Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Friday is Valentine's Day.  For some it is a day of happiness - a day for lovers to celebrate themselves. For people not in a relationship, it can be a genuine time of sadness and depression.

On Friday I hope to be doing something I love to do - watch the sky.  And, oh, something else - eat chocolate.

One of our supermarkets is taking chocolate covered strawberries to a new level.  In a case by the front of the store, various flavors of chocolate covered strawberries are displayed for sale.  They've been doing this for several days now, and I expect it to continue until "V-Day".

You can buy toffee, cinnamon, dark chocolate, white chocolate with curls, maple with bacon, and more.  For $2.50 each.

But we thought $2.50 each was a little steep, as good as they looked.  So I talked my spouse into going to the local Aldi and getting a quart of strawberries for $1.69.  We had the other ingredients in the house already.

Using a recipe we found online for inspiration:

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1/2 cup high quality semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp coconut oil (not essential but it helps with the hardening process)
8 strawberries
Parchment paper

Method

Rinse strawberries, pat dry.  Unfold parchment paper.
Melt the chips and the coconut oil (coconut oil is a solid at room temperature) in the microwave, about 30 seconds at a time until melted.
Dip strawberries into the chocolate
Immediately place onto the parchment paper, then refrigerate until chocolate shell is firm.
Take out of refrigerator before serving and let them come to room temperature.

My spouse is an excellent cook, and I know these will taste good.  Being artistic with food, though, takes talent neither of us have. So giftable they are not.  For that, I would recommend the $2.50 each strawberries made by pros.

Have you ever made special Valentine's Day desserts?