What Valentine’s Day and My Lost Son Have in Common

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and although it’s not my favorite holiday, it is an excuse to do my favorite thing…

Nope, not that. 😉

I L.O.V.E. Chocolate. All kinds. Chocolate with mint, chocolate with peanut butter, chocolate with caramel… you really can’t go wrong.

So, I’m going to share a simple, no-bake treat I make that’s healthier than the store bought candies because it only has two ingredients*.

First, let me be clear… I. Am. Not. A. Food. Blogger.

My pictures aren’t going to be pretty. My recipe is more ‘toss and test’ than ‘recipes and measurements’. But…

These little heart-shaped candies WILL taste good. They’ll be quick and easy for when you don’t have time to bake but need your sweet fix.

And, you’ll never look at a heart the same way again.

Here’s why…

When one of my triplets, Carter, passed away, I knew my heart would never truly be whole again. I have his surviving siblings to help heal the deep tears and dark stains that exist as a result, but he’ll always be forever on my heart, if not in my hands.

Ever since then, I’ve been seeing heart-shaped images everywhere. Random hearts just popping up at random times. It’s amazing. It’s comforting.

Tomorrow will be 2 years since he left us. This day, which I call his angelversary, will always be important to me. I spend it reflecting on his life – he did a lot in 49 days – and my family and I have started a few traditions as a way to remember him on this day.

One of these traditions is to spend the time between his birthday (12/9) and his angelversary (1/27) collecting ‘hearts’. So…

You see, that’s what Valentine’s Day and my lost son have in common. It just made sense to combine these two things and share this story with you! When you see a heart, I hope you’ll see Carter, too.

Now, on to the yummy goodness…

What you’ll need:

1. A melting chocolate (white or milk; chocolate chips or special melting chocolate)
2. A filler (peanut butter, caramels, mint andes baking chips, etc.)
3. Wrappers (this can be a muffin pan with cupcake liners, a silicone pan, or candy molds)

How you make them:

1. Once you’ve chosen your chocolate and your filler, pour the chocolate into one microwave safe bowl and the filler in another using a 2:1 ratio.
2. Heat the chocolate in the microwave – this will usually take about a minute, but I suggest stirring half way through. You want the chocolate smooth and creamy.
   
3. Pour chocolate into the bottom of each wrapper to 1/3 full. You may have to move the chocolate around with the spoon or tap the pan of wrappers onto the counter to smooth out the chocolate.
4. Put the pan of wrappers in the freezer for 5 minutes to help harden it a bit.
5. Heat the filler in the microwave – peanut butter only needs to soften a tad and if using caramel, be very careful and be ready to do the next step because it hardens fast.
6. Pour the filler on top of the chocolate layer so the wrapper is now 2/3 full. Move the filler around (gently) or tap on the counter so that it spreads out again. You do not need to refrigerate this step.
7. Pour the remaining chocolate over the top of each wrapper to full. Tap to smooth. Put back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
   
8. The type of chocolate you use will determine how you store your candies: chocolate chips need to stay in the fridge; melting chocolate can stay out.

Isn’t that easy? No crazy preservatives, same great flavors!

The finished product is delicious. I store my caramels and mints in a tupperware on the counter because they need creamier centers and the chocolate didn’t need to stay refrigerated. The peanut butter cups stayed in the fridge since I used chocolate chips for those.

*If you’d like to have a bit more sweet or crunch with your peanut butter cups, there are some things that can be added. Search Pinterest for homemade peanut butter cups and you’ll see several recipes. 

Now, I’m off to eat some homemade candy – what about you?