The Best New Year's Ball Game

Happy 2017 all!  Resolutions anyone?  I'm trying to be more socially conscious, so one of my resolutions is to support one nonprofit organization every month.  I'll try to feature it here in sidebar for anyone interested (although in the spirit of the season and total honesty, I would recommend donating directly to the organization, instead of through my link, so that they, and not administrative costs, get more of the funds.) Another resolution? To not give up, and keep trying at things that may not have been such a success in the past.  In the spirit of persistence, and too kick off this year's blog, I thought I'd share a recent success, previously a tragic disaster.  Remember the croquembouche?  Well, I decided to scale it down a little into a more manageable project.  This time (thankfully) it didn't crumble.  It wasn't quite as stately in stature as the initial attempt, but the fact that cream puff bombs weren't falling all over my coffee table made it a worthy alternative. (I also had the wise idea to use lighter decorations -- pomegranate seeds and sugared cranberries don't have quite the same heft as full-bloom flowers.)  So whatever type of ball you choose to start your New Years with: The orb of light descending from One Times Square; the fragile, glass, iridescent bulbs getting packed away for another year,  or the prolate spheroid ones associated with roaring crowds, roses and sugar (although you may have to wait a day for that one) -- take a moment to also enjoy the pyramid of these little balls of joy.