Happy 94th Birthday Dad

Found this beautiful piece during my Google search - sincerely hope owner allows me the post it here. ~ Thank you.

Remembering my Dad

By Akindman,

Today would have been Dad's 86th birthday - as usual, I will celebrate this day with fond memories of all those wonderful things we shared, lessons learned, doing things together, like playing cards and fishing - but most of all - I miss our Tuesday evening phone calls..

He is still with me in spirit each day - sometimes I believe that I am seeing things through his eyes.  

I seldom miss an opportunity to tell my children and grandchildren about him and some of those interesting and fun things we did and life's lessons  - as it should be.

His path in life was not an easy one by any means - yet his dedication to his family, friends, co-workers, and community were steadfast.  He led by example - he would help you learn new skills, coach and encourage you to do new and different things.  I write that with a smile - his lesson about swimming - was to tossed us into the lake.  Yep, that's right - and yes we all made it back to the pier. Afterwards, he did help us learn how to swim freestyle, dog-paddle, and to tread water.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

National Truffle Day

May 2, 2011

Truffles are a delicious dessert made with a chocolate gouache center that is then coated in chocolate powder. Talk about a piece of chocolate heaven!

The chocolate truffle was invented in 1895 by M. Dofour in Chambery, France. Their popularity increased dramatically after the Prestat chocolate shop opened in London in 1902. There are three types of chocolate truffles: American, European, and Swiss. All of these types of chocolate truffles are different in look, taste, and shelf-life of the truffle.

The American truffle was created in the mid-1980's by Joseph Schmidt. His truffle consists of a half-egg shaped chocolate coated truffle that mixes milk chocolate with butterfat. The European chocolate truffle is made of syrup, cocoa powder, and milk powder. The Swiss truffle is made by combining melted chocolate into a boiling mixture of dairy cream and butter and it is then sprinkled with cocoa powder. Swiss truffles have the shortest shelf-life and should be eaten within a few days of making.

To celebrate today, try making your own delicious chocolate truffles to enjoy or head over to your local candy shop!