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

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

'Twas the day after Christmas, and on the internet...just kidding, I went shopping today after having a very enjoyable Christmas Eve and Christmas.  I was so hungry, that I legitimately forgot to take pictures.  In addition, it'd be strange to do with my surrogate grandfather and uncle there.  So I took some selfies and a picture of my gifts.

Shirt: Azul, Skirt: Silence & Noise

Look at me, I did my makeup.  You can't tell though because bangs. Collar: American Eagle

Top Row: Sweater, Free People; Sweatshirt, Abercrombie & Fitch; bath & body stuff; pants, Free People (navy); sweat pants, Abercrombie & Fitch (red)
Middle Row: ASUS laptop; pumps
Bottom Row: slippers, Macy's; sweater, Anthropologie; polka dot shirt, BDG; blazer, H&M

I love all the gifts I received, but my favorite has to be the computer.  It is so beautifully efficient and I am actually a big fan of Windows 8.  I am typing on it right now!  Part of the package I wanted to give myself was an updated iPod, with songs I never listen to deleted and new music downloaded.  It is just the way I want it and I could not be happier.

For food, I eat the same dishes for Christmas every year.  In Polish tradition, fish is eaten for dinner on Christmas Eve, Wigilia, when most of the immediate family gather.  We had four different types of herring, a broiled lake fish, barszcz, pierogi, vegetarian bigos, eel, and smoked salmon.  In some houses, they make as many as 12 different fish dishes, but we don't have the space or means to.  I got to enjoy some South African white wine with my eel, bigos, and fish; the meal was delicious and gluten-free.  The whole pescatarian Christmas feast stems from Catholic religious tradition, where eating meat is undesirable on the eve's of major holidays.  In my family, we always offer coffee and tea with the desserts platter.  For me, there was my mother's flourless cheesecake and we also bought chocolate mousse cake from Eataly, this Italian masterpiece of a grocery store.

Then Christmas day, my aunt came over for some roast ham, potatoes, South African red wine, meat bigos, and leftover smoked salmon.  It was a pretty relaxed day.  I hope you guys had relaxing Christmases/holidays as well!

Keep it yummy,
Jo