Christmas in August: Chocolate-Covered Raspberries

Here's what we did with the spoils from our day of raspberry picking.

Yes. Those are chocolate-covered raspberries, and they are by far the superior chocolate-dipped fruit. I first saw such a thing done by the Chocolate Cottage in Sandy, Utah. They are located just across the street from the Living Planet Aquarium. I highly recommend both. A visit to one is not complete without a visit to the other. But you'll have to hurry up if you want to hit both. The aquarium will close on September 10 and reopen at their new Draper location in December. Here's the info.

Now that I've been distracted by pretty fish, back to chocolate. These are quite simple to do.

Step 1: Convince your sister-in-law to give up sugar and then give you all her nice melting chocolate.

(Actually, I didn't have to do any convincing on this one. My sister-in-law is just this awesome all around.)

Step 2: Pick lots of raspberries. McBride Briar Patch and this berry patch still have some. One great tip I learned was that the best way to store your berries as you pick is to take an empty, clean gallon milk jug, cut off the top (leaving the handle), and tie it around your waist.

Step 3: Melt your chocolate, and drizzle it over raspberries on wax paper.

Step 4: Wait for the chocolate to harden. Then enjoy.

In our house, we didn't melt down the chocolate and drizzle it until about 11 p.m. and went to bed soon after. Super said that when I woke up with bad dreams in the middle of the night (which happens way too often) that I could wake him up and we'd eat the berries. So at 2 a.m. I woke up, woke him up, and said, "It's Christmas!"

Turns out you don't have to be completely awake to fully enjoy these berries. And eating them early in the morning truly made everything feel like Christmas.