Belated Birthday Post

Earlier this month we gathered at Niko's restaurant to celebrate Grandmaw's 93rd and Dad's 58th birthday! Both birthday kids were treated with a brownie and candle to blow out!

In case the brownie wasn't enough, we made a stop by the Ice Cream Factory as well for dessert. It was such a nice evening to sit outside!

Katie's Chocolate Club: April

I am continuing my monthly chocolate club with a collection from William Dean, a Florida based chocolatier. I was immediately intrigued by the packaging of the 36 piece collection I selected. The tiered trays fit nicely into a compact box, as opposed to a large flat box with only one layer. Their branded packaging is a nice blue/charcoal gray color with gold embellishments. 

 

There were a few repeats in the assortment, but they were all very visually pleasing truffles. Some molded chocolates, some slabs with cocoa butter transfers. 

 Close ups of each tray:

 ROW #1

Amaretto: A layer of morello cherry pate de fruit then a layer of milk chocolate & marzipan with amaretto enrobed in dark chocolate

Macadamia Caramel: Soft caramel infused with roasted & salted macadamia nuts

Biscotti: A layer of milk chocolate infused with honey & anise on top of a layer of crushed biscotti cookies

Hazelnut: A layer of hazelnut ganache on top of a layer of hazelnut praline & feuilletine

PB Krunch: Milk chocolate & peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle

Amaretto: A layer of morello cherry pate de fruit then a layer of milk chocolate & marzipan with amaretto enrobed in dark chocolate

Macadamia Caramel: Soft caramel infused with roasted & salted macadamia nuts

Pistachio: Milk chocolate ganache infused with vanilla bean, pistachio paste & chopped pistachios with a hint of kirsch

Earl Grey: A milk chocolate infused earl grey ganache topped with a lemon-vanilla jelly in a milk chocolate shell

Dulce de Leche: Caramelized white chocolate ganache with vanilla bean enrobed in dark chocolate

Tropical Caramel: Caramel of Passion fruit, Mango & Coconut in a white chocolate shell

Hazelnut: A layer of hazelnut ganache on top of a layer of hazelnut praline & feuilletine

ROW #2

PB&J: Milk chocolate and peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle topped by a blend of 3 jellies

Bananas Foster: Milk Chocolate ganache made with bananas, dark rum & pecans in a white chocolate shell

Lemongrass & Coconut: White chocolate ganache infused with fresh lemongrass & coconut milk

Grand Marnier Caramel: No description given- though this was an orange flavored caramel

Strawberry Caramel: A soft caramel made from strawberry puree in a dark chocolate shell

Coffee Caramel: Dark caramel infused with espresso

Mystery Flavor: I could not find the name or description of this truffle on their website but my mediocre palette tasted some sort of fruit/berry.

PB Krunch: Milk chocolate & peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle

Raspberry Brule: A layer of raspberry pate de fruit topped by a layer of white chocolate & vanilla bean ganache enrobed in dark chocolate

Passion Fruit: White chocolate ganache infused with passion fruit puree

Lavender: Dark chocolate ganache infused with lavender & vanilla bean

Key Lime: White chocolate ganache infused with fresh lime juice

ROW #3

Salted Caramel: Soft caramel infused with Fleur de Sel sea salt

Dulce de Leche: Caramelized white chocolate ganache with vanilla bean enrobed in dark chocolate

Pear & Ginger Caramel: Soft Caramel of pear puree infused with fresh ginger in a dark chocolate shell

Espresso: No description given- but no description necessary. Strong coffee flavor.

Cappuccino: Milk chocolate ganache infused with vanilla bean, espresso & the best Vietnamese cinnamon

Venezuelan: Ganache of 72% cacao from Venezuela

Coconut Caramel: A soft caramel made from coconut puree, vanilla bean & grated coconut in a dark chocolate shell

Mystery Flavor: I could not find the name or description of this truffle on their website but my mediocre palette tasted licorice.

PB&J: Milk chocolate and peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle topped by a blend of 3 jellies

Mint Pie: No description given: though I could taste real mint, not fake flavoring!

Salted Caramel: Soft caramel infused with Fleur de Sel sea salt

Raspberry: Dark chocolate ganache infused with raspberry

There were a lot of fancy caramels; my favorite being the Pear & Ginger for its uniqueness. The Raspberry Brule was really tasty too. It was nice to try raspberry in a truffle that wasn't just dark chocolate, though there was one of those in the variety too. I liked the use of pate de fruit (pronounced: pat du fuey) throughout the collection. The gummy fruit texture is different than that of a ganache or a liquid caramel. 

My one complaint is that I did type a gift message to myself but it was not included with the package. I checked the entire box and the shipping label. Not a big deal, but if I were to have sent these to someone else they would not have known who they came from. 

To check out my older chocolate clubs visit these links: March, February, January, December, November, October, September, August, July, June.

*all names/descriptions were copied directly from the guides provided with the collection.

Voca People

Who says Lexington is a boring little town? Well, maybe a lot of people do, but they would be wrong.  I saw in the newspaper a few weeks back that W&L's Lenfest Center for the Arts was hosting a show by the Voca People and when I mentioned it to mom she thought it sounded interesting too. She got us tickets and Tuesday night we arrived early to get good seats. It has been years since I've been in the Lenfest Center, maybe since high school. That is where all the local dance studios perform their shows so I went a lot to see Brie do her thing! And believe it or not, I too have been on that stage back in my days of dance lessons some twenty years ago! 

Any way...the Voca People, assembled in 2009, are a group of extremely talented folks who can not only sing but also create some incredible vocal sounds. They are not accompanied by any actual musical instruments rather they make everything with their mouths!

