I made a very rich and delicious chocolate cake for my flatmate’s birthday last week – dense, moist and fudgy with a chocolate truffle icing, it was a real show stopper. In feeling quite concerned at the thought of furring up my dear friend’s arteries, I decided to hold back some of the icing. But what to do with it? I hate to throw away food (especially anything chocolatey), so I rolled them up into little balls, dusted them with cocoa, et voila! Chocolate truffles. I hadn’t made truffles for at least a couple of years but this reminded me of how easy they are to make, and what impressive gifts they make. People are always impressed by them, and I love anything that creates this effect with so little effort. The first lot I made from the cake icing had caster sugar added to the recipe, but I’ve since adapted them with honey instead of sugar to sweeten.  The honey adds a lovely aromatic flavour to the truffles and helps bring out the deliciousness of the chocolate, yum yum.

I’ll be making these as Christmas gifts for family and friends, everyone loves to receive something home-made and just think of the money to be saved! You want them to be as fresh as possible so make them only a day in advance of giving, and they need to be kept in the fridge. Allow to come up to room temperature before indulging.

Chocolate Honey Truffles-Makes about 40

300ml double cream

300g good quality chocolate (it must be 70% or more cocoa solids. I used Chocolate Society’s Chocolate Pieces

2-3 tablespoons good quality runny honey

Pinch of salt

Good quality pure cocoa powder, for dusting or 100g roasted and finely chopped hazelnuts, if preferred

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over a medium heat. When bubbles begin to appear at the edges, pour the cream over the chocolate, along with the honey and a pinch of salt, and stir gently until the chocolate has melted. Refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until the truffle mix has firmed up.

Sieve the cocoa powder or scatter the hazelnuts (depending on preference) onto a large plate. With a teaspoon, scoop up a small amount of the truffle mix and with clean hands, roll into a ball. Place directly onto the cocoa or hazelnuts and roll to coat. Repeat until the mixture runs out. Easy peasy.

By Emily Jonzen

Even though I’m starting late, I’ll still post the material in chronological order.

Here’s some birthday joy from April 6, 2009 and the following couple weeks:

She did a whole lot of sleeping in the beginning.

I hear there’s no time like the present, so here I am!  My first blog.  My name is Katie and in 7 weeks I’ll be celebrating my birthday.  Yes, if you did the math correctly that’s right after Christmas, something I’ve always enjoyed…(sense the sarcasm!). I’m very excited about this birthday because I know this is the year/decade of opportunity for me.   2010, here I come!

For the last decade of my life I have lived in Georgia and have had the pleasure of working for 2 great corporations managing meetings, events, tradeshows and sponsorships all over the world.  I have also run a marathon, played a ton of tennis, gone on an amazing mission trip to South Africa, passed the CMP exam, tasted amazing wines in Napa (Silver Oak, a personal favorite!), swam with dolphins in Acapulco, snorkeled the Baths in Tortola, rang in the New Year in Times Square, climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower, rode on a gondola in Venice, picked apples on a beautiful farm in Somerset, England, skied in the Swiss Alps and swam in the waters of  Mallorca, Spain just to name a few.

So you ask, why should I be excited about a fresh new decade after that great one?  Well, recently I was ‘displaced’, as some would say, from my employer due to the economy.  Devastating and scary, yet exciting and full of opportunities!  I have just realized the world is my oyster and I get to decide where and how to make my next pearl.  Wow!

Here’s to the next 10 years and just the beginning of my story!

The sky is grey today.

My heart is not though.

Today is going to be beautiful.

♥

It has been hard to think of something to write lately.

Everything is so boggled up in my mind.

Life has been hard and happy and full of Jesus.

The more I experience Him, the more I love Him.

I want to do something.

I think in everyone’s mind is this anxiousness to be something, do something great, to accomplish their dreams.  That anxiousness is in me right now.  Though it’s not a bad anxiousness…it’s more like the Holy Spirit moving in my heart.  I want to do something, be someone apart from myself.  Sometimes I just lay in my bed starring at the ceiling thinking “what are you doing ria?  where is your life going”…I have to admit that I have been pretty slow in deciding what I want to do.  I kind of feel stuck.  The program got me quite stuck.  I had this vision and this desire to be a missionary, and they kind of snuffed out that dream.  They put a jar over my candle.  Something I’ve learned from that is to not give up.  My missionary dream is not over.  I’m still hanging onto it, because there is just something in me that does not want to let that go.  I want to go into the ministry with all my heart.  I read this blog this morning, and it brought tears to my eyes: The Journey She is living out a dream of mine.  I am so glad that she is♥

Aside from what has been going on in my heart♥

We had out first indoor soccer game yesterday.

