Chocolate Ganache and Truffles

I was watching Barefoot Contessa recently and happened upon a segment where Ina Garten prepared truffles. As delightful a morsel as a truffle is, it was surprising to learn that they are fairly simple to make.

The essence of the truffle is from chocolate ganache, a french word for a smooth mixture of chocolate and cream. Once you have prepared and cooled this mixture, and formed it into small, slightly less than uniform bites, you can use a variety of ingredients to enhance and flavor them to your heart’s content.

The receipe below comes from Stephanie and Joy of Baking:

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Chill the ganache till cooled. Then form small balls using only your hands, or use a mellon baller or spoon to scoop up the ganache then use your hands to form the rounds. Chocolate truffles are meant to mimic truffles found in the earth so they should not appear to have come from a candy factory. In other words, don’t make them perfectly round.

For a final step, roll the ganache balls chocolate in cocoa powder, powdered sugar or toasted chopped nuts. Or you can drizzle an alternate type of melted chocolate over the truffle… Yum!

If you have another recipe, or want to share your success with this one, please feel free to comment.

Good luck and enjoy!

Ladies and Gentlemen… Start your Holiday Engines.

Whether you slaved in the kitchen to prepare a gourmet feast, enjoyed a delicious potluck or were fortunate enough to merely attend and partake in a Thanksgiving meal, this holiday brings together family, loved ones and friends new and old together in a way few other events can. Though originally a religious holiday, it has evolved over the past 146 years as a day to pause in gratitude for many things.

It has also become for some the true kickoff to the holiday season. Before the dinner dishes have been washed and put away, some are already planning midnight treks to retailers for Black Friday shopping, mountain hikes for harvesting Christmas trees and menu planning for the next get-together.

In the coming weeks, we will bring you our best thoughts and finds in decor, entertaining, celebration. Feel free to email us with your thoughts, photos or holiday stories as well.

Happy Holidays from Brunette!

Spook-tacular Savings for Halloween

Looking to save money this Halloween? Here are some tips to help stretch your budget.

1. Costumes
Make a visit to your local thrift store rather than purchase a pre-made costume. Not only are there a wealth of things to choose from, you can have a blast creating your costume, trying different options. Take your children or go with a friend for a fun prelude to the big event. This is also a greener option, as most of the costume elements have already been put to good use. Continue the earth-friendly tradition by donating your costume when you’re finished.

2. Parties
Hosting a halloween party can be superbly fun – but also costly. Rather than pay for the entire event yourself, consider co-hosting a party with a friend to help save on costs. You might also opt for a Halloween potluck with a spook-tacular edible theme. Electronic invitations will save you the cost of postage and paper invites.

3. Decorations
Whether hosting a Halloween event or just decorating for the season, there are many ways to save money. Take advantage of seasonal decor including pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, fallen leaves, acorns, and the like. These items will create a rich, earthy and very authentic autumn vibe.

Try creating your own decor items rather than buying expensive pre-made pieces. Use papier mache for display objects or masks. Or craft miniature shrunken heads from a variety of apples for a ghoulish effect. Instructions for these craft projects are readily available online.

Rather than break your bank on a bevy of purchased items, choose one or two to augment your theme and act as scary showpieces.

When choosing which decorative items to purchase, some are very inexpensive and go a long way. Spooky spider-webbing, for instance is fairly inexpensive and one package can cover a large area. eHow has a video on how to create the spider web look.

Last but not least, lighting is a very effective way to change and enhance a mood. Inexpensive colored lights will create a spooky ambience. Merely replace your regular lamp bulbs with colored bulbs that can be found at the supermarket or your variety store. You can also forego colored bulbs all together and selectively unscrew some of your existing light bulbs.

Good luck – and have a Happy Halloween!

Cupcakes, Anyone?

A peek at Martha Stewart’s Website gave me inspiration to write a blog post on cupcakes. Shouts to National Geographic Traveler for some of the inspired sites. My muse is number five, below. Oh yes, the gorgeous, jam-filled, mouth-watering delight.

The others, well, they too were persuasive and propelling. Number one is a stunning Key Lime morsel from The Atlanta Cupcake Factory. These artisans know how to do-it-up cupcake-style as you can see from their photo gallery. Can I get a yum-yum?

Number two is from Look Cupcake in Seattle. I think if I were in a contest, I could eat thirty of these one-bite wonders. Probably more.

