Cherries and chocolate – heavenly, right? If you aren’t convinced, try this Cherry Chocolate Chip dip! You’ll thank me later 🙂

 

I brought this sweet dip to a valentine celebration that I was invited to that was for just ladies. It’s an annual event, but I came as a newcomer, invited by my good friend, Michele. It was a fun night for just the gals to get dressed up, sip on wine, exchange valentine gifts like you would at a white elephant gift exchange.

Have you participated in a gift exchange like that? Everyone is assigned a number, and in sequential order, you can either “steal” a gift someone else chose and opened or pick an unopened present.

The difference is that the theme was BLING. You brought a gift that was blingy, as in sparkly! Super girly fun!  I was number 18 out of 21 or so. I could have taken my pick of just about any gift, except for one of the most sought after presents, a mask like this!

Image from here 

The mask got some attention, and was swooped up in no time! Each gift can be stolen 3 times before it’s off limits, so for those that are really paying attention, you can definitely strategize!

Besides the mask, there was quite a bit of jewelry that was super pretty. I had my eye on my favorite, until I opened my present, a bottle of wine with a stiletto shoe wine holder like this!

CUTE! And did you catch that I said it came with WINE. Yeah, I was good with my wine and Cinderella shoe. What are you going to do with a mask anyway?! 😉

 

 

I knew there would be a lot of different types of foods, and wasn’t quite sure what snack I would bring, so I searched for inspiration on Pinterest, and found several sweet dips that looked enticing.

The Cherry Chocolate Chip Dip jumped out at me and I KNEW that I had to recreate it! Not only does is look delicious, but HELLO, it’s a pretty pink color, very valentine-ish 🙂

Remember, I’m the one that made a celebration cake that matched my dishes 🙂

 

 

There weren’t any fresh cherries at my store, so I used dark-red morello cherries that Trader Joe’s carries. They’re packed in a light syrup, which I used in the dip.

If you don’t have access to jarred or canned cherries, you can use maraschino cherries. I don’t particularly care for that type unless it’s used as a garnish in a cocktail, but I know you can get them fairly easy from grocery stores.

I served this with a simple Italian cookie called Lattemiele. Also purchased from Trader Joe’s (by the way, no affiliation, I just happen to live near the store), but graham crackers or sugar cookies would  be tasty too. Next time I make this dip, I’ll serve it with fresh fruit!

You know you made something yummy when you hear someone shout, “Who brought that dip?!!”  🙂 

You also might be interested in trying Cherry Pie Filling Salad from Margaret’s Morsels!