I had a  wonderful time.

I got kicked in the foot though..and now I am limping.

O well…that was bound to happen.

I have to finish illustrating something for Bella….it’s a secret though(o;

and

it’s my daddy’s birthday today.

So

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

I LOVE YOU♥

love…

ria♥

I love Halloween it’s one of my favorite holidays. I also love Halloween because of another reason and that’s because it’s also Justin’s Birthday!

Today I’m taking Justin out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants. We haven’t been there in 5 months so I’m excited to go today, they have the best food. We are also going to go shopping because he got a gift card from someone else for Williams-Sonoma, one of our favorite stores! All in all today will be a good day.

Justin is the best boyfriend and best friend a girl could ask for, I’m very lucky! He deserves only the best…<3

Tonight around here the kids will be trick or treating if the rain holds off. We still need to buy candy and I need to find goody/treat bags. I’m making bags for the moms with some samples from AVON. The kids will be getting treats like usual. I’m hoping that I will get some new customers out of it, I guess we will see.

If you go out tonight please be careful and have fun!

Happy Halloween!

Hey y’all! This past weekend was my birthday, October 4 to be exact, and I just wanted to share some of the fun that was had…

It was one of the most beautiful birthday weekends of my life! I am so incredibly grateful for everything that the Lord has blessed me with this past year…overcoming an eating disorder, discovering who I am, meeting a few lovely ladies who I now call my best friends (love those girls!) , and improving my relationships with my family. I can’t wait to keep growing in Christ and in my relationships with family & friends. Just continuing my walk in my faith.

I am so blessed and I am looking forward to being 24 Happy Monday!

THIS DAY WAS A VERY SPECIAL DAY IT WAS SANDRA BIRTH DAY. SANDRA IS ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS SO OF COURSE I HAD TO SPEND IT WITH HER. THE DAY STARTED WHEN WE STARTED EATING AND WE HAD CARNE ASADA. THEN WE WENT IN TO THE LIVING ROOM WE STARTED DANCING THE WE JERKING. AFTER WE WENT TO BREAK THE PINATA. IT WAS GOOD DAY THAT I SPENT IT WITH MY BEST FRIEND ON HER BIRTHDAY

IT WAS MARCH 20.I HAD STARTED MY DAY BY GOING TO MY BEST FRIEND’S HOUSE AND THEY HAD MADE ME CHILAQUUILES THEY WERE SO GOOD AND AFTER I WAS TIME FOR SCHOOL, THEY HAD SURPRISED ME WITH A LOT OF BALLONS AT LUNCH WE HAD LIKE A MINI PARTY ME IT WAS A GREAT BRIRTH DAY BECAUSE I HAS SPENT IT WITH MY TWO BEST FRIENDS.

First of all I want to wish HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY to my darling DINI ZARA BINTI AHMAD FAIZ. Mak and ayah wish you a good health and a happy life ahead.

Zara was born on 6.35am on 10th of September and yesterday at 6.35am I wished her happy birthday. She is already up with big smile and ready to play.

I supposed to upload this entry yesterday, but tak sempat. Busy entertaining Zara the whole day and cook for berbuka Yes, no param for 3 days already.

I took a day off yesterday and I spent my time at home with Zara and hubby. I am glad I did it and Zara is such a happy and active toddler. Dah upgrade from baby to toddler. How time flies, eh?

I make her usual chicken porridge for lunch and dinner, She like the porridge to have more soup. For dinner, I cooked chicken sambal and steam some egg tofu with bak choy together with white rice. We still have some bread pudding leftover and not forgetting, we had the ice cream cake for Zara’s birthday.

I will upload the picture later. It is still in the digicam and digicam is not with me now.

Anyway, happy fasting to all of you and thank god it is Friday!

Happy Birthday Candles

SGD$2.50

Candles

SGD$1.00

Magic Relighting Candles

SGD$1.20

This last Saturday was my birthday. Oh stop it you don’t have to say Happy Birthday….ok no I didn’t mean it…go on say it!  I did some serious thinking on and before my birthday. This thinking involved a little hmmm…a little hatin’.

I was talking with Ben about how everyone always says they don’t really care about birthdays and so on and so forth.  *disclaimer:I do believe there are a few people who actually mean this.  I am a person who has very often hopped on the wagon and said “I don’t care about my birthday it’s just another day”.  While secretly thinking I hope someone does something really nice for me and kind, something that just says I was thinking of you.

