The Suspense is Over..Here are the Balls

I know you've been waiting forever, but I've been busy! After bunco and cooking for 12, I had to take a few days off! Could have had something to do with the wine, but I'm using the cooking excuse.


Ok, grab a box of cake mix and a bottle of wine and let's make some balls.

Here's what you need:
1 box of cake mix (whatever flavor you fancy - in this demonstration I used a french vanilla cake mix)
1 tub of frosting (again, whatever flavor you'd like - I used strawberry)
Roll of wax paper
Chocolate bars (I used Lindt 70% and I mixed in some semi-sweet chocolate chips as well)
Decorator icing tubes or the rest of the tub of frosting

1. Make the box cake mix according to directions in a 13x9 pan.

2. Mash it all up (with a fork or your hands).

3. Put the crumbled cake in a bowl and make sure there are no big lumps.

4. Put HALF of the tub of frosting in the bowl with the crumbled up cake. Mix it into a dough with your hands. Mayonnaise is an optional ingredient - just kidding! Don't know how that got into the picture.

5. Roll the dough into balls that are about an inch in diameter. The smoother they are, the better (hee hee). Put them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

6. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (put a heat safe bowl on top of a pot of gently boiling water). If you melt the chocolate directly on the stove in a pot it will separate and not be pretty. I have a stainless steel bowl on top of my pot.

7. Drop the balls (a couple at a time) into the melted chocolate. Using two spoons, roll them around until they are completely covered in the chocolate.

8. Let some of the excess chocolate drip off and then place the balls back on the wax paper covered cookie sheet.

9. Put the balls in the fridge until the outer shell is hardened.

10. Decorate with the tube icing or melt the remaining tub of frosting in the microwave and drizzle over the balls. After it's melted, I would put it in a plastic baggie and cut a tiny hole in the bottom corner and drizzle that way, so the lines are really small. I decorated mine like dice for bunco night.

You can break off some of the excess chocolate once it's hardened, but be careful. One cake mix makes around 40 - 50 balls depending on their size. Obviously, these need to stay in the fridge. They taste great the next day! My friends have also used coconut, nuts, and sprinkles to decorate the tops.

Since it's so damn hot, my friend and I decided to take our boys to Children's City (all INSIDE) so they (and we) could get out of the house. It was pretty cool and Dylan had a fab time. Here are a few of the highlights.

Playing in water - always a good time

Sounded so good we let them play all of 30 seconds!

Giant elephants and the Karate Kid

D even managed to fit in some flirting with an older woman. Here's what he is saying - "Is that a dress? Are you wearing shorts under there?"

And

then

we

came

across

this...

(please study it for a moment and I will then add my commentary).

This is Taylor who is crazy brave wearing both blue and red. He hasn't decided his Crip/Blood affiliation yet. He's only like 6, give him a break! He has time.

The chics are his "friends". Right. We've all heard that before. Girl on the right seriously has to pee and is trying to distract herself by staring at the sun.

This my friends is school in USA.

Oh yeah, and the "American spice" is mustard.

Stay Tuned...

I've been insulted, queried, and bribed about these cake balls. I am making them next week for my bunco night and just for y'all, I am going to post a "how to" complete with pictures!

I will warn you though that once you taste one of my balls (hee hee), you'll be a frosting junkie like me!

On a side note - anyone remember Schwetty (spelling?) balls from SNL?

9 Cans of Rotel and 8 Tubs of Frosting

I know, I know, you're wondering...rotel and frosting, where is this gonna go?

I've enjoyed living as an expat tremendously! Have I changed? Absolutely! If it's possible, I've become more outgoing, apparently fell in love with the exclamation point, and am now a hoarder! The latter makes me a true expat - no longer a rookie. Let me explain.

HEB does not exist in Dubai! Oh how I miss it (and Target)! The grocery stores over here, while well stocked with a variety of items, don't always load up on the Texan goods or other pantry necessities. You can't find a chipotle here to save your life! And, it's quite often hit and miss. You can't bank future success on past finds.

So here's the deal. When you find something that you LOVE, you must buy every single one on the shelf, because quite possibly it will be not be there next time. Frosting, tortillas, and rotel all fall into the stock up category. It's so bad that there are posts on the expat woman forum of ladies looking for certain items. I could have made a fortune selling Betty Crocker frosting on the black market! Cake Balls (thanks Mel!) are a hit here and tub frosting is a vital ingredient. It's not uncommon for me to receive an email from a friend here passing the word that frosting is in stock (of course only after she has stocked up herself!).

So there it is. I hoard. And I am not ashamed.

Anyone for dinner? I'm serving queso with a little frosting on the side.

New Trend in Photography!

I couldn't figure out why everything looked so fuzzy in the viewer. I turned my camera around and discovered the lens was completely fogged up. Yes, it was THAT humid out!

Day to Day in Dubai

Not much of a post, but here are a few pictures I thought you'd appreciate.

Well, if this ain't clearer than mud...

I'm not sure if it's intentional that the workers look like prisoners...the side of Dubai not on those cutesy little powerpoints you get from that person who never emails to see how you are, but forwards you anything that comes through her inbox!

I rarely leave the villa without my camera, but on these occasions I was high and dry. Thanks Heather (she's always prepared) for forwarding these to me :)

Can't think out of the box? Have a kid!

Happily kid free, but have a friend's tots coming over?
Have kids, but they're bored with all the typical toys?

No worries! Here's a list of everyday items you probably have lying around that will provide hours of enjoyment for kids of all ages!

1. Empty water bottle, soda bottle, juice bottle (you get the picture - might want to make sure they're plastic though). They can be thrown (great while in the car) and they have no predictable bounce. Hilarious for kids. Cheap for you! Most importantly - NOT painful if you're "accidentally" hit in the head!

2. Blanket - just leave it piled up on the couch. Fun to pull, chew, hide under, and drag around. This will give you at least 30 minutes.

3. Cat toy (wand with a feather thing at the end) - great to carry around and hit the cat with (especially if your cat doesn't run and hide at the first ear piercing squeal) or you or the other kids or the wall. However, as a responsible mom, proper supervision required.

4. Spatula - nice rubbery type end for chewing or sliding under a piece of furniture.

5. Cell phone - all those little buttons to push AND sounds. Toddler's dream, however, the exorbitant amount of baby saliva could damage your phone (In case this happens, pull all the pieces apart and shake vigorously).

6. Empty spice bottle - perfect size for those chubby little hands. Makes a lot of noise when hit against the wall, table, tile floor, tv (don't tell Kelly).

7. Pillows - you know, those smaller ones at the ends of your couch. Pile them on the floor; they're like magnets for the wee ones. Fun to flop on, roll over, and hide under.

8. All the tubes in your shower - face wash, exfoliating scrub, deep conditioner - forget the duckies in the bath, just throw in the clearasil. It even bobs around in the water. NOTE: you may only use these until the little munchkins figure out how to open the tops. The cleaning up might outweigh the reward of an occupied toddler.

9. Shoes with laces (most fun while on someone's feet) - good to untie and yank on. Option 2: light enough to be carried around and dropped somewhere else (the game is for you to find them) Advantage: your toddler is practicing walking!