Rice Socks

These are not edible. Don't try. It's a cheap "recipe" for a hot/cold pack, but I've been using them to stay cooler in bed.

I got a weighted blanket recently, and it helps me sleep so much better, but it's warm--I tend to get night sweats anyway--and I really want to keep using this thing through the summer. I think I'll manage, with some help from some old socks.

Here's the idea: You fill the socks with rice and put them in the freezer. They get cold. When you get hot, you take out one or more and use it to cool off. They stay cool for at least half an hour, probably a bit more--long enough for me to fall asleep, anyway. They're not as cold as ice cubes, so I can use them directly on my skin. They don't get drippy, so I can fall asleep with them under the sheets with me. If I wake up hot, I swap them out for fresh ones.

I think you can also use these for hot packs by microwaving them until they're hot. Don't burn yourself.


Rice Socks

You will need:

• Old socks, with no holes--either crew-height socks or kneesocks. I'm using four socks that are too worn to wear but don't have any visible holes. For the worn toes, I turned the sock inside out and used double-sided fabric tape (sometimes called rescue tape) to tape a piece of a rag on the worn place.



• Rice, the cheapest you can find, about 1 pound per sock. I got 5 pounds for $3.18 at Wal-Mart.



• Space in the freezer. If I can do it, you can. Actually, my shoebox-sized freezer hasn't been freezing food evenly, so I stopped putting food in it--there's a chest freezer I can use in the garage, although it often has auto parts on top of it--so I can use almost all of my shoebox-sized freezer for rice socks. I have four in there so far, and I can probably fit two more. Depending on how recently I've defrosted the freezer, I suppose.

Put the rice in the sock, leaving enough room to tie the top in a knot. Tie the top in a knot and put it in the freezer. Voila!

Nutella Ganache Fudge

We said goodbye this week to a very sweet lady from church who is moving to an out-of-town assisted living place. She's a local legend and it was sad for all of us. I made this recipe to take to the reception we had, and it was a hit, so here it is.

This recipe is actually the filling of the truffles Mom and I made last year. I didn't have time to roll out and dip the truffles, so I just poured it into a glass pan, chilled it, cut it into chunks, and called it fudge.

Nutella Ganache Fudge

Ingredients

9 oz dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks (I suggest Trader Joe's dark chocolate because it's cheap and good)

1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T. butter (unsalted is better)
1 t. light corn syrup (or more if you want it sweeter) -- you could probably substitute honey, but not regular sugar, because it'd get grainy

2-4 T. Nutella (I first had this in France, spread on French bread for breakfast. It's a chocolate hazelnut spread that's absolutely delicious. You used to have to get it at a specialty store, but grocery stores and Walmart carry it now, usually in the PB&J aisle.)

Directions

Have chocolate chunks ready in a bowl. Put cream, butter, and corn syrup in small pot and bring to a boil. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate but DO NOT STIR YET. Wait 5 minutes, then stir with a whisk (it must be a whisk) until it is combined. If you have any lumps left, you can microwave gently (half power) for a little while and then whisk until lumps are gone. Stir in the Nutella. Pour hot mixture into an 8" x 6" pan. If you like, you can swirl it with a toothpick to make the top look pretty. Cover and chill until hard. I let it chill overnight, but it doesn't have to take that long.

Cutting and prying it out of the pan is a delicate business. I suggest using the thinnest metal utensil you have (like a small metal spatula) along with a sharp, straight-edged knife (like a cleaver). Butter both utensils well (with real butter, not spray) and wipe them often to remove the chocolate that builds up on them. The thin metal utensil may sometimes cut better than the cleaver, and then you can use it to pry the pieces out. Be patient. When you've cut the fudge, return to the fridge until time to serve.

I thought of trying to freeze the fudge for a few minutes before cutting it, but as my freezer is tiny, full, and desperately in need of being defrosted, I decided to give up that idea. If someone else tries it, please let me know how it works.

Audiobook Review: Mothering on Perilous

I don't usually do book reviews, but this one was so good I had to make an exception. I was listening to it on Thursday as I made biscuits, and I was riveted. Besides, the book and audiobook are free online.

The book is called Mothering on Perilous, and it's about a schoolteacher in a very poor area of Kentucky in the early 1900s. She comes to the school to do music and gardening, but she ends up as housemother to a group of wild, unmannered, and belligerent boys. As she tries to mother these boys, she learns about the culture of feuding they come from and struggles with how she should guide them. The author, Lucy Furman, bases the book on her own experience as teacher and housemother at Hindman Settlement School in Kentucky.

It's a great read. I highly recommend it.

In other news, I now have a new rolling pin. I got it for Christmas. It's a wooden rolling pin, heavier than my old one. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it already. It's better suited for heavy-duty rolling, and I seem to do a lot of that--wrestling cracker dough into submission, for example.

