When a Ball Becomes a CAKE

My spirits were low, I mean LOOOOOOOOW tonight. And my patience was worn thinner than a Baked Lays potato chip. There were numerous contributors to my state of mind this evening, most of them involving a certain little person's less-than-desirable mood, but I won't bore you with that drawn-out saga right now.

However. I received a pleasant little surprise just now, which boosted my spirits a bit, unclenched my fists a tad, and lifted my eyebrows from their furrowed positions, where they had been contributing to my ever-deepening forehead wrinkles.

You see, I was at this party on Saturday, and I brought Sauerkraut Balls as an appetizer. The Sauerkraut Ball is a traditional northeast Ohio delicacy. They're delicious. But they're not pretty. Being that it was Halloween, I had planned on sticking green olives into them to make them look like eyeballs, but as it turned out, I just didn't feel like doing that. So I didn't. That's part of why I love being a grown-up. I get to make life-altering decisions like that.

Anyway, a very talented friend of Angela's (and mine!) was at the party. Her name is Melissa, and she's a real, true, bona-fide chef. Like, went-to-culinary-school-and-should-be-running-a-fine-restaurant kind of chef. It's always a daunting thing; bringing food to a party where you know a real chef will be sampling it. Especially when you choose to bring SAUERKRAUT BALLS. (What the hell, Kari??!)

But wouldn't you know it, SHE LIKED MY BALLS GUYS!

Chef Melissa has this blog where you can ask her to recreate a favorite dish, and if she feels inspired by your idea, she'll really cook it. And then she'll post the finished product for the world to see. It's fantastic. So, as any good citizen would do, I logged onto her blog and asked her to perfect my balls.

AND LOOK WHAT SHE DID TO THEM!

MARVELOUS.

You can read how she did it right here. Great job Mel! I feel so inspired!