Happy New Year to those that read this!

It was a pleasant day to start off 2009. We all woke up to a traditional Japanese breakfast, osechi ryouri, that I had bought the previous day at J-Town. At $38 per plate, it was an expensive breakfast – but much cheaper than from others.

With a bountiful of fish, vegetables, and others, I always look forward to osechi ryouri on January 1st. Of course I can’t forget about ozouni – mochi in soup! One of my favourites, this one didn’t disappoint, as usual.

A fairly chilly day today, I actually spent the good part of the evening trying to take out my truffles from its mold. I had started making truffles (last year) and had left it until now to finish since I was in and about during this holiday season.

I have to say my first experience with chocolate molds proved to be a challenging one as some of the more persistent chocolates refused to come out. I suppose I have myself to blame for this. Perhaps my tempering was off for those chocolates.

I can’t say much for the base of the truffles, but at the very least they look great when you see them for the first time! I had made 5 different types, and was hoping that each would have their own distinct flavour to them.

To my dismay, some of the specialty flavoured ones didn’t turn out as flavoured as I wanted them to have been. It still tasted great, but just not what I had intended (afterall, who doesn’t love the taste of pure chocolate?!).

I will package them up tomorrow and send them off on their merry way. Until then, I hope you have yourself a great 2009.

Did you make your resolutions yet?