Truffle Shuffle

As a single gal, I am a reliable, and yet slightly boring Valentine. Every year I buy my sister and niece the same box of Sjaak's truffles. I buy one for myself too, because I love me, and I might as well get the most out of the shipping charges. We had our traditional V-day dinner last night and ate way too much food. I wasn't even going to break out the purchased treats, since we have homemade ones that will expire much sooner.

By request, or rather, pushy demand, I made cookie sammiches. These have been a favorite since the first time I made them. They're also the reason I load up on EB sticks and shortening whenever we make a run to the "nearest" veg friendly store. I hope to be able to remove the quotation marks one day but I think we'll move closer to a major area  
before they bring any goodness out our way.
For a surprise, I decided to finally make the Oreo Truffles I printed out ages ago. I feel bad I do not remember where I got it from and can't link to it or give credit. I know it is all over the internets though, so seek and ye shall find. I'm still trying to figure out if my food processor sucks because it is too small or because it shares a motor with a blender, or because I just put too much stuff in it at once. I seriously thought I killed it when I added in the cream cheese but I pushed a few other buttons and it worked just fine. I will read the instructions before I use it again, don't worry.

The rest of it was easy, kill time while the "filling" refrigerates, melt chocolate in your makeshift double boiler and dunk the little balls of yum into the melted chocolate. Of the two of us, my sister is the one who makes chocolate covered sweets so I was not as adept at fishing the truffles out and nicely laying them on the wax paper. I know if we were racing side by side she would have totally kicked my butt because I take way too long, trying to make sure each one is sufficiently coated. Meanwhile the chocolate starts to solidify and there is not nearly enough left to finish since I don't get it right until halfway through the process. Luckily I had more chocolate to melt and learned to be less picky about how they turned out. They're incredibly rich and remind me of brownies, which is fine by me since I love brownies but have yet to make them just right.

Next year I'll remember to either make or buy treats but not to do both. It's far too much of a good thing. If I really get a good thing going maybe someone will be treating me by then.

darling buds of may

Do you know what today is? Or what it once was? For the romantically inclined, get read to celebrate St. Valentine's day one more time -you can thank Henry Ansgar Kelly and Geoffrey Chaucer when you're done. You are further indebted to Anne of Bohemia for making Richard II fall so deeply in love with her to inspire the poet to write a poem, "The Parliament of the Fowls" on the occasion of their engagement. They were happily married and so in love that he tore down the castle after she died. You can read more about it here.

I first read about Kelly's findings ten years ago and have been spreading the word (and the love) ever since. If you'd like to read more, Professor Kelly has even devoted a book to the subject. I also found a modern translation of the poem, which I plan to read when I have more time. Kick Hallmark to the curb and recognize true romance in spring. It is mating season after all.