Chocolate Covered Candy Pieces for Valentine's Day

If you really want to impress your Valentine, make some chocolate covered nuts and fruits.  My husband and I always bought Peters Ultra chocolate in a 10 lb. slab and we got that from Stover & Company here in Pittsburgh.

Even though we are talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas, we recommend that you start your holiday candy now in order to have enough for the Christmas gift giving.  If you need a review, go back and print our blog "How to Make Molded Candy for Easter." 

Chocolate covered Dates

My favorite chocolate piece is a chocolate covered date.  In order to make these, you need to purchase pitted dates.  Dates are normally sticky when you bring them out of the package but you still want to roll them in confectioners sugar before coating them with the chocolate.  Stick a toothpick into one side of the date and then dip it into the chocolate.  Roll it around until the chocolate sticks to the date.  Lay you piece of candy onto a piece of waxed paper which is lining a cookie sheet.  Once you have all of the pieces made you put the pan into the refrigerator to set up.

Chocolate covered Cherries

To make chocolate covered cherries, you buy maraschino cherries in a jar and drain the juice.  The cherries are coated with the confectioners sugar.  For this candy you may want to purchase a candy mold in the shape of individual candy pieces.  My mother-in-law was inventive and saved the little medicine cups from the hospital to make her individual candy pieces.  Either way you fill the cups enough to coat the bottom of the cup about 1/3 full.  Then you drop your piece of fruit into the cups.  Pour your melted chocolate over them until each cup is full.  Put your candy into the refrigerator to set up you pieces of chocolate.

Chocolate covered Peanut Clusters

Chocolate covered nuts take a little more patience and skill.  Since you can't stick the nuts with a toothpick you need to use tongs to dip the nuts and place them onto your waxed paper to set up.  You can chop the nuts, premix them with your chocolate and fill your medicine cups.  Since I don't have the patience of Jobe, I prefer the second method.

Chocolate covered Raisins

While we are making clusters in our medicine cups, you can also use this method to make chocolate covered raisin clusters.  You can make individual chocolate covered raisins but again this take time and patiences since you need to stick each raisin with a tooth pick and lay them on waxed paper to dry.

White Chocolate covered Strawberries

If you are a fan of white chocolate, then you will need to buy white chocolate wafers in the supermarket and melt those down as you would the shaved chocolate to make your white chocolate covered strawberries or white chocolate cherries.

White Chocolate covered Cherries

Another great treat for Valentine's Day and something to send to school with your little ones is a batch of chocolate covered pretzel rods.  In order to make them special you can sprinkle them with red candies while they are drying on the wax paper.

Chocolate Pretzel Rods

Or how about a batch of chocolate covered mini pretzels.  These can also be sprinkled with candy colors for any holiday.

Chocolate covered Mini Pretzels

You have all seen my Christmas Pretzel made with candy kisses and an M&M on top.  These can be done very easily using Valentine colors or the mini pretzels to give it a heart shape.

Pretty M&M Flowers on Pretzel and Candy Kiss

Another version of this favorite is a mini turtle using Rolo Mini's and Pecans.

That's all I have for today.  If you have other candies you can make give me a comment so that I can try your methods.

Making Vegetable Soup from Leftovers in the Crockpot

I love my crock pot and I've done some interesting things with it.  I made pulled pork in it and it turned out simply scrumptious.  Then I made my easy no stuffed cabbage in it and that was even better.  I'm getting the hang of cooking in larger quantities again.

Crock Pot Stuffed Cabbage

I still had the juice from the stuffed cabbage along with a good portion of the cabbage that had not been cooked.  So!!!!!!!  Into the crock pot with the juice and some water to break it down and chopped up cabbage.

I didn't have any frozen leftover vegetables or meat from my meals to put in it so off to the store I went to buy a large bag of mixed soup vegetables and some stewing cubes.  Once home I chopped the meat cubes into smaller pieces, seasoned them and precooked them.  Once they were browned, I put them into the crock pot with the cabbage pieces and the tomato stock.

Our frozen section has the best vegetable blend for vegetable soup.  It even has okra in it along with all kinds of beans and the normal carrots, etc.  I dumped the vegetables into the pot and stirred it all up.

I cooked it on high until the vegetables had cooked through and then set the crock pot down to low and left it cook most of the day.

My granddaughter tried it and asked me if I had used a recipe for the soup after she had downed two bowls.  I was so proud to say, no it's my own recipe, even if I cheated somewhat by using the frozen soup vegetables.

When my children were small, I used my mother's recipe and saved all the vegetables that had been used for meals (including the cabbage from ham and cabbage) in a container until I was ready to make soup.  She made her own stock by bringing the chuck roast along with the bone to a boil and then simmering the whole day.  Once it was ready she chopped up the the chuck and added the frozen vegetables that she had been hoarding for the occasion.  The only thing she added which was my favorite part of the soup was a can of butter beans.  For some reason those butter beans made the whole soup for me.

Right now it is possible to take vegetables straight from the garden for your soup.  My neighbor has half her garden done in vegetable and they would fill the soup pot down to the string beans.

