So our inaugural meeting was at her home one Thursday night back in December. Since it was so close to Christmas, not all of the members were able to attend, but we had a nice turnout of eight to kickoff our fun new group.
For our first meeting, Kim chose "The Pioneer Woman" and told us we could pick a recipe from any of her cookbooks. She also set up a "Sign Up Genius" account for us so we could let everyone know what we were bringing and not duplicate any dishes.
I hung back to see what others would choose and then decided to bring a dessert I found in her Holidays cookbook. In fact, I think it was the last recipe in the book!
So, without further adieu, may I introduce...
Chocolate.Mint.Shooters.
I know. I had you at chocolate. And mint...
They look like a million bucks (those are actually mine above), but they're really quite simple.
Chocolate Mint Shooters
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
very small dash of peppermint extract
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup strong, hot coffee
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
fresh mint leaves for garnish
I had to measure out my chocolate chips because I buy a really big bag of them from Costco. They're every bit as good as Hershey or Toll House and much more affordable.
TIP - Keep your chocolate chips in the freezer if you don't use all of the bag. They'll keep forever.
Place your chocolate in a blender and add the room temp eggs.
Add a dash of peppermint. Seriously. A dash.
Blend the chips, peppermint extract and eggs until the chips are well chopped.
Remove the little clear top from the blender and SLOWLY pour in the HOT coffee while blending. Go slowly. The hot liquid will cause everything to expand. You don't want it everywhere on your counters and cabinets. Because it would be sad to have to lick it all off. Just plain sad.
She suggested using a squeeze bottle to fill the shot glasses. I couldn't find one anywhere in my kitchen, so I used my coffee creamer pot. It worked great. Fill the cups 2/3 full.
I knew I was transporting mine that night, so I went ahead and put them in a couple of Rubbermaid containers to keep them upright and portable. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours. I made mine about three hours before leaving.
Next, I made homemade whipped cream with the heavy cream and confectioner's sugar.
I keep the containers that takeout egg drop soup comes in for occasions just like this. If it gets left at Kim's house, no biggie. They can eat the whipped cream and throw away the container! I took an icing bag and tip and added the whipped cream and mint once I got there.
Kim's house was beautifully decorated for Christmas. We enjoyed seeing what everyone had made as we set out our dishes.
We had a nice mix for just eight guests - one appetizer, one salad, two main dishes, one side and three desserts.
I had looked and looked for shots glasses to serve these in. I finally settled for a set of plastic ones that I found on Amazon, but when they arrived, most were cracked and broken. I had two days to figure it out. I decided that candle votive holders would be the perfect size, but I was two short of enough, so I stopped at Dollar Tree to get more. They didn't have them, but guess what they did have?
Actual dessert glasses! Three for $1. That's 18 for $6 for you non-math majors!
I had already found the cute little tasting spoons on Amazon.
$10 for a dozen. Not bad at all. I'm gonna have fun with these little guys!
These were really, really rich. But so good. They are the perfect size to end a meal. You feel like you've had dessert without overdoing it. And they're really impressive! Don't you think?
I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!
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