Welp, it looks like we're in for another revelry-free St. Patrick's Day this year. Unlike last year, though, we now possess the skills to celebrate even the most social holidays at home... alone... in our sweatpants. It's not as depressing as it sounds, I swear.
If I've learned one thing over the past 300-some-odd days, it's that you have to adapt and find new ways to conjure up joy. For me, that means funneling my usual St. Patrick's Day bar tab into something that will make me smile: a flock of chocolate sheep. As soon as I laid eyes on these fluffy, ganache-filled critters from chocolatier L.A. Burdick, I knew they'd fill the void.
Aside from the fact that they're really freakin' cute, these candies are handcrafted (sans mold) over three days, so no two are identical. It all starts with a dollop of hand-piped dark chocolate ganache that's infused with Irish cream liqueur. From there, their bulbous bodies come to life thanks to tiny almond ears, chocolate-dotted eyes and a fuzzy white chocolate coat.
The edible sheep are just one element of L.A. Burdick's Irish Chocolate assortment ($45 for a half-pound), which is also filled with bonbons that are flavored with Irish breakfast tea, carrot and thyme, Irish coffee and fresh mint leaves. The limited-edition box is available through March 19, at which point the chocolatiers will start working on Easter bunnies, which are quite possibly even sweeter.
For now, a quiet St. Patrick's Day at home with a box of chocolates and a whiskey-spiked coffee doesn't sound so bad.