St. Patrick's Day Mint Chocolate Cake Truffles

You wouldn't know it by looking at me, but I am part Irish. The 50% Hungarian part tends to cover up the 12.5% Irish part in the looks department. Though I grew up with far more Hungarian food and culture, I still love celebrating St. Patrick's Day. I think it's so popular in the U.S. because so many Americans have Irish roots. The treats I made this year to celebrate definitely don't have Irish roots but they're delicious and festively decorated, you could say they're Americanized :)

You may know them as "cake balls" but I just like the way "cake truffles" sounds much better. These have sort of been a craze for a few years now. They are by no means difficult to make, just a little time consuming because you dip each treat in candy coating. I started making them about 3 years ago so I've had time to figure out what works, and what doesn't, by trial and error. My tips have been included with recipe instructions below :)

Another one of my other favorite St.Patrick's Day treats to make is Chocolate Guinness Cake, I'll have to share that recipe too, it's one I've made several times and not just for St. Patrick's Day! Being a vegetarian, I'm not a huge fan of corned beef and cabbage. I'm actually trying to recall what in the world I ate when I visited Ireland in 2006...beer I guess!

What foods do you make in honor of St. Patrick's Day? Do you have any family traditions to celebrate the holiday?

St. Patrick's Day Mint Chocolate Cake Truffles, makes 50.

1 box chocolate cake mix (water, oil, eggs in whatever quantity the mix calls for)

3/4 tub store bought chocolate frosting

1 teaspoon mint extract

1-2 packages white almond bark, or candy coating

Green food coloring

Crisco

Mini Cupcake Papers

Bake cake in 9x13 pan according to box directions. Once completely cooled, dump cake into a large mixing bowl. Add frosting and mint extract. Mix until well combined. 

Form dough into small balls and arrange on a cookie tray, they can be placed very close together to save room. (Don't make these too large if you want to fit them into mini cupcake papers, you still have to coat them in almond bark so they'll get even bigger yet.) Clear a shelf in your freezer and put the tray in until balls are firmly chilled.

Once cake balls are firm enough, start to melt your almond bark according to package directions, I prefer microwave or stovetop. While melting, leave cake balls in the freezer to keep firm. If they are too soft they'll fall apart and make a mess in your melted almond bark.

Dip each ball into the melted almond bark. I like to use two toothpicks to do this. I spear the ball with one, dip it into the bark (using a spoon to scoop the almond bark over the ball), let it drip and solidify for a bit before placing it on a wax paper covered surface to dry. I use a second toothpick or my finger to pull the speared toothpick out. This leaves a hole in the top of the cake ball, which I try to immediately fill with extra almond bark, I use my finger to dot it on top. If you don't, sometimes the cake mixture will ooze up through the hole. Plus it looks prettier completely covered. Continue this process until all cake balls are covered with white almond bark. (If you have issues dipping make sure your cake balls are still cold/firm enough and your almond bark is still warm/melted enough.)

Add a bit of green food coloring to the remaining almond bark. You'll see it will seize up because it doesn't like liquids added to it. Add a little Crisco at a time, until it's back to the desired consistency. Spoon the green almond bark into a plastic ziplock sandwich bag and snip a very small corner. Use this as a piping bag to decorate the truffles with green stripes by making a constant back and forth motion over the cake balls. Once dry, place into festive cupcake papers. Enjoy!

Friday Finds

If you live in Clovis, you're well aware that shopping options are limited. Since moving here I've become an avid online shopper, furniture shopping being no exception. But there are some local options, both mortar and brick stores such as The Mariachi Frog and online options such as Craigslist and Facebook's Virtual Yard Sale. You definitely have to sort through some less than appealing pieces when searching these places online, but once in a while you find some gems. You just need a little bit of inspiration and imagination to see their potential! 

I found these two wingback chairs on Craigslist, $200 for the pair. The upholstery looks to be in good condition so if you wanted to give these chairs a quick update, you could simply paint the wood white to freshen them up. If you wanted a more in-depth project you could give reupholstering a go. I know it's not on the wingback chairs in the inspiration image below, but I loved that gray and white patterned fabric on the day bed, so I hunted it down. It's available at Dwell Studio for $42 a yard. Crate and Barrel also makes an occasional chair in the exact same fabric. I love it, but it's $1000. 

Sources: Danielle Oakley, Clovis Craigslist, Dwell Studio

I also found this awesome roll top desk on Clovis' Virtual Yard Sale. I can imagine it painted white or cream, possibly distressed, with new hardware. Definitely new hardware. I would also make a straight cut to the scrolled leg work to modernize it even more. I think this would be such a fun desk to have! Plus how great would it be to have a desk that hides all your clutter by simply closing it? ;) 

Sources: Hayneedle, Virtual Yard Sale Clovis

What are your favorite places to find furniture in Clovis? Do you prefer browsing in stores or shopping from the comfort of your computer?

How to Refill a Swiffer WetJet

I wanted to share a little housewifey trick I figured out last week. I'm sure lots of you have Swiffer WetJets, as I do. I was reluctant to buy one at first because it seemed both wasteful and expensive to have to buy the individual bottles of the cleaning solution (which I've since learned gives me a massive headache) and boxes of the pads. When I was at the store I came across Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products, my name sake and my savior. I picked up a bottle of the concentrated all purpose cleaner, and I thought, hmm...why don't I just fill up the Swiffer bottles with this? It would be way cheaper and wouldn't give me a headache. Genius!

When I got home and tried to open the cap of the Swiffer bottle, it wouldn't budge. They childproofed it so hooligans like me couldn't get around buying it. So I did what any modern day women would do. I googled it. And there was the answer. Simply bring a small pot of water to a boil, and dip just the top/cap of the Swiffer bottle into it for about 10 seconds. This expands/contracts the plastic (I'm no scientist) and you can unscrew the lid, with a towel because boiling water tends to be hot, and proceed to fill with whatever cleaning solution you like. Tada!

The Mrs. Meyer's concentrated cleaner has you dilute 1/4 of a cup (2oz) into a gallon (128oz) of water so one bottle creates 16 gallons or 2,048oz of cleaning solution. The Swiffer bottle holds 1/3 of a gallon of solution, so once the bottle is open put in 1/3 of a 1/4 of a cup of concentrated cleaner. I don't want to do the math on that. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and fill it about 1/3 of the way. Then I fill the Swiffer the rest of the way with water, leaving some room at the top, close it, and shake it up.

At the time I did this, I had 3 empty Swiffer bottles so I imagine I'll just continue to use them all up before refilling them all at the same time. I have also since rinsed out my empty 409 spray bottle and refilled it with Mrs. Meyer's too. It's a good value and it smells like lavender, what more could you ask for?

Now I just have to think up a way to make washable fabric pads instead of disposable ones and I'll be set! Any ideas?!