Why not make a special dessert for your diner-style meal? Here’s an idea for a dessert the kids can help make: chocolate-dipped fresh strawberries! It’s almost May, and fresh strawberries are arriving in the stores, even ones grown right here in Corvallis (when they are available.) Here’s a fun, fancy and delicious way to make strawberries into a special dessert treat.

You’ll need about 6 oz. of chocolate chips/chunks to make 1 lb of dipped strawberries. You can choose from dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate or why not try all three for a variety of options? Wash and dry the strawberries and place them on a clean towel. Using skewers or toothpicks, pierce the strawberries at their green tops enough that the stick can be used as a handle. Melt the chocolate either using a microwave (use a sequence of 20 second bouts on “high” with some stirring in between) or double boiler on the stovetop (stirring occasionally.) Set out a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Dunk the tip of each strawberry carefully into the melted chocolate, staying clear of the green tops and allowing some of the red of the strawberry to show. (At this point, if you’d like, you could also dunk the chocolate strawberry in sprinkles or shredded coconut.) Carefully lay each strawberry down on the parchment and allow chocolate to harden. When all strawberries are dipped, refrigerate the cooking sheet. When all the chocolate has hardened, pull skewers/toothpicks out of strawberries and arrange them on a plate. Return to refrigerator until time to serve.