What says "I love you" like chocolate dipped strawberries? How about caramel apples of maybe chocolate dipped marshmallows? How about a chocolate dipped Champaign bottle? If it's sweet, if it's gooey and sticky, you can probably get it at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in downtown Libertyville. Owner Pam Lockowitz and her assistant Jane Sturgeon, both of whom are Green Oaks residents, are gearing up to dip about 3,000 strawberries for just one day, February 14th, Valentine's Day. Jane Sturgeon prepares fresh apples for dipping. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

If it's sweet, if it's gooey and sticky, you can probably get it at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in downtown Libertyville. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

Self-confessed "foodie" shop Owner Pam Lockowitz stirs a copper kettle full of butter, evaporated mile and sugar (the exact recipe is a corporate secret) for about an hour, non-stop while making caramel to dip apples into. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

Pam Lockowitz places the apples in a display case. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

The store has a display of boxed candies ready for Valentine's Day. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

After doing the spinning by hand and feeling the effects in her hands, her and her husband came up with the idea to use a drill to spin them and create a smooth exterior. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

After dipping a strawberry into tempered chocolate, Jane Sturgeon allows the excess to dip off. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

Premium strawberries sit on a tray with molten milk chocolate drying on them. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

Jane Sturgeon carries trays of caramel that was left over from their last dipping session to add to the hot kettle, giving it a rich consistency. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

As Pam Lockowitz attaches an apple to an cordless drill, Jane Sturgeon rolls one, hot out of the liquid caramel, into a tray of crushed nuts. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media