Chocolate Board How To

Now this is my kind of dessert, a chocolate

extravaganza and super easy to create, and

boy did it get wows from adults and children alike.

Our family is in love with cheese and charcuterie

boards, and they are so fun to prepare, and this

is a perfect companion for them.

The centerpiece of it was large chunks

of my dipping chocolate.  You can see

that it is Guittard chocolate.  I placed those

on a large wooden serving platter first, and

then began to layer all sorts of chocolates.

I opened a couple of Lindt bars and left some of

the foil on for a little shine.

You want a little height so I stood up a Hershey's

Cookies and Cream that had a Nutcracker design.

That really added to the chocolate board.

I purchased a package of mixed Lindt chocolate

truffles, a package of mixed Ghiradelli bars, a few

Hershey bars, and a package of Belgian chocolates.

I also added a few things I had around the

house, a Milka bar and some Kit Kats.

All of the chocolates were unwrapped and

placed around the board using some of the

chunks and bars to keep the round truffles

from rolling off.  The white chocolate and

the peppermint give a fun color variation.

Finally, just before serving, I placed some fresh

raspberries and strawberries around the board.

The fruit gave it just that pop of color that it needed.

I served it along with my home made chocolates.

This photo was taken before the fruit was added.

Chocolates are so rich that people don't

take a ton of them, so a chocolate board

goes a long way.  

I think a Chocolate Board will become a new

staple for entertaining in our home.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I

MacKenzie Childs Giveaway Winner

Welcome to Purple Chocolat Home

where there is always something sweet 

and fun and magical taking place.

Are you all decorated for Christmas?  

I am all done, but that doesn't mean I

don't go down to the holiday room and pull

something else out every once in a while. 

I have been lucky enough to be a part

of the

Tales of the Traveling Tote group.

Linda at Life and Linda

and Sarah at Hyacinths For the Soul thought

I would enjoy this group and invited me to join.

They even

helped me find my Traveling Tote.  

We are a group of bloggers who love

MacKenzie-Childs, traveling, eating,

playing and having fun.  Once a quarter

we share our travels with our MacKenzie-Childs

totes and have a giveaway of a MacKenzie-Childs

item.  

Our lucky winner this quarter is Lisa

from Life Away From the Office Chair.

Drop by and congratulate her.  She is

going to love her fabulous tote.

Thanks Patti for bringing us all together

for so much fun.  Click here to see how

all of this fun got started.

Return on March 1st for another 

Tales of the Traveling Tote

and another giveaway.  You may be

the lucky winner this time.

Tea with Mr. and Mrs. Claus

We are really into the Christmas spirit,

and Mr. Claus has arrived to help

get the season going.

Invitations had been sent out, inviting the

little ones to come to tea with Mr. and Mrs.

Claus, with chocolate dipping afterwards, with

the parents.

This would be happening at 

Mrs. Claus's Chocolate Factory.

Sometimes busy parents needs a reminder.

(Both invitations were made easy on Picmonkey.)

Mr. and Mrs. Claus were in the entry ready for 

their little guests.

(Notice my new boots I got last year.)

Everyone got their picture taken with Mr. Claus.

Then they all went into the kitchen to

write a letter to Papa Claus (Grandpa) with

their pens that we got from the Candy Cane Inn

last week at Disneyland.

Some of the letters were sooooo funny. One

darling granddaughter asked for him

to get his hair back for Christmas!!!

Then Papa Claus changed into Chef Claus for

the tea party.

There was an abundance of candy canes

and we showed off our hard to get

Candy Cane from Disneyland.

(Papa thought that standing in line to get

the wristband and then going back later

meant we got a free candy cane!!  Haha,

no, this is a giant handmade candy cane

that they charge $15 for, but we got two

and we were able to

see them making some.)

We used our same table setting from 

Mickey's 90th Birthday Party, 

but now we multiplied it to fit

11, and we swapped out goblets

for cocoa mugs.

The menu included turkey and cheese finger sandwiches,

PB&J finger sandwiches, raspberries, strawberries

and blueberries, meringues and macarons.

My stackable Chiavari chairs are more

slim-lined than my normal chairs,

so the table was able to fit everyone.
Were they excited or what?

After everyone ate, Chef Claus made mini

peppermint shakes that Mrs. Claus had

dipped in chocolate and sprinkles.

The chocolate dipping was a bit chaotic and

extremely messy, but the kids had a lot of fun.

(When in doubt, remove the clothes!)

