Oreo Truffles

So I've made these a few times now, and they are delicious. Seriously, I think these things have utterly ruined plain Oreo cookies for me. I will forever be disappointed by the cookie itself, and it's all thanks to this quick (and fun) little recipe.

Oreo Truffles Recipe adapted from Bakerella.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole package of regular Oreo cookies
• 8oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  
• 1 package white chocolate or vanilla bark/candy coating

Recipe:

1. Split the cookies and, using a butter knife, scrape the filling off. Place the cookies and filling in separate bowls.
2. Using a food processor (or a more manual method if you're patient - I wasn't, ha) crush the cookies into a relatively fine dust.
3. Mix together the cookie crumbs and cream cheese, using a large spoon to mash it all together. Make sure it's combined well.
4. Using your own judgment, add filling until there are hardly any loose crumbs left. I usually used between one-quarter and one-third of the filling. You could use all of it if you wanted to though.
5. Form the mixture into balls and place on wax paper in preparation for the next step.
6. Melt the bark or coating as directed on the package.
7. Using a pair of spoons, roll the balls around in the melted bark until covered, then place back on the wax paper.
8. Let the coating harden, then refrigerate for about an hour (not necessary, but they taste better).

These guys will keep easily for a few days in the fridge (remember, there's cream cheese in there). Also, be careful who you share these with; they'll likely keep bugging you to make more!

About the Name...

I know that the title "Blurred Lines" doesn't make much sense as the name of a personal hobby-related blog. "What lines are he talking about? And why are they blurry?" The reason for the name is mainly because I already have the domain, which I purchased a little over a year ago for a webcomic project I had started. Needless to say, the project hasn't gone very well since then.

The initial idea and concept popped into my head one day a few years ago, which I then planned out and refined for a while. However, by the time I finally felt I was ready to start serious work on it, I was in the middle of graduating college. That basically left me no free time for anything, much less working on storyboarding and finishing character designs. After graduation, my free time was swallowed up by job-hunting while still working full-time (that job was great for when I was in college, but I didn't have a future there at all). So now I've found the perfect job, but I've had to deal with a couple family crises since.

By this point, I'd almost have to start over from scratch as it's been quite a long time since I've really thought about the project. Sure I have overall plot and mostly-done character designs, but I've lost much of the passion I had at the beginning. It can really be frustrating at times. Anyway, that's the story of how my website got its name. I might post some of the content I have from the Blurred Lines project now and then, as this is a blog about my crazy pastimes. Heck, one day I might rediscover the desire to finish the project again and begin work anew. Who knows.

Peanut Butter Corn Flake Balls

She was right; holy crap, these are amazing cookies. It's a much more fitting name.

These little guys are really easy to make (no baking!) and taste awesome. Not that I don't like to bake or anything (I love baking) but sometimes you just don't want to mess with the oven, you know? All these cookies require from you though is a little bit of boiling, some mixing, and that you get creative (re: messy) with some melted chocolate. I melted it in the microwave. How easy is that?!

Ingredients:

• 1c. granulated sugar
• 1c. corn syrup (I used light, not dark)
• 1 18oz. jar of peanut butter (creamy)
• 6 cups corn flakes
• chocolate to drizzle on top (I used about 4 oz.)

Recipe:

1. Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until it comes to a full boil.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the entire jar of peanut butter. Yes, the whole jar. I love peanut butter. Mix until the consistency is uniform.
3. Put the corn flakes in a large bowl (make sure you have enough room to stir it all around). Pour the peanut butter mixture over the corn flakes and mix well. Be sure to stir up the bottom of the bowl; I had a lot of peanut butter settle which led to a few cookies being more peanut butter than corn flakes (not that I minded).
4. Using a pair of tablespoons, scoop out the mixture, pack it a bit, and place on wax paper.
5. Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave or in a pot over a larger pot full of boiling water.
6. Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies (I dipped a spoon in the chocolate and used a whipping motion over the cookies. Looks great, but makes for a dirty countertop).
7. Allow time to cool.
   
8. Eat them!

I didn't take too much care to make sure they were completely sealed (or even covered properly) and they were good for a few days. Of course, they were gone before I could test exactly how long they'll keep for.

First Post!

Okay, so if you read this blog, one of the first things you'll learn about me is that I am absolute rubbish at writing introductions. Seriously - it was the hardest part of writing papers for me in school. So forgive me if I just dive into whatever it is I happen to be writing about.

Good, now I don't feel quite so awkward.