let them eat balls

So, I can't cook.  We've discussed this.  But I'm really making an effort to be better; take more risks, have some fun with it, don't cry when the roast comes out dry, etc.  And what I have found is that the more I experiment, the more I learn to trust my budding abilities.  In other words, when you burn the chicken parm, don't stop cooking altogether - just don't bake it so long next time.  DUH. 

My most recent experiments were two recipes from Pinterest that I have been salivating over for months and finally decided to try.  Both were originally pinned from a really cute site called Six Sisters' Stuff, which features gobs of family-tested recipes from, you guessed it, six sisters.  Neither recipe is something I would normally make, since they're not exactly "light" or "clean" eating (read: no veggies, lots of butter, DELICIOUS).  But apparently that's another trick to enjoying the process:  make yummy stuff your family actually wants to eat.  And boy, did we eat!  Both of these treats in one night, too - how DOES she do it?! 

Stuffed Pizza Rolls!

Theirs

Mine

   

These were pretty ridiculously tasty, and SO easy to make.  Fool-proof, really (I would know!).  And you can stuff 'em with whatever you please, so they're really only as un-healthy as you choose to make them.  We went pretty unhealthy with mozerella and pepperoni, and they were divine.  I would have liked some onion or artichoke in there too, but the hubs and Annie probably would have gagged.  I used pre-made Catalina pizza sauce for dipping and pre-made Pillsbury pizza dough.  Both worked great.  I had some extra dough in the end, so I just twisted it into strips and tucked it next to the pizza rolls in the pie dish.  (I believe that's called improvising!)  The twists made for yummy dipping.  The original recipe can be found here. 

Cake Batter Truffles!

Theirs

Mine

Yeah, these shouldn't even be legal.  They're that good.  And the best part is there's no raw egg in the cake "batter," which means no baking and no family-killing bacteria.  Score!  These ranked about a seven on *my* difficulty scale, but only because of the last part where you dunk the truffles in the melted almond bark to coat them.  It's tough because the truffles need to be chilled enough to retain their shape, but the bark needs to be warm enough to be a liquid - it's kind of a contradiction.  It's not rocket science, but with a screaming baby in the living room the process is a little maddening.  I tried using a fork, a toothpick, and then finally drizzling the coating over the truffles.  In the end the originally-suggested fork method worked best, even though the fork tends to break the dough balls in half.  Let's just say some of the truffles were less than picture-perfect.  But Lord were they delicious!  Original recipe here.  If you try them and figure out a smarter way to do the outer coating, let me know!  I want to make them again but would love to save the frustration.

 

*It has not escaped my attention that both these foods are ball-shaped.  While I did not intentionally seek out recipes which resemble male anatomy, I can't help but notice how fun they are to eat.  I might have found the key to my success in the kitchen!