Celebrating Chocolate Lovers Month

What better day to celebrate Chocolate Lovers Month than Valentine's Day? I decided at the last minute I wanted to have a few people over tonight, so I sent out an e-mail invitation a couple of days ago. Here's what I wrote:

          Are you planning on taking your "Valentine" out to eat on Valentine's Day, or are 

          you planning a different day since the crowds will be horrendous with several hour 

          wait times?   Whichever, surely you will still want dessert!

          You are invited to help me celebrate Chocolate Lovers Month by coming to my 

          house on Tuesday, February 14, 7:00-8:30pm for a Chocolate Dessert Bar. Try one 

          tasty chocolate morsel, or get one of each! Coffee or hot chocolate...or both! 

          Hopefully, the weathermen will be right about the rain not turning into any ice or 
          snow accumulation. Hope to see you here tomorrow night!

I had been thinking about celebrating this holiday; I just didn't make up my mind when to do it until the last minute.  In fact,  I had asked for some favorite chocolate recipes on The Buzz.  As usual, you folks really came through for me.  I got 32 responses! Here's the link if you'd like to see what everyone suggested.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Exchange/Recipe-Request.aspx?RequestID=267163

I didn't have a lot of time once I decided to have my little get-together on Valentine's night, so I chose recipes based on how easy they were to make.

I knew I wanted to offer coffee and hot chocolate, so I made Instant Hot Cocoa Mix. I must say, it's the only recipe I was disappointed in.  It was just too watery tasting. Fortunately, none of my guests wanted hot chocolate :) Tomorrow, I'm going to try it in milk and see if I like it any better. I saw several recipes that called for instant chocolate pudding.  I wonder if adding that would make it better.

My favorite chocolate treat I made was Fudge Chunkies. Thank you, Linda (LMT), for recommending them. They are dark chocolate cookies with a huge chocolate punch. The recipe says it makes 16 cookies, but I made 24 and still cooked them 13 minutes.  These really are easy to make and taste out of this world!

I also made Pretzel Turtles, a very easy treat made with pretzels, Rolos, and a pecan half. This is the only dessert I had ever made before.  All the rest were new recipes.

Hockey Pucks were Ritz Crackers spread with peanut butter and dipped in chocolate.  I used white chocolate.

I wanted different types of chocolate desserts, so I decided to make Chocolate Almond Pudding and serve it in shooters. That way, people wouldn't have too much and could still try other desserts too. This has a light chocolate taste with a barely perceptible almond flavor.

Another one of my favorites was Boston Cream Pie Minis. Super simple to make and very cute.  I made them in mini muffin tins, again, so people could eat several desserts. I especially liked the chocolate frosting...just Cool Whip and 4 squares of baking chocolate.  Just so easy to make.

My final dessert was healthy...Chocolate-Dipped Fruit :) I dipped apricots and strawberries in chocolate.

I used the same centerpiece I had made last week for a Valentine Tea Party and set the table using different china patterns of small plates and cup sets I had collected through the years.

For an hour and a half, we all sat around the table talking and sampling different desserts. Valentine's Day...what a great day to celebrate chocolate and friendship!