It is no secret that I love sweets. In fact, when Lent rolls around each year and I see people giving up sweets, I hide… I don’t want those kind of crazy thoughts to invade my brain. I can tell you straight up, me without sweets, would not be a pretty sight.

When the folks over at The Motherhood asked me if I would like to be a co-host for a virtual Cooking Connections class surrounding all things sweet, I jumped at the chance. An hour devoted to nothing other than desserts? I’m in!

You can join in the virtual chat based class as well, this Wednesday 1pm EST on The Motherhood. Julie, from Mommie Cooks and I will be joined by a team of dessert experts who will share some great recipes, techniques and tips surrounding:

• Kid Friendly Desserts & Desserts on the Go
• Your Favorite Desserts, Lightened Up
• Desserts Worth Indulging & Special Occasion Desserts

In the meantime, I am doing my best to diligently research sweet treats prior to the Cooking Connections class. I want to make sure I am armed with the best dessert recipes out there to share with you! Researching, taste testing, experimenting with dessert recipes is tough, I tell ya’, but I am more than willing to do it for you and the Cooking Connections Sweet Treats class.

I know there is still a chill in the air, but I am anxiously awaiting spring and summer, which means sweet treats of the frozen variety. In this case, Frozen White Chocolate Hot Chocolate. Yes, you read correctly… frozen hot chocolate. OK – it isn’t necessarily hot, but this recipe takes your favorite hot chocolate mix and turns it into a rich, frozen, decadent treat.

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Frozen Hot Chocolate

Frozen White Chocolate Hot Chocolate (Adapted from Epicurious)

Author Dine & Dish

Ingredients

• 6 half-ounce pieces of high quality white chocolate
• 2 Tbs half and half
• 1 envelope store bought hot chocolate mix
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 cups ice
• Whipped cream optional
• Chocolate shavings optional

Instructions

• Place the white chocolate pieces and the half and half into a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1 minutes, stopping to stir half way through. Continue to heat until melted and smooth. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
• In a blender place the remaining cup of milk, the room temperature chocolate mixture, and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a cup and top with homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

The post Cooking Connections Sweet Treats Class {Recipe: Frozen Hot Chocolate} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

First of all, there are only a few more days to sign up for the “Adopt-a-Blogger” event. Click on the icon above to be directed to that post. We need some more veteran bloggers, so don’t be shy and sign up!

My husband and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary last week. We were married on November 19, 1999 and have been going strong ever since. Nick spoils me rotten, is a fantastic husband in each and every way, and is one of the best father’s I know. He works extremely hard, is very good at what he does, and is a smart, intelligent, caring, thoughtful man. I am very lucky!

As I was reflecting back on the past 8 years, I started thinking about our marriage and the boundaries that have been set.  There are things I have never done in front of my husband. Some things, I just think, are better left not shared between couples. One of those things is using the bathroom. I have never been one to be able to pee with the door wide open while chatting with others. I can’t think of anything more awkward than that! I also do not floss my teeth in front of him and I don’t shave my legs / underarms in front of him. I figure that in some situations, a little modesty never hurt anyone. (I know that modesty went completely out the window after my first baby was born and after a very difficult birth, my hubby had to help me and my big, fat, bloated mess, take a shower….I an only hope that memory isn’t frozen firmly in his mind!)

Modesty when eating is another thing. Monkey bread, for instance, is not something that you can eat without getting a little enthusiastic about. It is hard not to just pull bite after bite after bite off of the bread and shove it into your mouth…the caramel dripping from your chin and covering your fingers.  In an attempt to bring a little civility to our table Thanksgiving morning, I decided to make dainty, little, Monkey Bread Minis. We could all sit around with our individual monkey bread minis, and eat like modest, civilized human beings…

Yeah, right. These monkey bread minis were perfect and as ooey gooey as it comes. Even though the portions were smaller, it did not prevent us all from getting a little crazy with the monkey bread. Everyone, including myself, had little bits of carmel here and there and pulling apart the minis was just as barbaric as reaching in to grab a piece off a big loaf.

My husband saw me eat monkey bread and he loves me anyway. Sometimes sharing a little more than normal isn’t a bad thing.

The post Monkey Bread Minis appeared first on Dine and Dish.