Mother's Day Dinner and Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites...

I'm actually quite proud of this card ;)

Happy Mother's Day! =)

In my family, we never need much of an excuse to make something special to eat.  All of us love to work in the kitchen and the slightest hint at it being a "special day" will send at least two of us into our favorite room of the house to make some goodies.  This Sunday being Mother's Day, I wanted to try out an idea I had for Chocolate Covered Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites.  My family and I could very well live off cheesecake, and my mom loves dark chocolate, so it seemed like a good choice ;).  I couldn't find a recipe anywhere that didn't include a crust or peanut butter (Mom doesn't like peanut butter), so I made one up myself, and surprise, surprise! it actually didn't turn into a giant gooey mess like I expected it too.  In theory, my brother helped me, but in reality he was taking pictures, singing, and sneaking samples...=)

Chocolate Covered Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients:

Two 8 oz packages of Cream Cheese

1/2 Cup Sugar

Two Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

11/2 Cups of Chocolate Chips

One Tablespoon shortening

Instructions:

• Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a glass bowl
• Mix together with hand mixer until smooth and creamy
• Fold in about half the chocolate chips with spatula
• Put bowl in refrigerator for thirty minutes
• Meanwhile, put the remaining chocolate chips with the shortening into a double boiler and slowly heat until completely melted.
•  Take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator and roll it into small bite sized pieces (if it gets too warm, put it back in the fridge for a little longer)
• Using a fork, dip cheesecake bites into the chocolate and coat well
• Place on a tray covered with wax paper (or one of these amazing silpat tray liners) and store in the fridge until you are ready to eat them (it won't be long ;)

Next time I'm going to try to make these with vanilla ice cream instead of cheesecake...if it's not a total disaster I'll share pictures of them too...=)

For dinner, I made a pork tenderloin for mom and I, pork chops for the boys, broccoli with cheese, and my first ever homemade chipotle sauce...

My dad usually buys my mom roses for Mother's Day...this year she got a whole bush ;)

(I need to find this sign for my mom...=))

I hope ya'll had a lovely weekend and a very blessed Mother's Day!