Valentine's Day: Now With Truffles

The Food

Sorry this is coming so late.  I have been so busy the passed few weeks that having time to even use the bathroom has become difficult.  But I am back (sort of).  I may write another entry this coming week, but I have so much work that I am taking time out to remember that I am a person and not just a study bot.

But my Valentine's Day was marvelous.  Matt and I were all romantical and took time to appreciate each other.  One of those things was shrimp tacos.  The other was truffles.  And here's the process we used to make them.

TRUFFLE INGREDIENTS: Cocoa powder, cinnamon sticks, whipping cream, cinnamon, and chocolate chips.

The cinnamon sticks made a face.

The smell of heavy creaming being cooked with cinnamon is unlike any other.  I was so excited about that alone that I wanted to eat the heavy cream.  But then I remembered that I had truffles to make.

We thought mixing the heated cream with the chocolate chips would melt them.  Nope.

The return of the ghetto college double-broiler.

Waiting for this to solidify for 3 hours was the hardest part.  But the hanging out while waiting was totally worth it.  You didn't want it to be gooey and sticky, but that ganache was so delicious, I wanted to die.

We decided to roll them up in hazelnuts to help maintain the shape.

I was going to take more pictures.  But our mouths beat my camera to the truffles.

The Fashion
I  like to think of burgundy as pink for girls who don't want to admit they like pink.  There, I said it.  I wear a lot of burgundy because it has the delicateness of a pink but the fierceness of a red.  But it can also be super romantic.  Which is why I wore two different burgundy dresses for my Valentine's day events.

Sweater (from a neighbor), dress (H&M), accessories (H&M), hat (sparkle and fade), slippers (gift from my cousin)

The above outfit is what I wore on actual Valentine's Day.  I love that dress because it is so dang cute.  Since the hem is longer in the front, I feel so much more modest wearing it.  But since Valentine's Day feel on a Thursday, I had to bike to classes.  So I'm pretty sure I flashed half of campus.

Me and Matt at his Valentine's Day formal.  Dress (Free People), necklace (he bough it from Kohl's)

Matt's fraternity had a Valentine's Day formal at a swanky Italian restaurant.  I love getting dressed up and he looks so dapper in a suit that I died.

On Thursday, look forward to a post about the awesomeness of sports bras and trying to cook Asian meals as a European when I attempt to make Peking duck.

Keep it yummy,

Jo

Thin Mints!

Due to the fact that Girl Scout Cookies have crack in them (not really, at least, I hope not) and wheat flour, I can't eat them.  So I was so happy that BabyCakes came out with a recipe.  And what better way to surprise someone for their birthday besides baking them cookies!  Matt's birthday was last week (I am the worst blogger; the passed two weeks have been super busy and rough) so I decided to bake him thin mints.

The recipe!

Dry ingredients

Dylan trying to do soil science over a cup of oolong tea

Wet and dry ingredients together!

Makeshift double-boiler for melting chocolate.  It worked, so whatever.

The cover of the plastic case with the thin mints.

Making these was a lot of fun.  But it took about an hour and a half because I was trying to do too many things at once and even though I have a bigger kitchen, there never seems to be enough space.  But they received rave reviews from Matt, my housemates, and Dylan.  So, I'd call it a success!

Dress from Tobi, tights from Steve Madden, boots from Steve Madden, socks from Urban Outfitters, and the hat is from H&M

Since black is associated with dark chocolate and green is associated with mint, this dress I think goes with the concept of thin mints.  I was pretty excited that it was the first day of fall weather, because I love boots and tights.  It makes me feel more stylish and creative than just wearing a dress with sandals.  Bring on the cold, Ithaca!

Keep it yummy,
Jo