This recipe goes well with my No Frills Meatloaf because I don't have to make any potatoes that day and the soup is filling along with the meatloaf.

So now I can cheat and use the crock pot to make my soup even using her recipe instead of my shortcut that I used yesterday.

Game Day Hospitality Tables

This blog was originally intended for hospitality room foods at conventions but it can also serve as a game day spread for whole families to enjoy in front of the tv to watch the playoff games and the Super Bowl.

Another season of hospitality rooms is about to get under way.  We usually started off with a trip in early March to State College for the State Hoop Shoot Contest where the season is officially started.  Last year's was a success from what I heard related to me by people who made.

Typical Hospitality Room Food Table

Over the years, I've attended many local, state and national conventions.  In years past in Pittsburgh we were honored to have an annual visit from the Grand Exalted Ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in which there were 10 hospitality rooms set up at the hotel.  At the time, only my husband was an active member but the preparation for the Lodge Hospitality Room was a group event which involved not only the members but their wives as well.

Chopped Vegetable Tray

Many a night was spent chopping vegetables and cubing cheeses to be used on trays.  That is only the tip of the iceberg so to speak if you need to host a room.

Cubed Cheese Tray

 Preparations such as making sure there are enough electrical outlets in the room and the use of a refrigerator needs to be ascertained prior to even checking into the hotel.

One year, the person in charge of the room at the State Convention then held at 7Springs only had a selection of fruit trays.

Fruit Tray

 A tray of cut up melon and grapes is always a good addition to the table.

The year my husband was in charge of a smaller visit from the Grand Lodge a group of ladies from his work donated several boxes of assorted cookies that they had baked.  The cookie trays looked like they belonged at a wedding.

Cookie Tray

Another aspect is to be sure that you have enough donated desserts, cookies and other dishes to make a good presentation on your tables.  This trifle would be a good selection to be taken to the convention.  The pudding can be purchased in cans and not need to be refrigerated prior to assembling the dessert.

Pound Cake Trifle

One of the best dishes that was prepared by our Lodge was barbecued sausages.

BBQ Sausages

 A past president and his wife were also involved in Boy Scouting and he had the best recipe for barbecue sauce and would bring a gallon to the convention to be used in an electric roaster full of either the sliced sausages or meat balls.  Either one was immensely pleasing to the attendees.

Sandwich Ring

At conventions where we were not permitted to use electric roasters, we would bring sandwich rings and cut them into individual portions.

Sandwich Ring sliced for serving.

Having a good mixture of donated foods takes planning and a list of what is being brought needs to be worked on for months in advance of the event.

Ham Barbecue

In recent years, we have been lucky enough to have a volunteer to handle the hospitality room who not only plans but also prepares his own selection of hot foods.  It was great being able to come to the hospitality room between sessions and eat a ham barbecue or sloppy joe sandwich.  That is what I call going above and beyond duty.

Sloppy Joe's

Another aspect of the room is having a good list of volunteers for bartenders and a list of when they will be on duty.  Again, this means having someone available to slice and chop lemons and limes as well as having a nice selection of drinks available.

Once you have all your preparations in place and people to help with the room, you need to make up a schedule of when your room is going to be open to guests.  It is important to leave time for yourself and the people helping you to get to meetings and other functions at the convention.  The schedule for the room should be set and adhered to in order to give the people running it time to clean up and set up for the next time it will be open.

The reason for this blog is to point out that it isn't easy being in charge of the hospitality room.  It takes careful planning and the help of many people to run efficiently.  For all who attend the convention circuit, happy travel and happy socializing.

Cheese Soup or Chowders

I saved these two recipes for a separate post because they are among my favorite soups when the weather is blustery.  We are experiencing a particularly colder snap so these would be so welcome to heat up those chilled bones.

Cauliflour Cheese Soup

The first one a blend of cheese and vegetables is a hearty soup.

If you visit Eat 'n Park for their broccoli soup, you will want to try your own since it takes so few ingredients and is so simple to make The Cauliflower Cheese Soup is the same recipe for the Broccoli Cheese Soup.  This recipe makes a wonderfully aromatic and filling soup.  A few Parmesan cheese croutons floating in the bowl give it a fuller flavor.  You can make these recipe with fresh produce or you can start with frozen cauliflower or broccoli.  It makes no difference to the taste.


The second one can be used for many other flavors and varieties of chowders.

Shrimp Bisque

This Shrimp Chowder which I really enjoy even though I have to be careful not to exceed my cholesterol level.  This creamy concoction is a tasty blend of cubed potatoes and salad shrimp in a creamy base.   I've made this several times and I really enjoy it by itself.  The potato/shrimp blend is just enough to satisfy any soup lover.  Of course you can make it without the shrimp and just add a few more potatoes to have a creamy potato soup.

Corn Chowder

And we can't forget the farm favorite, Corn Chowder.  I make this one using the Shrimp Chowder recipe and substituting corn nibblets instead of the shrimp.  You can cheat and add a can of cream style corn, but I prefer the nibblets.



That's all for chowder style soups for today.  Happy eating.