
Happy Valentine's Day!

Part of Dustin's Valentine's Day gift was supposed to be what I thought would be a cute and thoughtful take on the Valentine's classic, chocolate covered strawberries. I pulled the stems, cut the strawberries in half and cut the tops to have two bumps, turning the strawberry halves into hearts. I thought it would be really awesome to carve a little bit of the middle out of the strawberries and fill them with something tasty before I dipped them in decadent dark chocolate, to give these strawberries a little something extra. I thought about using some kind of fruit jelly or maybe a white chocolate, but I figured jelly wouldn't stand out with the flavor of the strawberry and white chocolate would just blend with the covering chocolate.

![](/photos/2012/02/DSC_05101-584x541.jpg "DSC_0510")

After scouring the cabinets I came across some marshmallow creme way back from Halloween when we semi-successfully attempted to recreate butterbeer from the Harry Potter books. Yes, we are nerds. I figured I'd use the leftover marshmallow creme to make simple fudge at some point, but this seemed like an even better use for the creamy white stuff.

![](/photos/2012/02/DSC_05131-584x561.jpg "DSC_0513")

After using a knife to slightly hollow out the insides of the strawberries, I took a small dab of marshmallow creme and spread it on the inside of the strawberry half. This was an unusually difficult and messy task. Once all of the strawberry halves had been filled, I set them on a cooling rack with a piece of aluminum foil underneath and spooned melted dark chocolate over the tops. When the hot chocolate touched the marshmallow creme, a good chunk of the marshmallow creme rolled off the strawberry along with the excess dark chocolate, creating an even larger mess for me.

![](/photos/2012/02/DSC_0521-584x479.jpg "DSC_0521")

Once that side of the strawberry had dried, I turned each over and covered the other half in chocolate. In the end, most of the strawberries turned out to be an ugly looking disaster (but may I note, they still tasted quite good). But it's the thought of the gift that counts, right?

Maybe I should leave this sort of work to the professionals instead of trying the homemade route. But if I ever try doing something like this again I'll have to make some revisions. Namely, there needs to be some way to set the marshmallow creme before it's covered in chocolate. Maybe I should put them in the refrigerator beforehand?

![](/photos/2012/02/DSC_0523-579x584.jpg "DSC_0523")

Not the greatest picture and not the greatest looking chocolate in the world.

Nonetheless, it was a fun, if only somewhat successful, experiment in the kitchen.


Heart Shaped Chocolate Covered Strawberries

heart-shaped-chocolate-covered-strawberries


Happy Halloween!

Inspired by [this post](http://aspicyperspective.com/2011/10/halloween-bark-recipe.html), Dustin and I decided to make a Halloween bark from some of America's favorite candy bars and the most ubiquitous Halloween treat around, candy corn, to take to a party. I never really thought about making any kind of bark besides the Christmastime goody, peppermint bark, but now that I think about it, it is a truly versatile and decorative treat for any celebration. This bark is really easy to make, plus it looked really cool with all of the different colors and textures. We decided to forgo the "spooky" candy from the original post and focus more on candy bars, hence the name Candy Bar-k.

First we chopped up three different candy bars— a Snickers, a Milky Way, and a Butterfinger– along with a bag of Pretzel M&Ms, just because I personally think they are really tasty and they would add a little pop of color. Any candy bars can be used though, which really allows for great customization of this dessert. In hindsight, Butterfingers might not have been the greatest choice seeing as when they were chopped the insides crumbled. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups might be a better choice to get in that peanut buttery flavor.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0045-2048x1356.jpg "DSC_0045")

Even though neither of us are candy corn fans, we decided they were essential to making this a Halloween specific treat, so we took a few handfuls and added them in as well. Crazy enough, candy corn was actually hard for us to find when we went shopping. The local Safeway didn't have any, so we had to make a special trip to the drugstore which saved the day and our bark.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0053-2048x1356.jpg "DSC_0053")

Next, we melted an entire 11 ounce bag of milk chocolate in a double boiler with about a tablespoon of butter. Once the milk chocolate was smooth, we spread a layer onto an 8x8 baking dish covered in wax paper.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0051-2048x1356.jpg "DSC_0051")

We cleaned the double boiler and then melted about 2/3 of a bag of white chocolate chips with another tablespoon of butter and then poured that layer over the milk chocolate.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_00661-2048x1567.jpg "DSC_0066")

Taking a knife, we swirled the two chocolates together to create neat little patterns (although it really doesn't matter considering the next step).

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0072-2048x1356.jpg "DSC_0072")

We took our chopped candy, mixed it all together and covered the chocolate, lightly pressing the candy in so it would stick well.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0084-2017x2048.jpg "DSC_0084")

Our bark looked good enough to eat right then and there, but we had to be patient. We popped it into the refrigerator for an hour before we took it out and broke it into pieces for that authentic bark look. We heeded the advice of the original recipe which said not to keep the bark refrigerated, but instead to put it in an airtight container.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0106-2048x1461.jpg "DSC_0106")

Not only is this recipe great to make on Halloween as a party treat, but it is also a fantastic way to finish up the candy you didn't pass out to trick-or-treaters!

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0138-2048x1362.jpg "DSC_0138")

Not to be left out of all of the fun, Bonnie got a special Halloween treat too. Even puppies need a treat to the celebrate the holidays.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0012.jpg "DSC_0012")

And costumes. Don't judge.

![](/photos/2011/10/DSC_0115-2048x1356.jpg "DSC_0115")


#candies

Heart Shaped Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Candy Bar-k