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[P747]Projects For Mothers Day

by Kathryn Beach, Kat

So let's show our mothers how much we appreciate them by returning the favor. Chocolate roses are romantic, sweet, and gorgeous. Dads and kids, put on your aprons!

Chocolate Clay Ingredients
10 ounces semisweet chocolate (coarsely chopped chunks or chips)
1/3 cup light corn syrup

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over hot water, stirring occasionally. To do this right, first bring the water to a boil, remove it from the burner, and place the bowl containing the chocolate on top. If necessary, return the pot of water to the burner on low heat.

Stir the corn syrup into the chocolate, mixing well and scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Fold the syrup into the chocolate until you can no longer see the syrup and the mixture thickens into a ball. Using wax paper or plastic, pour and spread the mixture with the spatula until 1/2inch thick. For about two hours, let it sit and thicken uncovered at room temperature. Now it's ready for making your roses.

Chocolate Roses Instructions

Knead a handful of chocolate clay at a time on a counter or cutting board until it is soft and pliable like regular clay.

Roll the chocolate dough into twelve 1/2-inch diameter balls (for each full-size rose) and put them on waxed paper about 1 inch apart. Press each ball with your fingertips until it is a flat disk about the size of a quarter. Make the bottom thicker than the top.

Roll one disk into a cone to make the center of the rosebud, being sure to roll the thinner edge into the top of the cone. Wrap the next disk around the opening of the tepee and the third disk at the back of the tepee - this is the rose bud. Now continue adding one disk at a time as individual petals, gently curling the top edge slightly downward. You can leave some roses as rosebuds, then make various sizes, making them larger by adding more petals. If there is excess chocolate at the bottom of your roses, pinch it off with your fingers to make more balls.

For a day or two, let the roses harden at room temperature, then package them in airtight containers and store in a cool, dry place. To retain the best chocolate flavor, it is best not to store them in the refrigerator.

You can get fancy for Mothers Day if you like by using white chocolate and experimenting with adding food coloring. Or, decorate your chocolate roses by painting them with melted white chocolate.

Tulips are fun too, and are really pretty made with white chocolate and then painted.

To make larger roses, start with larger chocolate balls.

You pride yourself on being a great father. Sure, your career takes up too much time each week, but you're as diligent as time allows about sharing child-rearing responsibilies with your wife. You are definitely not your father, who left all the "household chores" to your mother. You're a twenty-first-century renaissance man.

You help get the kids ready for school in the morning, at least twice a week, and you help put them to bed at night, when you're not working on the car or watching football. You even make dinner, sometimes. OK, so it's grilled cheese sandwiches and potato chips, but it's almost nutritious. If you squint?

Your wife is one lucky woman, right? You almost never forget your anniversary or her birthday. Last Valentine's Day snuck up on you, causing a late-night run to the drug store, but that card you bought was a winner. And you worked so hard buying Mother's Day gifts with your little kids that you forgot to buy one from you. But you did bring her coffee in bed that morning-that made her day.

Now it's autumn and you've got a break in the action-Thanksgiving's about the grandparents, Christmas is about the kids-and you can pretty much relax until next Valentine's Day. Whew!

Not so fast, Dad. One of the major problems faced by parents of small children is the lack of attention paid to their own relationships. Children demand so much time and effort that couples tend to ignore each others? needs.

Look around-as enlightened as you are, does your wife still get stuck with the "grunt" work of the household? How often do you do the laundry, including the folding and ironing? How often do you pack your kids? lunches, buy their clothes, help them with their homework, and leave work to take them to the doctor or dentist?

Do you really believe that a few special days a year are enough recognition for everything your wife does to take care of your family? Are they enough thanks? Of course not. No matter how much she wanted the job, she never realized how incredibly difficult being a mother would turn out to be.

Don't wait for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day-beyond telling her every day how much you love her, there are a million little things you can do to let her know how much she is appreciated.

The next time you pass a florist, drop in and send your wife a bouquet. Leave an "I Love You" card in an unexpected place for her.

Surprise her, some Saturday night-arrange a sitter for the kids, yourself, and take her to dinner. Even better, get the sitter for a weekend afternoon, and take your wife on a surprise picnic. Or be the sitter, yourself, and arrange a surprise day at a spa for her, where she'll be pampered in ways you can't duplicate.

For no reason at all, let her stay in bed, some weekend morning, while you and the kids fix and serve her breakfast.

You may be a great father, but you shouldn't forget that, first, you were a husband. Let your wife know that she's still that beautiful girl you married, and that Mother's Day and Valentine's Day ought to be every day.

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Both Kathryn Beach & J Gardener are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Kathryn Beach has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, About Web Hosting and Real Estate. Take advantage of over 30 years of chocolate candy making by visiting Kathryn Beach's website, . Learn how to make fudge, truffles, and ch. Kathryn Beach's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.

J Gardener has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family Concerns, Family Travel and Parenting. Imaginary Greetings focuses on rejuvenating the imaginations in all of us. Make this Christmas magical for all your family and friends. Visit for the best. J Gardener's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.