I found photo three on the Do Better Blog (note: nice blog – take a look around). I’ve been a fan of coconut since I was a kid. Not only is it a deliciously sweet and chewy treat, it’s a great decor item for baking. These white and silver-trimmed gems would look superb at a holiday fête, don’t you think?

Photo four was simply so pretty I had to include it in the post. It comes from the creative genius of Saint Cupcake in Portland, OR, and is called “Big Top”, for obvious reasons.

Which brings us back to the jammy-goodness of Martha Stewart. Chocolate and jam? A direct hit. The best part is that you can make these ones yourself in a little over an hour.

Enjoy!

Labor Day Kickoff to the Holidays

My mother is a very wise woman. I haven’t always heeded her every suggestion but one thing I’ve heard her say many times is that if she doesn’t start her holiday shopping by Labor Day, she won’t get done in time.

As a Seattleite, and someone who has enjoyed every moment of one of the finest summers on record, it is, frankly, dreadful for me to think of this sacred season coming to an end. But alas, it is. And with that end comes the Northwest rain, short, dark days, and in about fifteen weeks, the holidays.

I’ve decided not only to embrace the coming fall and winter season, but to take full charge of the holiday shopping season as well. By doing this, I will not only avoid the melee of the last few weeks in December (read: shopping malls) but with a bit more planning and organization, I’ll be able to give more thoughtful gifts as well.

Word to my mother: thank you.

Beauty & Talent: A Winning Combination

Bride Puja and groom Marcus are a vision in their wedding attire, and I was fortunate to be able to coordinate their day-of festivities earlier this summer. Likewise, was I lucky to have the opportunity to meet the duo at La Vie Photography. As you can see by these photos, they did an outstanding job of capturing the beauty of Puja and Marcus’ wedding day.

Rather than elaborate further, I will let the richness and energy of these images tell the story of this unforgettable day. To Puja and Marcus I wish you all the best!

Celebrating a New Life

On July 4th, Brunette coordinated a wonderful wedding on the Seattle waterfront. It was the warmest July 4th in 30 years, one report stated. Nevertheless, the bride and groom were a stunning sight, the skies were gorgeous, and the guests, plentiful.

The short video below gives you a taste of the spectacular moments of the day.

5 Great Tips For A Successful Silent Auction!

This article was reprinted with permission by Marley Majcer.

1) Set Your Goal. With silent auctions, there is always a financial goal to meet. This amount should be kept top of mind when you decide on the event ticket price and start collecting donated auction items. You also don’t want your event costs to eat away at the money you raise. So make sure that your budgets are sound and kept to.

2) Sell Those Tickets! One of the perks of purchasing a benefit ticket is the tax-deductible donation. However, as the host, you must very clearly inform patrons how much of the ticket price is a tax deductible donation. Your invitations should clearly break down the price. For example, a $200 ticket might cover a $100 meal and $100 tax deductible donation. Also keep in mind that if an invitee purchases a ticket and “gives it back” to the organization, you get to keep the full amount. However, if someone buys a ticket and simply doesn’t show up, you only get to keep the donation portion of the ticket price.

3) Find Irresistible Auction Items! Your auction items can make or break your event. A variety of low-end to high-priced items will allow patrons to buy in at every price level. Artwork, travel, and one-of-a kind items typically sell well. Remember, most bidders are making a spontaneous passion buy, so make these items irresistible! Offer them a really good deal or something they can’t find elsewhere. For example, a recent charity benefit here in Hollywood auctioned off an extra walk-on role on a hit TV show (literally just the opportunity to walk by a rolling camera) and it sold for over $12,000 dollars! The production studio needed extras, and the bidder really wanted to be on TV, so it was win-win for both parties!

4) Carefully Value Your Donations. At silent auctions, the hosting organization is responsible for valuing donations at the fair market price. Find this value by asking the donor and checking current prices on sites such as Ebay or even Craigslist. The Fair Market Value must be displayed next to the item. Don’t forget to provide the winning bidder with a receipt!

5) Record of Your Donations! You should keep the donator’s contact information for each in-kind donation that you receive. Be sure to send them a formal thank you letter and receipt for their donation. It’s also good practice to keep track of the support given to your organization. That way you’ll know who to reach out to for next year’s fundraiser!

