Becky, WOW! I'll have one of each, lol. Had my first pomegranate martini last week ... it was SOOO good! Curious why your champagne cocktail doesn't have the red color? You must not have used much juice. Would you share your recipe for Italian Almond Cookies? I told dh I was done with holiday baking, but then I promised Thumbprints when he comes home next time. What's one more cookie! ;)

Jude - Believe me, a lot of people were tempted to touch them. But the boy kept saying, don't touch me, I am already taken!lol That night I ate so many fruits covered in chocolate. When buying chocolate I always get them with nuts like hazelnuts but being in this chocolate fest let me sample fruits covered in chocolate that can only be used fresh and not for sale outside. And because it was an all inclusive resort, you could eat as much as you want to....I was bad! Silvia

I've attached the recipe that I've used for a long time, adapted from Gourmet Magazine.....it also has heavy cream and lots of rosemary. I can tell you that it.is.freaking.delicious. I served stuffed mushroom caps, marinated garden veggies, puff pastry cheese bites as appetizers. Sides included steamed haricot verts in a herb butter, spring greens salad with lemony vinaigrette (served as a side, not a course), marinated garden veggies. Dessert was homemade lemon ice cream, chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, fresh fruit and berries. This was a meatless dinner, but I've also served the lasagna as a side with herbed baked chicken or a nice ham. Look at this recipe option.

Thanks, Carol, for the link. I know the method for tempering, but never temper baking chocolate when I use it to coat. I was trying to get opinions on whether a candy bar, such as TJ's Belgian dark chocolate would work to coat the truffles, without tempering, even if they didn't look professional. I just wanted to know if the chocolate would harden again. Since I couldn't find anything online that said it could work, I was hoping for experienced candy makers' opinions before I went to the trouble. I don't have a chocolate thermometer, nor had time to mess with tempering, so I just bought baking chocolate, melted it in the double boiler like I always do and it turned out fine. I'll use the candy bars for something else sometime. I appreciate you taking the time to try to help!