"Cake Truffle" Recipe

A friend passed along this recipe to me.  She used it as wedding favors, but you can use them for anything!  They are just boxed cake mix, mixed with icing, chilled an rolled into balls then dipped in your favorite chocolate/bark.  Simply cool on parchment paper and you have a perfect little hand-held dessert.  Any cake mix, any icing, any dip - the possibilities are endless!  You can even get frisky and add peppermint extract, food coloring and roll the finished product in crushed mints - Instant Christmas Treats!  For these, I used a dark chocolate cake, milk chocolate icing and regular chocolate bark.  I dusted some with powdered sugar, put colored chips on some and even oreo crumbs and heath toffee pieces on others.  Hope you enjoy!

Cake Truffles

• One Box Cake Mix
• One tub of icing
• One package of candy chocolate bark
• various topping/decorations

Bake cake as directed.  Allow to cool for ten minutes before crumbling the cake into a bowl and stirring in icing.  The result should be a moist cake, able to roll into balls.  If you have a "moist recipe" cake mix, (contains pudding), you should only need about half of the icing.  Roll cake into balls and place on wax paper.  Place them in the freezer for 2 hours.  Melt the chocolate and prepare toppings before pulling the balls out.  Dip in chocolate and put them back on the wax paper.  Add sprinkles, sifted powdered sugar or cocoa...anything, before the ball fully dries.  Repeat and cool when finished.  Can be stored for several days in an airtight container in the fridge.  Makes 30 - 40 balls, depending on size. 

P.S.  LJ gave these two thumbs way up.  Before I even dipped them, he was riding by on his little scooter, stealing the balls!  He had eaten two before I even realized what he was up to :)

A late Lafayette post :)

We have been home almost a week and I am just now looking at the pictures from Lafayette.  We filled the days there with the Mcbride wedding festivities and some awesome family time.  What a great few days - I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Playing in the backyard and asking to wear "Daddy's necklace"  :)

Pops with his favorite two kids!

Teach 'em young :)   She is so cute!!

Our first night, we ate dinner at Prejeans with EVERYONE!  It was awesome!  Here is a GREAT picture of Gramps and LJ on the dance floor :)

Here is what happens when the cutest moment pops up and you realize AFTER the picture that you had your camera on manual for a cloudy day.  I am sad I missed capturing this moment perfectly!

Sweet hug :)

Nana's grandbabies gardening by her gazebo.

...and watering her flowers :)

The happy groom!  Lance had to wear purple that day, but...

...the rest of us didn't!  Were we obnoxious or what?

LJ even found a dance partner :)

The next afternoon, everyone played football in the backyard - I caught a celebration after a big tackle :)

On the last day, we picked up donuts for Granny and Gramps and had a great morning with them.  Addie and LJ got to play the piano together, too.

Granny's only two great grandbabies!  That's four precious people right there!

LOTS OF POSTS!

Sorry for the hiatus, but I am caught up!  Enjoy the new posts below!

What a day!!

We topped off a great weekend with a great Sunday!  Fall is the best!  My boys LOVE their back yard!  Both Lj and Lance are in their Ravens jerseys - LJ insisted!

 Happy Birthday to the sweetest, most fun little boy in the world! 

 We love you more than you will ever know!

Everyone is playing catch :)

Big boy with his new Big toy :)

This may be one of my favorite pictures ever - not because it's a great photo, but because it captures each of them.  Lance and LJ playing football giggling in the background and Rookie running with a toy - all of us enjoying our time together in the beautiful fall scenery of our back yard.  What a world I got to see through my lens!

He LOVES it out here!  If anybody's living for the off-season, it's him!

Birthday cake for the Birthday boy!

Make a wish!

Halloween and A birthday Party!

Wow!  What a weekend!  LJ is now three!!  We had a great birthday party for him on Halloween morning - his grandparents were there, and so were all his friends from his "class".  We rented a fun jump, prayed for no rain and no little injuries - Check!  Check!  I can't imagine a better party or a better weekend.  Our little "Dash" from the Incredibles loved it all!  We are so blessed!!

The only casualty:  A small bloody nose.  Out of 11 three-year-olds jumping around, I call it a win!!

Even little Izzy got in the fun!

On Pops' lap with the "Bear's" hat on, (what a great gift!)

Our little super-hero with his hero :)

Dash!

Our first trick-or-treat house - Ms. Doris and Mr. Jackson!

A precious picture with LJ's favorite people!  

His other favorite people :)

Ending the day with popcorn - Zoe is begging for just one more bite :)

Bama Vs. Tennessee

Well, we just pulled it out, but "close" only counts in horseshoes and hand granades, right?  A win's a win!  8-0, Baby!  Boy, did they need this week off!!  Roll Tide!

Everyone is wearing Crimson!  Aside from one TINY little section of traffic cone orange :)

Loving that shaker!

Is this God's Country, or what?!

THE blocked kick!  I think the ball is still on the kicker's foot, but this is what won it for us!

Location, Location, Location!  How much better can it get than hopping in your car after a game with 92,000 of your closest friends then 30 minutes later being at the Mexican restaurant down the street?  We live on the right side of Tuscaloosa for after-game traffic!  :)  LJ got to have fajitas and ride the Donkey - all before bedtime!  

Thomas Beason Wilkes, Jr.

April 11, 1950 – October 24, 2007

I wanted to pay tribute to my father today, on the anniversary of his passing.  Here are some of my favorite pictures - most I found from the internet, (that's why the sizes are all different).  Also, there are some quotes of what others thought of him.  In times like these, it's difficult to write or even access exactly what you feel, but I think the people below described him well.  Just the number of results you get when you "google" him shows what a mark he left, but it doesn't even begin to show his mark in our hearts.  We miss him more than words can say and look forward to reuniting with him in Heaven.  

I love this smile - his heart was SO in this project.  His vision was extraordinary!

"The Mayor"

I can tell you from experience, he was TRULY happy on that bike.  I wonder where he was going  :)  I love that I can see his face in the mirror.

"...He was infectious, endearing, humble, disarming, loyal, honorable, patient, comforting, a peacemaker but above all, so well loved by all, and genuinely loved, like one loves their own brother or sister. Beason was a best friend, an adoring and devoted husband, a loving father and a passionate grandfather. He was everything one could aspire to be in life. He was a true class act. As Beason battled his illness, he exemplified the words of Joshua 1:7 – facing every trial with the utmost strength and courage, never afraid or dismayed, knowing always that the Lord our God was with him in whatever challenge he met. This assurance gave him the fortitude to persevere with a joy and a peace that still surpasses all understanding...." ~ Wharfal.com

"Orange Beach City Administrator Jeff Moon, who first met  Wilkes during his days at Meyer Real Estate and later worked with him on The Wharf, said, “The thing I can say about Beason is the man always lived up to his word. If Beason Wilkes told you something was going to happen, it was going to happen.”

"Then, in October, as he [Ernie Smith] sat in the memorial service for his friend and neighbor Beason Wilkes and heard the pastor recall Wilkes’ affection for canines, Smith said he decided to build a dog park." (...which BG christened upon the "opening ceremonies" :)  ) ~ Baldwin Report