This is my three hundred and ninety-ninth post. Seems pretty remarkable to me. There were moments when I thought, Well, that's all I have to say; I've cooked just about everything I can think of. Or this: I've shared just about enough drama. It's over, no more sharing. Then . . . this incredible pull toward the blog happens and I once again begin typing, opening that iconic window, "New Post". The blog has taken on a life of its own. Short of giving it a seat at the dinner table, it's here to stay. I reflect on this a bit at the end of this post. But let's get to the chocolate first. 
This was our Valentine's Day: flowers and chocolate. When Dr. Thyme came home, he had flowers for me. So sweet. (Good thing that "Roses" guy in the van at the bottom of the hill hadn't closed shop!) I had these chocolate hearts I'd baked for him. Could we have been any more cliche'? This recipe is easier than you might think. First of all, my deepest thanks to Hostess for making this childhood obsession an ongoing craving my entire adult life. Perhaps beating out the Twinkie for my affection. No, it does beat out the Twinkie.
The recipe I used for the cake part came from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I love this little gem of a cookbook. I doubled the recipe for the basic chocolate cupcake and then baked the batter in a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2" jelly roll pan. Worked perfectly. I let the cake cool completely. Then used my heart-shaped cookie cutter to bring in some V-day cuteness and cut out heart-shaped cakes. You could use any shape, really. (Then I ate half of the leftover cake plain because it's that good--it's completely delish on its own!) This is my hands-down numero uno favorite cupcake recipe by a mile. I tweek my recipe by adding a bit more cocoa and then super-cranking it up with a teaspoon of chocolate extract. Whoa. Pure heaven. You can find the recipe here. Just remember to double it. For the fluffy cream filling, I used:
3 tablespooons of unsalted vegetable margerine 5 tablespoons of vegetable shortening 3/4 cup baker's sugar (if you don't have baker's sugar on hand, you can run plain sugar in your food processor for a minute and it works just as well--that's what I did for these) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons soy milk 1 cup of powdered sugar (just eyeball it for consistency and fluff)
Mix the margerine and shortening together with the sugar for about 3-5 minutes until the whole thing is nice and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients. Blend until your fluff has enough "fluff". That's it!
The ganache is super-duper easy: 1/3 cup soy milk 4 ounces (plus a tablespoon more) of semi-sweet baking chocolate2 tablespoons corn syrupPlace the soy milk in a pan and warm it up a bit--don't boil! Remove from heat. Add the chips and syrup, mix until chips are completely melted. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes, then drizzle over cakes.
I've shared a lot about this life of mine here in this blog. I am not an FB'er. I'd decided quite a while ago my past was too sordid to allow even the remotest of previous acquaintances surface and that doing so would be a detrimental blow to my own humanity (and potentially be cause for intense therapy). Thus, the blog.I am, by nature, an introvert. (I know so because the Myers Briggs test said so.) If I have too much "social interaction", I need to go away for a bit to "re-charge". I literally have been known to walk away from people while they are still talking to me. The interaction simply becomes unmanageable. I can think of worse things. Like yawning and collapsing (don't think it hasn't crossed my mind). In other scenarios of interaction if I become highly agitated or too over-stimulated, unexpected and sometimes inappropriate comments fly from my mouth. Like the moment two weeks ago when I made a simple phone request to a certain business for which I received a scripted "please-don't-take-your-business-away-from-us" plea and the so-called potential risks of doing so, the likes of which required an MBA to understand. The only response I could think of after the five minute spiel was this: What I just heard was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Now send me the damn thing I requested and let's call it a day, shall we? and I hung up. See. Too much.
I thought this milestone might be cause to share a bit more about myself. Current things. Not just favorite colors and TV shows and music. By now you all know I heart music. But just a little list of the now stuff. More for selfish reasons than any other. (Feel free to walk away, yawn or collapse.)
I like lists. They are the keepers of my sanity. I have a list I've made to accompany this 399th milestone. It's not a list that will change anyone's life. In fact it's probably more of a, "I need to put this in the blog because it matters to me" sort of thing. But now seems like as good a time as any to get a few things out there.
1. Each day is a gift. This weekend was difficult for me and for one reason: Whitney Houston. So. Very. Sad. Addiction and recovery are in the news again. My sister and I talked about this event as if it were someone in our own family. My sister said: That could have been me. . . I was just one step away from that, Kelly. My sister is one of the most important people in my life. She beat her addiction. She beat it and she continues to beat it: Every. Single. Day. Every. Single. Minute. That is how the addiction battle is fought and won: in seconds and minutes. This tragedy reminded us both of this. Almost Fifty is a precarious time for many women. God Bless Whitney. Thank God we have her music. Thank God I have my sister.
2. I try not to get into politics. When you are Almost Fifty, as much as you'd like to NOT have to think about politics 24/7--this year seems different. Nothing scares me more than someone considering themselves qualified to be the leader of our country who thought storing their dog in a crate on the TOP of the family car for the family vacation was the "preferred" method of travel for their canine companion. That he's actually ON RECORD stating, "the dog preferred it" that way. Really? Let's test that theory out and put you in a crate on top of a car, travel across several states and see if it's YOUR preferred method of travel. 'Kay? Nothing scares me more. (Except that other creepy guy who I can't help but referring to as "The Grinch". Ew.) These are scary times.
3. I've mentioned this before, but I try really hard to challenge myself. I have many interests. I guess some might call it being a bit unfocused. For instance, I have the guitar now. Currently, that is my focus. Last week my guitar instructor told me, I'd like you to learn to play, Last Dance with Mary Jane by Tom Petty for next week. I nearly fell off my chair laughing. After I recovered I said, Uh, what makes you think I can do THAT? Because you've been progressing really nicely. . . and it's good to challenge yourself. Well. Tom Petty it is. (There will be no You Tube of this.) I wonder if "progressing really nicely" is code for: If you come in here and pluck, When The Saints Go Marching In again, I'll scream.
4. It's time for veggie planning. I picked up some seeds yesterday at the local-yocal farm supply store down the road apiece--where they had roosters crowing and George Strait blaring from their Muzak speakers. It was a bit distracting. But I love country music. Or as my Yankee step father affectionately refers to it: Hillbilly music. Whatever. I still love it. Anywhoo--here's a sample of what I got. Now is the time to get your veggie seeds. These were on sale. If you wait much longer, not only will the sales be over, the selection will dwindle (as it was, I had to make a second stop to get Kale seeds!). I love the seed assortment package with multi options. This takes a lot of the headache out of the equation. In my earlier days of being a tomato and green bean queen, I had little self control for the many options out there. It's easy to be overcome with anxiety when considering your vegetable patch. Planning and knowing things like: we NEVER eat eggplant, WHY would I grow it? I don't care how easy kohlrabi is to grow, it's a gross looking vegetable. Every year I plant is another year I learn. I will be teaching a few classes this spring at our local library on veggies and then one on how to cook those veggies once you harvest them. I pray to the veggie gods my garden grows.5. Thanks. Thanks folks/readers. I don't know many of you, yet I feel like I've known several of you for quite a while now. I consider reading "blogs I follow" one of my favorite times of the day (that is, when I can fit blog reading in). I'm Almost Fifty, time is a precious commodity. What I mean to say is this: I consider it a special part of my life to be a part of your life. Here's to the next 399 posts.
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