A Chocolate Dipped Valentine's Day

We love chocolate in this household!  I think we have a special chocolate treat associated with almost every national holiday.  :0) At Christmas time each year, we splurge and buy a box of See's Candies (which we fell in love with when we lived in Southern California).   For Thanksgiving, I love to make some sort of chocolate pie.  Easter, well,  chocolate bunnies or eggs of course!   Valentine's Day is no different, chocolate once again makes a presence, but this time it's chocolate covered strawberries.  

One of my long time struggles has been keeping the dipping chocolate at the right temperature so that it was easy to work with.  A year or so ago my mom shared with me how she puts her melted chocolate bowl inside another bowl with warm water.  That seemed to really help, but I was always afraid I was going to get water in the chocolate.  Then I came across this idea on pinterest. You simply fill your crock pot with warm water and then set your canning jars, which are filled with the chocolate, in them.  The added beauty to it all, is that the water stays warm all day!  So, if you are constantly getting interrupted, your chocolate doesn't get hard.  You can just come back and work on it when you get the chance!

Ok, so a little 4-1-1.  Fill crock pot almost 3/4 full with hot water.  Turn crock pot on high.  Fill your canning jars with unmelted chocolate (I used chocolate chips).  Let sit about 1/2 hour.  Stir the chips.  If they are all melted, turn the crock pot to low, and you are ready to go.

Have some melting chocolate left over?  Using a spatula spread out the chocolate on your wax paper in the shape of a heart.  Or using a zip lock bag, pipe words onto the wax paper to use on other valentine treats!

What else can you dip in chocolate?  We'll I'd probably argue there isn't much that doesn't taste better dipped in chocolate!  Here are a few more great ideas...

Caramels by Inspired Taste

Potato Chips by Sunny Creek Farms

Cherries  by Our Share of the Harvest

Marshmallows by Casa de Lewis

Orange Slices by Megan's Cookin'

Cookie Dough Balls by Eat, Drink, Smile

Pretzels by Mrs. Fox's Sweets

Thank you to everyone who contributed these great chocolate dipping ideas!

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