The other day, this lifelong Yankee decided to try her hand at a Southern delicacy: bourbon balls. Just hearing the name, I was intrigued. So when the invite came to attend my friend Ranald’s birthday party, I knew I had found the occasion. Ranald revels in all sorts of cuisine, especially that of his Southern roots. I found this recipe at About.com and it seemed so easy, it was practically sinful. Basically you mix crushed vanilla wafer cookies with pecans, cocoa, confectioner’s sugar, a touch of bourbon and some corn syrup. Chill for a couple hours then roll into balls, and roll in more sugar. The dough reminded me of cookie dough pie crust — very dense and sweet. The bourbon gives it a hint of playfulness. My only complaint with the recipe is that it says it yields three dozen — and I barely eeked out 24. Perhaps my balls were too big? Nonetheless, they were a big hit with Ranald and a few other Southern foodies. Click here for the recipe. — Angela M.

I used to love shopping for stationery… But I swear the cash registers at Target and Trader Joe’s are the only places I check out in person anymore, mostly due to my 3-foot shopping companion, whose idea of fun is removing absolutely every product from the shelves. Trust me, this type of behavior is not conducive to picking out a belated birthday card. Then a few months ago, my favorite stationery designer Cheree Berry told me about Redstamp.com, an online boutique that truly mimics the go-to neighborhood stationery shop—where the owners source all the best current designers (Cheree, of course, plus Thomas Paul, Snow & Graham, Egg Press, Russell + Hazel, Night Owl Paper Goods and dozens more), and will actually talk to you in person if you have pressing questions (no 1-800 number here).

As busy moms and business women, the owners Erin and Renee understand that service is as important as style, and that’s where Redstamp soars in my book. You just can’t top their “send for you” service, where an anonymous someone with impeccable penmanship will hand-write, hand-address, and mail your cards for you. Definitely worth an extra $5 if that belated birthday card is at risk of hitting way-beyond-belated status. — Megan K.

We’re always on the lookout for new ideas for Mother’s Day gifts, and this new series of LOVE Candy posters from MadeByGirl could fit the bill nicely. Available in Lemon, Pretty Lavender, Cotton Candy and Sky Blue, the posters are 16 x 24 inches and $25 each at MadeByGirl’s Etsy shop. We really like the ABC Love poster, too! Look for more Mother’s Day gift ideas coming up.

We can’t imagine having a party these days without sending out electronic invites. But the designs at the traditional sites do leave something to be desired. That’s where pingg.com comes in. Their gallery of images are so vibrant, they’ll pop in any in-box. Best of all, you can upload your own image and customize the invitation to reflect your own creative ideas; you can send the invites via cell phone, email, Facebook or even on a personalized web page. We’re so inspired, we may have to throw a party soon just to use this site. Memorial day cookout, anyone? Like any good e-vite site, Pingg allows you to manage your invites and keep track of responses. Click here to visit pingg.com.

Not that we need to give you a reason to buy luscious gourmet chocolates, but Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and the kind folks over at coco-luxe.com are offering Shelterrific readers a 15% discount off their adorable truffles until the end of May. Each one is flavored to remind us of a childhood favorite dessert and features a cute little drawing like gingerbread men or mint leaves or banana splits to match. Comfort food in a chocolate — heaven! To get the discount, enter SHELTER during checkout for the discount. Click here to go to the Coco-Luxe site.

On my recent birthday, a good friend who just graduated valedictorian from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts baked my family a cake so good, it was entirely eaten by the next morning! To cheer them up, I made this chocolate mousse. The recipe was simple, but the results were wonderful — it was so delicious, I will be making it again for all my valentines this year! (And since Shelterrific contributors are asking, I’ll try to share my friend’s cake recipe soon, too.) — Holly D.

Need more Valentine’s Day inspiration?
Sweet-looking Sweets
Jonathan Adler’s Anger/Joy Mugs
Traditional Home’s Really Really Red Auction
Sweet Mugs

Or for a blast from Valentine’s past, try the Man-Catcher Brownie recipe.

I always hate it when the day after Christmas, stores start rolling out all the Valentine’s Day merch. Can’t we get a breather between Santa and Cupid? That said, as soon as I saw these adorable mugs from Rust Designs I thought they would be the perfect gift for your sweetheart, or a new pair of lovebirds you may know. Inspired by Minnesota birch trees, you can customize which initials go in the heart in the middle. $45 for four. Be sure to click around and check out their other personalized offerings, like these Fairy baby plates or these hip silhouettes (just send in a photo of your kid in profile!). — Angela M.

We woke up yesterday to find eight inches of fluffy snow had fallen on our little house. Though we were planning on heading back to the city, we decided to stay one more day to enjoy the white stuff, and avoid the million or so people heading towards Times Square. We hope you had a lovely night welcoming in 2008. We already know it’s going to be a big year full of surprises, and we’re really looking forward to sharing it with you. Cheers! — Angela M. (+ growing family)

Over the weekend I spent some time with a childhood favorite of mine: Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book. When I was a little girl, I pour over the pages, dreaming of the cookie goodness that could be made from its recipes. The wonderful thing about Betty’s book is how simple everything is written — all the mystery is taken out of baking techniques. And the photos, pre-re-touching, are honest. That’s what your cookies actually look like when they come out of the oven, not some kind of soft-focused, over styled production that you can never recreate in a real home.

Here’s the batch I made the other day, including chocolate crinkles, Russian teacakes and peanut butter.

But what I’m wondering is: When did a cooky become a cookie? Or does Betty just have a weird way of spelling things?

Pick up your own copy of Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book on eBay.

I like campy and I like rich, so I tried my hand at buche de noel (or “yule log”) this year not once, but twice. What you see here is the result of my first attempt, and both times I was very pleased with how it turned out — and so were my friends. I found my Buche de Noel recipe at All Recipes, although there are lots online including a slightly more complicated version from Martha, of course. The All Recipes version is unfortunately lacking details on how to ice and decorate the log, and luckily the comments fill them in:

- Be sure to grease the parchment paper well or the cake will stick to it.
- Definitely let the rolled-up cake cool for a full 30 minutes.
- Cut off a slice from the end of the log and use the chocolate whipped cream to “glue” it to the log as a stump.
- Draw the tines of a fork through the whipped cream to simulate tree bark.

And here’s a tip of my own: Martha wanted me to make meringue mushrooms, but I wanted to keep things as easy as possible. So instead I used a bit of the cake as a stem, topped it with a dollop of mousse, and then topped that off with a packaged pfeffernusse cookie. Instant mushroom cap! I finished the whole thing off with cranberries, mint leaves, and confectioner’s sugar “snow.” (And yes, it was delicious.) — Mary T.