CHCL8 TDE

 It was about 3 years ago; I had gotten a job as part of the opening team for Hard Rock Park. It was surreal to be part of a project that large from the ground up. I met some of the most hardworking, passionate and creative people while I was there. Of course there were meetings after meetings for planning this that and the other. Even though the VP of HR was an awesome boss, she uttered some words one day that I do not think any employee wants to hear. “I need you all to stay this evening for a meeting and a TEAM BUILDING EXERCISE.” I had heard horror stories from friends at their jobs about dry speeches that lasted for hours and customer service role playing routines ect. To my pleasant surprise it was nothing like that.

After discussing what we could do to deliver the best possible customer service there was a Killer steak dinner and the team building portion of the evening. We were each given a piece of paper to create a license plate that reflected our personalities. We talked with one another to try and figure what we could make using only 8 characters. I came up with CHCL8 TDE (Chocolate Teddy). Since the park was not completed, it was mandatory that we wear hard hats when going outside. A lot of us decided to decorate our hard hats with the names we created for our license plate.

From that team building exercise I was inspired to concoct a new chocolaty treat that I could put my new nickname on. You guessed it chocolate dipped teddies. I do not know anyone who does not like chocolate or Gummi Bears. When you combine the two you get a candy that is borderline sybaritic. When making these try and use a larger Gummi Bear. Allow these to set in a cool dry place. If you decide to cool these in the refrigerator, allow them to come to room temperature before you eat them. These are very hard when you first pull them out of the refrigerator, I almost cracked a molar on one that I ate straight out of the fridge. These are great to make for a movie night, you will want to make a few batches depending on how may friends you have over, they will disappear quickly

Chocolate Teddies

5 oz bag Gummi Bears
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Add one cup of chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl, microwave for one minute and stir. Heat for another 10 seconds if the chocolate isn't completely melted.
Stick a toothpick gently into the head of a Gummi Bear then dip it into the melted chocolate.
Lay the chocolate covered gummy bear onto a large plate lined with wax paper. Place the gummy bears into the refrigerator dark cool place for 15 minutes until the chocolate sets.
Remove all toothpicks and enjoy.

Notes/Tips: Feel free to dip the bears into the chocolate using a fork, doing this will add more chocolate to each bear but they will still turn out fine. Use any kind of chocolate you like dark, milk, white or a combination of all three.