The Importance of Following Directions

I feel so behind! We lived five days last week with no power following a massive ice storm. Five days lost in the midst of the Christmas rush. So many of the urgent things on my to-do list required electricity, so I could do none of them. Not that I had much extra time since just doing the basics took twice as long! Even so, it was an adventure and allowed us a break (however unwelcome at the time) during a very busy time of the year. So when the power came back on, I hit the floor running! I went into warp speed trying to catch up with everything I had planned. That’s when the trouble began. You see I was moving so fast, I forgot to slow down and think. I spent one afternoon making candy and truffles and other yummies to put in our Christmas goody plates for teachers and neighbors and others who have blessed us this year. Everything was fine until I got to the Oreo Truffles. These are one of my all-time favorites! But this year, in my hurry I didn’t read the directions before I started. Instead of crushing the oreos in the food processor first, and then adding the cream cheese, I dumped everything together and started whizzing. What a mess! The cream cheese got so hot it started to melt, but I still had huge chunks of Oreos. I worked it and worked it until I thought it was okay, but the texture was still a little off and there were still some hidden Oreo chunks. Oh well, I finished them off the best I could and we’ll enjoy them. I learned a lesson though. It takes less time to read the directions then to fix the mess you make when you don’t! Here’s the wonderful Oreo Truffle Recipe, just make sure and read the directions first!

Oreo Truffles:

18 oz. package OREO Cookies

8 oz. cream cheese

16 oz. chocolate chips melted (can you use semi-sweet or dark or milk chocolate)

Crush the oreo cookies in a food processor or zip top bag. Add softened cream cheese until well-blended. Roll into balls (or use a cookie scoop). Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until firm. Melt the chocolate until smooth (I add about 1 Tbsp of vegetable shortening or butter to to make it easy to coat the balls). Dip each OREO ball into the chocolate until coated (I like to use forks and shake off the excess chocolate). Place on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet and refrigerate until hard. Yum! Keeps in the fridge for weeks (they won’t last that long though! or can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Makes about 50 one inch truffles.