To warm the cockles of your heart

First off I apologized for the lengthy gap. Wish I had could say that something salacious was happening in my life and here's the sordid JUICY details. But, sadly, that is not the case. I have been living the life of a hermit. A perfectly content hermit. Which slightly concerns me. I get a little twitchy and want to get out of the house and do something, but the urge to actually leave is stronger, and I don't go. I'd rather stay home in my pajamas/loungewear. So my life is very, very, very, very boring.


One highlight would be that I FINALLY purchased new kitchen appliances. Just a stove and a dishwasher. The stove was fine, just ugly, and dishwasher wasn't really working anymore.


Here's the before:

And my after. It looks soo much cleaner now, more refreshed.

After years of talking about it, I'm glad I finally did it.

And to christen such a joyous event, I decided to dirty up and make truffles. And next time I decide to dirty it up and make truffles, I really need to reconsider. It was a bit more time consuming than expected.

Naturally, I took pics of the event. I used this truffle recipe from the Food Network Magazine.

It calls for all bittersweet chocolate, but the only bittersweet at Trader Joe's had almonds in it, and that wasn't going to work. So I got 2 milks and 3 dark chocolate bars, and I was going to mix the two together....then I had an epiphany milk chocolate centers, and dark chocolate coating.

Here's the chocolate (duh)

I did a shaving chop sort of thing with it, to get it ready for the melting.

When I was done with that, I heated just over 2C heavy cream to a scant heat. That means its hot, but not boiling.

I also needed 1/4 cup rum (I always use Strohs, it's hardcore), and 1/4 cup butter (REAL BUTTER)

Once the cream was hot enough, I dumped in a handful of chocolate, and whisked.

And I added the rum.

Then I dumped it all in my bowl with the rest of the chocolate. The recipe said to use a blender to make it smooth and pretty. So, that's what I did.

And I added the butter, and kept blending.

When it was all smooth and happy, I poured it into a lined (with plastic and wax paper...don't do the wax paper, I thought it would help and it didn't) sheet pan. Please forgive the blurry picture.

I let it cool overnight. on the counter, and then I plopped it in the fridge while I worked. I used my 1TBL scoop that I used for cookies for scooping the ganache. I like to keep things similar sizes.

I scooped and scooped and scooped. And before I rolled them, I put them in the fridge to harden.

Since I was going to give these as gift, I wanted to make sure I had enough, and the 1TBL scoop gave me over 200, and frankly after 150, I stopped counting. Look at my chocolate balls...don't you want to put them in your mouth and suck 'em??????

I kept these bad boys in the fridge until I was ready for coating. Which I had to do at my parents, because I'm house/dog sitting while they are cruising.

Chocolate I'm going to use for coating:

Chopping it up....

And I had to do a double boiler method to melt. There was too much chocolate for one bowl, so I had to divy it up. Once it was all melted it fit into one.

While that was melting I got my coating ready. I used coco powder, mixed sweetened and unsweetened coconut, almonds, and hazelnuts.

I dipped my cold chocolate balls in the melted chocolate (which I did not take a picture of, sorry), and then coated them in the various goodies. Once coated, I put them in a pretty little white paper cup.

And here's my finished product.

After 120 truffles, I started to double up on the centers, because it was taking FOREVER....I mean like HOURS, to make the 120, and I had what I needed for gifts, I just wanted a couple extra for myself. After doubling up, I still had 80 truffles for just me. Sweet Jesus. Next time, make bigger gooey centers, or cut the recipe in half.

I couldn't eat one until a couple of days after. And let me tell you, it was TASTY!!!! That rum, it's magical. I was hesitant, because I gave some to Hitler and she was all hacky with the one she ate, so I thought maybe it was bad. No, Hitler's just being a bitch. I forget it's what she does best.

I also maybe a little love/hate CD for my Valentines too.

Love, Bitter and Sweet II: To Have and to Let Go
Al Green: Here I Am
Donovan Frankenreiter: Bend in the Road
Ben's Brother: Kiss Me Stuttering
Airborne Toxic Event: Sometime Around Midnight
Melody Gardot: Our Love is Easy
Bright Eyes: Lover I Don't Have to Love
Forest Sun: Come By Me
Swell Season: Low Rising
Band of Horses: No One's Gonna Love you
Paolo Nutini: Last Request
Ray LaMontagne: Let it be Me
Brett Dennen: Ain't Gonna Lose You
Van Morrison: I'll be Your Lover Too
Wilco/Feist: You and I
Weepies: Love Doesn't Last
Jose Gonzales: Heart Beats
Mason Jennings: Your New Man

And yes there is a Bitter/Sweet I, that I made a couple of years ago.

And no, I'm not a Valentines Day crazy person. I don't love it, I don't hate it. Not because I never do anything or ever had a 'real' Valentine, and I'm one of those bitter single types. I think the whole thing is bullshit. Why designate one day that you are supposed to say "I love you...I really, really love you"? It's the hype, that's what I have a problem with.

So there it is, my life over the last couple of weeks...new appliances, making truffles, not leaving the house, and house/dog sitting for my parents. Be jealous people, be jealous.

Rock out, with gooey chocolate balls....mmmmmmmmmm