when only chocolate will do...

Y'know, we were promised a hot summer. Really. The Meteorological Office said so.

And I quote:

"The coming summer is 'odds on for a barbecue summer', according to long-range forecasts. Summer temperatures across the UK are likely to be warmer than average and rainfall near or below average for the three months of summer.... Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, Ewen McCallum, said: "After two disappointingly-wet summers, the signs are much more promising this year. We can expect times when temperatures will be above 30 °C, something we hardly saw at all last year."

Which would be why, outside my window, it's throwing it down with rain and blowing an absolute gale. I'm not exactly sitting here in my bikini, either.

Pah.

So - what to do?

Chocolate. A big whopper of a cup of the hot liquid stuff. That'll do for now. Preferably this one:

I had this during my trip to Deal, on the Kent coast. It was, simply, the best cup of hot chocolate or cocoa I've ever tasted. Fabulous, wonderful, lovely, unctuous stuff.

And served at one of the loveliest chocolate shops I've ever been to - Sara's Chocolates, on Middle Street. It's cute, quaint, quirky and homely all in one. And run by the bundle of gregarious energy, Sara herself, who will happily tell you all you want to know, and more, about chocolate.

If you're ever down that way, do pop in. It'll be good for your soul and your sanity, though not necessarily for your waistline or arteries. But when chocolate is this good, who the hell cares?