Truffle Truffle Toil and Truffle

Another baking day and holiday recital day at the house. Of course, no writing today, but oh, the fun of making Oreo Truffles with my DD. The recipe is super easy. I wish I could take credit for it, but one of my writing friends at the Writing Playground shared this last year on their blog, and I couldn't resist making it.

Now Oreo Truffles are a total staple.

I'm sharing the recipe because it is yummy and it is very easy to make. Even a child could help make these delightful treats. My DD makes them and gives them away to her friends at their request. Here's the recipe:

OREO TRUFFLES

1 Package of Oreo Cookies

1 8 oz block of philadelphia cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)

white, dark or milk chocolate (white chocolate hardens the fastest)

Grind the package of Oreo Cookies (3 sleeves) in food processor till it is super powdery. Pour into a bowl, add one block of cream cheese and mix by hand. Roll into small balls and put onto a cookie sheets  covered in wax paper. Freeze for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate (dark, white or milk) and dip each frozen ball into it. Put onto wax paper lined cookie sheet, put in fridge and harden (can do overnight).

Voila! Total Yumminess!!

Now The Writing Playground is special to me because it is comprised of members of the Heart of Dixie. Two of the writers are published and all the rest are PRO. One of them is even a Golden Heart finalist. Check out their blog site. But don't stop there. Check out their web page.

The Writing Playground has tons of great recipes for successful writing, too! One of my favorites is not on the website (or at least wasn't last time I checked). Kira Sinclair gave a CRAFT CORNER at one of our meeting about how to put together a simple and effective synopsis. Bar none, this is my go to lesson for all my synopsis work. In addition to that, they've lead author discussions and prepared my chapter for pitching at the National Seminar.

They Rock!

This holiday season is about sharing, but when we belong to writing chapters where we are treated to all the knowledge they have to offer us. I appreciate all the RWA and the writing chapters offer us. I hope that if you are writing, you have found the support network you need to stay in the game.

Happy Holidays and Enjoy the OREO TRUFFLES!

Party Time

Okay, it's official. Christmas is here. We're all ready to relax, put our hair up in a pony tail and open presents after we cook and prep. Today was the first day of the season for me. I got up, made 12 bags of reindeer food, and 8 cute mini-loaves of eggnog loaves. Yummy! Then I wrapped a present for the Heart of Dixie Christmas party and took a shower to attend the said party.

Yay! I got to spend time with all my fellow writer comrades and eat and open weird presents (tho' I think I do win the weirdest gag gift award--in fact I believe I forgot it at the host's house--no loss). After a perilous drive through some strange parts of town, a stop to buy ice and cokes (my lame contribution), I finally arrived at the host's house.

Yay! Party! We crammed a lot of food and fun into a house. Good times!

I didn't write today, but I got to be with writers and that's almost the same. More about this group later, I promise!! But not writing one day is not a problem. The goal is half an hour per day, but some days I write over an hour and other times only a half an hour. Over the course of the week, I manage to get my time in.

Now is the season to relax, regroup and enjoy our friends and family. Part of that means sharing recipes. Today's recipe comes from my best friend, Lori. I've known her for 35 plus years! That's saying a lot considering I'm only 32 (LOL). She is a great friend, keeper of all my secrets, and a fabulous cook (you'll see another one of her recipes here soon).

Lori's Eggnog Mini Loaves

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup eggnog
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp rum extract (I couldn't find any so I used imitation and it was fine)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, eggnog, butter and extracts. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until moistened. Pour into three greased 5 3/4 by 3 inch by 2 inch loaf pans (I used eight smaller cute pans with neat Christmas imprints at the bottom--and they turned out great!--planning cupcakes next). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing and putting on wire racks.

Yield's 3 loaves, or 8 mini mini loaves or... stay tuned for cupcakes.

Turned out super yummy! Can't wait to make more.

Do you have any recipes you enjoy? Tried and true? Any new ideas? Share!