truffles

12oz (72% dark chocolate + semi sweet chocolate) + 1c heavy cream warmed

After some experimentation, to shape them it was easiest to use 2 spoons to get a hunk of ganache, drop & roll the funny shape in the cocoa powder to cover before rolling by hand into balls.

buttermilk gingerbread w/ chocolate chips

technically, Molasses-and-buttermilk Gingerbread Squares from Epicurious from Bon Appetit November 2000. I used a cake strip around the outside of the cake pan and it came out nice and flat--- but it isn't really necessary for this kind of cake.

Wine braised short ribs for snowy days

5lb of raw short ribs ($18.95 for 5lb at Giunta's in Reading Terminal Market) includes not quite 1lb of bones and not quite 1/4lb of fat

Happy Groundhog's Day

It is Groundhog's Day in North America, a day of weather prognostication and cranky sleepy rodents.

Apparently everyone saw their shadow.

It is also the day of the anniversary of the birth of my brother, 4 of my other friends (seriously), and my über boss.

So I made some celebratory cupcakes. (Cupcakes = 1 batch of Cook's Illustrated Best Recipe chocolate cake (first version in the book), 1 batch of Smitten Kitchen's Double Chocolate Layer Cake adapted from Gourmet March 1999 frosted w/ chocolate ganache.)