Category Archives: ooh shiny

Ganache: Magic

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Hello, Fluffsters!

I was doing a bit of stuff with a nearly magical substance today. It’s something called “ganache.” It’s just cream and chocolate, and amazingness. It’s one of my two favorite cake frostings at this point. (The other is cream cheese frosting.) I mean seriously. Cream and dark chocolate: Where do you go wrong?

So the direct recipe is about a half-cup of cream to 3.5 ounces of chocolate. (About 3/4 cup of chocolate.) Heat the cream until it starts to bubble or boil, and pour it over the chocolate. Whisk together. (Optional: Add about a 1/4 teaspoon of mint extract for flavoring.)

The real magic, though, comes in whisking it together. It’s seriously amazing. First you have your cream over your chocolate chips. As you whisk it together, you get more chocolate shreds, and it starts to look like an oreo-cookie milkshake.

Doesn’t it look a bit like oreos crunched up in cream?

Within about 5 more strokes, though, the real ganache starts to appear.

Ganache forms in the center of the ingredients

Ganache forming in the center of the ingredients.

It’s really very astonishing how quickly it happens. And it’s a total change, too! There’s no way to separate the ganache back out into its cream/chocolate parts. (At least not easily, as far as I’m aware.)

I seriously think that making ganache should be a science experiment for kids just starting to learn about chemistry. It would be a “sweet” way to learn science.

Do I want to know if you wrote this post just to be able to use that pun?

…Probably not. But happy Friday, Fluffsters! And just a reminder, my current new design in my cafepress store is on sale until sometime either today or tomorrow. Check the New and Now section for the current low prices, and the other part of my store for all my other designs!

Have a great weekend!

Silver Linings

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“Every cloud has a silver lining.” That’s some sort of common expression, right Fluffsters? And it’s supposed to be “happy cheery yay goodness sunshine and flowers!” in sentiment. Right?

Well I don’t get it. If every cloud has its silver lining, that is just scary.

Is this another of your “rainbows are out to get me” style conspiracies? If so, I’m leaving.

Is that a threat, or a promise?

Threat. You can’t get rid of me forever, you know. And who knows what mischief I could get up to? I might assassinate your 404 page, for example!

That… would be totally ironic.

But I digress. No, it’s not in the same exact style as the rainbows. I mean, in this instance I’m genuinely confused. Clouds with silver linings? And that’s a good thing?

I mean, there are two ways that that could happen.

1) The clouds have gaseous silver in them. If anyone came in contact with a cloud, then, they’d die. Painfully.

2) The clouds have genuine solid silver linings. In that case, the silver linings won’t stay up for very long. And instead, they’ll fall out of the sky. And probably hit some poor old granny on the head, and send her to the hospital! Or a child. Or a puppy. Any of those options would be horrible! Don’t you agree? I mean, isn’t it just a bit more than a bit disturbing?

…I thought you said this would be different from your rainbow post.

It is. For several reasons.

Oh no. You’re going to list reasons why this is different?

You asked! So here you go.

1) This is about clouds. Not rainbows. QED, it’s different from my rainbow post.

That does not count as a reaso-

2) This isn’t nearly as bad as a direct parallel would be. A direct parallel would be something like “the silver follows me everywhere I go.” Or “The NSA put the silver up there to amplify its abilities to spy on the American population.” No. This is genuine confusion, not paranoia.

So, wait. You admit that your fear of rainbows is paranoia?!

Hey, simply because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!

…You got me there.

Yes!!

Anywho, happy Tuesday, Fluffsters! I hope your week has started well.

DIY Flower Hair Wreath

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Note: If this is your first time to TotalFluff, please visit this brief explanation. Thanks!

Hello, Fluffsters!

In case you hadn’t picked up on this by now, I enjoy arts and crafts. Tonight I made a flower wreath for my hair. (Out of fake flowers, so I’ll be able to use it for an upcoming event.)

It’s not entirely finished yet, but it’s close! (I need to trim some ends, and decide whether or not to add glittery stuff. It’s going to be for a semi-earth-fairy-ish costume, so I’m potentially going to sparklify it. Regardless, I needed a flower circlet for the character, so I decided to try to DIY a flower wreath. 🙂 )

First, I went to Michaels and looked for some mini rosettes. The original plan had been to braid some of those lovely wire-stemmed miniature rosettes into a wreath. That didn’t happen, due to lack of rosettes I was looking for. So I improvised.

I instead went with these flowers:

purple and white fake flowers to be turned into a DIY hair wreath

Purple & White fake flowers

Fortunately for me, they were on a good sale, so I got them for a decent price. I actually took that picture after removing a number of the flowers (with stems) for the wreath. But that’s getting ahead of myself…

So as I was saying. I got those flowers. And then I used some wire cutters to cut individual strands as long as I could. I removed leaves and extra bunches that were at extreme angles.

I then laid about three stalks together, and somewhat braided them. The stems were not that malleable, so I used some ribbon (and later some long synthetic leaves from the white bunch of flowers) to tie the stalks together. When I got towards the end of a bunch, I put the next set on. And kept tying.

As I was doing this, I measured the wreath around my head to make sure it would fit. (That had the added bonus of building the curve into the wreath.) As I tied and measured, I did bend the stems into the proper form. They can hold the more gradual curve; they’re just not good for braiding.

When it got long enough, I tied the beginning to the end.

Here’s what I have of the wreath so far:

Top view of my hair flower wreath

Front view:

Front view of my flower circlet

I’m fairly happy with how it turned out. 🙂

How about you, Fluffsters? Have you created anything interesting lately?

Fluffy’s Thoughts on Diamond Rings

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Hello, Fluffsters!

I have recently come across a tradition in your world which I find interesting: Gifting a future bride a diamond to celebrate the occasion.

Now, according to this article, the reasoning behind buying a diamond engagement ring is all a hoax or a sham or something like that. The article claims that it was one jewelry firm that sold the idea of a diamond ring being all-important, and single-handedly created the diamond engagement ring business in America. (I have no clue if that’s true or not.)

If it is true, that is amazing. One company? Revolutionizing how an entire country views an engagement? Wow. That takes talent.

If I were in your world, and if I were engaged, I would probably want a diamond ring, just because of that. Especially if the young man had read the article. You see, the diamond ring is now a symbol. A symbol of multiple things. In America, in common knowledge, it is a symbol of love. The future husband loves the girl enough to sacrifice a large portion of his income for her, to show his commitment. The diamond itself will last for essentially forever, thus further symbolizing the love between the two. The diamond is also the hardest substance known to man, and nearly impossible to break. The marriage should be like that.

And the extra dimensions the article added?

1) Overcoming hardship. The company seemed to doing really badly. And yet they were able to turn the hard times around, and make it through.

2) Change is possible. The diamond. The most inflexible material in the world. And it changed an entire country. One company, according to the article, changed the country. If a company can do that, couldn’t a husband and wife learn to adapt? And together, could they not impact their community in a dramatic fashion? Change is possible, and the diamond ring symbolizes that. I mean, when it comes down to it, the diamond itself is a changed form of carbon. But this article? It just adds a whole new dimension!

So, Mr. Rohin Dahr? I’m sorry! Your article just sold me on diamonds even more. Try harder next time?

Anyways, Fluffsters, have a great day!