Cookie Dough Catch-up

Ever feel like your constantly trying to catch up with things? This week blogging is one of them! I took advantage of the 3 day weekend to relax and get a lot a few necessary things done, but the rest of the time was spent celebrating Valentine’s! I get to pick out a deep fryer this week from the boyfriend. He also won us sweetheart tickets over the radio—they shut the whole movie theatre down except for the winners and they give away lots of prizes (which we did not win) and then watch a movie. The movie was Duplicity which we did not follow at all, but it was still fun! Have you watched that movie?

So needless to say, I didn’t get around to posting about the last and best Valentine’s treat..but it’s not too late—these are perfect for any occasion when your looking to wow a crowd or just your significant other. Sure, homemade truffles may seem like a daunting task, but they really don’t take much longer than a batch of cookies—possibly just a bit more mess, but SO worth it! What is your favorite truffle recipe?

Who needs a expensive chocolate shop when you can make your own?

Cookie Dough Truffles

**Hint—give your truffles away in egg cartons. Perfect size!**

Makes approximately 33 truffles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted this)

1-1/2 pounds dark chocolate candy coating, coarsely chopped

I decorated mine with assorted toppings—coconut, mini white chocolate chips, and chocolate jimmies.

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour, alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Shape into 1-in. balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Dip balls in coating, allowing excess to drip off; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, remelt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies. Store in the refrigerator.

German Chocolate Peanut Butter Kisses

Valentine’s Day 2010

♥    ♥   ♥

Spending♥

The holiday this year is expected to generate $14.1 billion in retail sales in the United States. The number is down from last year's $14.7 billion, because a number of consumers are choosing not to spend money on Valentine's Day this year.

The average U.S. consumer is expected to spend $103 on Valentine's Day gifts, meals, and entertainment, about 50 cents more per person than in 2009.

Spouses are spending less and plan to pay $63.34 on Valentine's Day gifts for their significant other, down from last year's $67.22 average.

Friends and co-workers will spend significantly more than they did last year, and more will be spent on pets.

Gifts♥

Spending for practical gifts, such as winter clothing and accessories, is up, while only 35.6 percent of those celebrating will plan an evening out. That's down from last year's 47 percent.

U.S. men will spend nearly twice as much on the holiday as U.S. women. In 2010, the average man will spend $135.35 on Valentine's Day gifts, while a typical woman will spend $72.28.

Cards♥

As usual, greeting cards will be the most common Valentine's Day gifts. Fifty-five percent of U.S. consumers plan to send at least one.

About 190 million cards are sent each year. That figure doesn't include the hundreds of millions of cards schoolchildren exchange.

Candy♥

• About 47 percent of U.S. consumers will exchange Valentine's Day candy, which will cost about $1 billion. About 75 percent of that billion is from sales of chocolate. Chocolate has been associated with romance at least since Mexico's 15th- and 16th-century Aztec Empire.
• About eight billion little candy hearts were made last year, with sayings such as "Be Mine.

What are you doing this Valentine’s Day? And what do you normally get/give for gifts?!

German Chocolate Peanut Butter Kisses

Makes approx. 28 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 box German Chocolate cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 1 bag Reese’s PB hearts
• 1 c roasted peanuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil thoroughly. Set aside.
• Grind up peanuts in food processor and pour into a shallow bowl or plate.

• Start taking wrappers of a hearts.

• Roll cookies into 1-inch balls and follow by rolling them in the ground peanuts.
• Bake 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet for 9-12 minutes.
• Cool for 2 minutes then press Reese’s heart into the middle.

• Let cool completely—2 hours.

1 more day of Valentine’s treats tomorrow—save the best for last!

I Got a Valentine's Surprise!

When I came across the post over at For the Love of PB that gave me an opportunity to sign up for a Secret Valentine's Day bloggie swap, how could I say no?! The plan--to get another bloggie partner from the blog world, put together a package based on what you think they'd like from viewing their blog, and send it out by February 5th! I looove swaps, so I got my thinking cap on and put together a package for my partner. But I was really pumped to see what my secret partner whipped together for me! Saturday night I walked down to my mailbox and was delighted to see a package slip! Then I got the package, ran back up to my room, and opened it!(duh :-]) It was from Brandi over at Bran Appetit . I had never heard about her blog, which was another good thing about this little swap, more blogs to read!!! Yay! She put together the best little package. It was just what I needed to cheer me up.
The package:
An adorable set of pink and red heart-shaped measuring cups&spoons.(match my pink kitchen decor perfecto!)
Some yummy Smacker's vanilla frosting lipgloss.(Girl can never have enough gloss!)
A cupcake notepad(grocery lists anyone?)
And 2 rubber spatulas(a pink and one with cupcakes!)
To say she is a sweetheart is right on the money! Thanks again Brandi & thanks Lee for hosting this fun little swap.