The Second Star to the Right

This month I have learned much about the beauty of the broken. (semi-referencing a dessert recipe from last week...) At times, this loveliness is seen when the item is mended. But quite often, the damaged object has an exquisiteness that would never have been realized except for its perceived imperfection.

This story, however, is not about the shattered & repaired, but about replacement & making better. (This is also a story, unfortunately, about how long it takes me to figure something out... ☹)

In January a teeny, tiny boy was born. He was too small, at 2.5 pounds, and too immature to cope with our world, so he had to live in the NICU for some days.

We all rejoiced when he graduated & got to come home to live in the wonderful Peter Pan-themed nursery his parents lovingly decorated for him.

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I had started a nightlight project for Benjamin when I found out how his mama was designing his bedroom. I got a shadow box from the HobLob and fastened in some battery-operated mini lights. I was planning on cutting the lyrics to "The Second Star to the Right" (from the original Disney animated  movie "Peter Pan") on black cardstock with a stencil-type font; then I would just affix the paper to the glass -- boom -- done.
Of course that's not what transpired! I believe I ran that scenario 4 times, changing my blade & mat a couple times in the process. (...and I was way too frustrated to take photos I knew I'd be way too embarrassed to post!!!!!)
I knew even with the best transfer tape I would struggle applying that large of a piece of vinyl with that many tiny letters cut out. Any wrinkles would ruin the nightlight's appearance. So I decided since HTV comes on its own transfer sheet, that would be my best bet.

(My premature celebratory photo...)

AND IT WORKED! ☺

I  wanted to adhere it to the back side of the glass. I thought I would be smart & save time so decided not to take the cover off the shadow box to press the HTV. Not my most brilliant move. Even with a stack of towels to firmly support the glass, I couldn't get a good press.

Duncan tried to warn me...

My goose was cooked as I was trying to heat that final bubble when I heard a tiny "pop" & "crackle"...

Needless to say, words were said & tears were shed.
I put the project aside for awhile. ☹

When I was ready, I went to the hardware store to have a piece of glass cut to fit the frame. (Long story short, guy wasn't exact with his measurements & I had to use the dremel on the frame to get it to seat correctly...)
Meantime I'd picked up some black glitter htv... changed the font and it cut like butter!

Did my penance with a few hours of weeding.

Held my breath and pressed it to the glass. HALLELUJAH! We didn't crack!

I also held my breath fastening to glass back into the frame.

Had to go with a little wood glue after the hurry-up dremel job...

...and decided to change the light string.
So happy I got it delivered without any more mishaps!

This morning we were blessed to witness Big Ben's baby dedication at church...   ♥

A day in the life of...

DUNCAN!

First thing, nap on mom's bed before she can make it -- the sheets should still be warm & cozy...

Next, sit on the buffet & watch for bird friends. Jump at window, break some cobalt glass & knock over a few plants.

Rest up for next activity in one of mom's wreath projects...

Watch out back door for cat friends visiting from over the neighbor's wall.

Play Hide-and-Seek in mom's plants.

Nap on mom's embroidery project.

Act all offended when she shoos you off the blanket. Be a martyr & nap on the cardboard insert. 

If you act quickly,  there's time to grab on the towel mom used to press her embroidery.

Ask to be let outside again and trap a lizard under a pool float.

Ah, looks like mom made the bed, finally!

"Help" mom husk the corn for dinner...

"oh look!"... 

"I should prolly help inspect the corn while I'm here! "

"I'm tired from helping with the meal. Do not disturb until you call me for dinner!" 

 Check to see if friends wish to play again.

Oooooops! Played a little too hard with this friend...

Oh! Is that how those birds keep ending up in the pool?

Hey! Looks like Nana left her seat cushion -- better check to see if it's nap-worthy...

Here's a corner by the grandfather clock that hasn't been slept in for a few days. Wait here for dad to get home from work.

Mom left some fabric samples on the piano -- I'm just gonna rest-up before it's time to get wild tonight!

Browned Butter Cheesecake Truffles for #foodbloggerlove

The imaginative minds behind The Pintertest Kitchen have created an occasion called #foodbloggerlove as a virtual coffee klatche to meet & greet bloggers and exchange recipes. The blogger drawn out of the hat for me is Colleen from

(the "whiskered accomplice" being none other than her beautiful Bengal cat!) If you want to check out more of Colleen's creative genius, you can follow her facebook, pinterest, instagram or twitter accounts.

