Chocolate Covered Cherries

It's almost that time of year again, when the store shelves are covered with boxes of all sorts of sweet delights. As a young child chocolate covered cherries always caught my eye, and was one of my favorite treats, even for my birthday.

I stumbled across a small pamphlet of chocolate treats from Nestle that I picked up waaaay back in 1982 and still have. The rest of the recipes I may get to some day, but I've never tried them, because my family loves these so much. It's time to share this recipe with you.

Chocolate Covered Cherries
60 maraschino cherries with stems (are about 30 cherries in a 10-ounce jar)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 cup each milk chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 T. vegetable shortening

Drain cherries thoroughly on sheets of paper toweling (several hours or preferably overnight). In a small bowl, combine softened butter and corn syrup. Stir in sifted confectioners' sugar, salt, vanilla. Sometimes I add just a touch of the marachino cherry juice as well. Knead mixture until smooth. If mixture is too soft to handle, put it in the refrigerator to chill well. On a surface dusted with confectioners sugar roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick with a small round cutter, about 1" in diameter, cut the dough into circles. Shape around each cherry. Place the coated cherries upright on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment paper. Chill until firm. Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler over low heat. Holding cherries by the stem, dip one at a time into the chocolate. Spoon chocolate over the cherries to coat. Be sure to completely seal the cherries, otherwise the cherry juice may leak out after the chocolate has set. Let excess chocolate drip off cherries. Place the dipped cherries stem side up on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Chill until chocolate is firm. I sometimes double dip. Don't skip the shortening, it makes the chocolate smooth and keeps it from "blooming" when hardened. Enjoy!

Gala Apple, Celery & Pecan Salad with Figs

I discovered a version of this salad last winter when I was looking for a nice crispy salad for a linger longer at church. It's a perfect blend of sweet, tart, and savory, which is a big hit around here, well except for with Nature Guy, but that just leaves more for the rest of us!

Enough chatter, let's get to the fixings!

Gala Apple, Celery and Pecan Salad with Figs

SALAD

6 c. thinly sliced Gala apples, (cored)

2 cups thinly cut on the bias celery

1/2 c. chopped dried figs

1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans or walnuts

DRESSING

2 T. lemon or orange juice (I tried orange juice today, and I think I like it better!)

2 T. Dijon or yellow mustard, either is great

1 T. each honey and real maple syrup, or just use all honey or all syrup

I/3 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all dressing ingredients in a medium size bowl. Core, slice and add to dressing the apples, mixing to coat. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to coat. Whalaa! Fresh and crisp, deliciousness in the middle of winter, or anytime. Enjoy!