This is a fun little afternoon project that I remember doing as a kid but totally forgot about until I came across it again recently in a back issue of Family Fun magazine.

These would be a great project to do a day or so before Thanksgiving and then use them to prop up some cute, handmade place cards for your guests. See the final product here.
Chocolate Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats
from Family Fun magazine
24 chocolate-striped shortbread cookies
12-ounce package of chocolate chips
24 marshmallows
tube of yellow decorators’ frosting
~ Set the chocolate-striped cookies stripes down on a wax-paper-covered tray, spacing them apart.
~ Melt the chocolate …read more

I’m all for eating chocolate, of course, but it can also be fun to decorate with it (temporarily!) for the upcoming holidays!

This gigantic chocolate turkey from Bissinger’s is touted as a “centerpiece” decoration for your Thanksgiving table. The semi-solid piece is made from milk chocolate with some nice darker chocolate accents, and stands at nine inches tall by 8.5 inches wide. It’s also gluten-free!
Though the real turkey and sides are the stars of the meal, I have to admit I’d be eyeballing the chocolate version if it were on my table!
Bissinger’s also has a lot of other Thanksgiving-related chocolate and …read more

El Día de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead, is an ancient holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans that honors those who have died.

The holiday is usually celebrated over two days, November 1st and 2nd, and it’s believed that over these two days it’s easier for the souls of the dead to communicate with those still living. A common symbol of the holiday is the skull, and celebrants use sugar and chocolate skulls to give as gifts to both the living and the dead, usually inscribed with the name of a deceased loved one on the …read more

Though snacking on candy bars and other chocolaty treats is all good and well, once the kids are in bed and it’s time to pop in a movie and relax, something a little more grown up can be the perfect ending to a day!

These candy bar inspired drinks are sweet, satisfying and as easy as can be to put together.
Peppermint Pattini
1-1/2 oz Van Gogh Dutch Chocolate Vodka
1/2 oz Crème de menthe
1/2 oz Chocolate Liqueur
1/2 oz Cream
Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a Peppermint Pattie candy …read more

It’s a chocoholic’s favorite day — or at least a really good excuse to indulge in some really good chocolate!

I’ve actually found conflicting dates for National Chocolate Day — some say it’s today, October 28th, others claim it’s December 24th, and there are even random dates in September and July thrown into the mix. However, there seems to be more info for the October date, but I see nothing wrong with celebrating several times throughout the year anyway.
If you’re in a make-your-own chocolate kind of mood (which I always am at this time of year), you could celebrate by …read more

There are only a few days left to enter what may be the biggest Halloween treat on the planet! Mars Snackfood announced today the last chance to win an incredible Halloween treat: $1 million in the 2009 Halloween Million Sweepstakes!

U.S. residents have until Saturday, October 31, 2009, to register for the 2009 Halloween Million Sweepstakes at halloweenmillion.com by entering the UPC on packages of M&M’S, Snickers, Twix, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Skittles, and Starburst candies. (A full list of candies and sizes can be found here.)
One lucky person will receive the $1 million grand prize, and thousands more will …read more

These chocolate Halloween mice are perfect for a Halloween party or as a fun activity to do with the kids. Make sure you let the mix sit in the fridge to firm up, otherwise you’ll have a bigger mess on your hands than any little mice should be able to make!

Chocolate Halloween Mice
from RecipeZaar
4 (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate baking squares or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup chocolate wafer, finely crushed (Oreos with the middle scraped off)
1/3 cup additional chocolate wafer, finely crumbled (for dark mice)
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (for white mice)
24 silver dragees (small silver, edible balls, …read more

Hershey’s Kisses are one treat that everyone seems to enjoy, but even though they are wrapped they haven’t always been easy to give for Halloween. The silver foil wrap is easily manipulated, making it easy to come loose in a bag full of candy thus causing parents a bit of concern.

Hershey’s has finally come out with individual packs of Kisses, perfect for giving out for trick-or-treating. They’re also dressing up their other treats for the holiday, like black and orange foil wrapped Kisses:

There are also individually wrapped Reese’s Peanut Butter cups shaped as pumpkins (my kids love these in their …read more

Ice cream isn’t the first thing I think of when Halloween treats are mentioned, but this year our weather seems to be warming up instead of cooling down, so this might just make it into Halloween preparations! They couldn’t be easier to make, and involve homemade chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, and black and orange candy sprinkles.

6 chocolate chip cookies
Mint chocolate chip and/or vanilla ice cream
Black and orange sprinkles, colored sugars or other Halloween cookie decorations
~ If cookies are homemade, make sure they’re completely cooled before preparing ice cream sandwiches.
~ Soften ice cream at room temperature about 10 minutes or …read more

In my continuing quest to find fun stuff to make for Halloween (and to entertain my family at the same time), I found this recipe for some fun Creepy Crawly Caterpillars made with pretzels sticks, melted chocolate chips and chow mein noodles. My youngest, especially, will get a huge kick out of this!

This recipe from Rebecca Kols of Good Morning America is fast, easy and something kids will really enjoy helping out with.
Creepy Crawly Caterpillars
1 package chocolate chips
1 package chow mein noodles
1 package of red hot candies
1 bag large marshmallows
1 bag thin stick pretzels
~ Melt chocolate on low heat in …read more