Several times a week, Small Girl comes to visit.
She’s not yet three, and only speaks Japanese, apart from words like Aunty Celia and choc-lat and thank you.
Every couple of days, she will trudge up the driveway in her bright pink gumboots, feed weeds to the chooks (having chickens in suburbia is tantamount to running a neighbourhood petting zoo), before coming inside in search of a treat.
Recently, I discovered that if I put chocolate on a stick, there’s less chance of finding small brown handprints on the furniture. Inspired by the market creations of my friend Gillian, I ordered some moulds from Candyland Crafts and made up a batch of darkened milk chocolate lollipops.
These trains look familiar enough to pass muster, although they have enough chocolate in them to derail a little person’s system…
These cute teddies are a good size and shape for small hands and mouths…
..and flowers are always popular!
Small Girl’s Mummy, if you’re reading this, please come for a visit soon!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You are so sweet and your chocolates look divine …as always!
Jude, thank you! Small Girl was pretty taken with them, although I made her take the train one home. ;-)
You had me at the title!
What other words does small girl possibly need to know? Celia, choc-lat (so cute!) and thankyou should see her through her younger years quite comfortably, I would think. ;)
All I know is if those chocolates on a stick were anywhere near me, that’s all I’d be saying!
Chris, you’re so funny, I wish I could send you chocolate roosters on a stick, but I don’t think they’d make it in the mail!
One night last week, Small Girl insisted on an after dinner visit. She marched up the hallway, plonked herself on a dining room chair, then looked me in the eye and said..”choc-lat?” ;-)
Like Christine, I was sold as soon as I saw the word ‘chocolate’ – I’m really very shallow. These look delicious – I must come and visit you if these are the kinds of treats on offer!
Amanda, you would always be welcome! :)
What little girl, or big girl for that matter could resist chocolate on a stick. Yum!
I have my first sourdough cooling on the bench. Thanks so much Celia! I’ll send you a report after I try them. I’m thinking bread and cheese is in order for lunch today.
Claire, that’s very exciting!! Did you take a photo? Did it all work out as planned? Can’t wait to hear about it.. :)
You are so creative Celia. I myself have zero creativity, although I’m very creative when it comes to finding food and eating food. I love the rooster, I’ve got a pic of our rooster looking exactly the same as your choc pops (although not brown of course!).
Have a great day.
Meaghan, thank you, but please tell me – how can you tell it’s a rooster and not a hen? Pete’s brother took one look and said, “ooh, chocolate roosters” and I said, “how do you know?”. Mind you, the mould was called “roosters”, so he’s right, but I’m curious – we don’t have roosters here, so I thought they looked a bit like our girls…
Hmmm…is it the spurs on his feet?
Oh wow – chocolate on a stick! That’s such fun The chocolate flowers are delightful. When my girls were little, my eldest daughter Sally came into the bedroom early one Sunday morning and gave me a note about her younger sister, Robin. She gave me the note because she didn’t want to wake me :) and it read “Rodin has the choclit and she is eting it” :) :)
Hahaha…Jan, did her sister pound her for being a dobber? You know, sometimes I think we over-emphasize spelling – clearly Sally could communicate perfectly well before she could spell! :)
I could just see her walking up to your house. You are a kind and sweet person Celia.
Oh Norma, if you could only see how cute this little one is! You’d want to feed her too! :)
Very cute! The flowers and teddy bears look very mouth friendly, but I can imagine the chooks and the train making a mess of Little Girl’s face at least!
Thanks Suelle – the train would have made a mess of everything I reckon – there’s about 60g of chocolate in it. Would have had her bouncing off the walls! :)
And Celia wins the internet best auntie award!
I think a three-year-old girl with a chocolate flower on a stick would be the cutest thing ever.
Maz
Maz, I wish you could see her! Last Christmas, I gave her and her sisters your Christmas book, and they loved it!
I am nearly ready to try tempering chocolate. I have been reading and re-reading your instructions and am now just waiting to get a block of chocolate to teach my melts their business!
Well, actually, I am still psyching myself up to tempering, but it is now on my to-do list instead of the ‘Could-Never-Dream-of-Doing-list’, so that’s progress.
