The first snow is always an exciting time – but even more so when there is chocolate involved!

It’s a tradition in our house to celebrate the first measurable stick-to-the-ground snow with a snow cake – usually a brownie with powdered sugar sprinkled on the top.

But this year we got a little fancy! Angel girl helped me bake the yummy Chocolate Mousse Cake with a few variations.

We used a small pudding mix and only  put  the filling between the two layers. Then Angel girl cut a cute little snowflake out of paper. She laid it on top and sprinkled it with powdered sugar.

Voila! Snow cake that was enjoyed and devoured by several siblings.

But more importantly, a memory was made and a tradition continued.

Happy first snow!

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I have linked this post to Chocolate Friday hosted by Lisa at Stop and Smell the Chocolates.  Join us over there for more chocolate recipes!

I love that song from the “The Fiddler on the Roof! I can just hear Teyve belting it out – especially this time of year when we are surrounded by traditions.

It was playing in my head on Saturday as we moved the boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic and started to decorate.

The first of many Christmas traditions were about to begin – decorating the Christmas tree – followed, of course,  by Chocolate Fondue.

But this year, I have departed somewhat from the usual “after- the -party” traditions. Normally, I would put the left-over fondue in a small container and hide it in the back of the refrigerator. Then I would slowly enjoy it one bite at a time in the days to follow.

But this year – you might want to sit down for this – this year I shared.

I know it’s shocking, but really I did!

Actually, Angel girl and I took the  left-over fondue and whipped it up with 3 ounces of cream cheese and one tub of Cool Whip.

Then Angel Girl put them in pretty dishes and we called them Chocolate Mousse.

We served them as dessert that night after our evening meal of Broccoli-Cheese soup – which was a good thing because we all knew that a spoonful of chocolate helps the green vegetables go down!

So has a new tradition been born? Time will tell!

It began as a typical Sunday evening.

It was 9:00 and all 5 children had headed upstairs to prepare for bed and the coming week.  My husband was on the computer in the basement and I was  foraging in the freezer when we heard a loud knock on the back door.

I started up the basement stairs, calling to my husband that he better come too – it was probably some Amish who needed work done.  (They are the ones who would normally knock on our door at 9:00 at night!)

I turned on the porch light and opened the door – but there was no one there. I looked around for a buggy or a vehicle – but saw nothing.

Then I looked down and saw this:

Yes! Chocolate! I grabbed them up quickly and looked around – no one was there! I wondered – “Why would the Amish guy leave me chocolate?”

By then my husband had joined me. He too, looked up and down the driveway and the farm yard – but he saw nothing.

After yelling out in the darkness “Thanks for the chocolate!” (I didn’t want to appear ungrateful!), we headed upstairs to see if the kids had seen or heard anything.

They had not. But they were game to investigate – especially if it meant missing bedtime!

So armed with flashlights, my brave explorers headed out to the darkness to uncover any clues to the mystery.

They came back in soon after – laughing and giggling – with 6 really cute chocolate fairies – who were preparing to lay out yet another 3 bags of chocolate on my doorstep!

These adorable chocolate fairies were my nieces and nephews, who along with their parents, were heading home after a week long vacation. Our house was on the way – and they needed a quick break.

They had spent the last few hours planning their stop – and – knowing my love for chocolate – they thought a little surprise would be fun! It was!

But they didn’t just bring candy – they also brought a chocolate truffle cake and cheesecake to enjoy!

So after eating way more chocolate than any child should at 9:30 at night – we enjoyed some talking, a little playing, and they were on their way home – loaded with enough sugar to make it the last 3 hours of their journey!

I love surprises – especially ones that involve the chocolate fairies!

And I really love making chocolate memories!

Every year at our family get-together in the spring we hold a family Iron Chef competition. The secret ingredient is published a few weeks before the event and we all bring our finished dishes and act as judges.

This year’s secret ingredient was apples.

I first I was bummed – no chocolate.

But them my creativity kicked in and we came up with two great chocolate and apple dishes.

One was a basic brownie recipe that I substituted applesauce for half of the oil.  (Thanks for the hint, Connie!)  It turned out great and nobody believed it had apples in it!  (Subterfuge is an art in cooking!)

The second dish was Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondue – with apples to dip in of course!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondue

Melt together:

1 package peanut butter chips
1 package chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
1/4 cup evaporated milk or half and half
1 tablespoon butter

Place in a fondue pot (or use a 1 quart crock pot) and serve with an assortment of dippers – such as sliced fruit (apples are very good!), marshmallows, pretzels, or pound cake.

This was a very popular entry – I saw people pouring the fondue over other entries and even eating it by the spoonfuls!

Chocolate and apples go so well together – happy sigh – but then chocolate looks good on everything!

Truffles.

The very name makes me salivate!

To me truffles are the epitome of chocolate gratification.

My sister surprised us at a recent after Christmas family get- together with more truffles than I’ve seen in a lifetime!

They had a wonderful time at the clearance table at Sam’s Club picking out a large selection of various truffles at a greatly reduced price!

These amazing delicacies were the stars of the weekend.

I am almost ashamed to admit that we ate them morning, noon and night. We had a truffle with breakfast, again at 10:00, and then one just before lunch. Of course we needed some for dessert and on through the afternoon ending our day with a  truffle just before bed.

We began the weekend carefully checking the packages to make intelligent choices, but soon we were snarfing them down regardless. (But by then all the caramel ones were eaten anyway!)

At the end of the weekend we were all “truffle-a-tized”.

We divided the large amount of remaining truffles between us and headed home to face the reality of the bathroom scale.

I will confess that there are still truffles in my pantry luring me with their smooth decadent goodness. But there will not be a repeat of that wonderful weekend, at least not for awhile!;)

But it will remain in our memories as a chocolate highlight of the year!