Oreo Truffles

With only 3 ingredients it's hard to believe that these truffles are so delicious! Perfect if you love chocolate and the decadence of truffles without all the fuss of a long, involved recipe. I made these on Friday and they were gone by Saturday night. A definite make again.

Oreo Truffles

1 block softened cream cheese

1 package Oreo cookies

1 12 oz package white chocolate chips or 1 block white chocolate

Crush Oreo cookies in a blender, food processor or by hand (in a plastic food bag using a roller) until mostly crumbs.

Beat crushed Oreo cookies with cream cheese until well blended. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Melt white chocolate on low in microwave or in double boiler on stove until melted. Dip Oreo truffles into the white chocolate using a fork until covered. Place back on to cookie sheet. Keep in refrigerator until Oreo truffles are cold and chocolate is hardened. Makes about 24 truffles.

"Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better."
-Robert Redford

Jane Eyre

This is a first for me. Recommending a movie, that is. But Masterpiece Theater's Jane Eyre was so fantastic I cannot resist. I remember when this first premiered on PBS and I wanted to see it so badly, but I didn't have the time. I was so disappointed. I put it on my queue on Netflix but it took them a while to get the discs. I finally got to see it this past week.


It's hard to say what exactly makes this movie so good. The story, the actors, the directing or a combination of all of them. Whatever it was, the hubby and I were engrossed the entire time. Originally, my husband was reluctant to watch it, labeling it "a chick flick". After the first few minutes, though, all he could say was "this is such a good movie". I guess if he's willing to watch it, it must be good :)

A Little Of Everything Brownie Cookies

For some reason, I just wasn't happy making simple chocolate chip cookies this time. It gets a bit old making the same cookie over and over. As I looked through my baking recipes, I saw that this brownie recipe and thought I could adapt it. I dragged all my bags of chips and toffee and divided them up to equal the amount the recipe called for. When the kids and hubby tasted them, they were a big hit. You can add whatever kind of chips you like.

A Little Bit Of Everything Brownie Cookie

1/2 cup butter

4 oz unsweetened chocolate baking squares, chopped

2 cups chocolate morsels, divided

1/4 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup toffee bits

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when butter and chocolate melt. Cool.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla on medium speed with a mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Add chocolate mixture and beat until blended. Stir in remaining chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, white chips and toffee bits. Add nuts. Stir well.

Drop 2 tablespoons of dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Keep dough at least 1 inch apart.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on wire racks.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

"Number one, I absolutely love making chocolate chip cookies. I mean, it's fun. It's exciting. Beyond the fact that I love making them, I love eating them."
-Debbi Fields

Hilarious News Stories

These are too funny to not share! I'm just glad the dumb things I say don't get published in newspapers :)

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Dílis d'ar nOidreacht

"True to our heritage"

County Clare Arms

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm a wee bit Irish so I thought I'd share a little about where my family came from. I actually just learned about our family's history in the past few years. Before that, I never really thought about it. When I was growing up in Danville, no one really mentioned anything about family histories. You were either black, white or American Indian. But in Pittsburgh, family origins are very important with all the different immigrants living here. Recently, my father decided to do a little exploring and found some information out about his family. He told me about his mother's family being from County Clare, Ireland. Here's a little information I found on Wikipedia:

County Clare (Irish: Contae an Chláir) commonly referred to as simply Clare, is a county of Ireland and part of the wider province of Munster. Clare is one of the 26 counties within the Republic of Ireland and it provides a basis for local government, in the form of its own constituency within the Dáil Éireann. The county system has existed since the 16th century; as well as its governmental usage, the counties form a significant part of local identity and culture within the country. Located on the west coast of Ireland, Clare is northwest of the River Shannon covering a total area of 1,215 square miles (3,147 km²). The most populated town and county seat is Ennis.

Hope you have a fun St. Paddy's Day- Irish or not!

"We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English."

-Winston Churchill

"You know it's summer in Ireland when the rain gets warmer."

-Hal Roach

Changing Seasons, Changing Moods

Wow, you can really tell spring is in the air. Even though the temps dropped from a high around 60 a few days ago into the 30's today, it doesn't have that biting cold that winter has on a blustery day. Plus, my allergies have been horrible the past few days, which is another sign spring has sprung. I may have to give in tonight and take an aspirin!

I was growing tired of my blog's look and changed it recently. Now I'm not sure I like this new look. Too much pink. Pink is not one of my favorite colors. I thought about paying someone to change it for me as I'm not computer savvy, but it seems like a lot of money to make a few color changes. So I will keep playing with different looks offered by Blogger until one settles with me. I'm looking for a certain look that when I see it, it's relaxing and inviting at the same time. I'll find it eventually, I hope.

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."
-Charles Dickens

Chocolate Cake In A Mug

Oh yeah! What a cool concept. Cake in a mug. It cooks right in the microwave and takes only 5 minutes total for prep and cooking. Use a regular coffee mug, no smaller. The cake will cook up over the top of the cup in the microwave but don't be alarmed. It deflates once cooking is done. Add some chocolate syrup and whipped cream and enjoy!

Chocolate In A Mug

4 tablespoons cake flour (not self rising)

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips

1 dash vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well.

Add the egg and mix throughly

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well

Add the chocolate chips and vanilla, mix

Put the mug into the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts

The cake will rise over the top of the mug. Don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool. You can tip the cake onto a plate, if you want or just eat out of the mug

Add additional chips, chocolate syrup and/or whipped cream

Seen recently on a tee shirt:

EMERGENCY ALERT: If wearer of this shirt is found vacant, listless, or depressed, ADMINISTER CHOCOLATE IMMEDIATELY.

Powerful Child Abuse Story

I came across this on MSN today and wanted to share it. It's hard to believe in this could happen. Thank God she was saved.

http://health.msn.com/kids-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100234082&gt1=31045

What Type Of Comfort Food Are You?

I could not believe I ended up as chocolate. Well ok, yes I can. Which food are you?

You Are Chocolate

When you're stressed out, you crave intense pleasure. And you're willing to skip a proper meal and proceed directly to the food you like best. You find solace in hedonism and luxury. You tend to turn your nose up at most traditional comfort foods. Somewhat surprisingly, trying a new food (especially a new type of chocolate) can be the most comforting thing for you.

What Comfort Food Are You?