National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

WOW! It doesn’t get any better than that! Covering stuff in chocolate makes my day anytime. I read some interesting entries about covering stuff in chocolate. For example, someone talked about covering pickles in chocolate! Hmmm… that is very strange, but interesting. Some of the other items mentioned are:

• bacon
• grapes
• strawberries
• pretzels
• mangoes
• pancakes
• orange slices
• raisins
• nuts

To make your melted chocolate, put chocolate chips (I like semisweet) into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on med-high heat, stopping and stirring about every 20 seconds. This will keep the chocolate from overcooking or burning. Once they are melted and you have stirred the chocolate, you can dip your treat and place on wax paper to let them cool.

Chocolate fun facts:

• The cacao bean is the main ingredient in chocolate. They were very valuabe to the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. So valuable, in fact, that they were used as currency when paying for taxes and commodities.
• The word Chocolate comes from the Aztec word xocolatl, meaning, bitter water.
• Cacao beans come from a tree that is a species of the genus Theobroma, which translated is food of the gods.
  Melting chocolate in your mouth raises brain activity and heart rate more intensly than passionate kissing, and lasts four times longer!
• The Maya prepared chocolate strictly for drinking. The way they prepared it wasn’t very different from the way it is prepared today.
• When the Aztecs conquered the Maya, they kept the chocolate tradition alive. The Aztecs dominated the region and continued using cacao as currency from about 1200-1500. Cacao could not grow in the capital city, Tenochitlan (Mexico City), so it had to be imported through trading and, taxes.

What will you cover with chocolate today? I think I might try the chocolate covered pickles.

Chia Pet Rescue