DECADENT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES, VALENTINE'S DAY AND A LITTLE BIT O' THIS AND THAT!.......

  "If you won't be my Valentine

I'll scream, I'll yell, I'll bite

I'll cry aloud, I'll start to whine

If you won't be my Valentine

I'll frown and fret, I'll mope and pine, and

It will serve you right---

If you won't be my Valentine

I'll scream, I'll yell, I'll bite"

-Myra Cohn Livingstone

Isn't that the most wickedly cute St. Valentine's poem, ever?

*******************

I tried to have my baby girl (almost 21 years old!), on Valentine's Day in 1991, but my 10 lb. bundle of joy was kinda "stuck", so we ended up having her one looooong week later..........

But a dear, dear old friend of mine, Carrie Wilson Link, gets to celebrate her birthday on Valentine's day, every single year....lucky duck! Happy Birthday to one of the best moms, friends and writers I'll ever know (you can check out Carrie's Blog, simply called "Love", HERE)......

*****************

I was given significant grief by another dear old friend of mine last week--his name is Marty, and I've been friends with him for over 30 years now (how fortunate am I, what with all of these long-time friends of mine?). Marty was in Paris, just traveling around like a hobo gypsy, and he got a chance to meet this pretty Frenchie-looking girl for coffee....check out the red lipstick!......in a perfect world I would just close my eyes and join those two in this charming cafe for some lavender scented steamed milk, which I am told is all the rage.............sigh.....

Anyways, Marty also took a tantelizing photo of HIS Boef Bourguignon dinner in a Paris restaurant, and sent it to my phone, where I promptly forgot about it....better late than NEVER, right Marty?.........Here 'tis......

HIS version (if you don't remember, I prepared Ina Garten's version in my last post) looks like it has potatoes, but I also spy some bacon, mushrooms and stewed tomatoes, so all in all the two recipes are very similar. Marty was a proud vegetarian for years and years, so this is HUGE, I tell you, HUGE! Thanks for sharing, Marty!

***********

I'm spending Valentine's evening with my sweetheart, Wink! I think he's making tacos, but of course!.................

 But Valentine's Day itself, WELL NOW............

I'm spending with this very sexy broad, my old editor to the stars, M. Lisa............

And yes, she does in fact always have a gin and tonic in her hand.

Lisa and I are taking a silly girl's road trip to a town about 2 hours away. We've been invited to a very famous St. Valentine's Day tea party....I promise to bring you lots of photos very soon, provided that I don't forget my camera. Which I am famous for.

*****************

Another one of our "glorious" Adirondack days here today...the temperature isn't supposed to rise over 11 degrees, so I ain't goin' nowheres! Here's a photo of my cute little Valentine's ladybug slippers (a silly gift from Wink!) that are keeping my tootsies toasty, all day long......

I do declare, if my feet were any whiter, I'd be blue!

*************

So I sent our darling girl a big care package a week or so ago, just chock full of Valentine's Day decorations, sweaters (super cold in Europe right now!) and peanut butter (ridiculously expensive there, so I'm told).....and I had every intention of including a little bag full of homemade Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Truffles in that box. Except that, in the end, I forgot to put the truffles in the box....see how my mind is these days? Please don't tell my neurologist--he'll just want another bothersome MRI. Well anyways, here's the forgotten bag, which has since been eaten up (the truffles that is, not the bag).............

If you'd like to do something wonderful for someone you love this Valentine's Day, why not whip up a quick batch of these decadent chocolate truffles? Really, they are super easy to prepare, and you can decorate them as creatively as you wish.

I mean really, what else are you doing? Hmmmm?

To begin, finely chop up some good bittersweet and good semisweet chocolate (I used my food processor) and place in a bowl...

Heat cream in a small saucepan until it boils................

Pour the hot cream through a sieve into the bowl with the chocolates...........whisk together until chocolate is completely melted.......

Whisk in Grand Marnier (I didn't happen to have any on hand, because I'm poor, so I skipped it), coffee and good vanilla  (I used instant Espresso here)..........

Cover and chill. Then, using 2 teaspoons, make dollops of the chilled chocolate mixture and place on a parchment lined baking sheet..........

Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, then roll into spheres with your hands. At this point, you can roll them in cocoa powder (that's what I did) or powdered sugar or anything you want....fine red sugar would be pretty for St. Valentine's Day, doncha think?.....

Can I just tell you here that popping just ONE of these amazing truffles is enough to satisfy the most WICKED of sweet tooths?

Absolutely TO. DIE. FOR..........

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU!!!

Will you be mine?

Click HERE for the printable recipe--thank you, Barefoot Contessa!

TODAY I'M SO THANKFUL FOR.......

***Sleeping in on this cold Sunday morning, after a very fun (but late for us!) evening last night...

***All of the kids from our area that get to experience schooling and/or traveling in Europe this year--you GO, Chelsea, Leif, Allison and Abbie! The world is your OYSTER, darlings!

***My sweet Mom, for sending me a Valentine's card that was so thoughtful it made me get teary-eyed, right in the Post Office parking lot!