{"id":7383,"date":"2019-02-17T19:19:03","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T19:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/?p=7383"},"modified":"2019-02-18T17:56:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T17:56:49","slug":"single-mom-chronicles-feb-13th-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/17\/single-mom-chronicles-feb-13th-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Single Mom Chronicles Feb. 13th, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

I actually wrote this post two weeks before Valentine’s Day and then got completely sidetracked with a Basil & Sage event that completely consumed my life for days before the holiday.\u00a0 Then, it took me literally days to recuperate from the multiple challenges I had to overcome for that event and the resulting stress induced trauma.\u00a0 Don’t worry about me though!\u00a0 I had a bottle of Elton Chardonnay hiding in the fridge that Betty left me for a rainy day.\u00a0 Well, it poured and so did the Chardonnay.\u00a0 Boom!\u00a0 Anyway, this post is late.\u00a0 Obviously.\u00a0 Let’s all drink Chardonnay and collectively get over it.<\/p>\n

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Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.\u00a0 As a single mom, I really did not like this as a candy buying holiday.\u00a0 Having a boy made it worse because inevitably there was some girl (or three….yes, that happened) that he wanted to get “special” candy for.\u00a0 “Special” was anything that did not come in bulk packs for the classroom.\u00a0 At least in elementary school.\u00a0 Either way, I could count on spending at least a twenty dollar bill on candy, which I found annoying.<\/p>\n

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Less annoying was a little tradition I had with my kid.\u00a0 He was my date on Valentine’s Day.\u00a0 We always went to dinner together.\u00a0 He did all the ordering and the paying (with my card wink, wink).\u00a0 Sometimes, this meant a fast food cheeseburger joint.\u00a0 Don’t gasp!\u00a0 It happens.\u00a0 In better years, we went to an actual sit down establishment with a food server and everything!\u00a0 A couple of times we went super fancy at places with actual linens and a wine list.\u00a0 There’s nothing better than watching a waiter’s face while a four year old orders an entire dinner for two complete with drinks and proper usage of please and thank you.\u00a0 While we waited for dinner, we would comb through all the Valentines he got at school.<\/p>\n

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Aaahh….the good old days.\u00a0 Today is completely different.\u00a0 I’m married.\u00a0 The kid wants nothing to do with me on Valentine’s Day.\u00a0 But he still expects a candy gift from me.\u00a0 Jerkface.\u00a0 I always made the candy I gave to my kid for this holiday, rather than buying it.\u00a0 It just tasted better.\u00a0 And I got to keep the leftovers.\u00a0 Making candy is not hard once you learn a few tricks….start with good chocolate, keep the steps simple, and don’t fret about not having professional equipment.<\/p>\n

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While I love Hershey’s for some things, I don’t use it to make candy.\u00a0 I also don’t use candy melts.\u00a0 Or anything from Nestle.\u00a0 I use Guittard chips or Ghirardelli chips.\u00a0 I like the base chocolate flavors of those brands for candy making.\u00a0 I especially love the price.\u00a0 For about six bucks, I can get two bags of chocolate chips.\u00a0 That’s enough for a batch of truffles.\u00a0 You can use all dark, or all milk, or all semisweet…or even white!\u00a0 I like to blend the dark and the milk myself.<\/p>\n

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When perusing candy recipes, always double and triple check candy thermometer temperatures.\u00a0 I find that there are a ton of incorrect temperatures given.\u00a0 This can create very expensive snafus when you have to toss all that work in the trash.\u00a0 Stick to recipes that keep the candy making simple and don’t require a million obscure ingredients that you’ll never use again and drive your grocery bill up.<\/p>\n

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You don’t need silicone molds, or a double boiler, or dipping tines, or whatever else you can think of to make candy.\u00a0 There is a myriad of accoutrement one can buy to make candy.\u00a0 But if you’re a single parent, these items are not essential purchases.\u00a0 All you need is a saucepot, a glass bowl, and two dinner forks.\u00a0 That’s it.\u00a0 Ok, and some wax paper.\u00a0 You don’t even need a candy thermometer for making chocolate truffles.<\/p>\n

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A truffle requires two things…the ganache and the dipping chocolate.\u00a0 That’s it.\u00a0 For the ganache, all you need is chocolate, butter, and the flavor.\u00a0 What flavor?!\u00a0 For flavorings, you can use powdered spices or liquid extracts.\u00a0 Or booze!\u00a0 You can even add chopped nuts and chopped dried fruit.\u00a0 Go crazy!\u00a0 Or be a purist!\u00a0 These are your truffles!<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n\t<\/g><\/svg><\/span> Print<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n

White Chocolate Boozy Berry Truffles<\/h2>\n
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Ingredients<\/h3>
  • 3<\/span> bags white chocolate chips<\/span><\/li>
  • 1<\/span> half stick butter<\/span><\/li>
  • 2\/3<\/span> cups<\/span> framboise liqueur<\/span><\/li>
  • 2<\/span> tablespoons<\/span> freeze dried blueberries ground<\/span><\/li>
  • Garnish of choice<\/span> I used a dried rose petal<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n

    Instructions<\/h3>
    • Fill a smallish saucepan one thirds full with water and bring to boil and then turn down to low to simmer.\u00a0 Place a glass bowl on top of the sauce pot.<\/div><\/li>
    • Place 2 bags of the chocolate chips into the bowl and add the butter and the liqueur.\u00a0 Stir constantly until all the ingredients are combined and melted together.<\/div><\/li>
    • With a mortar and pestle, grind the freeze dried blueberries into a powder.\u00a0 Stir into the melted ganache, remove from heat, and set the bowl aside to cool.\u00a0 Turn the simmering water off.<\/div><\/li>
    • When the ganache has cooled, cover with saran wrap and chill briefly.\u00a0 Do not saran wrap warm chocolate.\u00a0 It will create condensation that will drip onto your ganache.\u00a0 Roll into small balls and place on a wax paper covered sheet pan or tray.<\/div><\/li>
    • Place another bowl on top of the sauce pan with water still on simmer.\u00a0 Melt the remaining bag of chocolate, stirring constantly.\u00a0 Drop a ball of ganache into the melted chocolate, immediately fishing it out with two forks.\u00a0 Use one fork to hold the dipped ganache and the other to scrape under the fork holding the dipped ganache to remove excess chocolate in a quickly repeated fashion.<\/div><\/li>
    • Place the dipped ganache on a wax paper lined tray.\u00a0 Each ball should only take a couple of seconds to dip.\u00a0 You don't want to ganache balls to melt.\u00a0 Alternately, if the ganache is too cold the white chocolate with split and crack.<\/div><\/li>
    • Garnish.\u00a0 Or don't!\u00a0 It's up to you.\u00a0 I used small dried red rose petals, but you could also use glitter sugar or sprinkles or anything you can dream up!\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I actually wrote this post two weeks before Valentine’s Day and then got completely sidetracked with a Basil & Sage event that completely consumed my life for days before the holiday.\u00a0 Then, it took me literally days to recuperate from the multiple challenges I had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":[],"wprm-recipe-roundup-description":[],"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/85925112-C937-4679-8AA3-17CCA8520815.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pagICo-1V5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7383"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7486,"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions\/7486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.burnedatthesteak.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}