I normally dip in the large mechanized

chocolate dipping machine, but we had so many

little hands in there, that I went back to the way

I learned to dip, with an electric fry pan, and I

did the serious dipping while they had fun.

My oldest daughter pictured here with

her oldest and youngest usually helps with

the serious dipping, but they were home

trying to get their new home ready for a

final inspection.  Little one sure wanted

to get her hands on some chocolate.

You can see Papa has switched into

another holiday outfit so that he didn't ruin

his Santa outfit.

It was quite the party!

Thanks for stopping by to visit us during

this wonderful Christmas season.

I will be posting with

Tablescapes Thursday

Dishing It and Digging It

December's Tales of the Traveling Tote and a Giveaway

Welcome to this quarter's 

Tales of the Traveling Totes,

where MacKenzie-Childs loving bloggers

take their beloved totes with them near and

far, and at the end of our tale, we offer

a MacKenzie Childs giveaway.

I am the host of the giveaway this December,

but more on that later.

Miss Madi K and I have some tales to tell!

We were not invited - can you believe that - 

on the family backpacking trip.  Hubby and I

used to go backpacking when we were first married.

I was young and foolish then and the tale I love

to tell is that we took back our wedding gifts

and exchanged them for backpacking equipment!

Gasp!!! I know that is hard to believe now, but it 

is true.  One nightmare trip after another, starvation,

getting lost, nearly getting killed in lightning storms,

and I was done.  )Truth be told, I found out there were

more luxurious ways to vacation!)  But the first part is

true too!!

Well, anyway, back to the story, I decided I would

got this year as my daughter had a new baby so

she couldn't go, which meant I didn't have to babysit,

but hubby said he didn't think I should.  I have had 

upper back stress since I was 14 and went through

the windshield of a car, and he didn't think I could

handle a backpack for that long.  I told him that I

knew he would carry it for me, but he said he wouldn't!

Hard to believe as nearly perfect as he is. Anyhow,

that is how this Tale of the Traveling Tote began.

My son who didn't go with everyone texted me

and said, "Dinner at Cheesecake Factory?"

I replied, "And overnight at the Grand America!"

So he and I and granddaughter Goldie headed up

to Salt Lake to party while Papa and the others were

out of town.

I have posted about the Grand America Hotel

in Salt Lake before. 

 It is like experiencing an

elegant Old World hotel, and our family loves it.

We love their breakfast buffet

which is elegant and delicious and one of our family

and friend traditions.

Now mind you, last year I was so good to the backpackers,

and I bought them dinners from Cheesecake Factory

and freeze dried them in my Great Harvest Freeze Dryer,

but this year I hadn't done that and instead, we kept texting

pictures like the above, saying things like,

"Did your bed sleep this comfy last night?"

"Is this what your breakfast looked like?"

"Did you have this kind of hot cocoa?"

We had a lot of fun teasing them, as they didn't

know we had decided to party while they were gone.

This was in late September and the flowers were 

still fabulous.

And Goldie decided she wanted to do all of the posing

with Miss Madi K.

These are all taken in their courtyard.  You can see

why it is so enchanting.

Goldie and Miss Madi K, and of course

Marcus and I really enjoyed their indoor pool.

It was a foodie weekend with eating twice

at Cheesecake Factory, the Grand Buffet,

and then we stopped at our favorite macaron

shop, Fillings and Emulsions on the way

out of town.

When Papa returned Goldie said, "Papa can you go backpacking

again really soon?!!"

I agreed!  No sitting home feeling sorry for

myself.  He said he was staying home next

year and going with us!

We have had a little difficulty

here at Purple Chocolat Home.

Miss Minnie M has gotten

very jealous of Miss Madi K, and

decided she wanted to be mentioned in

a post too.

She was wonderful running

all over Disneyland.

Now to the really fun giveaway.

 Patti found this fabulous

MacKenzie-Childs canvas tote bag

that is our giveaway prize this time.

Leave a comment below to enter to

win!  And tell me what you would 
like to tote in your new bag.
Wish I could win too!  The winner

will be chosen by midnight December 7, 2018.
Only US addresses will be eligible (sorry,
but due to postage we have to limit it.)

And visit all of our participants this time

and see where they and their famous totes

have been off to.

This will be Cherry Kay's first tale

with Miss Carrie Ann Hall, so be sure

to welcome her.

And come back March 1st when

we will have a fun and unique twist

on our traveling tales.

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader

Cherry Kay and Carrie Ann Hall @ Entertaining Women