Dia de los Muertos en Febrero

As another part of our school vacation week at the after school program, one of the other group leaders wanted to do a Day of the Dead/Cultural Celebration with her group.  I happened to know of a place to get molds for the sugar skulls, so I helped a bit in the celebration.

Though sugar skulls are mainly decorative and not really edible, we decided to create chocolate molds for the kids to munch on.

Here's some tips when preparing for anything that involves melted chocolate:

• The best way to melt chocolate is to use a double boiler.  If you don't have a double boiler, place a heat-safe bowl into a pot of boiling water.  The bowl must be slightly bigger than the pot so that the boiling water is barely touching the bottom of the bowl.  The bowl must also be completely dry - the water affects the texture of the chocolate.
• If you plan on getting fancy and using different colors, you have to use different bowls.
• As the chocolate melts, continuously stir the chocolate around.  A wooden spoon or a frosting spatula is best, but any spoon can do it as well.
• Depending on the size and shape of the mold, always have enough chocolate around. When you're with kids, some of that chocolate will disappear before it melts.
• Be prepared for super hyper kids after they eat the chocolate.

My fave molds are the one with the flowers on the side,
 and the hardcore mustachioed one!