I did some new baking this weekend. I made truffles with brandy. It was my first time. I coated them 3 different ways some with cocoa powder, others with crushed pistachios, and others with crushed pretzels. I chose pretzels because the person I was giving them to likes the sweet and salty combo.

The truffles were a bit involved. It's not that its technically hard to make it was just a lot of steps and working with chocolate and melting it and getting it to the right temp was a bit daunting. But know that I've done it. I have some ideas to make it easier and I will take on the task again. I already bought more chocolate.

I have 6 of each kind to hubby's aunt as her birthday present. I told her to be honest with me later and tell me which ones she liked, if any, because they were an experiment. I didn't tell her I had tried one and didn't like it.

I had some leftover and so I took them to a girls game night where I volunteered to take dessert because I wanted to make a Marmalade Cake I saw here: http://orangette.blogspot.com/.

The truffles were sampled there and enjoyed and I tried one again and it was good. I guess the brandy and chocolate needed to mellow. Now, I know.

The cake intrigued me the day I read about it and I had been wanting to make it and my girlfriends were the perfect guinea pigs. I really liked the way it came out. It was very simple looking but full of flavor. I totally see why she called it a marmalade cake not an olive oil cake. The olive oil is not a predominate flavor. The citrus and almonds totally steal the show.

I have one more birthday to plan for this month, hubby's, then I will start planning on the April ones which I already have some ideas for one of which requires setting up the sewing machine again. So, here we go.

Oh, I almost forgot I used my homemade vanilla in the recipes this weekend. I think it worked well. I am going to give some to a girlfriend who bakes a bit to have her try it and see what she thinks.

Other happenings:

* 17 went to a school retreat for 3 days. I have never done anything like that and I know he's been dealing with some issues that he doesn't want to talk to mom about and I was thrilled and grateful when he came home Friday raving about what a wonderful experience it was for him. He says it truly brought him closer to the classmates and teachers that were there and to God. He felt very good about things and I am so happy for him.

*20 had an accident in the weight room while he was bench pressing. The bar slipped from his hand and +200lbs fell on his chest. Miraculously, he's fine. He didn't even crack a rib. The Dr. didn't believe it when he saw the x-rays and so he ordered a scan and both came out clean. He's in pain because he has severe bruising but nothing broken. Thank goodness!

* My dog isn't doing very well. I see him more lethargic than normal and he has these growths that I won't go into detail here but they are gross to deal with and are giving off a bad odor. I think it may be time to say good-bye. I need to talk to the rest of the family about this.

* I have been watching more old movies and still have many recorded to watch. I saw 42nd Street, Broadway Melody and Golddiggers of 1935 and a documentary about Zora Neale Hurston as well as some cooking shows. I'm enjoying the old movies, surprised I know so many of the songs from the musicals but I guess I just didn't know what movies they came from.