So every year Morgen asks for the same thing for Valentines day, Fathers day and his birthday. Whats that? Chocolate covered yummies in his pot. the pot in question is a terra-cotta pot I got on clearance at Michaels Crafts a few years ago for $.50 and painted. I sponge painted it white then cut sponges in the shapes of harts and did red and pink hearts on it. Morgen loves this pot. It has a special prominent place on his desk. He loves it so much because he knows 3 times a year it will be filled with chocolate goodies.
To start off I get strawberries, a whole pineapple, mango, kiwi, a cantaloupe, and a bag of marshmallows, also depending on the time of year I get blackberries. I wash and dry the fruit, then I stick the strawberries and marshmallows on sticks. the pineapple i cut the outer layer off and stick on sticks as well, I've tried different ways with the pineapple and spears seem to work the best, but the time I did these ones I was trying to make flowers, it didn't work out that well. I peal the mango and kiwi and slice them and put them on sticks, the cantaloupe i cut in half and then used a mellon baller to make balls and put multiple balls on sticks.
The mellon, mango, blackberries and kiwi will not be dipped in chocolate as they are just too delicate, they are used more for color and to space out the chocolate coma my husband will endure from eating the entire thing in less than 24 hours. =)
In the pot I put a half a styrofoam ball that I cut down to fit, you can cover the ball with green tissue paper or green leaf lettuce, sometimes I do, sometimes, like when i took these pictures and was pregnant I didn't care and left the styrofoam showing. Morgen didn't care as long as he got his goodies.
So first things first, I boil water in a pot and put a double boiler over it. Pour a bag of chocolate chips in and stir till melted. Make sure no water gets into the chocolate. This project usually takes me two bags of Hershey's dark chocolate chips.
Then take the strawberries on sticks and cover in chocolate.
Lay the strawberries on parchment paper to dry. I usually stick the parchment paper on top of a baking sheet so I can move them more easily.
Repeat with the marshmallows and anything else you want to dip. for the marshmallows I tend to put two or three on a stick and cover them all at once,
Then once the chocolate is set I start arranging in the pot. (usually i wait until they were hardened. I was pregnant and impatient at the time these pictures were taken so I just shoved them in)
These next pictures were from a few years ago when I did it, they looked much nicer because I waited until the chocolate was set. Also hearts are easier to cut into pineapple than flowers. =)
As you can see Tabitha was eyeing daddies yummies!
Its always wise to keep some extra fruit on hand when making these to keep the little ones from rioting.
Its Tabitha approved!
