While I was going through recent photos on my camera, these pictures of our dogwood tree were just too pretty not to share. I am always fascinated by the center of the dogwood blossom.
An early evening shot that I took while I was sitting at the computer.
********************
Mother's Day is just around the corner, and I enjoy spoiling both our moms with something handmade/homemade to go along with their Mother's Day gift.
Something sweet that they pamper themselves with on Mother's Day. I'm including instructions for our moms, so all they have to do is microwave a mug of milk, insert the spoon in their mug and stir! When I made the cocoa melts, I used a rich dark chocolate from Trader Joe's, but you can use milk, semisweet or white chocolate as long as it has a high percentage of cocoa butter. Most chocolate chips will not work due to the vegetable fat.
A flexible plastic ice cube tray works well for the mold, and I piped the chocolate mixture using a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. Then added the plastic spoons which stand upright like little soldiers without tipping over. Once they are hard, they easily popped out of the ice cube tray.
In case you'd like to make some, I've included the instructions for Cozy Coca Melts by Koralee Teichroeb of Bluebird Notes. I follow her blog and then discovered that she was featured in "Where Women Cook" one evening when I was re-reading the publication looking at the recipes. Once I saw her recipe for the cocoa melts, I knew I wanted to make them. I felt like Koralee was in the kitchen with me ;o)
Love this picture of Koralee!
Joe and I sampled the cocoa melts, and I can honestly say they are a REAL treat. And they are easy to make with just a few ingredients: 8 ounces good quality chocolate, 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, 1/4 cup of Dutch processed cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. You can click on the recipe to enlarge it.
This is the publication that Koralee's recipe was featured in.
After I popped the chocolate from the ice cube tray, I melted some milk chocolate (optional) in the microwave, and dipped the melts in a bowl of mini marshmallows. Added some tags with a bow, and put the chocolate melts in clear bags. I made extras to give to our sisters for Mother's Day ;o)
