Do You Have to Sneeze or Are You Doing Your Laundry

I had two important goals as a young girl. I was going to be either one of Charlie’s Angels or Bewitched’s Samantha Stephens. I spent hours working on my silhouetted angels’ pose and my nose twitch. I’m still pretty good at both, if I do say so myself.

Imagine being Samantha Stephens. Your housework, cooking, and childcare all done at the expense of a little nasal irritation. Sure, your mother and neighbors are a little annoying, but whose aren’t? Top that off with the fact that you get to change husbands without a messy divorce proceeding. As long as you keep calling him Darrin, no one will even notice!

Bring out your inner Samantha at the Witchy Women’s Celebration at Van Otis Chocolates’ Elm Street, Manchester retail store on October 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Costumes aren’t required to attend the event, but there will be a $50 prize awarded for the best costume. There will also be wine tasting hosted by Zorvino Vineyards, chocolate fountains, giveaways, and raffles. Kids’ games will also be available because unlike Samantha, we can’t all leave our Tabithas unattended upstairs.

You'd Eat (Blank) if it Were Covered in Chocolate

In a previous blog I mentioned that I’m the amazing mother who arrives at events with a chocolate fountain rather than boxed cake. That’s not exactly how I described myself; however, I do secretly think that I’m deserving of tights and a cape.

The game of identifying a different and exceptional dipping item is played at every fountain event. We have found that strawberries, crispy rice cereal treats, animal crackers, pretzels, nutty granola bars, and peanut butter wafer cookies are crowd favorites. This past holiday season, we added candy canes and skewered gummy bears to the list.

It’s not as difficult to identify items that taste good as it is to find items that will properly hold the chocolate and maintain original form. Fruits such as pineapple, mandarin oranges, bananas, and maraschino cherries are delicious covered in chocolate. That is, they would be, if the warmed chocolate would stay on the items.

Other items, such as homemade cookies, tend to disintegrate if dipped directly in the flow of the fountain. This is doubly problematic since you lose your dipping item, and its remnants clog the fountain mechanisms. If you have your heart set on dipping cookies or other fragile items, you may opt for a traditional fondue pot instead of a fountain.

Van Otis is happy to suggest additional dipping item ideas. This is also great party conversation and typically will generate some surprising suggestions.

What dipping items would you recommend?

Chocolate Fountain of Youth

About two years ago, our family purchased a residential-sized chocolate fountain. It seemed a bit indulgent at the time but has become a big hit at friend and family events. It’s not unusual for invitations to request our attendance, as well as our “fifth family member”, the fountain.

At the fountain’s début, I set it up at the kids’ table and prepared a more “sophisticated” dessert for the adults. The kids were in awe. With their little backs facing the adult crowd, we began an unintended game of “red light/green light”. An adult would inch toward the table. A child (now looking more like a short Charlie Chaplin) would sense movement and turn around. The adult would stop and offer “help”. The child would refuse, and the adult would be frozen in their red light spot.

I no longer prepare a second dessert item when the chocolate fountain makes an appearance.

It only took one experience with cheap, big-box store chocolate to realize that quality chocolate is required. Good chocolate yields a beautiful flow or “curtain” that becomes a buffet table centerpiece. It also produces that warm, creamy coating that you’d expect on your dipping item. Chocolate purchased at a store that also sells car batteries, forces the fountain to gurgle and plop the waxy concoction. Waxy is also an accurate taste description. It’s a big disappointment; one we haven’t repeated.

You are guaranteed to impress a crowd at your next event by replacing that frosted cake with a chocolate fountain. Just be sure to establish dipping rules to avoid confrontations. Adults can be very childish when it comes to chocolate.