Pinterest Experiments

I was an early adopter of Pinterest, the online bulletin board where you can pin your inspiration for later access from any computer or handheld device. A few years ago, I even taught a social media course for seniors in which I demonstrated how to set up and use Pinterest. I likened it to the bulletin board my mother had in her laundry room when I was a kid. She would clip useful information, such as explanations of laundry symbols, from magazines and pin it on the bulletin board for future reference. Pinterest is that bulletin board on steroids.

Honestly, it's addictive. I can waste hours on there scrolling through craft and DIY pins, as well as cooking and baking pins, and repinning the most appealing ones to my own boards for later reference. I also pin from other websites when I see something of interest.

Since I love to cook, bake, and craft, I have started testing some of the pins on my board and updating the descriptions to reflect my experience. I post the results to an album on facebook called Pinterest Experiments for my friends to see. This, of course, seems to be common practice -- just this weekend a friend shared the results of one of her tests (sadly, a fail). And one can't forget the popular sites of Pintester and Pinstrosity.

So, this weekend I was inspired to try a recipe for white chocolate lemon truffles, partly because I was in the mood to make something, partly because a friend likes white chocolate and I thought they might make a nice Easter present, and partly because the day before I had purchased cute mini cupcake liners and wanted an excuse to use them. I consulted a few different recipes that I had pinned and settled on one that sounded best, then picked up some white chocolate while getting groceries.

The melting and combining was easy enough and before I knew it my white chocolate ganache was ready to be chilled. I had two hours to wait, so I decided the best use of that time would be to make a box for the truffles. Sure, I could present them in a piece of tupperware, but where's the fun in that? After a quick google, I decided that Aunt Annie's method would work just fine. I carefully measured the size required to fit the paper cups that would hold my truffles and then cut and scored the back of a Rice Crispies box. I folded it into shape, glued the tabs, and held them in place with binder clips. And voila! I had a box. [Note that the picture is a little deceiving --the top of the box (seen on the right) is 1/8" larger in width and length to fit over the bottom (seen on the left).]

And then because this didn't take nearly long enough, I watched a foreign film called The Lunchbox on Netflix (by no means an endorsement, though I do like the looks of an Indian lunch box and sort of want one).

When it was time to scoop and roll my truffles, I did run into a minor issue. The mixture was too soft to hold its shape. So, I scooped out portions to make 1" balls, tossed them quickly in icing sugar so that they wouldn't stick, and let them slump on a baking sheet lined with foil. Once I was done, I put the sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes before attempting to roll them again. This time, they held their shape. Success!

Naturally, I tasted two for quality assurance purposes before packaging any for giving. It was the right thing to do.

Now, I had intended to cover the box that I'd made either with paper or washi tape, but once I saw it put together, I decided that I liked the look of the unadorned Rice Crispies box. So, instead, I just removed the binder clips, lined the box with wax paper, added 6 mini cupcake liners, and popped the truffles inside.

Of course, the final step was to tie it with a ribbon (and then put it in the fridge so that they won't melt before they are delivered!)

So, all in all, this was a great Pinterest experiment. I'm sure that I will make the truffles again. In fact, I think that in the future, I will try them with different flavours. As I read through the comments on the various truffles recipes, a few ideas stood out: key lime, orange, and coconut. It's hard not to go into full out truffle production, to be honest!

What flavours do you think would work with white chocolate truffles?

Mini Mason Jars

Mason jars seem to be everywhere these days, especially on Pinterest. You'd swear they could save the world all by themselves with so many uses! I tend to be less enthused by their use in various crafts because, ever the practical person, I often think, "That's a waste of a perfectly good jam jar!"

Yes, I grew up in a family where canning was a common practice. Making raspberry jam and pickled beets each year was -- and continues to be -- a family affair. I also recall bottled moose, lobster, peaches, and pickled eggs in the storage space under the stairs when I was a kid and can only assume my father was responsible for them (though it is possible he received some from friends and family). Now, of all of these, I think lobster is the most brilliant. Why? Because when you sit down to bottled lobster it's pure heaven. No shells to struggle with, no special tools required -- just enjoy. Heaven. (Admittedly, it's probably less heavenly if you're the person who prepares it in the first place...)

