• HOME
  • {A}’s Chipmunk Training Archives

 Homepage

  • The Homestead
    • Home Projects
    • Home Improvement
    • Home Decor
      • Seasonal Home decor
        • FALL Home Decor
        • WINTER Home Decor
        • SPRING Crafts and Creations
        • SUMMER Crafts and Creations
    • Our Chickens
    • Gardening
    • Organization
    • Re-Purposing
    • Furniture Refinishing
    • Budget
  • Crafts & Creations
    • Seasonal Home decor
      • FALL Crafts and Creations
      • WINTER Crafts and Creations
      • SPRING Crafts and Creations
      • SUMMER Crafts and Creations
    • DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project
    • Kids Arts and Crafts
    • Homemade/Handmade Gift Ideas
    • Holiday Crafts
    • Fan Pulls
    • Free Printable/Downloadable
    • Sewing Projects
    • Giveaways
    • Business Features
  • Recipes/FoodFun
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Main Dish
    • Sandwiches
    • Appetizers
    • Slow Cooker
    • On The Grill
    • Side Dishes
      • Soups
      • Salads
    • Baking
      • Breads, Rolls and Muffins
    • Snacks
    • Treats
    • Desserts
    • Drinks
  • Homeschooling
    • Elementary Homeschooling
      • Elementary Homeschooling READING
      • Elementary Homeschooling MATH
      • Elementary Homeschooling LANGUAGE ARTS
      • Elementary Homeschooling SCIENCE
      • Elementary Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS
      • Kids Arts and Crafts
    • Middle School Homeschooling
      • Middle School Homeschooling SCIENCE
      • Middle School Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS
    • Language Arts
    • Math
    • History / Social Studies
    • Geography
    • Foreign Language
    • Field Trips
    • Games
    • Nature Study
  • The Big Picture
    • Life In General
    • Celebrations
    • Faith
      • Into the Light; The Series
    • Giveaways
    • Reviews & Sponsors
  • Photography & Lettering
    • Photography
    • truck lettering
    • vehicle graphics
    • Newborns
    • Kids
    • Engagement
    • High School Senior Pictures
    • High School Senior Pictures Sneak Peeks

Valentine Chocolate Covered Spoons

February 8, 2012 By Laura 5 Comments

003_valentine-chocolate-covered-spoon-150x150
Chocolate covered spoons are something we have been intending to try making, for awhile now. There really needs to be no upcoming holiday to make them. But when there is a holiday coming up, it’s another good reason to go ahead and make them!
If you have never heard of chocolate covered spoons, they are just what they sound like they are:  spoons covered in chocolate!  And then prettied up.  They can be used to to stir your coffee, hot chocolate, warm milk, etc – to add some chocolatey flavor to your drink, or make licking your spoon that much more enjoyable!  Meanwhile, if you’ve made a whole batch, they just look pretty sitting in any container in your kitchen.
Chocolate covered spoons can be made as simply or fancifully as you’d like. You’re the designer, with each and every spoon, and that’s the fun of it!  I already had an idea of how we wanted to make some chocolate covered spoons for Valentine’s Day, so that’s what we’re sharing with you in this post.

005_valentine-chocolate-covered-spoons1 Here are a bunch of our spoons, already finished. I thought they looked nice in this simple white gravy boat. We made even more than this though.  We’ll be using some ourselves, but we really made them for the kids to give to their friends. And our oldest made some for her whole basketball team. lol.  I made a simple Valentine card printable, to go with each spoon, and you can get that for yourself HERE, if making these spoons is an idea you’d like to use for your kid’s friends or classmates, too.  It’ll make a unique Valentine, don’t you think?

I did not photograph the step-by-step process, but I think it is simple enough directions to explain.   All you need is some hard plastic spoons, *chocolate to melt, a tad bit of shortening (optional, I guess), and whatever you’d like to decorate the chocolate covered spoons with!   We used Valentine sprinkles and marshmallows for this batch.  But you can drizzle with white melted chocolate after, use sprinkles on other (holiday) colors, cover in nuts…whatever you’d like!

*Because we have a boy with a severe peanut allergy, we cannot use the chocolate melts (like Wilton’s) that are sold in stores in the baking / candy supplies aisles, because they are not guaranteed peanut-safe.  They are convenient though, and melt very nicely, if you can use them!  Since we cannot, we use Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips, and so the best we can with those. I believe we can find peanut-safe melts online though, if we planned ahead.

