Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Karen had been asking me to make these guys for a couple of weeks or longer. I finally got it done and the world hasn't been the same since.
Personally, I preferred just eating the dough, but Karen seems to have enjoyed them more after they were actually dipped in chocolate. Either way, they satisfied the sweet tooth.

This recipe has been adapted from RecipeGirl who adapted it from Food Network. Evidently, any cookie dough recipe can work if you leave out the eggs and substitute a little milk to compensate for the dryness.
Caleb's favorite treat is chocolate chip cookie dough (he usually prefers eating the dough to eating the cookie). I think next time he asks for cookies, I'll just make this dough and call it good, because- it's good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract (I may have poured in a little more than that because I didn't measure)
2 cups flour
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup miniature chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate; the recipe called for semi-sweet )
chocolate bark for dipping (I used more milk chocolate chips- about 1 cup, with a tsp of shortening)
additional chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc., for decorating the truffles (too lazy- did not use)

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add vanilla. Mix until well combined. Add flour and mix until blended. Beat in sweetened condensed milk and then add the chocolate chips.
Cover the bowl and place in refrigerator for about an hour, or until dough is firm enough to roll into balls (I used my small cookie scoop). Scoop dough into balls and place them onto waxed (or parchment, but that's more expensive) paper and refrigerate for another thirty minutes or so. I was negligent in dipping the balls right away and didn't get it done until the next day. The dough was drying out by then, so don't let that happen to you! 
Melt chocolate in a microwaveable bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring well between heating times as the chocolate will melt more than you think it will as you stir. Dip the dough balls in the chocolate and cover completely. I used a toothpick to lift the ball out of the chocolate because I forgot I had a special tool for doing the same job. Ugh. Just goes to show that a toothpick works too.
Decorate your truffle if you want to make it look fancy-pantsy. Or not. Either way, they taste great.
Refrigerate until ready to serve, and refrigerate the leftovers if you have any.
I was going to tell you how many truffles this made, but because we ate a lot of the balls before they ever became truffles, I really can't say how many to expect, other than to say that RecipeGirl says it makes 3-4 dozen. I think she made her's smaller than I made mine.

Add Another Candle, Danny

 Once upon a time, there was the most adorable little boy who had gorgeous blond curls and the cutest little smile.

His mommy loved him like crazy. He was her pride and joy. 

He often got trapped having to go to his sister's softball games, so one day he stole his sister's hat.

He loved his mommy, even when she dressed him in funny-looking turtleneck shirts.

One day, the little boy (let's call him...Danny) got a puppy. Well, two puppies, actually.

And Danny suffered through countless "first day back at school" photos, although after his third grade class picture, he tried to never show his teeth in pictures again.

Those puppies grew up to be dogs, as all puppies do. They liked to dig holes. Very deep holes.

Sometimes Danny would show off his funny side. He has a very funny side, but not many people know about it because he keeps it hidden until he knows you and likes you. Otherwise, he stays very quiet.

Danny has had a lifelong love of computers. He grew up to have a job working with computers, so I'm not sure how much he loves them anymore, but whenever I have a problem, I call Danny. He patiently fixes whatever my problem is by giving me instructions over the phone.

When Danny was in high school and I was working as a resource specialist's aide at an elementary school, I would call Danny when I got stuck on math problems. After all, I'm supposed to know what I'm doing at that point, seeings how I'm the "teacher" to these kids. But Danny was never unkind or perturbed about explaining what I needed to know. He's always been very nice to me that way.

Once Danny thought it would be fun to grow his hair really long big. This is what it looked like after a while.

As most little boys do, Danny grew into a fine young man and found himself someone who loved him almost as much as his mommy did. His mommy was okay with letting this new person share in Danny's life, so they got married. Danny's mommy loved Danny's new bride, Erin because she took good care of Danny. 

After lots of days and nights and days and nights, Danny's family grew to include these precious little people. Danny's mommy also loved these new little people just like she loved Danny. 

Happy Birthday my son. I love you sooooo much. 

Eye Candy

As you know, I've joined a card-making group because I'm trying to expand my circle of friends, as instructed in our Relief Society lesson a few weeks ago. Feeling like it was hard for me to "compete" with the others in the card group, I knew I needed to increase my craft supplies. After stopping by my local JoAnn's and handing over buckets of money, I was able to fill up this little container with buttons and bottle caps to embellish my cards.

Here's a close-up of some of the hard to see items. Star buttons...

flower buttons and butterfly buttons, and you can just barely see the dragonfly buttons too.

And snowflake buttons and snowmen buttons and gingerbread men buttons!

My button box is now cute and colorful! Who knew you needed this stuff to make cards?

Spring Cards

I got my cards done a couple of days early. Tonight we exchange our cards with the rest of the group.

Each of my cards are varied a little bit. I hope the ladies like them. I thought they turned out pretty well, but then again, I'm new at this and some of the other ladies come up with some pretty awesome ideas for their cards. Now I just need to make some friends so I can send them a springtime card.
And the little flowers I posted about last time? They are completely buried until a pile of snow. I hope they will survive.

Hello Little Lovelies!

This has been the mildest winter since moving to Utah, which has been ten years now.

We've seen very little of this. 

However, I am still excited for this! 

And some of their friends over here...

And really excited today to have found these sweeties poking their heads up.   

Good bye Mr. Snowman. I wish you well. Maybe you can visit us again sometime. 

We're actually due for more snow later, but I think (hope) my little flowers will weather the storm. 

Dad's Birthday

That's my dad when he was a youngster. Today he would have been 94. That's not a youngster. In his memory, I think I'll go clean my baseboards.