Chapatis

Today I tried making chapatis from a recipe in the sequel to the More with Less cookbook. It was a complete failure. They're hard as frisbees.

Anyone want a frisbee?

Truffles!

For five years, I have made Mom hazelnut truffles for Christmas. This year I didn't get a chance to make the truffles, so I made her a truffle kit. I got a shirt box from her, put in all the materials needed for truffles, and padded it with a few of her own towels (the box was too big!). We made the truffles together in the last few days of 2010, and it was so much fun. I've been telling her the stories of the various recipes I've tried and the misadventures I've had. I thought y'all might enjoy hearing some of those stories, too.

I chose hazelnut truffles because Mom really likes hazelnuts, much more than anyone else in the family, and it's a fun and special treat for her. I use dark chocolate because it's much more elegant. And I don't use hazelnut liqueur or coffee (even though I've seen them in some recipes) because I don't like either of them, and truffles are quite good without them, so it's not worth buying those.

The first year, I really panicked because I didn't know what I could put the truffles in when I was finished, but I figured it out before Christmas. If you go to a craft supply store (like Michael's, Joann's, or Hobby Lobby), you'll find the supplies in the cake decorating aisle. For these recipes, you will want three 1/2 lb. candy boxes, a plastic candy dipper (they come in a package of two--one is oval and one looks like a football goal post), and little paper wrappers. I've found, however, that the ones labeled for candy are often too small. Mini-cupcake cups are usually better, though some are too big.

They also sell paper cushions to keep the truffles from rolling around in the box. For these recipes, if you plan to put the truffles in six boxes, you will need cushions. If you cram them into three boxes, like I do, there will be no extra space. You will have to tape the boxes shut. All of these recipes make three very full boxes of chocolates.

 

For chocolate, I recommend Trader Joe's Pound Plus chocolate, because it's good chocolate and you can buy a pound for $4. I use their dark chocolate (brown package) for dark or semisweet chocolate in these recipes. They also have milk chocolate or extra-dark chocolate. If you're looking at other brands, here's an article on what to look for. However, most recipes call for about a pound of chocolate (16 oz), and most bars/boxes of chocolate sold are only 6 oz or less. (In other words, the cost adds up.)

As to the hazelnuts, they are a pain to work with, because you must toast them (for flavor) and remove the skins (because the skins are bitter and they'll ruin the candy). The theory is that if you toast them for the right amount of time, the skins will loosen up and split, and then you can remove them by rubbing the hazelnuts inside a dishtowel. I've not had much success with this. One year the stores I visited were out of regular hazelnuts, and it was the end of a long day and I was frustrated, so I bought chopped hazelnuts at the regular grocery store. The skins didn't split, and I sat on the floor in my room for hours with a dishtowel and a paring knife, chipping the skins off the hazelnuts. Another year, I didn't see the skins splitting, and so I burnt an entire pound of hazelnuts. I had to throw them all out.

This year, for the first time, I saw skinned toasted hazelnuts on sale. They cost $5 for 7 oz (a pound of regular hazelnuts costs $4), but I think it's worth it. Seven ounces is plenty for most recipes. If you do toast and skin the hazelnuts yourself, here's how, and don't toast more than half a pound at a time. (This article also describes another method which I haven't seen before and haven't tried. It looks easier. Maybe next year.)

Hazelnuts are a very hard nut, and they may break your nut chopper, depending on what kind you have. If you're worried, the safest way is to put them in a ziploc bag on the counter (cushion with a towel) and whack them with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they're chopped. (You can also use a hammer, but not on your kitchen counter.) One year I made the ganache-with-hazelnuts late at night, and for some reason I hadn't chopped the hazelnuts beforehand when I had toasted and skinned them. Mom and Dad were upstairs sleeping, and as I got out the meat mallet and ziploc bag, I realized it would be way too loud. So I went outside into the car and sat in the driver's seat with a cutting board on my lap, whacking hazelnuts until the bag started to break. By then they were chopped enough for me to go inside and finish with a knife.

Truffles are made with ganache (hot cream poured over chocolate). I have tips on making ganache here. It's really quite easy. Two very important tips:
1) After you pour hot cream over chocolate (or remove hot cream from heat and add chocolate, depending on the recipe), DO NOT STIR for five minutes.
2) When you stir, you must use a whisk.

Now for the recipes!


Recipe 1: Chocolate-Nutella Ganache dipped in melted chocolate and hazelnuts

The first year I made truffles was 2006. I had come home for Christmas break and was rushing to cross-stitch a Christmas ornament for my sister and bake lots of Christmas cookies. As a result, my back had really been hurting, but I was determined to make truffles anyway. I planned with Dad to take Mom out somewhere and keep her out for at least five hours. I think they went to some-or-other Christmas party, and maybe to a movie. My sister was out and about, too.

