The Brunch (condensed)

On December 26 we decided it was high time NOT to sit down and have a full-blown breakfast followed by lunch. The contraction between the two seemed to be the best solution also because, let's be honest, it would help us finish some of the leftovers of the previous days - and you know how much I enjoy leftovers happily eaten away in a relaxed atmosphere!

Aside from the leftovers though (insalata russa, deliciously soft and thin slices of ham of all kinds, including my beloved Praga ham), I had planned on adding a few bits of my own. Well, not exactly: the two recipes I give you hereafter are adapted from two blogs I enjoy a lot, namely La Gatta col Piatto che Scotta and Il Gambero Russo (both happily featured in my blogroll).

** Prune bonbons 

30 soft prunes
About 20 cookies
600gr dark chocolate
A spoonful of butter

Place the prunes and 12 cookies into the mixer and blitz into a pulp (it will be pretty sticky, but that's fine). 

Make nut-like balls of the pulp and place them in the fridge while you melt the chocolate and butter together. (Note: you can skip the butter if your chocolate is liquid enough, which was not the case when I tried this recipe.)

Then plunge each ball delicately into the chocolate and arrange the finished bonbons on a tray lined with baking parchment. 

Put them back into the fridge to set. 

If adults alone are eating this delicacy, you can use toothsticks to pick the balls and bring them to the table as such. If kids are involved, I would avoid the toothsticks altogether. (Similarly, the original recipe placed a whole nut inside each bonbon, but I needed to avoid the risk factor given that our eldest is very keen on this type of sweets.)

** Persimmon Smoothie (for 4)

4 ripe persimmons
2 spoonfuls of honey
65ml of rice milk
Content of 1 vanilla pod

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend like a madman! Let it cool in the fridge for a few minutes before serving (not for TOO long, otherwise the persimmons will turn black).

Credits: TheDaydreamer
And a P.S.: I know that of lately my pics are not very descriptive, but please bear with me: most of the time, when I cook or write, it is at night or in the evening when there is, well, no light. Whenever possible, I do take pics on the spot and share them here with you.