001_chocolate-covered-spoons We got everything out that we needed:  spoons, chocolate (chips), sprinkles and marshmallows, and shortening.  You can melt the chocolate in a mug or a glass measuring cup – just choose something deep. We got a few cookie sheets out, and covered them with some wax paper.  

We began melting about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips at a time, in a mug, in the microwave, with just a 1/2 teaspoon of shortening. (I normally avoid shortening for anything, but a tad bit does help the chocolate melt and stir up smoothly.)   We started at a minute, and then did 10-1secomd intervals, stirring completely in between, until all of the chocolate is melted and smooth. 

Two important tips:   1) You do not want to overheat the chocolate, or it will be ruined. Little by little is the way to go, and add a dab more shortening if you feel it needs it.  2)  I use the handle end of a wooden spoon, for stirring chocolate.  I saw that tip somewhere a long time ago, as it doesn’t heat and cool like metal does.  Stir rapidly, for smooth and shiny chocolate.

002_chocolate-covered-spoons When your chocolate is melted, dip a spoon!  It does take a little patience to wait for each spoon to stop dripping off excess, unless you want to make a big mess.  Then, over an extra the cookie sheet or wherever, sprinkle on your decorations!  For the ones we were adding marshmallows to, we pressed those in first, and then added the sprinkles.  We had fun with our little Valentine variety. Simply rest the handle of the spoon on the edge of a cookie sheet, and the wet chocolate end of the spoon on the wax paper to harden.  As soon as the sheet was full of spoons, we put the sheet in the refrigerator, to further harden.


003_valentine-chocolate-covered-spoon
A couple of other things we have learned:   The spoons really need to be kept in a cool place. Cold, is best. SOME of our spoons, developed white specs on the chocolate the next day.  We know that tends to happen sometimes when the chocolate is overheated any amount.   It could very well have something to do with our needing to use chocolate chips too.  (You know how milk chocolate chips have that white-ish coating sometimes?)  But we did notice, that they spoons we left int he coldest place, are still looking perfect!! Those are the ones we’re giving away! lol.  Regardless……the little change from the smooth chocolate you see will not hurt you or any different.  It’s just prettier to prevent it, if you can.

 

004_chocolate-covered-spoons To package nicely, we got some skinny clear bags sold in the baking/candy making aisles. They have some for chocolate covered pretzels, and that what we used!  We just cut them down to about 8 inches, and they were perfect!  Then we tied on curling ribbon, and curled!  As I said, I designed a Valentine for each spoon, for these.  But this is a fun project for you (maybe with our kids too!),  and it’s certainly a pleasant treat that will bring a smile to anyone’s face, when given away, or served with a hot drink!

ENJOY!

Save


Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, Drinks, Fun Food, Holiday Crafts, Homemade/Handmade Gift Ideas, Recipes, Seasonal Crafts and Creations, Treats, Tutorial, WINTER Crafts and Creations Tagged With: chocolate-covered-spoons, chocolate-covered-spoons-how-to, chocolate-spoons, edible-crafts, February-crafts, February-treats, kids-recipes, recipes, serve-with-coffee, treats-to-serve-with-hot-drinks, unique-valentines, valentine-ideas, valentines

Banana Cream Cocoa | Hot Drink Treat Recipe

March 17, 2010 By Laura 5 Comments

If you love chocolate and bananas, you just might love this hot sweet treat, in a cup:  Banana Cream Cocoa.

banana-cream-cocoa-1

I do love chocolate. Don’t all women?  I also love bananas. But somewhere along the way, I saw a pattern, and realized eating raw bananas is not a good idea for me. My stomach goes to hell and back, trying to digest it.  Lots of pain involved. (Does anyone else have this issue?).  But, I can eat bananas cooked in all other forms:  banana bread, banana nut crunch, banana pancakes, Banana Hannah, (just kidding.  Wasn’t me. Swear.)  And once upon a time, I loved eating chocolate covered bananas. Oh how I loved those.  So Banana Cream Cocoa sounded good to me!  We made some yesterday.

banana-cream-cocoa-2 Participating Ingredients:

  • 3 cups milk
  • 1 chopped banana
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 4 oz. chopped milk chocolate*
  • 1 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate*

*This time, we chopped chocolate bars with a serrated blade knife.

3_milk Bring 3 cups of milk…..

