Chocolate Mice, a Surefire Win for Your Sweetheart.

This is an instructable for Beck's chocolate-covered cherry mice - easy to make, and will have much more of an effect than those boxes of chocolates at extortion-level prices.

A whole mess of these will run you maybe $15

... Beck is the name of the elderly German woman who showed me this so long ago...

Step 1: Ingredients:

To create the little buggers you will need:

Stemmed maraschino cherries (I actually had to do some looking to find ones with stems)
Sliced Almonds
white decorative frosting (squeeze-tube applicators make it go MUCH faster)
Chocolate of your choice - I went to the local confectionery and scored some of theirs, chocolate chips will do... Cheaper chocolates will not melt as well
Hersey's Kisses or 'kiss'-shaped chocolate (not the fancy stripy kinds)

Stove
double burner

Step 2: Melting the Chocolate

If you have a double boiler, great. If not, one can be improvised in any decently-stocked kitchen.

Alternatively, microwave at your own risk. It's possible but again, it needs interim stirring so you don't overcook it.

The basic concept is: one pot holds water, which disburses the heat to the second container, which nestles in the first pot and sits with its bottom in the water, but no direct contact with the larger pan's hot bottom. This process is a veritable must for well-dipped chocolates, since it burns easily.

Put the double boiler on the stove's lowest setting and give the water some time to heat up. Add the chocolate. Be sure not to get any moisture in the chocolate, since it makes little lumps which detract from the overall presentation.

Alternatively, microwave at your own risk. It's possible but again, it needs interim stirring so you don't overcook it.

Step 3: Prep

While your chocolate is heating up, take the time to pair up similarly-sized slices of almonds to make good ears.
unwrap some Kisses
and dry off the cherries

get a surface ready to accept the candies. I suggest tinfoil, since it is easily peeled off of the hardened chocolate.

Once the chocolate is looking smooth (you'll have to stir as even melted chocolate retains its shape), you're ready for dippin!

Step 4: Dip It

Dip the cherries into the chocolate, dragging them stem-first to get a complete coat. Pull them up by the stem and put a kiss' flat side on the bottom to catch the excess chocolate, and put them on the foil. The chocolate will remain viscous for some time, so you can turn off the heat if you so wish.

Take your pairs of almond slices and nestle them behind the 'head' of the mouse. Its hard to tell from the picture, but you can add subtlety in the position of the ears - like one is kind of lopped over, the one in the foreground's ears is perked up, etc.

Throw these bad boys in the fridge and wait 5-10 minutes.