Lick my balls...

...or, better yet, bite them!

I've been dreaming of cake balls ever since I stumbled upon a site that mentioned cake pops, which inspired a Google search, which led me to Bakerella.

So for a couple of weeks now I've been plotting flavour combinations and decorating possibilities. I finally found myself healthy enough (after having the flu) and with enough time (dog-sitting for mom) to plunge into what I kept telling everyone was my 'Secret Easter Baking Experiment'.

Early Saturday morning kiddo and I headed over to the grocery store for cake mixes, and to the Bulk Barn for decorations and various other Easter-related baking nonsense. We spent waaaay more on sprinkles than on cake mix somehow, and I now have enough supplies to make hundreds of cake balls.

I thought for my first time I would stick with tried and true chocolate...for the cake and the frosting, and let kiddo go crazy with the decorations. What a great weekend activity to do with kids! Cake balls are super easy, although a bit messy, and just a little time consuming because of the steps involved:

1. Bake a cake.
2. Let it chill.
3. Break it up into crumbs.
4. Mix with icing to make a 'dough'
5. Chill.
6. Roll into balls.
7. Chill some more.
8. Dunk in chocolate.
9. Decorate (optional - and do it quickly before the chocolate dries!).
10. EAT!!!

Saturday afternoon kiddo helped me bake the cake, one of her favourite things to do (even more than eating cake - seriously) cause she gets to stand on a chair in the kitchen, help stir, and then lick the spoon.

I crumbled the cake and mixed in the icing while watching Saturday Night Live (my love for Seth Rogen only grows stronger) and then put the dough in the fridge overnight. Rolled the dough into golf ball-sized balls in the morning, went out for breakfast while they chilled in the fridge, and came back home full of bacon and ready for the fun part.

I used candy melts for the coating...Bulk Barn has a ridiculous rainbow of coloured candy melts. For this batch we used white, pink and milk chocolate melts. A quick swim in the chocolate and then kiddo attacked with rainbow chips, sprinkles, and flower and butterfly candies.

One batch made at least 60 balls, and they have so far been loved (and devoured) by friends, family and co-workers, and I still have a box to last me through the week.

I have more cake, more sprinkles, and a LOT more ideas, so stay tuned, more cake balls to come...

Earth minutes

7:35 - Just got kiddo to bed. Hopefully she'll fall asleep before 8:30 so I can secretly unplug her nightlight without a small war breaking out.

7:52 - I have a late night snack of Timbits waiting in the wings, so I'm trying to decide what pairing would be best...red or white wine?...or vodka?

8:05 - Never turned on any lights today in the first place, so I don't have any to turn off.

8:08 - Lighting some tealights.

8:10 - Thinking I better crack into my bottle of wine while I can still see it...going for the red, but only because it was a $7 self-made purchase, not the more expensive prize the bottle of white was.

8:15 - Couldn't figure out how to open the bottle and almost called in some backup. Ended up slicing the whole screw-top off with the small knife on my bottle opener. I can't believe I just admitted that: a) I'm drinking wine that has a screw-top and b) that I couldn't figure out how to open it...I haven't even started drinking yet!

8:18 - Looking out the window with my glass of wine and realising it's unlikely all the lights on the outside of my apartment building would ever be turned off for any sensible reason.

8:20 - Settling into the couch with Joanna Newsom playing on my (battery powered) laptop.


8:31 - Kiddo is singing loudly from her bed, but not complaining about the dark.

8:38 - Pretty disappointed with this town's Earth Hour showing...more than half of the houses I can see from my balcony have lights on in most windows, all street lights are on, I wasn't wrong about my apartment building and the Canadian Tire down the street has so many lights on outside you can probably see it from space.

8:46 - Who needs a furnace when you've got red wine?

9:04 - Just stepped outside for a moment (in a t-shirt...wahoo for spring!) to escape the heat of my 2 candles. Many more houses are now dark, but the glare from the many well-lit, yet closed businesses are still making for a very bright evening...no wonder kiddo isn't missing her nightlight!

9:10 - Wondering how Earth Hour looks to Mom, who is currently in an airplane somewhere over South America.

9:19 - Kiddo's finally asleep.

9:22 - Note to self: remember to bring a candle next time you go to the bathroom...it would figure this is when I find out kiddo finished the roll of toilet paper.

9:30 - OK, admittedly I am now plugging my laptop back in...but all else will remain dark tonight. Including the clouds, it would seem, so no stargazing to reward us faithful energy conservers...kinda hoping for a good thunderstorm to make up for it.

Tuned in and turned on

I'm liking the 'new' CBC Radio 2...specifically the Morning show and Drive. It makes for a very nice commute and I hear new things every day that I love.

This song by Blitzen Trapper really got me this morning. Totally derivative of Bob Dylan of course, but who ever said that was a bad thing? Chill out and enjoy...

Hit and miss

Driving home again tonight and (not even kidding) about 100m from where the possum-incident occurred, a deer runs in front of my car. Luckily I was able to break in time and she crossed the road safely.

...longing for the days of spring when I can drive home in the daylight!

My first road kill

Just after cresting a hill on the unpaved marvel that is Sawmill Road on this dark night, my car took out a possum. The worst part of it all was that it didn't die...not immediately anyway. I watched it writhe around on the road for a while wondering if I should put it out of it's misery, and then all of a sudden it was gone...creepy.

I don't like possums, but it was still a terrible experience. I realise it was worse for the possum, yet somehow my remorse is lacking.

My research tells me that possums are native to the southeastern United States, and were introduced to the West during the depression as a source of food (ick) and have now made it into Ontario somehow. They're also North America's only marsupial (who knew?!).

Well I say, send 'em back from whence they came! Or maybe in these tough times some adventurous people will find use for them. According to the Joy of Cooking (page 515), after trapping a possum it's best to feed it on milk and cereal for 10 days before roasting (ICK!).

And just so you can't accuse me of not being fair and balanced in my blogging, here is the opposing view:

FREE THE INTERNET!

and protect your right to information.

Stewing

I've been ruminating about rapini since it came on a pizza while visiting the fam last weekend. I am now experimenting in the kitchen...and singing along with Nina Simone. Stay tuned, I have a good feeling about this...

OK, here it is...

Rabeanage Stew (got a better name?)

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion
5 chorizo sausages, casings removed
1 bunch of rapini (or broccoli rabe), chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of dried navy beans, soaked and cooked
2 cups of chicken stock
LOTS of black pepper and a wee bit of sea salt

Directions:
Saute onion in a large pot with some olive oil. Add sausage and break it up with a spoon. Cook sausage on high heat until cooked through, drain excess fat. Throw in all other ingredients, and cook on medium heat until rapini is tender.

The verdict? Tasty, and nothing like some dark leafy greens to make you forget you're eating sausage! Well worth the effort...and the blood-loss resulting from stabbing myself with the rapini's twist-tie at the grocery store's self-checkout. But I predict it will taste even better tomorrow.

Not feeling blue...

...just REALLY feeelin' the blues

Just another Twit on Twitter

So I'm all about Twitter lately. I've found it's a great way to impose all those little random thoughts in my head on other people...as of today, even Barack Obama is following my tweets! (p.s. the Blogger dictionary does not recognize the words Barack Obama...Google should really get on that!)
It's also a great way to get news fast.

...and to fill my days at work, of course.