"Victory is Mine," sayeth JoAnne Deeken

Work recently featured an interesting holiday party. In an effort to be PC the party was named the Chili and Mac and Cheese End of Semester Winter Extravaganza, and it featured a friendly chili/mac and cheese cookoff. Seperate. Not together. Because that would be gross.

I was mildly interested in participating, mostly because I like chili. And mac and cheese, I AM NOT MADE OF STONE. I was especially, distinctly, much more interested when I found out what the prize for the contest was.

a novelty size box of chocolates.

I got so excited that I even made a pot of chili AND mac and cheese to double my odds of winning. Seriously - 84 pieces of candy, all mapped out in Whitman-style. There was even a report that there were two layers of chocolates just like the itty bitty (pfft) boxes you can buy in the Walgreen's. I'll have none of that diminuitivity, thank you.

So... imagine my disappointment to have to conceed defeat to JoAnne Deeken's mac and cheese prowess. Bacon was involved. DAMN YOU, BACON. (And PS, Benny Smith, why do you think you were invited to be a judge in the contest?! NEPOTISM, Benny; look into it.)

so, so sad.

But I still have the Christmas spirit, see? Check out the festive candy cane!

JoAnne was kind enough to leave the ginormous box of chocolates at work and three or four times I would slip downstairs to follow the larger-than-life-Whitman-map and steer my way clear of orange cremes and cherry cordials to find the caramel and nougat chews. (I am a picky eater with a discerning palate, I AM. I ate a bourbon ball on a dare this holiday season and it made my eyes water.)

And... just like that... the box of chocolates was gone.

I still keep looking for it. I still trip into JoAnne's office daily hoping the double layer would regenerate in a starfish-esque way and provide me with a Christmas miracle. She felt bad for me today and gave me a chocolate out of her desk drawer to try and drown my sorrows. Thanks, JoAnne... but it's just no double layer novelty size Whitman's sampler.

There's always next year.