Heartfelt Gifts - Your Homemade Chocolate Covered Coffee Spoons
by Nicole Dean
Has your gift giving budget taken a hit this year due to your dwindling finances? You are not alone. So, what do you do when you want to give someone a gift for their Birthday, or for dog-sitting, or Christmas, or Valentine's Day, or any number of times when a small gift would be appreciated?
We've discovered in our goal to reduce spending, that when money is tight, the first thing that we start to question is our gift giving. We all want to lavish people we love with beautiful, expensive gifts. But, that won't be the case any longer in our family, so what do we do? I believe a gift given from the heart is appreciated just as much, if not more, than a gift of monetary value.
One of the most enjoyable gifts I've ever given is a gift of chocolate. Whether it's homemade peanut clusters or fancy chocolate covered cherries, everyone seems to be enamored with their little boxes or bags of beautiful, and delicious chocolate goodies.
Most chocolate treats are relatively easy to make once you get the hang of it. You'll find out which pans work best, which spoons you like, and how long to melt the chocolate on the first or second try. I especially like this chocolate treat because it's something that most people would never dream of making for themselves.
Chocolate Dipped Coffee Spoons
If your gift recipient likes a nice, hot cup of coffee, then they'll like it even better with a little spoon of chocolate. This is a gift that both men and women love.
Start with this list of items:
Purchase some heavy duty plastic spoons. You may even wish to check out some flea markets or thrift stores for silver spoons that are pretty. Either way, make sure they're nice and clean.
Purchase milk chocolate coating, not Real Chocolate. You'll find blocks of the coating in the baking aisle at the grocery store. The reason you don't want to use Real Chocolate is because it tends to be a little more difficult to get just right. You don't want to bother with it, and the chocolate coating is delicious.
Peppermint oil flavor and other goodies like peppermint candy are good additions to the chocolate spoons and add yet another fancy element to them. You may also wish to sprinkle on some little candies like you would buy for sugar cookie decorations.
Purchase some parchment paper, NOT wax paper, to cool the spoons on. This will keep them from sticking to your cookie sheets as well as keep your pans clean and ready if you are into mass production.
I recommend that since you're giving a gift of food, buy the proper wrapping. Look in your candy making section of any craft store for clear cellophane candy bags in a size to fit the spoon, leaving some of the handle sticking out. You'll also want to find some ribbon and raffia to tie the package closed and to decorate the gift.
The process is simple:
Fill a large pan with water and bring it to a boil. While you're waiting, carefully chop your chocolate into little pieces. Place your chocolate pieces in a smaller heavy pan that will fit into the large pan. When water boils, remove large pan from heat, and carefully lower the smaller pan into the water, being sure you don't overflow the water. Let chocolate sit and start to melt, then remove from pan with water and begin stirring with a big spoon or spatula until chocolate is all melted.
When you are done stirring the chocolate, dip one spoon at a time in the melted chocolate and lay each one on the parchment paper you have on your cookie sheets. If you plan to decorate the spoons with other candy, do it while the spoon is still wet. Otherwise the candy won't stick. Then move on to the next spoon, dip, decorate, and so on. Once all of your spoons are done, take your cookie sheet to a cold, preferably dry place. A refrigerator or freezer is okay to just get them set up a little, but don't leave them in that moist environment for more than a few minutes.
Now your chocolate is set and you are ready to wrap your spoons up. Begin by placing each spoon in a candy bag that you purchased. Tie a piece of raffia, or gift wrap ribbon, or other pretty material on each bag around the handle so that the bag is closed securely. You may wish to tie more ribbon or some decorations on the bag, even a peppermint candy cane, or anything that makes your spoon gift more festive.
You have now completed a gift that anyone would be thrilled to receive. Don't you feel good knowing that you used your creativity and time to make a personal gift for someone you care about? This is not just any gift... it's a gift you gave from your heart
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Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane mom and owner of <a href="http://showmomthemoney.com">ShowMomtheMoney.com</a> - a fun and informative website to help moms achieve success working from home. She invites you to learn more ways to save money in her <a href="http://showmomthemoney.com/frugal-moms/frugal-meals/">Frugal Meal Ideas</a> section. Be sure to sign up for her free lessons for work at home moms. Get a totally unique version of this article from our <a href='http://www.uberarticles.com/home.php?id=159039'>article submission service</a>
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