Fran's Little Bites of Heaven

Underneath this tissue, behind this gold seal, lie the most wonderful chocolates on the West Coast, imho:

Fran's Chocolates. You can't get them here in Los Angeles. I have my dealer daughter bring me a fix few every time she comes into town for a visit:

It's a standard phone call now: "Hi, Mom, do you want me to pick up anything for you before I come down? Seattle Soaps? Special coffees? Fran's?


Fran's! I always want Fran's.

They're made in Seattle and sold out of three brick-and-mortar store fronts.

As far as I'm concerned, those bricks are made of gold, because inside each store it's Heaven. Beautifully colored, paper-wrapped boxes tied in real cloth (not paper) ribbons. Sometimes the ribbons are satin, sometimes grosgrain, like these:

And although they make a variety of chocolates, my dealer daughter knows their caramels are the only ones I want. Specifically, these caramels:

Paradise. Nirvana. Food of the gods. That's what chocolate's taxonomic (scientific) name means--theobroma cacao. "Theobroma" means "food of the gods." Yup, they got that right:

Aha! My lovers, come to me!:

Seven perfect little bites, to savor slowly and sweetly.

Oops! Make that six little bites.

One seems to have mysteriously disappeared.

Heh, heh!