By Marley Majcer

Marley is a Leading Entertainment Expert, Entrepreneur, TV Personality, Coach, Author and Sought After Speaker, Marley Majcher is CEO of The Party Goddess! and publisher of the ezine, “How To Be A Party Goddess”. If you are ready to take your career or business to the next level, make more money and just be happier with your work life, then get your free tips on how to be a rockin’ event planner at www.howtobeapartygoddess.com

Hope. Love. Home…. Sanctuary.

I just attended a kickoff meeting for an event I’m involved with and thought I’d take a moment to share my excitement. The event – “Celebrate the Seven” – will be a fundraising auction for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. If you aren’t familiar with the organization, I hope you will take a moment to visit their site, and better yet, attend the event, which will be held on October 2nd in Freemont (Seattle).

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, located in Cle Elum, Washington is the home of the “Cle Elum Seven” – chimpanzees who were rescued from a lifetime of incarcaration and medical experiements, and brought to live in peace, by a man named Keith LaChappelle. Keith put his life savings into the project, which included buying a 26-acre piece of land in central Washington state and building a safe, secure home for the seven chimpanzees now residing there.

There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer at the fundraising event so contact me if you are interested.

More to come!

Social Media 101 – Getting Started with Twitter

It’s hard to go anywhere, do much of anything or talk to anybody without hearing about Twitter. It’s in the news, the tabloids, even other social sites are espousing the magical, mystical marvels this wonder-Website. For those who aren’t already Tweeting to Twerps, Twhirling or tied to your Tweetdeck, and who may in fact be confused about how to “do this Twitter thing”, here are five tips to get you going.

#1 – Once you’ve signed up for your Twitter account, fill out your profile completely. Put a photo or image up to personalize your Twitter presence. This will make people more likely to “follow” you (more about followers in step 2). Be sure to include your location. If you’re not comfortable listing your home town it’s OK to be more general, for example “The Bayou”, “West Coast”, or “the Lower 48″. You may wish to include, as some people do, your GPS location. You’ll see this regularly as you grow your “follow list”.

#2 - Think of Twitter as having two basic parts: the people you follow (i.e. the people whose updates you read) and the people who follow you – or “Followers” (the people who read your updates or “Tweets“). You’ll want both, and depending on what your goals are, you will have different strategies for growing each of these lists. We’ll focus this segment on “Follows” or those people you Follow. A good way to get started is to find someone you want to follow – for instance, a friend (do this easily by clicking the “follow” button), then search the list of people they are following. Peruse this list to see if anybody interests you. If so, follow them.

#3 – Followers. These are the people who want to read your Tweets. Some people choose to follow everyone that follows them. I follow the majority of my followers but not everyone. I have a couple of loose rules about the “Tweeps” (other Twitterers) I follow. One is that I don’t follow people who are using Twitter as a hardcore sales tool. You can easily determine if someone is doing this by clicking on them and scanning through their Tweets. If I read “gain thousands of new followers in 30 days” or “get a huge discount on Web service” then it’s bye-bye birdie.

#4 – Tweets. These are your status updates. This is what you are saying to your followers and in essence, to the world. Because these Tweets are posted (and can be found) to the Web, mobile devices, applications, etc., keep this in mind when you’re Tweeting. You can delete Tweets, but once a Tweet has been downloaded to say, a mobile device, it can’t be recalled. Some people say, if you wouldn’t be comfortable with your grandma reading it, don’t Tweet it.

#5 – What’s your Twitter agenda? This is really sort of a “part b” from the segment above. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to Tweeting is to provide relevance to your audience, provide them with something of value. My take on this is that you want to spend about 90% of your time “giving” and 10% “taking” (read: selling, asking, etc.). Don’t bombard your Tweeps with self-promotional messages. Don’t sell to them constantly. And don’t just use Twitter as a vehicle to simply re-message your blog posts or Facebook updates. Give your audience helpful, interesting, or humorous information. Don’t Tweet “Yum! I just had lunch” — but rather “Yum! Great lunch at the Rockin’ Fish in Hermosa Beach”.

One thing I didn’t cover was the “why” of Twitter. Should you do it just because everyone else is? That’s for you to determine after (hopefully) a persistent try. I love Twitter. I think it’s a powerful communication tool that provides instant, in-depth news and information. It’s fun. It’s easy, and it allows access to people you may not otherwise have access to. But you decide for yourself, and please, be sure to let me know how it goes. Feel free to Tweet or Email me with questions or comment below with your feedback. Good luck and happy Tweeting!