Chocoholic.

Food.

Eight years ago, I moved to the South Loop of Chicago with my college boyfriend. Within about 25 minutes of us unloading our mixed array of furniture into the apartment, I looked at my future husband and said, "do you smell chocolate?" He looked at me like I was crazy.

Well I wasn't crazy. We lived about 15 blocks away from the Blommer Chocolate factory. Now a normal nose probably wouldn't have picked up on the smell of chocolate 15 blocks away and 34 stories above the small factory...but mine is no normal nose. I have been dialed into the "chocolate frequency" since I was a very young kid. I can pick up the scent of chocolate like Scooby Doo can pick up the scent of Scooby Snacks.

So it only seems natural that I have tried many a chocolate recipe in my life. One of my favorites is for Chocolate Truffles. People always correlate truffles with being very fancy, but they are actually pretty simple to make. Here is one of my favorite recipes...and your home will smell amazing when you make them!! --a

1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, optional
1 tablespoon prepared coffee
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar
Cocoa powder

Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a heat-proof mixing bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just boils. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for 20 seconds. Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with chocolate. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in the Grand Marnier, if using, coffee, and vanilla. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. Roll each dollop of chocolate in your hands to roughly make a round ball. Roll in confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, or both. These will keep refrigerated for weeks, but serve at room temperature.