The show was wildly entertaining with a fair amount of audience particpation and lots of laughs! The amount of energy that went into the 90 minute performance was amazing! The group, who I see on their website switch out performers, do shows around the world. If you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend checking them out!

Here are some snippets I found on YouTube that show their movie theme song set, an audience participation piece featuring the ladies of VP, and their "History of Music" compilation. Enjoy!

Bridal Shower

On Saturday mom and I attended a bridal shower for Janie & Hunter (my first cousin once removed) in Stuarts Draft. I love that her main color is purple-matches this new blog! Nita, my cousin, did a wonderful job of hosting the event. There were lots of yummy snacks and cute decorations!

We were all asked to bring at least 2 recipes with us to share with Janie. I couldn't decide on just 2 so I ended up writing down 5! She received a lot of kitchen items as gifts so they should be pretty well set in that department when they move in together!

As a shower game Janie wearing an apron with various kitchen utensils and gadgets attached that she paraded around the group. Then she turned her back to us and we had to write down, from memory, as many items as we could. The lady who got the most right named 17 of the 18 items!

Judy saw this adorable purse idea at a craft show in Texas on one of her latest trips and Nita, being the crafty gal that she is, was able to replicate them for the shower! inside is a piece of chocolate. I thought these were too cute!!

Mother of the bride, Bride, Mother of the Groom

Grandmother of the Groom, Bride, Grandmother of the Groom, Grandmother of the Bride

Can't wait for the Elmore wedding later on in June! 

Pedicure Experience

My feet were in desperate need of some TLC since my last pedicure in New Orleans a few weeks before I moved. Mom goes to a place in Staunton so on Saturday afternoon we drove up, picked out our colors and selected a pedicure from the menu. This was the first time I had been given so many elaborate options so I asked which one would be best for rough heels? I was told that the cucumber treatment would work well and from there I began the strangest pedicure experience of my life...

A white, mayonnaise looking cream was smeared on my calves then thin slices of cucumber were plastered on top as my feet soaked in the swirling blue water. After the lady trimmed and buffed my toe nails she gathered the cucumber up into a ball and squeezed the juices over my legs as she rubbed it in.

Next came the exfoliation. First a golden yellow scrub was applied, followed by a green scrub that was worked even further into my skin with the aid of lime halves that the lady squeezed as she massaged my muscles. 

The leftover cucumber and lime slices post massage.

After the edible portion of the pedicure, and once the technician had cheese grated and sanded the hell out of my heels, each foot was placed in a plastic bag filled with an orangey red hot paraffin wax then my legs were wrapped in warm wet towels. 

Once the wax had set my feet were removed from the bags and more mayonnaise looking cream accompanied by purple oil were lathered onto my legs. Finally the painting occurred and after nearly two hours in the chair I was left with legs and feet as smooth as a baby's bottom and toes freshly lacquered with a bright orange/red polish!

It was definitely the most unique beauty treatment I have received and it inspired me to come up with cocktail themed pedicures in my mind...perhaps a future business plan! Hahaha!

Allevatos Visit

Sarah, Tony & Finn came to visit family the other week and, lucky for me, I was able to meet up with them for lunch and a stop at the winery where they were married!! Finn is the cutest, happiest, most easy going baby ever! I believe I heard him fuss for a total of 10 seconds during the 5+ hours I was around him. Precious.

After a lunch at Cracker Barrel (where I enjoyed meatloaf for the third day in a row...) where we were joined by Hollie & Bennett (another very well behaved kiddo: those Jennings girls have great offspring!), we drove south to Christiansburg to Whitebarrel Winery, formally known as Attimo, to enjoy some vino. I know next to nothing about wine so I went with the suggestions of the experts. Lately I have been so doped up on allergy medicine that for once wine did not make my nose feel stuffy! While I won't be giving up my whiskey drinks for wine any time soon, it was fun to try a variety of glasses!

Finn sporting his new VT hat with enthusiasm! | A child that did not immediately cry or squirm away from me! Maybe he couldn't sense my fear.

While it is never enough time spent catching up with Movie Sarah, I am thankful that I got to spend the afternoon with her. Now I need to plan a trip to Washington to visit them!!

Since I've Been Home...

The past few weeks have been filled with lots of random things. To name a few:

• Saw a double rainbow on my way back from Hollins where I was picking up some parts for Bryan.
• Heard VMI's acappella group, The Men in Grey, perform some old timey tunes.
• Cleaned my brother's house (single guys who work all the time aren't the tidiest).
• Ate pulled pork at JJ's Meat Shak.
• Went shopping in Charlottesville with mom and Judy.
• Picked up a truck load of sticks with dad that the strong winds had blown out of the trees.
• Loved on Lucky and Little Kitty A LOT.
• Had 4"+ of hair cut off.
• Spent hours pouring over various branches of my family tree. Mom & I are attempting to update things and dig up information on further generations back.
• Cooked/baked a few things.
• Walked all over the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery with mom and dad looking for my great great great granddaddy and grandma's tombstones. No luck yet but some stones are barely legible from nature/weather wearing down the engravings.
• Been the errand girl for mom & Bryan: pick this up, drop this off, go by here, bring me this, take this there, etc, etc, etc.

New Adventure, New Blog

Hey! You found me!! This will be where I write about my next chapter. If you would like to look back at my old posts about New Orleans you can find those here:

www.KatiesLifeInTheBigEasy.blogspot.com

I am not sure where I am headed next, but should anything interesting, unusual or hell, mundane, happen in my life this is where you can read all about it!