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.