With chocolate and cheesecake

As I wrap up 2014 I leisurely sat back in my recliner, sipped a wonderfully made hot toddy and watched Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby croon "White Christmas"...

...if only that were true.

In reality, I spent the last weekend in a blind panic making chocolate truffles as gifts because I could not think of anything else and I am supposed to drive 14 hours to Illinois in 3 days.  I am still finding chocolate in crevices and there is the not-so faint smell of peppermint where I spilt the bottle of peppermint oil.

Zazzles, my cat, will not go into the kitchen now...

Anyhoo, I did get to spend yesterday evening with a wonderful friend (Shaun) and her zany family while making mini cheesecakes for the Illinois crew.  My test subjects for the evening seemed to enjoy the peppermint mocha cheesecakes.   I sang songs with her mother, talked university politics with her PhD sister and essentially terrorized Shaun's two daughters although they would not let me rap (CoolPapaD... Yo!).  It was definitely the break I needed and appreciated.  I even felt confident spilling peppermint oil in her kitchen.

It is the holiday season and I really miss my two young 'uns and a certain lady (and her daughter) who live in the DC suburbs, but having such a good friend here in Houston alleviates that a bit.  Thanks again, Shaun!  (She told me that she reads this thing...)

My second year here in the Bayou City comes to a close and I am bumbling towards 2015 with the same smile on my face.  Houston is a wonderful city with so much to offer and after two years, I have only scratched the surface.

Salut!

They have a mold for that!?

Last year, I made flavored chocolates for my daughter and bought a variety of hot sauces for my son.  These Christmas presents were a hit and has driven me to try a food item as a gift once again.  So this year, I am going all chocolate.  I am going to do my best to replicate Pease's Candies truffles and Peppermint bark.  I grew up with Pease's Candies in my hometown of Springfield, Illinois and it was always fun to take part in one of the tours of the factory every once in a while.

Anyway, I hemmed and hawed back and forth about whether to make cupcakes or chocolates this year and landed on the side of chocolates.  It also gave me a chance to go back to a store that is just a treat to visit.  Amazing Cake Supplies (yes, their website is just horrible) is just a fun place to visit.  I mean, they have damn near ANYTHING you would want in the baking and candy making arena.  I have spent nearly an hour (which is a lifetime for me) just walking about in the aisles looking at all of the gadgets, candy molds, baking molds, flavorings... I mean it is just fun.

Last weekend I made the Peppermint Bark and experimented with making the truffles.  Making the creamy filling and coating that with milk chocolate.  It made a wonderful mess and was quite fun to be frank...

So this weekend, I will have a friend over and we will make an assembly line of chocolate making goodness.  I will travel back to Illinois with a car packed with boxes of truffles and feel really good about myself.  That is...until I hit the 20 degree weather.  Then I will wonder why everyone doesn't just come down here to Houston for the holidays.

Free Traditions

Off to see The Nutcracker at Wortham Theater

I should have written about this on Sunday or Monday but I was completely lazy.

Hey... it happens...

Anyway, I have a wonderful friend who knows my cultural bent and called to ask if I wanted to attend the Houston Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.  She had an extra ticket and offered it up to me.  I jumped at the chance.  I have seen The Nutcracker on numerous occasions and (quite frankly) it is not the actual production that is the draw (although this one was phenomenal), it is the atmosphere that makes folks from all over flock to it.

As you can see from the photo here, the Wortham Theater was decked out and the patron were dressed to match the atmosphere.  Behind me was a HUGE golden Christmas tree all lit up and kids were all flocking all around it.  Children enjoying a wonderful cultural experience.

...And that is the crux of a performance of The Nutcracker.

Children dressed up in their best outfits, little boys running about in their suits, little girls running about in wonderful dresses, and their parents chasing after them dressed to match.  I saw a few fathers dressed in tuxedoes holding their little girls hands, mothers in their finery sitting next to their little men who are pulling at their collars... they are trying, bless their little hearts.

Inside the theater

They all file into the performance hall (which is gorgeous, by the way) and when the ballet starts, there is almost an audible "wow" coming from the children as the production begins.  For so many of them, this is their first professional stage performance and the Houston Ballet does not disappoint.

I have been to a few of the Ballet's performances at Miller Outdoor Theater, but there is something about seeing the troupe in their home building.  We are very lucky here in Houston to have such a wonderful group of dancers.

The afternoon was simply wonderful and seeing all of the folks enjoy the production just made me think of my own (soon to be) 12 year old girl and (very soon to be) 15 year old son.  It made me really want to bring them out to see the production next year.

...now I just have to get that tux.

I moved...

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I was looking for a new apartment.  Well, over the Thanksgiving break I picked up and moved to the new place.

The doctor says that I will be out of traction in a few weeks...

Seriously though, I am as sore as sore can be... and even though that is whining for the sake of whining I have to admit that I have a whole new respect for movers.  Pushing a sofa up a flight of stairs is not easy.  Thank god I had a wonderful friend helping me with the heavy stuff.  She (and her daughter) were a god-send.

Another aspect of a move was the discovery of just how much stuff there was hidden in closets, in drawers, under beds, and lying about the floor.  I was in the last apartment for two years and I accumulated a LOT.

Now I have boxes piled up in the new place.  Boxes upon boxes.  I tried to empty them as I brought them over but as the end of the week got closer and the panic started to manifest itself, the boxes just started to get stacked.  I now have my weekends planned out for the next few weeks.

But it will be worth it... I now have a sushi place, an Italian restaurant, a pie shop, and a couple of Indian restaurants within walking distance.  Yay me!