4_banana
1 chopped banana….
–

5_sugar
2  Tbsp. sugar….
–

6_cinnamon
…and 1 tsp. of cinnamon to a boil, whisking frequently.
–

7_chocolate
Add 4 oz. chopped milk chocolate, and 1 oz. bittersweet chocolate….
–

banana-cream-cocoa-3 ….and mix some more.

…until all of the chocolate is melted nicely.

Remove from heat, and let sit 1 minute.

10_pour

Pour mixture into blender….
–

11_puree
….and puree.
–

banana-cream-cocoa Divide into 4 mugs, and go bananas!

Note:  My kids and husband loved it, but a couple of them did think it was very strong in banana, and maybe cinnamon, so you may want to cut those amounts-but of course it’s a personal taste.  I found, when it cooled down enough in my mug, it was delicious!

Save

Save

Save

Save

Filed Under: Drinks, Recipes, Treats Tagged With: banana-cream-cocoa, cocoa-recipes, hot drinks, hot-cocoa-recipes, Treats, winter drinks

Cocoa Colada | Hot Drink Treat Recipe

March 8, 2010 By Laura 13 Comments

If  “sometimes you feel like a nut“, and could go for an Almond Joy, this delicious Cocoa Colada hot drink treat recipe, just might be a quick fix for you!

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-8

  If you bake quite a bit, you may already have all of the ingredients. Or you may not.  But the few things you need are worth running to the store for. Of course, then you could just pick up an Almond Joy, I suppose.  But, that’s beside the point.

Here’s a super simple easy recipe, for a little coco-nutty twist on hot cocoa! Like most of my recipes, this one too is ‘kid approved’ by our kids.

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe Participating Ingredients:  2 14oz. cans of coconut milk, a cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar, 8 oz. of chopped milk chocolate and coconut flakes, for garnishing. (How easy is this?!)

 –

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe We needed to pick up the coconut milk, but we already had milk chocolate chips, and decided to use them. They need to be chopped up pretty well.

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-1

If you have one of these handy choppers, you can use it instead of a knife and cutting board.

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-2 Take a couple handfuls of coconut flakes, spread them out on a pan, and lightly toast them in whatever way is easier for you. We used our toaster oven.  * Warning:  you really need to keep an eye on it while toasting. Once it starts to toast, it can burn very fast due to the coconut oil of the flakes.  (I forgot to take a photo of ours after toasting.)

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-3

Bring the 2 cans of coconut milk and 1 cup of water, to a simmer over low heat.
Whisk now and then to keep from sticking at the bottom.

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-4
Add 1/2 cup of sugar…..

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-5

…and the 8 oz. of chopped milk chocolate….

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-6

…and whisk until melted.

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-7

Divide cocoa evenly into 4 mugs, and garnish with the toasted coconut. (If you didn’t burn it. ; )

You can also spike it with a little coconut rum, if you’d like!

*But in that case, please don’t serve it to the children. 😉

–

img_4967

Our kiddos loved it!!   Not much conversation. Lots of sipping.

–

img_4957

There was only enough made for 4 servings, and my kiddos had been playing out in the cold for a long time.

–

cocoa-colada-hot-drink-recipe-9

So I let them have it all.

Because I’m thoughtful like that.

img_4960

Even with chocolate.

I know. Call me a saint. ; )

img_4951

My kids all loved me enough, too, to each let me have a sip of each of theirs.

See?  Love that goes around, comes around.

I had a plan to make and share a Banana Cream Cocoa recipe as well, with this one.  But since it was 60 degrees out today,  I thought maybe I should just hurry up and share this one.

Wishing you just one more chilly day, to try it for yourself!

Save

Filed Under: Drinks, Recipes, Treats Tagged With: cocoa colada, cocoa-colada-recipe, drink-treats, hot-cocoa-recipes, winter drinks

A Simple Pentecost Sunday with Kids

June 6, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

Our Pentecost Sunday this year was really quite simple. Not quite the more elaborate occasion we made it last year.  But it was nice anyway.  Acknowledging it was the most important thing to us, starting with Mass.  But the kids (6, 6, 6, 11) spent the morning, before leaving for Mass, trying to remember and name all 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the 12 apostles.

But when we got home, we did decide to make some Holy Spirit cupcakes.

pentecost-for-kids_2

We added orange and yellow food coloring and attempted to make the frosting into peaks, to resemble the fire of the Holy Spirit that descended upon the apostles, of course.   Our technique and the outcome may have been a little lacking, but the kids had fun, and thought it all was awesome!


They wasted no time taste-testing one themselves, and you can bet Daddy and I joined them!  They were indeed delicious!   Such a light frosting that we whipped up.