Well, as luck (or otherwise...) would have it, while we were snooping stalking browsing Colleen's social media, Duncan became intrigued with the esteemed Lady Brenna of Fairfax's picture.

He's taking quite a personal interest in this blog post. (Usually he's content to sleep by the keyboard & occasionally rest his head on the "esc" key...) Dunc joined me for recipe testing today.

We thought we'd make chocolate truffles to celebrate Valentine's Day with Colleen.

I was experimenting with browned butter and cream cheese the other day and was struck by the thought that their flavors would make a mighty fine cheesecake! But it's (supposedly) naughty to eat an entire cheesecake by yourself -- however, if crafted into mini "cakes" like truffles (with added benefit of being slathered in chocolate!) one can get by with selfishly eating them all... And then we decided our little cheesecake ball needed a red heart inside, so we tucked in a dried tart cherry.

So here's how you make them:

Brown 1/4 cup of butter. Let it cool until it's almost solid again, then blend it with 8 oz. softened cream cheese. When that is all smooth, add 1 T. pure maple syrup. Chill mixture.

For the crust you'll need to use 1 cup roasted almonds (they should be unsalted, so if you need to, you can toast your own in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes.) Process the cooled nuts with 1/4 t. sea salt and 2 T. butter until it makes a nice almond butter. Continue processing with 1 c, almond flour, 2 T. pure maple syrup, and 1 T. water. Don't over blend it, just let it come nicely together. Do not chill.

Using about a teaspoon of the cheesecake mixture, form a ball around a dried cherry. (You'll need to work fast, it softens quickly. I had to re-chill it a couple times before I was through.) Freeze balls for at least two hours.

Flatten about a tablespoon of the crust mixture in your hand, then cover the cheesecake ball, rounding as best as possible. Return the crusted balls to the freezer for a couple hours.

Melt your favorite chocolate (I used dark chips today) using your favorite method (I prefer double-boiler.) Since the 53% was sweeter than I wanted, I added a couple ounces of Trader Joe's 72% cacao dark chocolate...

I slathered ensconced dipped those baby cheesecakes and let them harden. Duncan suggested a little decoration, so we melted vanilla chips and thus adorned the truffles.

So, happy Valentine's Day, Colleen & Lady Brenna. We hope we added a little sweetness to your celebration!

We had fun making & tasting (well, Duncan didn't get a taste...) your truffles.

(Dunc wanted to leave you with his photo test: >"< )

*maple syrup from here*

An InLinkz Link-up

Deets on those sweets…

We decided on four types of sweets for the graduation party: the cake, dipped Oreo^®s, Pirouline^® diplomas, and copycat butterfinger bonbons.

Alec decided the cake flavor(s) – I had already chosen Red Velvet with custard filling, but he said no, if you’re gonna have chocolate, make it chocolate! OK.

I must say, however, that he made the right choice. He picked the raspberry filling and it was all perfect! WinCo bakery for the win.

 

Next graduation (should be about 2 years from now…) we will again make dipped Oreo^®s, but we won’t be using candy coating – that stuff is waaaaaaay too sweet! We’ll be dipping strictly chocolate.

 

I was so thankful my Aunt Margaret came over to help me tie ribbons around these dark chocolate-filled “dipomas”.

A few years ago I pinned a recipe for homemade butterfinger candy. I never tried it until just before Christmas. For the graduation party I had this notion I would form it into perfectly round balls and then dip them into chocolate for a plate of some beautiful truffles. Not quite. But they sure were popular!(My sis helped me dip them in the dark chocolate – I alone get credit for their beautiful shapes!)

I guess I should also include the beverages in this post:By far the most popular was the coffee punch. We made it with Toddy^® coffee & vanilla bean ice cream -- it was delicious!

Next was the fruit-infused water. That’s always my favorite on a warm evening. We went with fresh blackberries & blueberries & cantalope & some purple basil.

Such a tasty event – you should’ve been here!

 

Can’t leave without showing a picture of Duncan helping with clean-up after the party…Silly cat! Guess he loves him some decorator icing, huh?