My Valentine's Ditty

With 2- step Chocolate Truffles and Ganache Strawberries recipes to enjoy

I write these little ditties in bed

at night

on my phone

to answer my creative call

usually while I’m nursing

or laying in bed

under the sheets

with fingers and toes crossed

that this time

the baby falls asleep.

I’m careful

not to move too quick

or breathe to deep

or sneeze.

I grab my phone

and quietly tap the screen

filling it with funny thoughts

that entertain me

at least.

So I thought,

After reading Shel Silverstein’s

Don’t Bump the Glump—

last night

with my 6 year old in bed

I feel encouraged to share

for better or worse

my evening

and early morning

note pad ditties:

My stories are undone

like the shoelaces of a child

except that I care

and no ones chasing me around

saying

here let me fix that for you.

My goal was to share this recipe with you (below)

so you could make something nice and easy

for your Valentine

and share some stories to make you laugh

like when I accidentally bought

$800

of pork

on Instacart

the day after the pandemic lockdown

and Matt

slightly offended

but more shocked than anything

had to wheel the meat into our house

on Ollie’s radio flyer.

It must have been 50 lbs—

and as big as my 6 yr old son.

We stored it in our freezer

out of guilt,

and truly had no space or use for it.

but come Hell or high water

we could

(not would)

eat pork every night…

if I was patient enough to defrost it.

This was during the time

I had my cake company

in miami.

I was baking $400 cakes at home

and we had to get rid of the meat

to make space in the freezer.

So…

Matt GIFTED IT—

You know

those gifts

“I had extra”

or

“regifting this old thing”

laying around

collecting dust

or taking up

the entire freezer—

to our housekeeper

to make amends

for all the dirty cake pans

piled high

in my sink

that at my behest

needed hand washing

(to save from needing

to buy more pans)

at 3:30 PM

just thirty minutes

before her workday was over.

(This gave me time

to bake two rounds

of cakes

each day.)

As a thank you—

creative

I give him that—

Matt hauled the meat

from the freezer

out to her car

on Ollie’s Radio Flyer

again.

If we didn’t live

in Miami

people would have cared

that Matt

was wheeling

out of our house

a frozen dead body

(of pork!)

on Ollie’s red wagon

and loading it

into our housekeeper’s trunk.

I tell this story

because the chocolate truffles

(recipe below)

reminded me

of the cakes I used to make—

the ones with truffles on top

during the season

of my life

when I was so needy

for help

that I burdened my housekeeper

with pans piled high

(to be washed by hand)…

Here’s the

two(ish)-ingredient

two-step

recipe

for my chocolate truffles

or Ganache Strawberries.

(I added pink sprinkles

and an assortment

of other pretty

but in the end

mediocre

toppings

that I semi regret

but still gifted

in the end

for Valentine’s Day).

But this recipe

does not fail.

Keep it simple.

Give it a try.