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Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone had a very pleasant, peaceful and safe New Year’s Eve celebration to bring in 2021 …….

Bob and I usually have a formal dinner for New Year’s Eve (just the two of us lately), followed with appetizers, desserts and champagne at midnight.

Gone are the days that we used to go to catering halls or restaurants with friends and family for large gatherings. I always felt rushed with the catering halls and just my luck it was always the coldest night of the year (for me anyway).

I was never a big fan of going out for the occasion and always preferred staying home.

When I was a child, my mother and grandmother made stuffed shells for dinner with sausage and peppers and then at midnight after our champagne toast and hugs and kisses, we ran outside with pots, pans and wooden spoons making as much noise as we could (we were fortunate that this was a neighborhood participation event and no one got upset from the commotion).

Once we came in, my mother always had more food on the table and this time it was appetizers and rice balls and a tray of cookies and pastries. It felt as if we ate for an entire day and then we had the lentils to look forward to on New Years Day for Good Luck.

This year we just had the sausage and peppers for dinner,

skipped the appetizers and I decided to do something a little different for dessert this year.

Bob and I received so many gift baskets this year from friends and family that couldn’t be with us to celebrate the holidays. You have to see the amount of cookies, candy, fruits and cake we have in this house! Not diet friendly…

So I decided to make a dessert/hot cocoa charcuterie board this year, omitting the appetizers and grazing on goodies for at least one more night before we get on the scale January 1st for the dreaded holiday weight gain realization.

Let’s put that thought aside for now…..

Thinking about the dessert board or “dessert charcuterie platter”, I have noticed that one of the trends that took off this Holiday Season was the hot cocoa bombs and I thought it would be fun to include them.

Obviously, I wasn’t leaving the house to go to a bakery to shop for cocoa bombs so I ordered a mold and decided to make them myself to add to the dessert tray since I already had all the ingredients in the house.

(In a future post I will show you step by step instructions. I have to upload my photos for the cocoa bombs).

So, here we go…… I started out with the largest wooden cutting board that I had and and a wooden tray, then gathered all my ingredients on one counter and transferred items to the board as I started to unpack the goodies.

There really isn’t any set instructions for setting this up, just wing it and go with the flow. And add whatever makes you happy.

I still have so many more treats and fruit, enough for another board. I will have to start freezing the cakes and cookies today.

I included various items from the gift baskets from Harry & David and local-LIBred and a few pantry staples…..

• Mini marshmallows
• Regular marshmallows
• Whipped cream
• Non- Pareils
• Apple chips
• Candy canes
• Starlight mints
• Caramels
• Andes peppermint crunch mints
• Coconut roasted almonds
• Cinnamon roasted pecans
• Red velvet cookies
• Mini- powered donuts
• Chocolate cherries
• Malted milk balls
• Chocolate hazelnut pirouettes
• Moose Munch popcorn
• Oatmeal coconut cookies
• Novelty solid Santa chocolates
• Raspberry filled galette cookies
• Assorted chocolate truffles
• Candy cane tootsie pops
• Ferrero Rocher
• Hot cocoa bombs
• Assorted flavored hot chocolate mixes

For my décor, remember – “Shop your house first before you run out and buy new items”. Many items in your home can be repurposed so you don’t have to purchase new items.

I used a Hot Chocolate Bar sign that I picked up as part of a fundraiser from a local store along with some of the premade “item description signs”.

I took the gold tree off of my dining room table Holiday centerpiece (it is part of a trio of trees) and works perfectly on the dining room table because it is a great height for entertaining.

You can still have a conversation with guests without it being in the way and you never lose the Holiday elegance.

The old fashioned Santa figurine holding the tree is one of my favorite pieces. My parents bought him for me years ago and every year he usually sits on the entryway table and is part of my Christmas Card display. Love him.

The “ugly sweater” napkins I purchased from Party City for the holidays. I usually use cloth napkins for everything and never use paper napkins but these were too cute to pass up.

On to my “snowmen” mugs with lids. Part of a set of four that I very rarely have the opportunity to use but cherish none the less because they were a gift from a student I had when I taught religious education at our church. Just looking at them brings a smile to my face remembering that student. I had some great memories from those special days.

The ramekins are by CMG -(made in Portugal) that I picked up a few years ago in Homegoods originally for holiday crème brulee. I love the design.

And my special little “hot cocoa” ornament purchased last year in Macy’s. If I ever start a mini Christmas tree with food ornaments in the kitchen, at least I have one ornament already.

I added a flashing jingle bell necklace to the tray (purchased from Hallmark) to add a few pops of sparkle and then accented the board with rosemary sprigs because it was too cold for me to go outside and start cutting the pine tree branches.

And there you have it, my first hot cocoa charcuterie board.

I hope I gave you some inspiration for your very own board in the future.

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

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