In my family, we all agree that there is no jam better than my father's. No pickled beets with quite the right balance of sweet and sour. Substitutes will not be tolerated! And the truth is, it's rather fun to go through the annual canning ritual, which invariably includes a debate over which recipe we usually follow, an emergency trip to a store for either sugar or vinegar, and some frantic moments as the assembly line struggles to get the hot jam/beets into the hot bottles and topped with hot lids while it's all still -- you guessed it -- hot. But then after it's all cleaned up and the pots and tools are put away for another year, there is nothing sweeter than the pop of the lids as they seal. Now that I'm living away, I'm not always able to be home to be part of this excitement, but I often will try a new canning recipe each year. Among my experiments have been rhubarb chutney, plum jam, and plum sauce in recent years. (One year there were a lot of plums in my life, when a few gallons were left at my door by a friend only too happy to be rid of them.)

Anyway, if there is one lesson I learned from my father, it was that his Bernardin and Mason jars were precious and that you could give jam away to friends and family only if they agreed to return them once empty. I even remember him giving a bottle of jam to a cousin who lived in St. John's (a 7.5 hour drive away) on the condition that the bottle would be returned. I recall my cousin joking that she'd return it if she could have a refill. We all laughed at the time, but by the following year, the jar had been returned. Canning was serious business.

When I think about this jar return policy, it seems a little silly. After all, you could just buy new ones. But on the other hand, it also makes total sense to me. Canning jars were made to be reused, not disposed of. Thought not terribly expensive, they aren't cheap either if you have to buy anew each year. And you certainly wouldn't want to get halfway through your batch of raspberry jam only to discover you've run out of jars and have to track down more late in the evening or on a Sunday when the stores are closed (less of a problem, now, of course -- but back in the day...).

Consequently, you can see why I'm not one to pin dozens (or hundreds) of Mason jar projects. In my world, they're for canning and, sometimes, for temporary storage. Unless, of course, they are tiny Mason-style mugs.

About a month ago, I found myself traipsing through a Dollarama. I was in search of spoons for my new wood burning hobby. In one of the aisles I found a display of mini Mason-style jars with handles. Four in a pack for $2. I couldn't resist, though I had no idea what I would do with them. Once home, I thought about using chalkboard paint on them, not unlike the wine glasses I've made before. I thought they might make a cute gift. And over the past week, I've given them a few minutes of my time each day.

I'll admit that I'm disappointed with them. Despite using a template and measuring and taping them off, the chalkboard rectangle looks off. If I had my time back, I probably would have used some sort of oval stencil. I've also been thinking that they might make cute votive holders -- perhaps painted black with a clear heart for the flame to show through. I've also thought that it would be fun to forget about paint altogether and to pour some colourful layers of wax in them to make candles.

The good news is that I can start over! It's pretty easy to scrape the paint off before it's cured, so I may just take a knife to it and return it to a blank slate (pun intended).

I expect that there are many uses for these little Mason mugs, beyond shot glasses (ok, more a jigger than a shot and maybe a double at that) or candle holders. If you had small spoons, they could even serve as mini parfait or trifle dishes! But the ones that I purchased are limited because they have no lids (ah, Dollarama). Versions with lids are available at Michaels and, as depicted in-store, would make cute vessels for candy favours at a wedding or baby shower. With lids, they could be spice jars or salt and pepper shakers. They could hold homemade beauty products or gifts of hot sauce. They could be fitted with mini lights and used as patio lanterns!

Alright. That may be going a little too far with things. But the point is, there's lots that could be done with these. So it's looking more and more like the paint will be scraped off and something new will be done to them. And when I figure out what that's going to be, you can be sure I'll post again.

Until then, Mason jars are for jam.