Anne, the secret to tempering is to find some way to hold the chocolate at the right temp while you work it. I use heat mats, but a wheat pack or something similar might do the trick. Some people move it on and off a bowl of hot water, but I’ve never managed to get that to work. If you don’t have a block to seed the melted chocolate with, you could in theory use more callets – I’m just not quite sure of the quantities. Good luck and remember, the rejects are always edible! :)
Clever “Aunty Celia” putting chocolates on sticks – I have 4 nephews and 2 nieces so I will definitely remember this.
:-) Mandy
Aunty Mandy, you’d be even more popular with them than you are now! :)
Oh how good do they look. They would be lots of ohhing and ahhing from The Monkeys if they got their sticky paws on these!
Brydie, your Monkeys would love these! :)
What a great exchange- weeds for chocolate! I bet your girls think they have the best of the bargain though. Aunty Celia must be the most popular neighbour in anyone’s language!
The chooks are pretty excited whenever they see her coming! She crouches down and talks to them through the chicken wire! :)
What a sweet story, I never thought about choclit on a stick being less messy . but then I always made the most terrible mess with ice lollies whenI was little. I love those treats, might have to make some for Small but Tall Nephew.
It’s been lovely Jo – since I’ve made chocolate lollipops, she’s become quite adept at eating them, so now she chomps away and returns us a nearly clean white stick. I found that I quite like chocolate on a stick too, as I can nibble away at one now, without having to wolf it all in one go. :)
Ah so, peddling drugs are we?
Gotta get them young, Cosmo. ;-)
Hi Celia,
I really enjoy reading your blog – thank you!
Can I ask your advice on ovens…..like you, I do a lot off baking for my family (2 teenage boys & a mountain biking husband to keep full) and we have had oven melt downs every 2 years – usually elements dying. Yay for extended warranty. Next melt down will have us buying a new oven.
What sort of oven do you use, and would you recommend it for another baking family?
Kind regards,
Maria
Maria, I have a 90cm free standing Smeg oven – it has a five burner hob, and can easily handle four large fruit cakes or a small suckling pig at the one time. :) It’s on nearly every day, and I’ve burnt out the rear fan elements twice – but they’re a consumable and easily (although not cheaply) replaced. Having said that, it also has top and bottom elements – I cook nearly everything on fan, so the back elements are the ones that are used the most. I find it bakes really consistently, particularly for baking bread – it doesn’t seem to leak any heat, so I get wonderful oven spring. There is a large range of Smegs – ours is one of the lower level ones, so it doesn’t have any fancy electronics, nor does it self-clean, but it’s about ten years old now and still going strong! Hope that helps.. :)
PS. I think there’s a difference in the internal space between a 90cm free standing and a 90cm built in oven – the free standing I think has more space in the oven? Worth checking before you buy…
Ohhh what a lovely lovely Aunty Celia you are!
Hehehe…thank you Aunty Kavey… :)
Wow, Celia, sounds like life is lush for Little Girl! How lucky is she to have Aunty Celia living across the street with the chooks & chocolates and I’m sure lots of other fascinating things for a three year old to discover! Hope the long weekend has been great for you all.
Keri, you should have seen how excited she was when Uncle Steve’s dog Bob came to visit. When they both stand up, they’re at eye level… ;-)
Hope you had a great weekend too!
Your chocolate always looks divine.
I like the look of those roosters!
Thanks Heidi! They taste good too! :)
They’re so pretty Celia – I can understand that small girl demands to visit often!
Thanks C! I’d do anything for a visit – she’s so gorgeous! :)
Snap – I’ve the daisy molds too :-)
Now as for the chocolate dripping down the sticks when using molds … I’ve no solution – sorry. When I tap the mold to remove air bubbles, the chocolate escapes down the stick :-(
Gill, I thought you had it figured, yours look so professional! I’ll have to keep practising.. :)
Thanks! :)
What wonderful treats for a small girl. Think I’d go for the chickens.
Choc, they’re exactly the sort of milk chocolate you’d like – about 47% cacao, which I make by blending bits together! :)
I’m glad I read this one when my small boy wasn’t watching…He would love that chocolate train, and would come back asking for another one. Very clever idea, Celia – chocolate on sticks!!!
Vix, that chocolate train would send him skyrocketing – there’s nearly 60g of chocolate in it! :) Must say, we’ve really been enjoying chocolate on a stick – I’ve found I can type while eating chocolate now.. ;-)