What can I say about National Chocolate Chip Day? Either you're a chocolate lover, and will use the day as an excuse for an outrageous binge, or not. I personally am a recovering chocoholic, with less than twenty-four hours under my belt. (Hey, it's one day at a time, right?) To be completely honest about it (for those of you not hip to the premise of rigorous honesty in twelve-step work), the chips don't really do it for me. I suppose a low-bottom chocolate addict would feel differently about it, but I am more discriminating in my jonesing for the luscious brown stuff. For me, the darker the better, and I like it conjoined in recipes with other delectable ingredients.... give me fudge brownies, triple chocolate ice cream, Reese's cups, and chocolate cheese cake (my mouth waters at the merest notion). I can't drive from Atlanta to visit my sister in Durham, NC, without a stop in Anderson, SC, where the Russell Stover outlet store beckons from its site overlooking the interstate, in plain view, and with advertising signs galore, luring the susceptible into a den of regrettable relapse. My most recent chocolate adventure involves a recipe for home-made Peppermint Patties (see below), and is threatening to make me miss more than a few Chocoholics Anonymous meetings, for shame of having to pick up yet another white (chocolate?) chip. If I don't change the subject quickly, I will soon clog up the keyboard with the melted residue of messy over-indulgence.
So. I hope those of you who have not completely given up on me will forgive my absence of the past couple of weeks. Having completed my duties in regards to the Inman Park Festival, two weeks ago, I have begin to climb out of a backlog of neglected duties, only to find myself faced with a veritable plethora of new obligations. The woes of the past year's dearth of work are beginning to seem but a fading recollection, and my latest concern now appears to be "How am I going to keep up if I actually get all the work that threatens to fall in my lap?" Nice problem to have these days, eh?
I attribute at least a portion of this good fortune to a practice in which I have recently managed to re-engage myself. I have posted previously about the benefits of regular meditation. (See October 1st and 3rd, 2010) I use the word "regular" here, despite the fact that given my reference to re-engaging in it, I obviously have had something of a lapse in my practice thereof. I am finding (as before, but I am notorious for forgetting what's good for me) that when I am conscientious and regular about daily meditation, I am better able to manage what's in front of me. I just don't seem to get sidetracked as easily, and am better at focusing on my daily necessary affairs. The practice of this easy process (easy, at least, for me- some do find it more arduous) seems to magnify my productivity by leaps and bounds.
At the risk now of belying the above claim to having improved focus, I am now shifting gears back to chocolate, and the previously promised recipe.
Peppermint Patties:
2 cups powdered sugar (yes, a whole package of the stuff)
1.5 tbsp. softened butter
1/8 oz. peppermint oil (take the trouble to find the oil- the extract just doesn't do it)
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. heavy cream (I use more to keep the mix from being too crumbly)
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
In a blender, slowly cream the sugar, butter, oil, extract, and cream. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture holds together well and is just creamy, instead of crumbly. Don't get too creamy with it, or you will have problems later on. (No, your 401K will not vanish, nor will your daughter run off with a musician- nothing that drastic.) Roll into teaspoon-sized balls (or slightly larger, if you prefer the store-bought sized confections, otherwise they will be smaller) and flatten on wax paper to say, 1/4 inch thick. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes or so. This can be a little awkward if you have a side-by side refrigerator, like me. They want to lie flat until chilled, else they curl up and make the dipping a bit difficult. You are smart, though- you'll figure it out. In the meantime, melt the chips. (There are so many different schools on how best to accomplish this, and the results, as far as I can tell, are always unpredictable, depending on the time, temperature, humidity, strength of your microwave, and the way you are holding your mouth. The last time I did it, I went through three batches of chips before getting something other than what looked and felt like chocolate-covered sand.) Once you have successfully melted the chocolate, use a dipping fork (okay, a salad fork will do just fine) and, one-by one, coat the flattened sugar balls in chocolate, taking care to scrape the excess off as you remove them from the bowl of melted chocolate. Lay them on wax paper (you can recycle what you used before- just because you're a glutton doesn't mean you can't be green) and let them cool, then chill them in the refrigerator (same problem as before- apply your space-planning skills to the contents of your fridge). Once chilled, gobble and enjoy.
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