I think women are more inclined to think this way. Come on ladies fess up! You know you have done it too. Told your significant other not to worry about it meanwhile you are anticipating what they are going to do/get for you. Birthdays bring quiet expectations. I am just as guilty of this. I Kelly Wilson am a secret Birthday Hopeful! There I said it…and I am ashamed.

I found out a few days before my birthday that my sister was planning a shopping trip on my birthday for her wedding dress. Of course I can not say no to this and being an adult I am to give the appropriate response of it’s just a birthday it doesn’t matter. Secretly I was kind of pissed. It was my birthday (Jade you must understand?).  So I decided I would try and get over it and just enjoy the day. We ended up having a really great day shopping for a wedding dress and Shannon found the perfect dress for her, it’s really beautiful. AND when I got home my totally amazing husband had a delicious supper and cake made and ready for me so we could have a romantic birthday together. He even cooked everything himself, well actually he had a little assistance from Aunty Dawn of all people.

Thank you to all of you who sent really great birthday wishes my way….for those of you who didn’t…..try harder next year

Peace!

Welcome to minis blog,

Each week I will write about what mini did like go to petco,go to the vet,take a bath ect.. I will also keep you posted on her also. I have a pets.com page all you have to do is go to www.pets.com and serch chihuahualover8 and you will see mini and my page. I also have a blog for dogs go to http://dogsfanclub.wordpress.com/ note: I only update it a couple times a month.

THANKS

Savannah

Have you ever had a dog brithday party?

Well this post will show you how!

Lets start with the PUP cakes.

What you need for PUP cakes.

# dog bones & water.

# A old cupcake tin (that makes 12 or 6 pup cakes but make sure there is some for all the dogs that come.

How to make:

Crush dog bones in bowl till all most all the bowl is filled then add a table spoons of water to make food wet.

Then scoop dog food in the cup cake tin and put them in fridge.

Icing for pupcakes.

WHAT YOU NEED:

wet dog food & sprinkles.

How to make spread a tablespoon of dog food on each pup cake or intill the whole pup cake haves wet dog food on it.

Then sprinkle all of them with sprinkles.

Order up give the yummy pup cakes out to dogs after singing happy bday to pet.

Other things to server up at the party:

# Dog bones

# dry dog food snack mix  ( dry dog food and favorite treats mixed.)

# dog bones + wet dog food + sprinkles = dog bone cookie!

Dont forget the OWNERS!

server:

icecream,cupcakes,popcorn,pop,cookies,cake and everything else to serve at a party!!!!!!!

___________________________________________________

Party hats

• Cut a rectangular piece of cardboard as follows:
  For tiny dogs: 3 x 5 inches [75 x 125 mm]
  For medium to large sized dogs: 4 x 6 inches [100 x 150 mm]
  For giant dogs: 5.5 x 7.5 inches [14 x 19 mm]

• Along one longer edge, bend the corners in to meet in the middle
• Overlap one corner over the other
• Staple in two spots

• Draw a line to round off the pointy edges
• Cut along that line with scissors

I like to put a pompom at end of each hat

Web site wher this craft was found: http://www.make-and-build-dog-stuff.com/

__________________________________________________________

                          invations

Well for my invations I used the coupter and a border like this one   and wrote the adress,phone,time,date, and everthing else you put on a invation.

Here are some cool invations you can print off and write on your self.

And a thank you note too! Ps: write on back!

_________________________________________________________

                         Decorations

Crafts for dogs and owners

Dog place mats:

What you need:

# foam (I used the 3 Rs and used old sheets of plastic)

# stickers ( in dog shapes, letter stickers ect)

put it togter:

Well you just stick on stickers on foam I also helped owners spell there dogs name(s) on place mat.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
	Flat wooden frame
	Dog-bone treats
	Water-based high-gloss polyurethane
	Small paint brush
	Hot glue
Time needed: Afternoon or Evening

1. Remove the glass and the cardboard backing from a flat wooden frame and set them aside. Lay the wood, face side up, on a flat working surface and arrange crunchy dog-bone treats on top of it. Place them horizontally, end to end to fashion a border all the way around, or diagonally to accent the corners.

2. Once the pattern is determined, remove the dog bones, lay them face down, and apply a coat of water-based high-gloss polyurethane to the backs. Once dry, hot-glue the bones to the frame so that the polyurethaned sides are against the frame (adults only).

3. Apply polyurethane to the tops and sides of the glued-on dog bones, let dry, and apply another coat of polyurethane.

4. When the final coat is completely dry, insert the puppy’s photo and reassemble the frame.

to get more crafts for you dog go to http://familyfun.go.com/ and serch “crafts for dogs”

_________________________________________________________

Costumes for the 4 leged guest.

if you are having a themed party go to:http://www.make-and-build-dog-stuff.com/costumes-for-your-dog.html to learn more.

