Celebrating Love (Or at Least Friends)

Valentine's Day can be a weird day for non-attached high school age friends. We hosted my kiddo's friend group so they could have an excuse to eat festive treats and have some fun, despite the lack of love in the air. Also, I'll throw a theme party for any reason, so we could probably mostly blame that situation for the gathering.

I kept the meal pretty simple--frozen lasagna, garlic bread, fruit, and chips. Dessert is where things got a little more interesting. I love me a themed charcuterie board, so I used this as an excuse for a Valentine's variety. I tried to have a big variety of red/pink/white/chocolate themed items in both sweet and salty options. To kick things up a notch, I also made Slow Cooker Chocolate Fondue and this Easy Caramel Sauce for dipping everything.

For the chocolate fondue, I used a combination of milk, dark, and semi-sweet chocolates so the flavor was deep and rich. It warmed quickly in the slow cooker and held pretty well throughout the night. For the caramel sauce, I made it ahead of time, but then warmed it back up in my mini crockpot so it was easy to dip in. The caramel sauce was really delicious and simple to make. I will definitely keep it in mind for sundae bars in the future.