Lots of Goodies!

In preparation for the book club meeting I thought I would be hosting, I spent a lot of time baking and making treats last week.

First, I made Mexican Wedding Cookies. I got the recipe here, from my friend Ashlee's blog. If we're being totally honest, I've attempted to make things from her blog before, and I haven't always had the greatest of luck. However, these cookies were great! I've had them before, but I never knew what they were called. And I had no idea how easy they'd be to make! I just finished eating the last one a few minutes ago. :)

Next, I made Oreo Truffles. This recipe was also found on a blog...here. Obviously, this recipe looks super easy. But hey, this is me we're talking about. I had some issues. After trying to mix the Oreos and cream cheese with a spoon, I gave up after a few minutes and just used my hands. This actually worked really well, and I'd highly recommend you use this method if you want to try making the truffles! My major issue, though, came with the chocolate. I can't remember the last time I tried melting chocolate; I just assumed that you'd need to keep it warm. So I put the chocolate in a saucepan and turned on the heat. But it all melted pretty quickly and then got thick and goopy. Definitely not something I could dip anything into! So I ran to my computer and googled "problems melting chocolate." I figured out that once chocolate seizes, there's not much you can do to salvage it. However, if it's just overheated, you can transfer it to a cool bowl and add a spoonful or two of vegetable oil, then stir vigorously. So that's what I did...and it more or less worked! Unfortunately, the chocolate was still a little too thick (and hot) to dip my Oreo/cream cheese balls into...so I ended up using a spoon to pour the chocolate over the balls. The chocolate coating ended up a bit thick, but otherwise it was good! Not pretty, but good. :)

Finally, I made sugar cookies. Again, I used my friend Ashlee's recipe, here. When I was a kid, my mom used flour on the counter and the rolling pin when rolling out the dough. I'd never heard of using powdered sugar for this, but it worked out really well. I used my brand new cookie cutters, which I think are cute. I then decorated the cookies with simple store-bought icing and various sprinkles.

All of these were for the book club meeting, of course. This was the table set up, waiting for the girls to arrive. I was thrilled to be able to use quite a few wedding presents (like the serving plates, the tiered serving dish, and the water pitcher). Since no one got to see it in person (except Shawn), I thought I'd share the pictures with you. :)This morning, Shawn took most of the goodies to work and shared them with his coworkers. So at least they were all eaten and appreciated, and Shawn and I didn't gain 10 pounds each. :-)