We're Regulars now, Baby!

Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2005.
Location: Cancun Cantina, MD
Song: Rose Garden

That's right. It's all Ashley's doing, actually, but I was there and so I get credit, too.

Ashley and I storm the dance floor, bowling over the unsuspecting men and women standing between us and the spinning fun of our favorite dance. About a dozen girls stand on the floor, looking vaguely confused, which I totally understand, because I can never remember what the first step is.
I look to Ashley, and see her getting the music in her head. She takes a grapevine style step to the right, I have a flash of memory and do the same, and we're dancing.

And those other dozen girls who had no clue as to waht to do?

They were following us!

We started it all. (Ashley started it all.)
We rock. (Ashley rocks.)
WE ARE REGULARS! (No parenthetical comment needed; I include myself in that 'we' statement.)

Date: Friday, November 25, 2005.
Location: Iron Bridge Wine Company, Howard County, MD


We were willing to bet the bartenders we met and hung out with almost 3 months ago wouldn't remember us. Nope! We got a 'Hello Ladies' from Nate, and a 'Hi' from Kevin. We're in with the wine bar crowd too!

But, do you think there's something wrong with the fact that the places we're regulars at are both bars?

Nah...

Florida 2005

November 9th through the 14th is a good time to be in Florida. Tampa area, mostly, specifically St. Petersburg and Parrish.


I LOVE FLYING!!
11/9 Arrive at TPA ~ noon. Met by McCoys. Gave Mr. Mac Truffles. Got laughed at because of tons of luggage (Only backpack and duffle, but VERY heavy duffle). Eat at Parrish area Ruby Tuesdays. See McCoy's house and neighborhood. Watch some TV (Wilson Bridge - Extreme Engineering, Mythbusters - Bottle rocket, steel toed boots, J. C. VanDamme - StreetFighter2). Go to bed.

11/10 Wake up. Huge breakfast. Visit Myakka State Park .



Buy cute hat. See?

Airboat tour of the lake; see alligators and black vultures,
a blue heron, and a very rare white bird with a long beak that I never caught the name of.



Walk a path with Mrs. Mac, take lots of pictures.


climb a scary but not very high canopy walk. (Scary because ass behind me decided to test the torsion and tension strengths of the catwalk by rocking it as hard as he could - which the instructions on the structure very clearly state you SHOULD NOT DO!!!!).



Lunch at Siesta Key beach , which is BEAUTIFUL!!! I have never been on nicer sand. Dinner at Gio’s - great cocktails. McCoys try to make me flirt with the (admittedly cute) waiter. Some more TV, and again to bed.

11/11 Wake up. Big breakfast again, and because furniture is supposed to arrive for the Macs, we decide not to go to the Ringling Museum , and instead go to Prime Outlets. Lounge around a bit, dinner at Stonewood Great lamb chops! Again, they urge me to flirt – but find out that he’s engaged, that his parents live less than a mile from them, that he’s from Seattle, all his favorite restaurants in the area, and a myriad of other facts. It’s amazing, the people the Macs meet! Home, Bed.

11/12 Wake up. Mellie comes, we go to Peaches for breakfast. Wave goodbye to McCoys, and head for Siesta Key beach for some beachbunny-ing. Head to St. Pete, diner with Mel and Josh at Bella Brava . Then Artwalk, checking out all the artist that keep their studios open every second Sunday of the month. Meet a photographer Mel and Josh know, Joseph Walles who has a totally awesome photo of two cats. Nice guy. Gave me a beer and M& M’s. Went to a beer bar, met more of Mel and Josh’s friends, headed home.

11/13 Wake up. Go to MOSI for the Bodies exhibit. Tres cool! And very educational, too. Josh had to jet, but Mel and I played with the rest of the museum. Here’s something kind of fun: Arrange the numbers 1-9 in a tic-tac-toe board so each row, column, and diagonal add up to 15. Good Luck!

Then to California Pizza Kitchen, home, walk around Crescent Lake, read some papers, then watch Sahara and Love Actually. Play with Boo and Calamity. Sleep

11/14 Wake up. Head to Tranquility day spa for pedicures. I’m officially addicted. If you haven’t had a spa pedicure, don’t. They’re not cheap enough to get addicted! Go to Josh’s to see his house and print out my boarding pass, buy some beach souvenirs for people in MD,
then gingerly (as to not spoil the pedicure) walk along Treasure Island for the sunset.