__________________________________________________________

                          Gift bags to say thanks to the dogs for coming!

Dont forget the owners too!

What to put in the dogs bags!

1. A rawhide bone I found a pack of 4 for 1 buck  at http://locator.albertsons.com/StoreLocatorAction.do?action=showZipEntry tipe in your zip and you can shop at your local albersons.

2. Some dog bones Or dog treats can be found at most stores in your area.

3. A DOG toy exp: a tennis ball you can buy at your local sports store or at http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_SearchResults_Ntt_Dog+toys_Nav_1_N_0.aspx?Ns=P_Price%7c0&pso=1 and there is also some other items that could go good as the toy.

4. DOG scarf I found some cute one’s for a buck each at walmart http://www.walmart.com/ and the brand was american dog.

And for the bag get gift bags at your local store they should be around 3 to like 7 bucks.

For the owners

Get a party bag and fill it up with lots of fun party favors From you dollor store local store or go to this link http://searcha.familyfun.go.com/?q=make+brithday+party+favors to make your owm

and dont forget a thanks for coming note in there.

_______________________________________

The last thing you need to do on your check list is to:

Have fun!

____________________________________

Have a great time! Savannah

I have 17 years really recently ! I will live the new life and going with various websites like here. PICTURE TIME:

I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE! We Have hit 1,000 Hits! So I’m gonna have A party!

Day: July 3rd

Time: 4:00 PST (club penguin time)

Server: Outback

Why: B-day For friend and 1,000 Hits!

Wear: B-day Clothes!

Hope ya all can make it!

~^Ttpeep^~

—> Some good fun today guys! Today was blog accomplice Heather Rodriguez’s birthday today. Well… Actually it was yesterday, but you know what I mean. EVERYONE WISH HER A HAPPY BDAY (ac0sta’s fans, readers, groupies scream and shout “Happy Birthday Heather!” at his command)! LoL. Anyways. We had some good ish goin’ on at YardHouse at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga. Met up with alot of old friends and familiar faces. Let me tell you though… Restaurants need to shed some light in their facilities…literally. Shit was pitch black up in that beeeeyotch! Oh well. It’s didn’t ruin the night. We all shared some good appetizers, and for me, I skipped main entrees, and went straight to desert. Let me tell you though, desert almost killed me. For those of you who don’t know. Justin Acosta is allergic to macadamia nuts. And my ice cream sundae was full of them. LoL. I had one in my mouth and thought twice about swallowing it before I knew what it was. Good thing I got up and asked. THEY WERE!
—> Heather got a nice little chocolate creme brulee’ on the house and it looked pretty good, but I’m sure Heather would agree it was a pussy ass little portion. Oh well. If it was good it was worth it.

—> I still can’t get over how fuckin’ dark it was in there. WTF!? haha. Anyways, there was a little cutie in there also. I could tell with my back turned to her. I saw the faces of every single guy at our table and I knew. haha. I turned and wow. RAWR BABY! LOL! oh well. Maybe another day.
—Prior to Heather’s amazing birthday dinner, well actually in the morning, I was at work. Pretty slow for the most part. Not as busy as usual, but not bad either. I was really on edge about a video game I ordered on Ebay. MORTAL KOMBAT 4 NIGGUH! On my paypal account it said it was delivered, so i couldn’t wait to get outta work and play it. I had to ship a package after work first. I sold a Kodak camera on Ebay and needed to box it up and send it out so I did. Now it was on! MORTAL KOMBAT!


—> I’ll tell you right now. Super fun game to play with friends. Probably even more fun if you’re drunk off you’re ass. LOL! Can’t wait to try!

For this week’s Wordless Wednesday, I picked this photo of my son blowing out the candles on his massive brownie cake at his 13th birthday party this past weekend!  He doesn’t really “do” cake other than carrot cake which has always been the cake at all his previous parties.  This year, he wanted something different!  I guess he really is growing up!

Check out the new Wordless Wednesday HQ!!
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Bahan-bahan (18 cm)

• 250g cream cheese
• 200cc/ml fresh cream/plain yogurt
• 2 sudu besar jus lemon
• 3 sudu besar tepung gandum
• 2 biji telur
• 90g gula

Cara-cara

1. Panaskan oven 170 degree. Sapukan loyang dgn butter atau alas dgn kertas minyak pun ok(oven paper)
2. Masukkan semua bahan-bahan ke dalam mixer atau blander. Mix biar sampai jadi cream
3. Masukkan ke dalam loyang dan bakar selama 40-45 minit
4. Setelah hampir masak atau selepas 30 minit bolehlah letak aluminium foil untuk mengelakkan permukaan hangus.
5. Bila sejuk, simpan dalam peti ais semalaman untuk mendapatkan rasa cheese cake yang sedap.

