Tag Archives: food

Ganache: Magic

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

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!

Boring Things I’m Calling Comfortable (4/6): Beverages

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

Hello, Fluffsters!

Two days left after this…

Anywho. Today I’m talking about drinks. Specifically, coffee drinks. And cafeterias.

There’s something comforting about either a hot drink on a cold day, or a cold drink on a hot day, isn’t there?

Well, anyways. I’m currently at a place with a cafeteria. And right now, I’m loving that cafeteria for one big reason: You can make Mochas. Here’s how it works.

You see, they have pre-paid coffee. (Yes! Free coffee!) And during lunch and dinner, they have ice cream and (even better) caramel and chocolate syrups. Like, the thick syrups. So, I’ve been taking a cup, pouring a lot of ice into it, pouring milk on top of that, coffee (preferably the stronger flavor) and then a scoop or two of the syrups. And that is both a dessert, and refreshing. It’s fantastic.

By the way, I’m still looking for feedback for my new CafePress store. Thoughts?

Comforting Foods (NaBloPoMo 6)

What is your biggest comfort food? Share the recipe if you have one.

So, I’m not entirely sure how to take that. There are two ways, really. Is the question about Big as in Size? Or Big as in most emotionally Impactful?

Is “impactful” even a word?

…That doesn’t really matter. And it is now.

That doesn’t answer my question though.

So go with both.

Oh. Right.

In that case.

Biggest Size Comfort Food

Mom’s Hamburger Stroganoff. Or her Chicken Noodle Soup. Definitely. I could eat a huge serving of either of those and still want more. I unfortunately don’t have the recipe immediately available, but they’re really comforting for me.

I’ve always loved her chicken soup. It’s just a taste of home, and something she would try to make when we were sick to make us feel better. And then we’d have chicken salad the next day for lunch, with fresh chicken. That was always amazing. Especially with grapes. Or maybe apples.

And the stroganoff? That actually has a bit of a funny story behind it… For a while, my parents were trying to do the “low carb” diet. I sort of objected, since I loved pasta. (I still do, actually.) But we sometimes went to potlucks. And the stroganoff is a fairly easy dish, and the best part is that it calls for noodles. (Egg noodles especially.) Sometimes for dinners at home, Mom would make a stroganoff casserole that was pretty good, but it didn’t have pasta. And so that was never as much a favorite for me. But when she made stroganoff for the potlucks, she would always make the egg noodles to go with. Because of that, I really loved the stroganoff. It’s also just really good. I mean, really. Ground beef, sour cream, mushrooms, and onions? How can you go wrong with that?

Biggest Emotional Comfort Food

That is so much harder. I’m a fan of many chocolate desserts. I’ve already posted the recipe for my variation on chocolate chip cookies, which I love. But cheddar cheese and apples are another one. There’s something just really comforting about having that for a snack. Or anything dark chocolate. Nuts, dark chocolate M&Ms, and raisins combine to form a great trail mix. And my flourless chocolate cakes are also very good! If I do say so myself. Oh, and most Mexican food. Or any food that involves HUGE amounts of melted Cheddar. (Except cheeseburgers. I do not like those.)

So in other words, I’m not at all sure about the second category.

So, Fluffsters, what’s your favorite comfort food?

Top 5 Uses for Mini-Marshmallows

Top 5 uses for mini-marshmallows.

1) Eat. Just plain. Or better yet, give to a five year old and see what happens. You’ll definitely not be bored after that!

2) Use for office/dorm-battles. What happens if you combine a mini-marshmallow and a rubber-band gun, anyways? Or forget the gun, let’s just use the rubber-band!

Mini-Marshmallows Incoming!!

It would probably work better with a) a thicker rubber-band, b) an actual holdy-thingy like real slingshots have, and possibly c) full size marshmallows.

3) Hot Chocolate. Of course. Or maybe coffee. Regardless, putting them into a hot beverage to melt. And then drink. But you probably knew that, since you’re smart and stuff.

4) Snowball fights in California. Or during the summer. After all, Christmas in July is a thing, right? Why not celebrate with a “snowball” fight? (Of course, it once again works better with larger marshmallows. But minis can still squish into relative “snowball” shape, which can then be used for throwing at people.)

5) Marshmallow Taffy. If you haven’t tried this, you need to. I’ve illustrated/written down the instructions/recipe for marshmallow taffy in the recipes section. So you should check it out.

I hope this gives you some ideas! But what about you? Do you have any favorite uses for Mini Marshmallows?

What’s Worse than a Cold McDonald’s Fry?

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Hello, everyone!

And Happy Saturday! Man, after yesterday’s post, I’m suddenly appreciating being able to say that.

Anyways, I hope that your weekend is going well. I love good weekends! Although there are few things more disappointing that a weekend going badly. Especially when it looks like it should be a good weekend. That’s really sad.

Speaking of things going badly, I asked some random people about French Fries. But not just french fries.

You know, you really need to work on your transitions…

Yeah, whatever. It worked, didn’t it? At least until you sidetracked me.

Anyways, as I was saying, without further ado:

What Are Five Things Worse than Cold McDonald’s French Fries?

5) Cold Fries from a cafeteria. Those are often just gross anyways, so making them colder makes them on about the same level as McDonald’s French Fries.

4) Molding Potatoes. They apparently smell bad, too.

Seriously, what is up with you and moldy things?

Ok, so, first of all, that was a response to the question. From a real person. Who I asked. And Second, this time at least I’m not justifying the mold, ok?

But back to the list.

3) I’m not sure, but I think that muffin flavored shrimp are probably fairly bizarre.

I hadn’t even realized those were considered “food”.

Moving on…

2) Deep Fried Lizards. Apparently, according to this source, you can buy them in Shanghai. Another friend tried to make the case that it didn’t sound too bad.

I guess it might depend on the size of the lizard, and whether you’re supposed to eat the bones. But it still sounds like it would probably be worse than a cold McDonald’s Fry.

1) Chocolate covered cicadas. I don’t think I need to add anything to this.

But anyways, I hope you have a great rest of your weekend, free from any of these foods!