Homemade Chocolate Candies

You know how ridiculously expensive those dark chocolate coated super fruits and nuts are? The ones that come in fancy re-sealable packages? They're actually really easy to make at home, and I decided to make a batch this weekend. I only used three ingredients: dark chocolate, dried cranberries, and walnuts. The chocolate I used came in a bulk 2.5 kg package from the Lindt Outlet near me. A trip to Costco took care of the other two ingredients. I didn't even need to turn on the stove or use the microwave oven to make these, which is perfectly fine with me, seeing how hot the summer weather already is. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/2 dried cranberries

Place chocolate chips in a heatable bowl, and over securely with cling wrap. Place on top of the fridge where a warm spot is for about an hour or so. A windowsill warmed by sunlight, or the interior of a car will work as well. When chocolate is melted, pour in dried fruit and walnuts, and stir to coat completely. Line the chocolate coated in pieces or small chunks on a lined baking sheet and slide into the fridge (freezer if impatient) for a 15 minutes to allow chocolate to firm up. Enjoy when chocolate has firmed up!

Summer Salad: one of many!

We plant tomatoes in our backyard. As a result, in our mid- to late summer months, we have tomato for almost every meal everyday, and still have extra to share a big bag with all our friends. I never get sick of these sweet, juicy, fruits because I help plant them and well, because they're so sweet and juicy. These little banana tomatoes are my favourite. They're firm but not starchy, and work well when used raw or cooked or baked. Here is one of the colourful summer salads I made with these tomatoes.

Salad components: 

• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• avocados
• lime (juice)
• canned beans (I used romano beans)
• sliced black olives
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Simply dice tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocados. Toss everything in lots of fresh lime juice, with some olive oil, and salt and pepper. Add canned beans and olives and toss again. If you want, you can toss the tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocados separately so you can arrange the salad layers. 

Lots of fresh banana tomatoes from the backyard

Yummy avocado

Yummy salad

All the beautiful, colourful layers