Strawberries are in season in the Holy Land in spring, so this is a great Passover dessert, especially if you love chocolate! It's also a fun activity for kids of all ages.

Ingredients:
2 baskets of strawberries (about 30)
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips
wax paper, or toothpicks and styrofoam

Optional:
1 bag white chocolate chips
sprinkles

Directions:
Gently rinse strawberries one at time and carefully dry them to prevent bruising. Melt chocolate chips in microwave at 30 second increments to prevent burning chocolate. Stir in between because the chips will retain their shape even though they may be melted, and you don't want the chocolate to burn.

If you use wax paper, delicately hold the strawberry by the stem and slowly dip and swirl into the chocolate. Leave the edge around the stem without chocolate. Place on wax paper to cool (about 30 minutes).

If you use toothpicks and styrofoam, pierce the stem end of a strawberry with a toothpick and slowly dip and swirl into the chocolate, leaving the edge around the stem without chocolate. Stick toothpick into the styrofoam to cool the chocolate upside down (about 30 minutes).

Tips:
1. Decorate some of the strawberries with sprinkles while the chocolate is still soft. You can also drizzle white chocolate over them for an elegant look. (Melt white chocolate chips in microwave, add a drop or two of vegetable oil to make it more liquid, put into sandwich bag, clip one corner of the bag and drizzle over the strawberries. Some recipes say you can use a fork dipped in white chocolate for the same effect.)

2. Strawberries must be completely dry before dipping in chocolate.

3. For chocolate to adhere the best, let strawberries sit out on the counter until they reach room temperature.

4. If the chocolate is too thick (especially the white chocolate), you can add a little vegetable oil to soften it. Do not add water!

5. After the chocolate has hardened on the strawberries, you can "double dip" them in the same type of chocolate for a thicker covering or in another chocolate (white chocolate on top of semi sweet) for a contrasting effect.

6. You can put strawberries into the refrigerator to cool the chocolate more quickly.

7. If you place chocolate covered strawberries in a covered container, they will "sweat," so some recipes recommend leaving them out of the fridge until you serve them.

Carren Joye