolates from Just So Sweet candies, they are gone by the time I reach for a second helping. I warn my kids and my husband, Hands off. But the chocolates are just too tantalizing.
Toby gives me a box every birthday, but even that present isn’t sacrosanct. I may get one or two pieces to savor with my birthday dinner, but the rest are taken in a post-midnight raid to the kitchen. The family waits until it’s safely no longer my birthday to (over)indulge.
Hide them, you say? I have tried. No cupboard, no drawer is safe. I froze a box once, sure that would discourage the marauders. They were kind enough to leave me one lone chocolate. I guess they felt a twinge of guilt.
I have stashed boxes in the bedroom closet, in the laundry room, in the basement. All found. Putting them under my pillow seems too extreme, even for me. Besides, I would eat them in the middle of the night, drawn by the tempting aroma that reaches my nose despite the feathers and cardboard between me and them.
I admit that the solution would be to buy a bigger supply of chocolates, but frankly, that would probably bring on bankruptcy.
For now, I’ll just have to wait patiently—until the kids are grown and my husband hits the road. Then, I’ll have the box all to myself.