New roommate, new look apartment

Ash(ley) moved in this weekend, and in doing so brings all sorts of fun new things for the apartment. With the addition of a super nice new couch and matching chair and a big new tv, we decided to finally revamp the livingroom/kitchen layout. With couches and chairs lining the back and far side (i.e. across from the windows) walls, we now have space to seat 9 people (very) comfortably onto soft furniture, and plenty of floor space in the middle. It's really amazing, the place looks totally different and much, much more spacious. We also now have a wii, the N64 is working, and the piano fits nicely in the corner.

Laura and I also went to a truffle-making workshop yesterday, which was really fun. It turns out that the ganache on the inside of those fancy chocolates is remarkably easy to make: boil some cream, pour it over chunks of your favorite chocolate (no vegetable oils!), add a little butter, and mix into a pudding-like substance. We were told not to put it in the fridge, but after attempting some grand marnier ganache overnight it's clear that the fridge overnight is needed to get the ganache to firm up enough for rolling into balls. Then you roll those balls in your favorite cover (for me it's cocoa powder) and eat. At the workshop we got to make a bunch and put them in a fancy box just like at the store. To make the true shiny shelled chocolates, though, you need to temper (i.e. heat, cool, then heat) chocolate in a tub and then you dip your truffles into this liquid chocolate and let dry for a few minutes. We got to do a few of these at the workshop, and I was surprised to see how easy it is to make chocolates that look just like those that you get for $5 in boxes at chocolate shops. Pretty cool.