Wordless Wednesday ~ Send Chocolate

An unexpected package arrived in the mail yesterday.  Somebody seems to be under the impression that we like chocolate.  Chocolate from Germany.  That somebody is my sister.  And she is correct.  :)

Thank you Sis!

Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes For Mom today - stop over to check out some great photos.

Have a super (and chocolate-filled) day friends!

Pumpkin Posting Party ~ Pumpkin Truffles

Welcome back to the Pumpkin Party - it's the last day! Be sure to check out the pumpkin recipes on Wednesday's post!

Can you believe this is what I came up with? I must be crazy. I've never made truffles before (why, I do NOT know) and so I ended up making Pumpkin Truffles for my first try! Oh YES I did!! Mmmmmm...

Pumpkin Truffles

2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (if using fresh or organic, drain off any excess liquid)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tablespoon oil (I used coconut oil)

Combine white chocolate chips and cream in saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate melts completely. Remove from heat. Stir in pumpkin and spice until smooth and blended. Chill mixture in refrigerator until firm. Remove mixture from refrigerator and roll into 1-inch balls. Place on wax paper. Place pumpkin balls into freezer for 15 minutes or so.

Combine dark chocolate chips and oil. Gently heat (in microwave or in bowl over simmering water on stove) until chocolate is melted. Dip chilled pumpkin balls into melted chocolate and coat thoroughly. Sprinkle tops with nutmeg while still wet, if desired. Place on wax paper and let sit until they set up. Store on wax paper in covered container in refrigerator.

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I'm so excited at how great they turned out! And they're really not too difficult - you can make them too! The mixture is very creamy and melts in your mouth. If you prefer it firmer, you can increase the amount of white chocolate chips in the first step. Also, these would be great dipped in white chocolate or dipped, then rolled in crushed pecans! Oh the possibilities. :)

Have you made truffles before? Are you going to give these a try?

Thanks for stopping by my Pumpkin Posting Party!  If you missed any of it, go back and check out:
 ~ Roasted Pumpkin
 ~ Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread
 ~ Pumpkin Recipes
 ~ Pumpkin Decor

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Have a fantastic day friends!

Chocolate Friday ~ Chocolate In Florida

It has been a long time, but Chocolate Friday is BACK!!  'Cause we need the chocolate, right??!  I hope you survived without Chocolate Friday all this time - LOL!

When I was in Florida hanging out with Kim from Homesteader's Heart, we did manage to have a bit of chocolate!

I showed you this cuteness that Kim welcomed me with - I should mention that those are Dove Bliss chocolates and yes I did eat some every day that I was there!  :)

 

One day we went out for a little shopping and I got to check out a neat little chocolate shop called Grimaldi  Candies.  They are only in Florida and are famous for something that I had never tried - Chocolate Covered Potato Chips.  Yes!!!

 

I can tell you that the combination of sweet and salty is quite good!  I did manage to bring home a container to share with my hubs and he agreed that they were yummy!  They even have a website where you can order yourself a 1 lb box of Chips 'N Chocolate if you don't want to be left out of the fun!

I think I can speak for Kim and Kathy and tell you that we think the chocolatey chips deserve a thumbs up - LOL!

The chocolate didn't end there my friends - oh no.  Kim made me her famous chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting!!  OK - she really didn't make it just for me, but I'm pretending it was in my honor.  :)  It was delicious!!  Normally, it looks like this...

Picture totally taken from Kim's cooking blog without her knowledge, but she loves me anyway.  :)

I will tell you (because Kim won't!) that her cake did not turn out perfect!!  The frosting had a bit of an appearance issue (and I am kicking myself for not taking a pic of that), but was still absolutely fabulous!  So now you know that Kim is NOT perfect.  Somebody had to let you in on that secret.  (Hey, I had to have some company in the imperfect club.)  :)  Hee,hee!!  Love you Kim!!!  You can go get her delicious recipe for Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting and try it out yourself!

I've shared lots of chocolate with you - now it's your turn!  Write up a chocolatey post or find one in your archives (all rated G of course!) and bring it back here to link up to the thumbnail linky below.  The more chocolate we get here, the better our weekend will be - LOL!  No blog?  Leave your chocolatey thoughts or fave recipes or links in the comments.

Have a chocolatey day my friends!  Now...link, comment, link, comment, link...oh and have a little chocolate.  :)

The Nutella Challenge: Nutella Bites

Yay - it's Chocolate Friday!! First, I have to thank all my awesome readers and friends for so much great input and support this week! I loved all the feedback on Monday about what age to leave a child home alone and then your sweet comments and thoughts on yesterday's post. You all are the BEST! And you deserve some yummy chocolate, so here it is!

As you know, I'm a part of the Nutella Challenge at bell'alimento and that means I need to come up with a Nutella recipe once a month for a few months. Very stressful for me - the recipe Follower! I managed to come up with Mini Nutella Cheesecakes and Nutella Popcorn so far. I actually squeaked out another successful Nutella creation! Whew!

And since I created the recipe all by myself, I think this definitely qualifies for Do It Yourself Day over at A Soft Place To Land! Go link up your projects! And I'm linking it to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam where you can find lots of yummy recipes!

I present you with Nutella Bites! Er, I may have sampled several a few to make sure that they were good enough for you. :)

No, I don't mean bites from the jar, but I must say, when you put a bunch of Nutella in a cute little measuring cup like this - it makes you want to just grab a spoon and eat it!

Choose your favorite coating for the Nutella Bites. I used crushed pretzels and crumbled toasted almond slices. The crushed pretzels are my fave because of the salty/sweet combo, but after more sampling, it should be noted that the pretzel bits can get a little stale after a couple of days (they probably won't last that long though). You could try other coatings - maybe coconut or hazelnuts?

These are the almond-coated bites.

And here are the pretzel-coated bites.

Yum.

Nutella Bites

1/2  cup Nutella

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup coarsely crushed pretzels (if eating in less than 2 days) or other coating of choice

Mix first 4 ingredients together until well-mixed. Shape into 1-inch size balls. Dip in crushed pretzels or coating of choice until well-coated. Can shape into balls first or chill first. Hard to shape when soft, but coat easily. Easy to shape after chilled, but harder to coat. Chill to firm and store in refrigerator. Best eaten after sitting at room temp for a few minutes to soften slightly. Makes 24 balls...or it would if you didn't sample too much. :) The recipe can be easily doubled.

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What do you think of that? I hope you get to try them! Keep me posted on great coatings you use! You can find more great Nutella recipes at bell' alimento!

If you like Nutella, try my other Nutella recipes:

 ~ Nutella Biscotti
 ~ Nutella Popcorn
 ~ Mini Nutella Cheesecakes
 ~ Nutella Macadamia Cake
 ~ Nutella S'Mores Cake

Have a wonderful chocolate-filled day!

I'm linking this up to the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap!