Montana Mint Chocolate w/candied mint

Those of us who live in the North know that summer is short-lived, and before we know it, we'll be stoking logs in our fireplaces and stoves. My backyard garden rests under two feet of snow for half the year.

So, when summer visits us here in Montana and mint has abundantly sprouted (like a weed) throughout my garden, I grasp it by the handfuls and take to work to use in and on our chocolates.

We candy some of the mint leaves and find that it pairs well with dark chocolate, preferably Madagascar. By freezing bundles of mint, we can avoid paying high prices for it at the grocery stores.

Here is a simple recipe for you to preserve a bit of summer.

Candied Mint:

All you need is to boil sugar and water to candy mint, four to one (four sugar to one stream). Dip the cleaned fresh mint leaves into the boiled syrup and place it on a parchment sheet. Voila!