Handel's Messiah & Truffle Making

Wow has it been a long time since I updated this blog - almost a month! My life hasn't been too eventful, just full of work. I was so blessed last weekend to be able to go to my Aunt's in Denver for Thanksgiving & spend 4 days up there with family. I love my Denver family so much!
Last night I attended Handel's Messiah as presented by the Air Force Academy Cadet Chorale. For a novice concert, it was surprisingly good! Nic told me about it, and being the chronic "inviter" that I am, I invited two other people to come with us. Needless to say, one of the people I invited called and asked me what Handel's Messiah is...the poor man needs some culture! We drove up to USAFA only to be nearly blown away by the most frigid wind I have experienced in over 4 years (the last time I was there in the winter time). Seriously gusts strong enough to pick you up off your feet. At the end of the concert, we hung around as long as possible inside the chapel to avoid going back into the cold. I think I might move to Hawaii as the thoughts of the Aloha State were what got me back to my car. Warm beaches!
Next weekend I am hosting a holiday event, and this week will be full of preparations. I started the process today by making truffles. Coffee liquor & Bailey's truffles to be specific. Truffles are surprisingly easy to make. Here are some pictures of the process. Excuse my extremely white hands.

Here is what the saucepan looks like after you've simmered the cream, added the butter & the chocolate. I also added Bailey's Irish Cream to this batch.

After you take the saucepan off the stove, you transfer everything to a bowl & refrigerate the chocolate mixture for at least 2 hours. Then you scoop it kind of like cookie dough and form it into balls.

Here is what one of the truffles looks like. Now I like to add a little extra to the truffle.

So I rolled the Coffee Liquor truffles in a little bit of green sugar & the Bailey's ones in cocoa powder.

Here are some of the finished Coffee Liquor truffles.

And here are the Bailey's truffles.

I can't wait to try them both next weekend! If you'd like to try your hand at truffles, I recommend this recipe from Tasty Kitchen for Simply Rustic Chocolate Truffles. Enjoy!