Buy Chipotle at the St. Pete's location grand opening, eat, and run to the airport.
I LOVE FLYING!!!

So, that’s the trip.

Truffles...

I'm gonna make some today. If you haven't had a homemade rum truffle, you haven't lived. I suspect many people haven't lived.

It's an old family secret, so I can't tell you exactly how I do it.

Ok, fine. Really, I just don't follow a recipe, so I can't tell you exactly how I do it. But here's a rough estimate:


For the 'Truffle'
In a double boiler or non-stick sauce pan (or even a microwave)
-Melt ~ 2 cups chocolate chips. (I make a large batch)
-Add ~ 1 cup heavy whipping cream. The melted chocolate needs lots of stirring, but it should end up rich and dark and viscous/runny
-Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of your favorite alcohol. I usually use Gosling Rum, but I have also used Contreau, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, and Kahlua. They're all great!

Stick this concoction in the freezer for a while. Depending on your liquid to chocolate ratio, the time it takes to solidify varies. Once it's solid, I have on hand:
-wax-paper covered cookie sheet
-melon baller
-cup of hot water
-~2 tbsp. dark cocoa powder or powdered sugar

Much like they do at ice cream places, I warm the melon baller in the hot water, then start scooping inch-diameter sized balls. Usually I have to roll the balls of chocolate in my palms to make them resemble spheres; the baller just doesn't do the job. I place the chocolate spheres on the cookie sheet, sprinkle the cocoa sparingly over them, and stick them back in the freezer.

For the 'Shell'
I then melt about 1/2 cup of chocolate (and frequently have to do more, but it's so easy to make more) in the microwave, and coat the truffle balls with the chocolate. The cocoa hinders this process, 'cause the chocolate shell doesn't stick to the cocoa, but it'll work eventually. I like doing this part straight from the freezer for two reasons: 1) The truffle part melts fast, so the colder it is, the slower the truffle part becomes too mushy to use, and 2) The cold makes the shell solidify faster.

Once they're all done, I use the excess cocoa to coat the shell, so they don't all stick. I throw them back in the freezer to solidify, and then store them in the fridge.


This is my personal adaptation from several arduous attempts from a German cookbook, and then a thrilling find in a book called 'Capital Celebrations' which is a collection by the Junior League of Washington, whoever they are. Here's the recipe from that book, which may be clearer than mine, but is much harder than it looks (And not nearly alcoholic enough!)

Dark Chocolate Truffles
contributed by Jacques Haeringer,
L'Auberge Chez Francois

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, divided
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup cocoa powder

Pour cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and immediately reduce heat. Add 6 oz. of the chocolate, broken into small pieces. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and stir in Grand Marnier. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Using a melon baller of teaspoon dipped in hot water, scoop 1-inch balls out to the truffle mixture into a plate. Dust with confectioners' sugar, shape into balls and place on wax paper. Freeze for a minimum of one hour.
Melt the remaining 6 oz. of chocolate in a double boiler, stirring occasionally. Set aside. Cover bottom of a small shallow baking pan with cocoa powder. Remove truffles from the freezer and drop them in the melted chocolate, 1 at a time, coating all sides. Drop coated truffles into cocoa powder. Gently shake pan back and forth to powder truffles. Place truffles in a fine sieve and shake gently to remove excess cocoa powder. Place truffles in a single layer in a covered container and refrigerate. Serve at room temperature. Yield: 24 truffles.


The first batch I made following that recipe, and they were darn good. But I've had several people tell me my newer ones are better because...
1) They're smoother / more melt-in-your-mouth Secret: add more heavy whipping cream
2) They're not a dry from the powder Secret: use less powder. Two cups? you're got to be kidding!
3) They have a stronger alcohol flavor Secret: take a wild guess

Clean up after these is a monster. Mom usually laughs at me if she comes into the kitchen to see me licking my hands, the bowls, and the spoons with a blissful expression on my face.

It's a messy job, but someone's gotta do it!