Aunt Carol's Galentine's Day!
My Aunt decided to have an impromptu Valentine's Day party this past Saturday, so I made some chocolate-dipped strawberries for a present and made the long drive out. The attendance was all ladies, which reminded me of Leslie Knope's Galentine's Day, so that's what I called it.
Skewering the strawberries makes them easier to dip but makes them degrade faster. Eventually I'll figure out the best way to make these without overspending on stemmed strawberries.
I mix in a little Nutella with the semi-sweet chocolate. It gives it a delicious flavor and a good sheen.
It's important to tap off the excess chocolate - another thing the skewer is good for.
Let the strawberries chill in the freezer for eight hours, removing or leaving in the skewers.
The strawberries should be eaten as soon as possible, or stored in an open container to prevent condensation on the chocolate - which I learned the hard way. Better luck next time!
And what will you do with all the excess chocolate - throw it out? Of course not! Use it to make peanut butter cups!
Pour the melted chocolate into cupcake liners and push it up the sides. Let it harden in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, whip some peanut butter, creamy or crunchy, with powdered sugar to sweeten it.
Fill the chocolate shells with the peanut butter mixture, let harden in the freezer another 10 minutes.
Pour chocolate on top to cover and let harden in the fridge for a couple hours.
They're monstrous, but they'll also last you a week!
Over at Carol's, the snow had upgraded into high-drift, white-out conditions. I was fine until I got outside Donegal, then I had to slow waaay down as the windshield kept freezing over and to keep the car from hydroplaning when I stopped. It was a relief to arrive safely. I brought some heart garlands made out of streamers that looked nice in front of the snowy windows.
No one arrived empty-handed. Judy brought some strawberries to dip into chocolate but both treats were happily devoured.
This was the most ingenious snack at the party - corn puffs coated in white chocolate. We tried to think of a good name for them: Cloud puffs, cloud melts, etc, but no winners. Nameless but seriously, seriously addictive. I covered the bowl at a couple points to keep myself from eating more!
We set up the main table to craft Valentines and it seemed everyone brought supplies for that, too!
This was my favorite Valentine made at the party - so simple and yet so pretty!
Here were the three Valetines I made - the bedazzled one went to my "jewel" of an Aunt.
Carol also bought sugar cookies to decorate, but after taking so much time making Valentines no one really got around to it. Except Nikki, the youngest member of the group at 6.
And of course me, I got around to it, too. Six-year-old that I am.
After the party, we retired to play Scrabble and drink wine. It was the kind of game you didn't call anyone out on a misspelled or slightly-made-up word unless it was really ridiculous. Overall, the less competitive it was the more fun I had. No one ended up with extra letters at the end of the game!
After that we played Taboo for a while until it devolved into Meaningful Conversations.
And after that it was time for bed, as Carol's Morkie Daisy demonstrated.
Happy Valentines, All! Cherish the love you have to forget the love you think you need.