Chocolate sauce = fabulous! Really. And I'm not even much of a chocoholic but this is the kind of thing that makes a person swoon. I'm working on getting the recipe together and will post it within a couple days so check back. Seriously, you've got to try this. As it turns out, you don't need much in the way of canning equipment since it does not need to be processed since there's nothing in it that can spoil - it's all pretty much sugar and chocolate. Once you open a jar you'll probably want to put the remainder in the fridge but sealed it can sit on your shelf.


Although I'm not usually a chocolate fanatic, my husband is. We can't keep anything chocolate in the house for very long (he's been known to pack away a 2 lb. bag of M-n-Ms in a single day. Another time friends who didn't know what he might like for Christmas gave him 15 pounds of Hersey miniatures and kisses which we stored in our punch bowl. This is a man with a problem (he doesn't know about the chocolate sauce yet and I'm going to try and keep it a secret for a while so I've got a prayer of keeping some for holiday gifting - maybe I'll give him a jar in his stocking). Anyway, I'm telling you all this for a reason: Last week I went with my son on his first fieldtrip to a local apple orchard for a hay ride and apple picking. All the kids got to pick a quarter peck of red and golden delicious to bring home. The next day I asked if he wanted to make a special apple dessert with his pickings. Excited doesn't even begin to cover his reaction. So I peeled and sliced and he helped put the apples in the pan and pour on sugar and spices and cover with the crumb topping. We had to open the oven several times to look at it while it baked and I endured a half an hour of, "When is my special apple dessert done, mommy?"


Finally, it was cooled enough for the tender toddler tongue. I spooned some out into a bowl, poured a little cream on top and handed it over with a flourish, "Look, honey, your special apple dessert!"


He looked into the bowl with his spoon poised midair for attack. Suddenly, his smile vanished. He pushed the apples around with his spoon frantically and finally looked up at me with a wail, "Mommy!! Where's the chocolate?!!!" The despair in this voice was unbearable. Upon hearing that there was, in fact, no chocolate he left the table and I never could convince him to try the crisp. In this case, the apple really did not fall far from the tree, so to speak.