Easy Fund Raiser or Gift Idea: Mint-Chocolate Coffee Spoons

A quick and easy way to enjoy mint-chocolate coffee!) My sister-in-law makes these, and they sell them at school events to raise money for the parochial school where her son is enrolled. She says they "sell like hotcakes." Suggested price: 2 for $1. If you want to make gifts for people for birthdays or Christmas or other special occasions, or as party favors, the coffee spoons work well for that too.


 * Ordinary plastic spoons


 * Bars of Hershey's chocolate


 * Hard peppermint candy or, for something different, try dinner mints


 * Saran Wrap or other plastic wrap

•* Short pieces of ribbon

Melt the chocolate. Dip the plastic spoons in the chocolate. Lay spoons on wax paper. Before the chocolate sets, place a mint in the middle of the spoon.

When the chocolate has cooled and hardened, cover spoon with Saran Wrap (or other plastic wrap). Tie a ribbon around handle of the spoon to hold the plastic wrap in place. (Use colored plastic wrap and coordinating colors for the ribbon, if you prefer.)

To use: pour a cup of hot coffee, take the plastic wrap off the spoon, stick the spoon in the coffee and stir. And TA-DA! -- mint chocolate coffee.

Note: You might want to add some chocolate chips to the melted chocolate to give it a somewhat firmer consistency when it cools off. You may also want to experiment a bit with dipping the spoons a couple of times.

Another note: you could also experiment with other flavors. What about vanilla almond bark and butterscotch candy? Or chocolate and butterscotch? Or chocolate and raspberry candy? You get the picture, I'm sure.

LeAnn Ralph may be contacted at http://ruralroute2.com bigpines@ruralroute2.com . Click here to view more of their articles. LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books: "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" ( August 2003), "Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Writing Oral Histories)" (e-book, April 2004), and "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (Oct. 2004). You are invited to sign up for LeAnn's FREE! monthly e-mail newsletter, Rural Route 2 News & Updates. Visit — http://ruralroute2.com