Essence of the recipe: Make ganache by pouring hot cream (mixed with butter and corn syrup) over chocolate. Refrigerate ganache until you can roll it into balls. Roll it into balls. Refrigerate. Dip in melted chocolate and crushed hazelnuts. Refrigerate. Makes three full boxes of truffles and a gigantic mess.

Honestly, it was my first year, and I didn't quite know what I was getting myself into. My back was so sore that I had to sit down most of the time. The balls went straight from the melted chocolate to the chopped hazelnuts, and you can imagine what a mess that left. By the time I was finished, there was melted chocolate everywhere, even on the sink faucet, and I was much too sore to clean it up. I put a sign on the front door to my dad and/or my sister, asking whichever one of them got home first to clean up the kitchen and please not let Mom see it. My sister was the first to come home, and she took the sign down and cheerfully set to work. I don't know if she'll read this, but if she does, THANK YOU again!! Now you have a place in the truffle-making legends. :-)

Recipe 2: Chocolate-Hazelnut Ganache dipped in melted chocolate

The next two years, I made these, or some variation of them. They aren't round like most truffles, but they're truffles nonetheless. They also don't make quite so much mess, at least if you're doing it by yourself.

By this point I had learned a few things:
1) It's a good idea to put wax paper on the surface you're working on, especially when you're dipping the truffles.
2) Don't chill the truffle balls on a cookie sheet. They will roll off, or at least they'll try. I like to use a 9 x 13" glass pan lined with parchment paper (tape it in). You may need two pans after dipping, so the truffles aren't crowded.
3) The candy dippers really are necessary (though not for Recipe 1). A spoon just doesn't work--it wastes a lot of chocolate, and the coating doesn't look as good.
4) If extra chocolate drips harden on the parchment paper with the truffles, you can use a small sharp knife (straight, not serrated) to trim the edges of the truffles. Then you get to eat all the scraps.

Essence of the recipe: Make ganache, add chopped hazelnuts, and refrigerate mixture until you can roll it into balls. Roll it into balls. Press a whole hazelnut into the top of each ball. Refrigerate. Dip in melted chocolate. Refrigerate.

Recipe 3: Not-Really-Truffles

By 2009, I wanted to try a new recipe, and I did some more Google searching, but the above two were the only ones that didn't contain coffee or liqueur. I did, however, find a recipe for not-really-truffles that was mostly made of Nutella. Since it didn't need chopped hazelnuts, I figured it would be fun to try.

Essence of the recipe: Mix a jar of Nutella with dark chocolate, honey, and a bit of ghee. Refrigerate until you can roll it into balls. Roll into balls. Refrigerate. Dip in chocolate. Refrigerate.

The recipe called for ghee, which is clarified butter and is often used in India. It's basically butter that has had most of the water cooked off of it (butter is 15% water). The recipe only called for a tablespoon of ghee, and for such a small amount, I didn't want to spend $5 for ghee at a specialty foods store, nor did I want to try to make clarified butter on my own. I substituted unsalted butter instead (after a lot of internet searching to try to determine the proper substitute).

When it came time to roll the truffles into balls, I found that (surprise!) they were too watery. So I took each ball, squeezed out the extra liquid, patted it with a paper towel, and made it hold together (sort of) long enough for me to get it on the parchment paper to chill. I was a bit disappointed, because they didn't have the texture I had hoped for, but of course it's not ganache, so that's understandable. They were still delicious. These are probably the easiest of the bunch, except that it was really hard to get them to hold together. I suppose you really do have to use ghee.

Truffle Kit

As mentioned above, I made Mom a truffle kit this past Christmas. Ingredients: Toasted skinned hazelnuts (7 oz), a pound of dark chocolate, a small jar of Nutella, three 1/2 pound candy boxes, and mini cupcake wrappers.

We had a blast making Recipe 1 (the right way this time, with much less mess) and retelling all the stories. When we dipped the chocolates, we avoided the mess by lining the counter with wax paper and by having two people doing it. Mom used the candy dipper or her fingers to dip the truffle in the melted chocolate, and then she dropped it in the hazelnuts, where I covered it with hazelnuts using a spoon and lifted it out with a spoon or my fingers to put it on the drying sheet. They came out looking very nice, and with two people, we could each keep one clean hand. It was so much easier than I remembered! It also helped that the hazelnuts were pre-skinned and toasted.

 

Storage: After you make the truffles, you should keep them refrigerated. I make an exception for the time they're sitting wrapped under the Christmas tree, but I wrap them at the last minute and make sure they're opened within a few hours so they can go in the fridge. Mom usually puts them in the freezer so that she can have them once in a while for a special treat. Thaw before eating. They don't taste good frozen.