Chocolate on Tuesday

I personally am not a" chocolate lover." I do however have many in my life who are. It seems to me that chocolate is one of the favorite topics when it comes to food discussions, and it is definitely a unifiying subject. I discovered this new product from Duncan Hines. Muffin mix in a box, made with 100% whole grain. I made these muffins yesterday to make sure they were worth posting on my blog. In answer to the question...here they are. My recommendation to baking these, as with all muffins I bake, is to place the oven rack in the middle of the oven when baking, and to follow the baking time carefully. A bonus...because they are made with 100% whole grain they contain 0 grams of trans fat. Placed on a pretty rose china plate from the Goodwill store, this makes a real nice gift if you need one. To package this gift, you can cover with plastic wrap or clear cellophane, and add a homemade chocolate card like the ones below:

I discovered these adorable chocolate dimensional stickers at A.C. Moore, a few weeks ago. There are seven in each package. The detail and the colors on each one are exceptional. I find K&Company always producing beautiful products. For these cards I purchased a small pack of 10 plain white cards and envelopes at the same store. They were on sale...2 packs for 4.50, and a few color coordinated background papers. I have a thick mat stack of 72 4x6 printed sheets of paper that I use for many of my projects.
I shared this close-up of an individual sticker so that you could see the detail, and the glitter and the tiny rhinestones on each sticker.

I cut papers to fit the front of each card and glued it on lightly with paper glue. Then I added the sticker and completed an unique and beautiful card. I did this with all seven stickers, ending up with seven cards.



Put them in a clear cellophane bag, tied with a ribbon and added a tiny chocolate lover's card. I think this would make a special gift since it is one that would not be sold in stores. Another idea for these stickers, would be to use plain white index cards, fold in half, add sticker to front, punch hole in top front, add a ribbon and tie onto an individual package of whatever chocolate goodie you would be giving. Either way, these stickers will add pizazz to a homemade gift.

My husband and my grandchildren love chocolate milk. Seems like I am always whipping up chocolate milk. Last evening I had this old milk bottle filled with chocolate milk and a small bowl of pretzels...that is one of my husband's favorite evening snacks(which by the way, he does not often partake of as he did when he was younger). This is just another one of the ways that chocolate is part of our lives.

When I walked into a family outing on Sunday evening, I saw a gorgeous tray of ripe red chocolate dipped strawberries sitting there. My sister-in-law and her daughter-in-law had created them that afternoon. It seemed like the perfect way to end this "chocolate on Tuesday" post. There are truly so many different areas in the world of food, that chocolate plays a part in, and maybe this post will give you some ideas to try.