DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

Butterfinger Truffles This recipe makes enough to serve at the party and to send home with guests. Put them in small boxes or cellophane bags, tie with pretty ribbon, and hand them out as friends and family head out the door. Makes about 80 Ingredients 10 ounces semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 cup heavy cream 1 1/2 cups chopped Butterfinger candy bars (about 8 ounces) 4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder Chopped roasted unsalted peanuts or peanut halves Preparation Place chocolate and butter in a medium bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan; pour hot cream over chocolate mixture. Let stand for 1 minute, then stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in chopped candy. Cover and chill until firm, about 2 hours. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Using a melon baller, scoop 3/4” balls (or heaping teaspoons) from chocolate mixture. Roll truffles bet...

   Our world and our lives revolve in and around consuming or producing food products and services for our daily well being and for our survival.  Food takes up a lot of our  time, from what we eat to how it is prepared and served.  Also  in  how we develop  our senses of sight, smell and taste, in what we like and what we don't.  I hope you enjoy this top 10 list,  as much as I have. 10. Nutmeg    The nutmeg tree is the only tree that provides two spices: nutmeg (the one we are all familiar with) and the lesser known mace. Mace was very popular in the 18th century as a flavor additive to meat products and is an essential ingredient in the traditionally made French white sauce, where the mace is steeped with an onion in hot milk before being added to a mixture of flour and butter to produce béchamel sauce – the French “mother” sauce. Pictured above the nutmeg is the brown seed and the mace is the red ...

    In the middle of the Mediterranean coast, Valencia city, celebrates each year the final days of the winter and the arrival of spring with spectacular fires of pyrotechnics. From March 15th to the 19th ( the feast of Saint Joseph , day of the father in the whole country), Valencia is given over to a carnival of bonfires, fiesta, fireworks and a healthy dose of satire known as Las Fallas , "the fires".     Displayed on every corner all over the city are colorful ninots , giant paper-mache' figures often 20 feet tall or even more that have been paraded through the streets and then place in fantasy groups to tower over excited spectators. Each one in some way satires a political figure, or a soap star, or more exotic creatures from the movies, TV, sports idols, or simply imagination. Some of them are grotesque...others playful and charming...all are larger than life and up for public scrutiny.     Every day at 2 p.m., fir...