TWD - Chocolate Truffle Tartlets

Some things are better the next day like chili or lasagna and for me, these tarts. I baked them on Sunday and after they cooled, my husband and I took a bite and said "hmmm" (not a good hmmm, just a so-so hmmm). Now, to be fair, I did change the recipe up a bit. I made mini tartlets (even tinier tarts) and instead of the white and dark chocolate chunks and biscotti called for in the recipe, instead I added a little marzipan filling and topped with an almond and some smoked sea salt. Sounded like a winner, eh? Well the next day when I tried one for my morning snack, I was much more pleased. I really enjoyed the filling combination, but I think the crust was just not my favorite. I don't care for chocolate tart crust...I know, I know you are saying it's chocolate for crying out loud. What's wrong with you girl? Well I'm sorry, I don't care for it and you can't make me eat it!

Oh, that reminds me of a story when I was a wee, little lass. My mom would make spaghetti with mushrooms. I hated the mushrooms, hated them....hated them. They were gross tasting, gross texture and just gross. Well, apparently, I complained a little too much one day and was unappreciative of my mom's efforts and my dad very clearly stated, "You aren't leaving this table until you eat every one of those mushrooms. This isn't a restaurant."

Well after eating my gross mushrooms, I realized that they might not be gross and that they might actually be quite tasty. I rather enjoy mushrooms now, in all forms, shapes and colors.

Now one thing has always puzzled me about my dad's statement, it seems that any restaurant I go to doesn't take kindly to substitutions or changes to the menu items. I wonder where this magical restaurant that my dad was referring to is and can I order chocolate tartlets without chocolate tart crust there?

Hmmm...

Like the stand? I got it at Target for $8 on sale...nice!

Well here is a link to the recipe, http://spikebakes.tumblr.com/ AND a video of Julia herself. Here is another, http://www.goodeatsblog.com/ and another http://cookbookhabit.blogspot.com/ and finally here, http://awhiskandaspoon.com/2012/02/21/twd-chocolate-truffle-tartlets/

Take care, bye bye now. Bye, bye.

p.s. Thank you to the those who commented on my last post, it was very comforting.

Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) - White Loaves

On January 22, my husband and I lost our dog. He had gotten very sick and we had to let him go. It has been hard. My husband put it best, "we were once three and now we are two...our hearts are broken".

I wish I was writing this post in better spirits, but the fact I'm writing at all is good. Each day I get up and I have to remind myself not to fill his bowl or let him out. I have to not worry about him being under my feet when I get out of bed or under the recliner when I let it down. I have to tell myself I don't have to rush home after work to see him, that I don't have to open the door slowly and worry he'll be right behind it.

I do have to remember the happiness he brought me. The funny smells he made sometimes or the way he would stare intently at you when you had something he wanted to eat, whether it be popcorn or a peach. I have to tell myself that I was lucky to get to spend so much time with him despite all his health problems. And I do have to worry that I will always be the person he thought I was - because I am a better person because of him.

Thank you Crash and I miss you.

So because baking and being productive is good for me, I baked and baked and baked. And for one day I didn't cry. Thanks to TWD for helping me bake.

This TWD recipe is the White Loaves Bread found in Baking with Julia, the recipe can be found here or in your soon to be personal copy of Baking with Julia ;) Please visit the Tuesdays with Dorie blog to find out about the group. I'm excited to be a part of this awesome adventure. I know it's going to be fun.

For this TWD recipe, I stuck to the recipe and that was very hard for me...I really wanted to throw in some cinnamon or saffron...maybe some garlic salt. But I held fast and followed the recipe down to the T. What I did do instead was to bake another bread that I went nilly willy with. I threw in a cup of walnuts and cranberries and...wait for it... a Reed's Original Ginger Beer into a French buole. Just call me crazy, well what's really crazy is that only a quarter of that loaf is left and I finished baking it yesterday at 2:00. (BTW, Reed's has a butterscotch beer, a.k.a., butterbeer!!!!!)

Speaking of Harry Potter, I also made pasties yesterday. They are filled with the traditional Cornish Pasty filling, but since Cornish Pasty has a regionally protected status, what I made was an Arkansas Pasty. I believe similar in flavor, but geographically distant.

So baking, baking and more baking did me good...not so much for my waistline...but it did help the heart.