So, as predicted, the cheesy vegetable pork chops were so good... and the tarragon? Ew! I forgot or didn't know that it tastes like licorice? And I mean the gross kind of licorice. Scott won't let me say "Black Licorice" because he argues that "Licorice, by definition, is black. This is why they specify when it's RED Licorice." Whatever. The salad was GROSS. This is weird because I happen to know that a certain wedding venue here in town serves super-yummy tarragon chicken, which I've had and loved. Oh well. On to the BAKING!!!
I stayed away from gigs this weekend, as I worked about a 60 hour work week doing report cards, culminating with a marathon 12 hour work day on Friday followed by a shopping trip to Michael's for garland (Scott complained about our "naked" Christmas tree), followed by re-decorating the tree, making a wreath with all of our wine corks (if you know us, you know there are many) and watching sad movies. I'm so lame, lol. Anyway, last night I was just too worn out again, and so I decided to make "Luscious Chocolate Truffles." My conclusion regarding truffles is this: unless you have a mold or are cold-blooded and therefore do not melt ganache upon touching it, your truffles will look like turds. Huh. Did you know my spell-check doesn't recognize "turd???" But it has no suggestions. Furthermore, it wants me to replace "ganache" with "panache" or "Ganesha." Now it's getting complicated. So, basically, the truffles, to which I added Butterscotch Schnapps instead of boring liquor are DELISH but U-G-L-Y. Oh well, they're mostly for family anyway. My mom's "friend" M ate two today and had to have a glass of red wine because he liked them so much he said he had to eat them right. He's fun to cook for!
My next Christmas baking attempt from Betty's Book was "Bonbon Cookies." I liked the name of these because they sound so 1950s... and trust me, they look it too. You make a batter and make little balls with "fillings" like nuts, dates, cherries or chocolate. I chose not to put food coloring in the batter (colored batter creeps me out a little) and then I stuffed each one with a glacee cherry and three chocolate chips. I then baked them, cooled them, and glazed them with Betty's "Vanilla Glaze" and threw some red sprinkles on the red ones, and green on the green. This is the only time in my life I've ever made a cookie recipe that yielded MORE cookies than it said it would. Fun! I ended up with 26, which meant Scott and I could each sample one before they went to the freezer. They remind me of these cookies my godmother used to make that were green and sugary and had chocolate chips in them. Ah, nostalgia.
So now my house smells like a bakery, my teeth hurt a little from licking glaze off my fingers, and I'm in the midst of a delightful sugar crash... I love the holidays...
