They appeared on my to do list eight straight days in a row. There were of course time blocks I knew they would be squeezed out. Sewing projects and delivering cards took precedence. But I kept writing it, just to increase the likelihood of it happening. 

 

 

The recipe online looked ridiculously simple. Four ingredients. It sounded as delicious as the honey mints I buy at Trader Joe's. Which are a sweet treat, and, if you did the math of individual candies divided by a three dollar bag, not cheap.

 

So I came home with fair trade chocolate, 74 per cent cocoa, ($4.99), extra virgin coconut oil, (what does that even mean? No, don't tell me) and peppermint extract or oil, I can't remember which. I already had honey. Local. As in one mile. 

 

First I needed to get the coconut oil out of the jar. It was solidified, so I warmed it over a double boiler, and voila it was liquid. Then I mixed it with the honey and peppermint oil or extract, which John assured me I had used the wrong one of, and noticed that it was still liquid. Since the directions said to form into patties I needed it to get cold again. I put it in the freezer. It had only been forty minutes since I started, so this was going well. I took the bowl out of the freezer too early, said John, since the patties got mushy in my hands when I tried to dip them in chocolate. Which I also melted over the double boiler. Twice, since the first time it softened the patties were still liquid. Back in the freezer. Now it was seriously cold.

 

I squeezed the white mush into patties which involved getting my hands covered with coconut oil. I have heard that this is the newest pinnacle of health, exceeded only by kale, so probably this was a good thing for my skin. Or circulation. But it was, well, oily. John walked through and to be helpful suggested I refreeze it before adding the chocolate. That's ok. I can go for a third round of double boiling, which I suppose makes it a factor of six. 

 

When I started dipping the patties into the chocolate the latter froze. On my hands. Which added to the oiliness made them, well, messy. By the time I had covered all of the patties, the cost of a bag of mints from Trader Joe's looked dirt cheap. 

 

And I still had to do the dishes. 

 

Sometimes it is easy to assume that what looks easy, is easy. Take relationships, for example. What could go wrong? Walk on the beach. Hold hands. Say nice things. Smell pretty. 

 

But it is possible that things get messy somewhere in the middle.