Christmas gifts - Peppermint Oreo truffles

I had heard about these morsels called Oreo balls/truffles from my friend Melanie about a year ago and when racking my brain about what to make for coworkers this year, they popped into my head. Originally I was going to make peppermint bark popcorn, but instead decided to make 2 kinds of oreo truffles. I made plain with chocolate candy coating, drizzled with white almond bark (chocolate) and sprinkled with sea salt. I also made a peppermint version. It turned out absolutely devine. I think the peppermint might be my favorite. The all chocolate version is just soooo rich.Peppermint Oreo Truffles
Makes 3 dozen (depending on ball size)
Ingredients:
1 bag original Oreo cookies
1 8 0z. package of cream cheese, softened (you can nuke it in a bowl for about 30 seconds to achieve this)
4 peppermint candy canes
3/4 package of white almond bark
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Directions:
Crush candy canes in food processor until small. Place a strainer over a bowl and sift out the dust/finer peppermint pieces. Wipe out food processor and dump oreos in. Process until there are no chunks. Add cream cheese and peppermint extract and process until a nice sticky dough forms.

It's up to you, but I find it a little easier at this point to refrigerate the dough for an hour before rolling out the balls. Roll them in your palms about the size of a quarter and place them back in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Melt almond bark either in the microwave or in a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water (double boiler method). Once it is melted all the way, stir in the finer dust of the crushed peppermint.

Working with a spoon and fork, lower an oreo ball into the melted chocolate and coat evenly. Shake off excess and place on waxed paper. Repeat with a few more and sprinkle with the coarser peppermint before the chocolate has set. Allow to set at room temperature or speed up the process in the fridge. Trim away any excess chocolate with a knife once chocolate has hardened. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container (because of the cream cheese).

Artery clogging corn casserole

I'm sure everyone knows who Paula Deen is. I'm convinced she has millions invested in butter. The woman cooks with one thing in mind, FLAVOR. Calories and fat grams are not things she's heard of. I remember seeing her speak about her style of cooking once and she noted that her family owned restaurants and so they always cooked with flavor, and not your figure, in mind. That being said, I'm quite proud of taking one of her recipes and actually making it less healthy.

I made her recipe with 1 omission and 2 additions. I omitted butter. Instead I chopped and cooked a 1/2 lb. of bacon and poured all the grease and the bacon into the mix and I added one beaten egg. The casserole had great flavor and a thick, almost custardlike texture. It was so rich and yummy.

I did this to turn this side dish into a main and I totally intended on serving it with a huge healthy salad to balance it out. Turns out my lettuce wasn't feeling any love and despite having been purchased only 2 weeks ago, took a turn to the dark side.

Instead I made fried okra for hubby and I had green beans. Arteries be damned.

Not news to me

Not to follow a gripe post with another gripe post, but is it me or do we have the crappiest morning news in the country? Post-child, I do not have time to get my news online or read the paper. Therefore, I'm reduced to 5 minutes of news in the morning as I eat my bowl of cereal. I typically watch ABC, but am occasionally treated to CBS (heh). So far this week I've been treated to:

1. A tabloid publishing a story about a professional golfer screwing some cocktail waitress.
2. Whatever schmuck was eliminated from dancing with the stars.
3. Navigating the channel's website. Seriously do I need to watch you surf your own site? Brian Schrader please stick to the traffic.

I know there's more, but they aren't coming to mind right now.

And while I'm at it, can someone please get Elizabeth Gardner a new wardrobe that isn't centered around shoulder pads and gigantic collars? I'm no slave to fashio, but DAMN. At least she's got good personality and seems knowledgeable.

Tact needed

Okay, I've been told on several occasions that I lack tact. Help me out here. How does one tactfully request an adjacent coworker to eat with their mouth closed? I don't want to hurt feelings here, but seriously I'm ten feet away and playing music and I can't block out the crunching resonating from a nearby cube. Oh and the same suggestion would be helpful for slurping of coffee every morning...Please help!!!