Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I know. Thats the way to eat fruit...

I was inspired to make these because of a trip we made to a farm over the weekend. Each week we pick up our vegetable box at the farmer's market which comes from J.R. Organics farm in Escondido. Each year, the owner, Joe Rodriguez, thanks his customers by inviting them for a tour of his farm and a home cooked meal. We decided to take advantage of it and find out what it entails to grow vegetables organically.

Farming is tough as I soon discovered. The Rodriguez family are fourth generation farmers who bought eighty five acres of land in the 1950s. Joe Rodriguez took us on a tour of his farm and patiently explained the necessity of crop rotation in preventing the rapid depletion of minerals in the soil. He discussed the advantages of using beneficial insects such as ladybugs and mites over the pesticides used by most farmers. We walked past a field of compost brought from nearby animal farms to fertilize the soil and were told that any excess was given to poor farmers to prevent wastage. We were also taken to the greenhouse where plants such as lettuce and chard were being nurtured until they were large enough to be planted in the fields. It was definitely an educational experience and interesting to see where our vegetables came from and the reason they tasted so much better than those found in large supermarkets.

Our tour ended at the strawberry field where we picked strawberries and ate them to our hearts content. California strawberries, in general, are delicious but these ones were just out of this world. We picked them straight off the stems and ate them in all their juicy sweetness.

The next day we picked up our vegetable box from the farmer's market and there, sitting right on top, was a box full of those mouth watering strawberries. I was tempted to eat them then and there but I resisted and decided to dress them up a little bit. The only thing better than juicy sweetness is chocolate-coated juicy sweetness. Can you think of anything better?

Here's a simple and delicious recipe for chocolate covered strawberries.

Recipe

16 strawberries

1/2 pack of chocolate chips (8 0z)

1/3 cup heavy cream

Parchment paper

Directions

To melt the chocolate chips put them in a glass bowl and place the bowl on top of simmering water on the stove. The water should not touch the bowl. When the chocolate begins to melt slowly add the cream and stir until the mixture has a smooth consistency. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat. Dip the strawberries, one at a time, into the mixture and then place them on some parchment paper. When they are all coated place them in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened.