Every year, without fail, I must have chocolate covered strawberries from Mary of Puddin’ Hill. This tradition began about 15 years ago when a box of them arrived at my office, when I was working for BH. My then boyfriend, SS, had ordered them. He was always the best at gift-giving! He knew I loved surprises and never tipped me off.
When I opened that first box, I fell in love. A dozen huge, perfect strawberries were thickly coated in milk chocolate of the highest quality. The best part? They are packed in a box of mini marshmallows….like edible packing peanuts! The marshmallows get sticky and gooey from soaking up the juices from the berries.
This year the strawberries were supposed to be delivered on Friday the 12th, giving me a couple of days to enjoy them before my trip to Rio. But the snow in Texas where they ship from combined with the snow here in Atlanta (what are the chances?), held them up at UPS until the 15th. Being perishable, they were ruined by the time I got back on the 22nd.
So I called and they re-shipped them, just in time for my birthday! But, alas, it was not to be. The replacement shipment was inadvertently sent Ground rather than Next Day Air, so they will go bad by the time they arrive next week. When I noticed the shipping error I called right away.
I would almost give Mary of Puddin’ Hill a Knuckle Sandwich, but ever since SS and I broke up, if I was single on Valentine’s I would buy them for myself. So I’ve been doing business with them for a long time and these strawberries are truly a special treat, available only twice a year, on Valentine’s and Mother’s Day. (yes, I get them for both occassions)
These days I prefer dark chocolate. When I can’t get Mary of Puddin’ Hill strawberries (which is most of the time), I love Godiva’s (see pathetic photo, below).
The third shipment was sent out on February 25th. Timing was critical, there were no strawberries made to ship out so Linda who always takes my order pulled them from the store to send and I received them today! The only thing is the ones in the store were decorated with a white chocolate drizzle. I hate white chocolate. It is not chocolate. It is cocoa butter, sugar, and vanilla.
Whatever, it was just a drizzle, so I decided to accept them, and happily so! Momentarily, I will be biting through a hard chocolate shell with sticky marshmallows stuck on it, into a huge, sweet strawberry, it’s juices running down my chin as the chocolate begins to melt in my mouth.
Almost sounds like sex. Happy Valentine’s Day….better late than never!
My obsession with chocolate covered strawberries began more than fifteen years ago when I received my first box via FedEx on Valentine’s Day….a surprise from my boyfriend (at the time) SS.