Give a person a chocolate fish and they delight for a day...

But teach a person to make their own chocolates and they get invited to all kinds of parties!

The inspiration for this truffle recipe comes from a candy making book given to me by Bill Eggleston, from all of us: thanks Bill!

Equipment needed:

• A double boiler
• Mixing bowl
• Mixer
• spatula
• cookie sheet
• plastic wrap
• a plate
• a bowl

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of Gold (12oz) Guittard semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 bag of Silver (12oz) Guittard milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup whipping cream (one of those 1/2 pints is perfect)
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/16 of a teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 TBL Kosher salt
• Cocao powder

Method:

Scald the cream, set aside and let cool. (non-sticks are great for this step)

Melt both bags of chocolate chips in the double boiler until silky smooth.

Combine the scalded and cooled cream, the silky hot melted chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and cayenne into a mixing bowl and mix for minimum 2 minutes until shiny and smooth. The chocolate will darken and absolutely glisten after two minutes of the mixer. If the chocolate looks all lumpy and has not come together, add a bit of milk or cream to it. It should smooth right out.

Pour the chocolate out onto a plastic lined cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan, and sprinkle liberally with the kosher salt and allow to cool until firm to the touch. A while. Perfect time to lick the beaters.

Set up your truffle station:

One bowl with cocao powder in the bottom, a smacker plate, and then the storage vessel.

When the chocolate has set up, cut them into bite size squares, roll them in your palms, until roughly round, then place about 8 truffles (depending on size of bowl in the cocao and swirl them around until covered with cocao powder. Next I drop them (with a touch of force) or smack them against the plate to knock off the extra chocolate. Then into the chocolate jar goes the finished product. Once you run through the production part of rolling truffles, you will get a good understanding of just what the perfect feel is for rolling. Too soft and they smear out on your hand, too cold and the chocolate all melts on your palms while you are rolling - definitely messy; tasty fun.

Pro tips: The 2 minute thing is very important. I have tried to trim the time and the result was an inferior truffle - not as light and silky. And that's just not right. You can add booze to the chocolates at the same time as the vanilla - Grand Marnier, or Tuaca, or Kahlua. You can get creative and toast some almonds and form the chocolate around them, or temper some semi-sweet chocolate and dip your truffles into a melted chocolate for that chocolate shell. Adjust the amount of cayenne to your liking. I love that little bit of heat on the end. VERY important: make sure that your cinammon and cayenne go into the chocolates - not as a last step onto the truffle. Imagine if you will the effects of inhaling a little cinnamon & cayenne as you take your first bite. Kevin and Lisa, please accept my gratitude for your assistance during the research and development stage.

Make chocolate truffles, share chocolate truffles, love chocolate truffles.

SECOND STORY CONSIGNMENT

Rules of the Game

WHAT WE ACCEPT

Small furniture items i.e. occasional chairs, benches, desks, bookcases, end tables, small cabinets and the like in excellent condition. Home decor & Accessories: Lamps, Mirrors, Frames, Vases, Clocks, Rugs, etc. Designer (and faux) designer), name brand purses.

We do not consign items that need to be refinished or repaired, and they must be complete with necessary parts for assembly.

Upholstered furniture should look like new. (It must be clean, no fading, no stains, free of odors and pet hair, not worn / torn.)

Furniture should be of sturdy construction with solid wood (no particle board or wood by-products will be accepted).

WHAT WE OFFER

We offer a 60/40* consignment split; that is, for each item sold, 40% of sale goes to the consignment shop and 60% to the consignor. We have a 60-day consignment period where items can potentially be marked down up to 50% after 30 days.

WHEN WE ACCEPT CONSIGNMENT

Small to medium-sized furniture pieces can be brought in during regular business hours. For consideration of larger pieces, drop off a photo or email a digital photo to: lisa@bellakitchen.com Any information you can provide about the piece(s) i.e. Manufacturer, date of purchase, original purchase price, where it was purchased, etc. is very helpful.

If we feel your furniture piece is suitable for consignment, we will contact you so you can make arrangements to bring the piece in. Piece must be brought in at an agreed-upon date, as space may not be available at a later time.

PRICING

We will price you furniture items at a fair market value, while also offering value to our customers. It is our policy not to compromise the consigned price by accepting offers or bargaining. Furniture will be sold on a cash and carry basis; we do not currently offer pick-ups and/or delivery.

We accept payment with Visa and MasterCard in addition to cash and checks.

Located at Hotel McCall Courtyard

208.634.4730

SECOND STORY CONSIGNMENT

SECOND STORY CONSIGNMENT

Unique, Fun, Funky, Pretty and Pretty Darn Affordable Small Furniture and Accessories.

WE PAID CONSIGNORS $2000 IN DECEMBER! NEED A LITTLE EXTRA CASH

Accepting small furniture, desks, dinette sets, chests, bences, occasional chairs, pillows, mirrors & lamps.

RECYCLING HAS NEVER BEEN MORE FUN!!

Consignors receive 60% of the selling price.

Top Five Gadgets of the Year

2009 was a year that trends definately took a turn toward the home kitchen. Fewer dinners out made us feel more responsible about our health and our wallets. Eating IN is the new Eating OUT. The Food Network helped us out by showing us the way back into our own kitchens. Bella Kitchen helped by having the MUST HAVE tools in the kitchen. These were and continue to be our favorites:

#5 - Joyce Chen red handled scissors - These little scissors are used in my kitchen, bath and at work. I grab them constantly; to open plastic bags, to get into the crazy overpackaged clamshell products, to cut the shells of crab, etc. Love them.
#4 - Microplane zester grater and rotary grater - revolutionary
#3 - Silicone tipped tongs - my second set of hands in the kitchen. Great for so many cooking tasks, safe for non-stick pans and heat resistant to 500 degrees.
#2 - Lemon squeezer - our almost favorite tool of the year. Makes juicing lemon and limes effortless. There is no juice left behind.
AND... DRUMROLL...THE NUMBER ONE TOOL/GADGET OF THE YEAR
#1 - Poach pods - The best thing since eggs benedict. Perfectly poached eggs. Easy as Pie.