Valentine Specials

#SHARE A MEAL WITH THIS DINNER’S ON US RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS
One simple way to share a meal is through a simple “Dinner’s On Us!” random act of kindness. Get the kids involved in choosing a meal and shopping for the ingredients. We chose spaghetti meal since it didn’t have any perishable ingredients which meant that we could just leave it at a random door. Pack up your ingredients in a nice basket or bin. Check out the Dollar store for bins or baskets. Print and attach a label Dinner’s On Us . Drop basket on the doorstep of any home in your neighborhood.

White Chocolate Mousse

Cook’s notes: Recipe serves 6-8 depending on the size of the glass. There are several options for serving this dessert: small wine glasses or dark chocolate edible party cups available at some stores in the baking aisle. Amaretto is the piece de resistance elevating this dessert to a whole new level.
Ingredients:

• 4 egg yolks 
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 cups whipping (heavy) cream, divided
• 1 cup white baking chips
• 2 TB. Amaretto or 1 tsp. almond extract
• Optional garnishes: chocolate curls, toasted coconut and almonds, raspberries, valentine cupcake sprinkles

Directions:

• Beat egg yolks in small bowl on high speed about 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar.
• Heat 1 cup whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat just until hot. Gradually stir half of the cream into egg yolk mixture, and then stir all of mixture back into hot cream in saucepan. Whisk together and cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not let boil).
• Stir baking chips into hot cream mixture until melted. Add 2-3 tablespoons of Amaretto or 1 tsp. almond extract. Mix well and put in a bowl. Cover with wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour. 
• Beat remaining 1 cup whipping cream in chilled medium bowl on high speed until stiff. Fold white chocolate cream mixture into whipped cream and spoon into parfait/wine glasses or edible chocolate party cups.
• Store dessert in refrigerator lightly covered with a sheet of wax paper. 

So put all the recipes together and looks like this for the Seasonal Plate Food Column:
A Valentine Special

White Chocolate Mousse with Italian Wild Rice Soup and Orange Slices

Italian Wild Rice Soup