Bahan-bahan ( 5-8 org )

• Bahan A (diayak & digaul)
• 2 cawan tepung gandum
• 2 cawan gula halus
• 3/4 cawan koko
• 1/2 camca kecil baking powder
• 1/2 camca kecil soda of bicarbonate
• Bahan B (dipukul)
• 2-3 biji telur
• 1/2 cawan susu pekat
• 1 cawan minyak masak
• 1 cawan air suam

Cara-cara

1. Ayak semua bahan2 A.kemudian digaul.
2. Pukul bahan2 B hingga agak kembang.
3. Satukan bahan A & B diselang2kan dengan air suam.kacau perlahan2.(adunan akan jadi kilat dan likat)
4. Sedia utk dibakar @ dikukus selama 45-60 min

Bahan-bahan ( size loyang 18cm )

• 1 cawan tepung gandum
• 1/2 cwn serbuk koko van houten
• 1 sudu kecil baking powder
• 1 kotak susu coklat (250ml)
• 2 biji telur (size M)
• 1 cawan gula halus
• 1/2 cawan butter
• 3 sudu besar susu pekat
• 1/4 cawan minyak masak n esen vanila
• TOPPING
• 3 sudu besar susu pekat
• 1/4 cawan serbuk koko van houten
• 2 sudu besar butter
• 2 sudu besar susu segar

Cara-cara

1. Pukul telur,gula dan butter sampai kembang.Kemudian titiskan esen vanila. n pukul lg.
2. Ayak tepung,serbuk koko dan baking powder.
3. Masukkan sedikit demi sedikit ke dalam adunan telur.Kaup balikkan.
4. Masukkan susu kotak,susu pekat,minyak dan gaul sebati.
5. Masukkan dlm loyang yg telah dilengser minyak/marjerin. Tutup dengan aluminium foil..Then kukus 45min…Dah masak sejukkan.
6. Utk topping…campurkan semua bhn dan masak secara double boiler. Then bleh la curahkan kat atas kek yg dh sejuk td.. Hiaslah apa suka…Pastu simpan dlm peti sejuk beberapa jam sebelum dipotong. Taraa…dh siap…bleh la makan….SeLaMat MeNcUbe….

p/s: Di petik dari website yang aku usaha dapatkan resepi nie semata-mata nak buatkan mak aku.Apa pun,for owner resipi nie,thanks!

Bahan-bahan ( saiz 20 cm )

• 2 biji telur
• 1 cawan minyak masak
• 1 cawan gula pasir
• 1 cawan gula perang
• Bahan A
• 1 sudu kecil vanila
• 1 1/2 cawan susu segar perisa coklat
• 1/2 cawan air campur dgn 2 sudu kecil nescafe
• Bahan B
• 2 sudu kecil sodium bicarbonate
• 1 sudu kecil baking powder
• 1/2 cawan serbuk koko
• 2 cawan tepung gandum
• ==============================
• ** Topping **
• 1/2 cawan koko van hauten
• 1/2 cawan susu pekat
• 1 sudu besar minyak masak

Cara-cara

1. Pukul telur hingga kembang
2. Masukkan gula dan pukul lagi
3. Kemudian masukkan minyak masak
4. Ayak semua bahan B dan masukkan sedikit demi sedikit ke dalam telur tadi berselang seli dengan bahan A. Gaul sehingga sebati.
5. Bakar pada suhu 170 degree selama 1 jam atau sehingga masak
6. Untuk toppingnya.. masukkan semua bahan-bahan ke dalam periuk, dengan api kecik panaskan sampai nampak dah ok…taruk je atas kek yg dah sejuk .

p/s: Di petik dari website yang aku usaha dapatkan resepi nie semata-mata nak buatkan mak aku.Apa pun,for owner resipi nie,thanks!You help me a lot!

I love delicious things.  I love delicious chocolate things.  People know I love delicious chocolate things.  And thus, every year on my birthday, my kitchen is awash with things both delicious and chocolate!

This year, I’ve received something incredibly special.  It isn’t edible and it definitely isn’t chocolate, yet I still have enough for everyone in the class.

A huge thanks to Mscc54 for sending this to me, and to everyone who has been so…amazing and full of love and well-wishes!

Thank you!