We spent a good part of the day outdoors.  But later on in the day, as I came out from my computer cubby, I found {J} right there in his chair, intensely reading a Bible story.  Guess which one?

I just love these signs, that they truly are listening, and taking it all in.   : )   When we discuss a Bible story, or get home from Mass, one or other of the little ones often go grab one of their Bibles, knowing just where to find that story in the pages, to read again.  So, as if seeing him do this wasn’t enough to please a mother, I look up, and just look at what I see happening across the room……….

{O} giving {S} a foot rub!  He looked quite relaxed, reading some Bible stories himself.  It almost brought a tear to my eye.  Not only because it was an incredibly loving sight to see, but because I was jealous!!  ; )   I love foot rubs.  Or foot squeezes.  Probably much more than the average person, and my kids are really good at giving them.

I’m wondering: Are you actually still thinking about the cupcakes as you’ve been reading along here, wishing you could have one right now?  Be truthful now!! It’s o.k. – I understand!  I would be doing the same thing!

Well, your in luck!  Because we saved you one!!

ENJOY!!

Save

Save

Filed Under: Baking, Celebrations, Drinks, Faith, Faith/ Catholic, Recipes, The Big Picture, Traditions, Treats Tagged With: Catholic, Catholic Pentecost, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Catholic-kids, Holy Spirit cupcakes, Pentecost, Pentecost-ideas-for-kids, triplets

Hot Cider Drink Recipe – Wassail

January 22, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

hot cider recipe

Many of you did indeed request the hot cider drink recipe, that was simmering on our stove the other day.  Also known as Wassail. I must say, our kids can’t get enough of it.  We all started a WICKED FUN project out in the bitter cold and snow today. (That’ll be coming up in a few days or so, on the blog here.)  Soon after we came in to warm up, we decided to make another batch of this cider to enjoy.  It smells and tastes SO good.  We hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we do.

Please note:  The ingredient amounts listed below must make one-big-batch!  We’ve been making it by halving the amounts, and it’s been plenty enough for at least 2 cups each, for our family of 6.  But for many more people, it might be best to make the whole batch.  This WOULD be a GREAT treat to serve, if you are entertaining a small party.  I think guests would be impressed with such a delightful warm beverage, and appreciate it coming in from the cold too.  So here it is.  If you make it, let us know what the verdict is at your home!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spiced Cider Wassail
(Makes about 4 quarts)
2 quarts apple cider
1 quart orange juice
1 quart apricot nectar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
6 broken pieces of cinnamon
1 tablespoon whole cloves
one orange, sliced thin
one lemon, sliced thin
whole cloves
 
In a stainless steel pan, bring to a boil the cider, juices, cinnamon and cloves. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Transfer to a punch bowl if you’d like.  Stud the orange and lemon slices with whole cloves and float them in the wassail. Serve in punch cups or small mugs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I must admit, I haven’t used the word ‘Wassail’ yet.  It’s a bit too fancy for my simple tongue. Not to mention my simple mind, because I had no idea what that word was.  So since I was posting the recipe, I thought it might be wise to look it up first. Here’s the definition, for what it’s worth.  But just feel free to call the drink whatever you want, like I do.  : )

Main Entry:
1was·sail
Pronunciation:
\ˈwä-səl also wä-ˈsāl\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English wæs hæil, washayl, from Old Norse ves heill be well, from ves (imperative singular of vera to be) + heill healthy — more at was, whole
Date:
12th century
1 : an early English toast to someone’s health 2 : a hot drink that is made with wine, beer, or cider, spices, sugar, and usually baked apples and is traditionally served in a large bowl especially at Christmastime 3 : riotous drinking : revelry

CHEERS!!

Save

Filed Under: Drinks, Recipes Tagged With: cider, drink-recipes, hot-cider-drink-recipe, hot-cider-recipe, recipes, warm drinks, Wassail, winter drinks

We are wicked happy to have you here! We hope you find much inspiration, help, humor and enjoyment here.




Archives



POPULAR POSTS

* * * * * *

SUBSCRIBE to House of Joyful Noise blog! Every new post, delivered right to your email box!


Privacy Policy

Amazon Affiliates

Never at any additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products from our website. Your purchase through our links helps support our family, while sharing with you the products we authentically use and recommend, for various ideas, and letting you know where you can purchase them. Thank you for your support!

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 HouseOfJoyfulNoise.com · Genesis Framework by StudioPress