Chocolate Covered Cherries

I love chocolate covered cherries!  And they make a simple, cheap gift that most people can enjoy. Apparently they taste better after a couple weeks, so this year I actually made them ahead of time.  They are amazing fresh too, but the additional time allows the cherry juices to soak into the candy giving it that sweet, juicy center.  Either way, chocolate covered cherries have quickly become one of my favorite things to make around the holidays.

INGREDIENTS:

60 maraschino cherries (with or without stems, stems just make them easier to dip and handle)
3 TBSP butter substitute, softened
3 TBSP corn syrup
2 CUP confectioner sugar
1 bag chocolate chips

 

Drain the cherries (save the juice for mixed drinks or other desserts later!).  Let the cherries dry on paper towels or in a colander.

 

Combine the butter and corn syrup until smooth.

 

 

Add the confection sugar and form into dough. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chill if necessary to keep dough firm.

Coat each cherry with the sugar dough, using about a teaspoon of dough per cherry.  I usually flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it around the cherry, and then roll the dough around the palm of my hand until the cherry is evenly coated.  (It doesn’t have to be perfect :)

 

Let chill until firm.

 

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, or microwave.  Dip each cherry in the chocolate and coat.  Let dry on wax lined paper and store in an air tight container.

Father's Day Gift Box

I always have a little trouble coming up with gifts for my dad.  If I had lots of money it would be no issue, because I’m constantly seeing cool gadgets and tech stuff my dad would love!  But I like making my gifts anyways, so when Father’s Day snuck up on me this year I decided to go with an old staple gift… hot sauce!  I made my first batch 2 Christmas’s ago (for my dad!) and I’ve been hooked.  Hot sauce is super easy to make and a great way to use hot peppers up at the end of the summer.  I’m still experimenting with different recipes, and trying to create my own perfect recipe; so this time around I tried Pepper Joe’s Island Hot Sauce Recipe.  It turned out great!  Super spicy with a hint of garlic, onions and lime!  I put it in a Mason jar and attached a sticker on the lid where I stamped out “dad’s fire breath”.

 

 

I also bought him a couple nice beers from this cute little craft beer store around the corner called The Listing Loon.  I needed something to put it all in.  I found this awesome list here that someone composed of tutorials for all different shaped gift boxes.  Using a couple of these as models, I cut a box from a larger cardboard box, glued it together, cut out handles and decorated the outside.  Then I put my gifts inside, and stuffed some ripped up paper in between the bottles so they didn’t break.  I even made my own confetti from the cardboard scraps.  I just cut them into strips and then pulled apart the layers of paper.  Easy, cheap and 100% recyclable!