Pikachu.

We needed to find out what my son's friend wanted for his birthday, and one thing he really likes is Pokemon characters. So I said I would make a stuffed Pikachu.
I had no idea how I would make it, and if it would work. But I got some fabrics at Joann fabric store, anyway.

The worst part was to try to make a pattern for the toy. After cutting and ripping papers I had something that could work for his body.
I used an old T-shirt to make a test toy, before I would ruin the good fabric. It was a good idea, because the head was way out of proportion.
After making another head, with the sides shorter and the face flatter, I got the right head.
Then I started working on the yellow fabric. I was so afraid to make a mistake, that I started making the details on the face before sewing anything (just in case I had to throw away the piece).
I used felt for the eyes, mouth and nose, and sewed by hand, to make sure they were in the right place.
The details on his back were bigger and more straight, so I was able to sew on the machine, before making the body.
The head was a little heavy, and needed more stitches to hold up.
The ears were very heavy too, and they needed extra stitches to stay in place.
And in the end, I couldn't believe he really looked like Pikachu.
I guess we never know, if we don't try.

Melting chocolate ball dessert.

Surprise Chocolate Ball.

My friend sent me these pictures of these wonderful round chocolate desserts melting, with another dessert inside.
The next day I searched on the Internet on how to make it, and found these wonderful video with the recipe with Byron Talbott (click on his name and you can see the full recipe and the video).
On his recipe, he uses a round chocolate mold, that I could not find. So I tried to use a heart shaped mold. But my idea did not work, mainly because the chocolate heart was too thick, and the sauce could not melt the walls of the heart. If I made the chocolate thinner, it would break every time I tried to unmold.
Then I figured the chocolate layer needed to be thin, in order to melt. That is why I decided to mold it in a balloon.
I had to spread the melted chocolate with a spatula, around the balloon (previously washed and cleaned). It was pretty messy, and I used about 12 oz of chocolate.
Note: I placed the balloon on top of a tall plastic container to stand. But in order not to move as I was spreading the chocolate, I tied the balloon with a string, and the other end to a heavy cup. The cup was placed inside the plastic container, with the balloon still attached. This way the whole thing wouldn't move as I was working.
After refrigerated, the chocolate was hardened and I popped the balloon.
In a big plate I arranged two pieces of brownies, and a few little scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Then I covered the dessert with the chocolate ball.
At the moment it was served, I poured boiling hot fudge (I bought a container in the ice cream aisle) over. It is a fun thing to watch.
And the family loves to eat it.