Death by chocolate balls

Death by chocolate. Is that possible? Well il tell you one thing, these bombs are a chocoholics dream. I would first like to apologize for my lack of creative photography. You see, I finished making these late easter eave, and there was no good lighting, then I forgot to take a descent picture of them before they vanished into thin air. Woops. These chocolate balls, of cake balls, actually are really fun to make! When I first read the directions I was amazed at how you prepare these little cake balls. You prepare a cake, and bake it. Then once the cake is cooled, you crumble it up! I was like ohh myeee goshhh this is to weird! And strangely fun at the same time!Then you mix in a can of cream cheese frosting. I do not have a picture of this, not only is it not pretty, it is quite messy! Then you roll them into balls!You stick them in the fridge to harden up, then dip them in chocolate!Again, I'm sorry for the crap-tastic pictures. There is a bright side to all of this, they tasted amazing, and decadent. My family loved them, and my older brother Yohann did also. He said that they were great! Which almost put me into a state of shock. I have made a little chart for how Yohanns mind works-->
If he says. . .

"These are the most horrible things that I have ever put in my mouth"
Then he thinks that they are bad.

"These are bad"
He thinks that they are semi decent.

"These are ok"
They are not half bad.

"These are good"
He means wow, I like these a lot!

"These are great"
He is telling you that he loves whatever you have made, and therefore you should bookmark this recipe, and give it a try!!



Red Velvet Cake Balls
Bakerella
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)(I used chocolate)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

Tag. . . your it!!

I got tagged by Daphne over at More Than Words, and at first, I had no idea what I would tell you guys. But then I delved deep into my memory to tell you 5 facts about me. Now, these are completely random facts, mind you. Ok so I'm going to start off with fact number one. . .

1. I braid my long blond hair almost every day, well actually with the help of my mom, I can't reach all the way down...
2. Completely random things fascinate me to no end. Like these monks I saw at the grand canyon-->and this aggressive squirrel that wanted to eat my face -->

--> and this tree that had these strange, what looked like beans protruding from it.
3. I survived a five week cross-country trip with my family across the west. The only way that I still live to tell the tale is because of my cousin Gwennie. Good times...good times.4. I love animals. Dogs, bunnies, you name it, I'll hug it. 5. I love to swim.
I'm going to tag. . .

Noble Pig

Feeding Groom

The Reckless Chef

Elle's New England Kitchen

Peanut Butter Boy


If anyone else wants to share things about themselves on their blog, consider yourself tagged! : D

Eggplant saywaht!?

Ok. I have tried so many new recipes right before Easter, and on Easter. I guess that I will just have to start at the beginning, posting according to occurrence. Starting on the night before Easter. Eggplant Parmesan. After making this, I was amazed at how great it tasted, was it possible that something named "eggplant" could taste so good?
Yes, my good friends Bob and Mike did not want me to make dinner. I'm not crazy hehe. By the picture above, you probably thought that I lost my marbles (did I have any to begin with?), but rest assured I am OK. I saw Peters eggplant on his blog, and thought to myself that I should give it a try. So when perusing the veggie isle, I saw those purple guys. I know this is completely random, but I think that eggplants feel like a beluga whale, of a dolphin or something, which kinda creeps me out.I picked them up, and decided to make them tonight. When I read through the directions, after committing to make the recipe I realized how intricate the directions were! Thats ok. I love a good challenge.I had to use my mandoline to cut it even. Then what baffled me was that you had to set them out, sprinkle them with coarse salt, and let them like drain their liquid. There goes my counter space. . .












Yes, my counter is a cluttered mess TAKEN OVER BY EGGPLANTS! You can see the bottles of vitamins and my Snapple white tea that I was drinking. I definitely got my hands full. Then you had to individually bread them, and pan fry them.I didn't actually fry them, more like crisp them in a little oil in the pan. I'm a health nut, sorta like my family, but probably more. Which really doesn't coincide with my blog, because I love love love to bake.
Then you make the sauce, and layer your stuff.Then to go along with this amazing dinner, I made homemade bread. I told you I had my hands full. . . I decided to take a short cut and just make the turtle bread, but shape it in a loaf for convenience. Then you take the dinner out of the oven. Wile the smell permeates the house.I wanted to take a picture of an individual slice for you to see, and I did, but it just didn't do the dinner justice. Plus everybody in the kitchen was staring at me like I was insane as I photographed our meal. Lol.

Eggplant Parmesan
from Kalofagas


2 large eggplants, sliced lenghtwise to 1/2 in. thickness
coarse sea salt
1 can of whole plum tomatoes, hand crushed
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 anchovy filletss, chopped
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
sunflower oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
grated Mozzarella
grated Parmesan

1. Cut the ends of your eggplant off and then using a mandoline, cut the eggplants lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices. Lay the slice out on a tray and sprinkle each slice with some coarse salt. Allow the bitter juices to leech for 40 minutes.
2. In the meantime, Place a skillet on the stove over medium-high heat and add your olive oil add your olive oil and anchovy fillets and saute for 3 minutes to soften and perfume the oil.
3. Add your onions and garlic and lowert to medium-low and saute for 10 minutes to soften. Now add the tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste and simmer until the sauce is nice and thick. Reserve.
4. Wipe the excess salt and moisture from your eggplant with kitchen towels. Now set up your dipping stations of eggplant slices, a large bowl of egg/milk mixture and your breadcrumbs. Get another large skillet on the stove and throw on enough sunflower (1/2 inch) oil over medium-high heat.
   
5. If your cooking on your own, pre-dredge your eggplant so that you may pay full attention to frying the batches of eggplant. If you have help, have the other person do the dredging and other to do the frying. Dip the eggplant in egg/milk mixture, then the breadcrumbs and fry on both side until golden brown. Fry in batches and reserve on paper towels. Discard the sunflower oil.
6. Preheat your oven to 400F (middle rack) and commence assembly of your eggplant parmesan.
7. Grease a 14" X 12" baking dish and spread some tomato sauce on the bottom. Now place a layer of eggplant, some sauce, scatter some basil, grated Mozzarella and Parmesan. Continue layering these ingredients until your you've reached your fourth and last layer of eggplant and pour over the remaining sauce, basil and grated Parmesan.
8. Cover the baking dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake for approx. 20 minutes and then allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving.