Chocolate gets everywhere even on my big toe.

[Mrs Bee]

There is chocolate everywhere. On the fridge door, all over the work surface, three bowls numerous spoons, my apron, hair and big toe.
Thank goodness for Mr Bee AKA Dobby the house elf

So how the hell do Delia and Nigella do it and look immaculate?? I have to go and shower.

Still I have 30 acorn chocolate truffles that look really good.
2 dozen chocolate covered heart shaped raspberry truffles
2 dozen praline truffles covered in dark chocolate with white chocolate and holly leaves to look like Christmas puddings,

A dozen bars of raspberry chocolate bark with raspberry crispies and white chocolate
A dozen bars of dark salted chocolate bark with salted caramel chocolate pearls, and nuts.

And a large bowl of home smoked nuts, 5 home smoked trout and 2 sidea of smoked salmon , one a whisky cure and the other a gin,
three different savoury biscotti, cheese and sundried tomato, olive and pine nut and cheese and black pepper.

Three cooling racks of white chocolate, macadamia nut and cranberry biscotti dipped in white chocolate.

IS IT NEARLY BOXING DAY?????? I like Boxing day, I get to stop.

[Nicos]

Oh yuuuummmmm....that sounds absolutely fantastic!
Give yrself a huuuge pat on the back lass!

Ps...is that how bodypaint was created?

[Lumpy]

Any chance of a pic or pics Mrs B because at least it will then look normal for me to be drooling at the laptop screen.

[Mrs Bee]

Body paint............................ Oh if I only had the energy left.

As for the pat on the back there is some of my homemade crème de cacao with my name on, or perhaps the blackberry whisky.

I will get my food photographer, AKA Mr Bee, to take some pics when I put them on the posh serving trays.

I have to finish the raspberry heart by piping some strands of white chocolate and sprinkling with the raspberry crispies.

I am trialling some new chocolate moulds and lining them with chocolate before piping in the raspberry truffle mixture instead of piping dollops of truffle mix and then dipping them into melted chocolate. The moulds worked brilliantly and the truffles freeze so next year I will start them earlier. They turn out brilliantly.

Next year I will start everything earlier, as things take longer with little miss under foot four days a week. I thought I had a clear day today but we had to rescue mum and little un from the train station so I was cooking tea as well.

[Lumpy]

I am so envious of your skill Mrs B........................I'll just carry on sighing!

[Mrs Bee]

No skill involved, just having a go and trial and error and a little creativity.

Oh and Raymond Blanc's truffle recipe.

Anyone could do it.

The acorn truffles were a recipe from the Sainsbury's magazine that I wanted to try and they turned out really well. Although the recipe said it would make 4o truffles so I halved it and I reduced the amount of mix to each truffle as they amount they suggested was far too big. I still got 33 good sized truffles.

[alldigging]

I'd come and clean the kitchen up for you .. it might involve some product testing though.

[Baldy]

Mrs Bee - I think you need to update your profile.

Location location location

[Mrs Bee]

Pictures of some of the truffles. They look far better in real life rather than the photos.

The hearts will have some lines of white chocolate and raspberry crispies added at the last minute to keep the raspberries crisp.

All the chocolate bark is wrapped in gold foil.

[veggiechicken]

May I ask what chocolate bark is please?
If you have any samples I can send you my address and a stamp

[Mrs Bee]

Chocolate bark is where you melt some dark chocolate and pour it on some baking parchment on a baking sheet. Then you pour some melted white chocolate on and make swirly patterns with a pointed implement.

Then you chuck, (err scatter) other ingredients like glace fruit, or peel or ginger, or chocolate pearls, chocolate covered coffee beans, fruit crispies or nuts. You let it set and then break it into shards and either eat or wrap and give as gifts.

Some recipes suggest using coloured candy melt which give the bark a rather lurid look.

I don't like the taste of candy melts they taste to sweet and like cheap chocolate so I use Belgian chocolate.

I also invested in some silicone chocolate bar moulds to make them.

Sorry, love I don't do samples. You get chocolate with your coffee if you get a dinner invite.

I actually made the decision not to do any samples after I did my first event selling my preserves and cakes six years ago. I had all the little sample pots but before I had set up my stall properly, the jars were flying off the stall. So I never do samples.