Strawberry Time

Hooray!!! It's strawberry time! And for once I didn't miss them!

And what goes better with strawberries but chocolate?

You are going to be so sorry you learned about this recipe. Sooooooooooooo sorry. Because not only is it the richest, creamiest, most luscious, most velvety chocolatey goodness that will ever cross your lips, it is extremely easy.

Better hit the back button.

Seriously.

You'd better not look at this.

Okay, if you insist. But don't say I didn't warn you. I am hereby not responsible for your Weight Watchers bills, gym fees, or new wardrobe from Lane Bryant.

This is actually called "ganache". Ganache is a French word meaning, "super-duper-fattening, heavenly, sinful, to-die-for chocolate." (Either that, or it refers to a combination of chocolate and cream. I forgot which.) Ganache may be used as a glaze, or as a filling for cakes and truffles. (Oh my word, you have got to try it on cheesecake! No, don't. Your hips will hate me forever.)

Be sure to always use real chocolate chips as opposed to chocolate-flavored chips. This recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips, but it is SO yummy with other kinds of chips. (If using anything but semi-sweet, leave out the sugar.) Milk chocolate is soooo rich. I have tried mixing part semi-sweet chocolate with part white chocolate, and that is the best! I have also had good results with peanut butter, chocolate mint, and other flavored chips. Let your imagination go wild!


Chocolate Ganache

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips*
1 C. heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, optional** (no substitutes)
2 tablespoons sugar, optional

Place chocolate in a glass or metal bowl; set aside. Heat heavy cream, butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Pour boiling mixture over chocolate; cover with plastic wrap. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Serve at room temperature with fruit for dipping.

*Or, 12 oz. semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
**You can leave the butter out; it's just a little less creamy.

The next recipe is way less fattening, but is still really yummy.

Chocolate Dip

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 container (8 ounces) Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 teaspoon rum or vanilla extract (optional)

Place chocolate chips and half of the Cool Whip in small bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on high 1 minute or until chocolate is melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Fold in remaining Cool Whip and rum or vanilla extract, if desired; mix until smooth. Serve with fruit for dipping.

Here are my previous WFMW posts:

Tooth-Tugging Tip for Terrified Tots

Handy Earache Relief

Uses for Leftover Bread

Leaky Diaper/Pull-up Fix

Snack Mix Recipe (at the end of the post)

Awesome Stain Recipe (at the end of the post)

"Fun"damentals of Family Life

Removing Wite-Out from Everything

When NOT to Save Money

Public Service Announcement

For more WFMW tips, stop by Shannon's blog.

Here are some pics of my little munchkins at the strawberry patch. Because we went during the school day (we're studying plants in science right now) we had the whole place to ourselves.

Drama Queen

Persnickety Pete

Screech

Screech was actually the picture of innocence for most of this outing. I expected to be run ragged trying to keep her out of the strawberries. She did great, carrying the pail for me and saying "Thank you, Mommy," every time I tossed in a berry.


Then - big mistake - she started to put a strawberry in her mouth, and I let her. She snarfed it down, then tried to grab more. She thought the whole pail was for her. Our happy little outing ended like this:


Poor, pitiful thing. Don't worry, at home she got to eat her fill of WASHED strawberries!