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December 22, 2007

Easy Peppermint Bark

I was in such a zone while making this, that I forgot to take pictures along the way!  When does that happen?  Oh holidays, I love you—but please hurry up and be over soon!

So here’s a peak of what they *looked* like:

the last of the peppermint bark

They are incredibly easy, light & tasty…..with the perfect crunch!

peppermint bark all packaged up

It’s like mixing a rice krispy treat with a candy cane!

Peppermint Bark


(makes about 35 pieces)

Recipe from Everyday Food

  • 1 pound white chocolate, chopped (do not use chips)
  • 2 cups puffed rice cereal
  • 1 bag (7.5 ounces) hard peppermint candies, unwrapped
  • Nonstick cooking spray


  1. Spray a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray; line with a piece of waxed paper. Crush candies in a Ziploc bag—strain out the powder.
  2. Place white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in rice cereal.
  3. Transfer mixture to prepared pan; with a spatula, spread to edges of pan.
  4. Sprinkle with crushed candy; with a piece of waxed paper covering the entire surface, press in gently (paper prevents hands from sticking to candy and chocolate). Chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes (no longer, as candy will begin to soften).
  5. Peel waxed paper off. Break bark into 2-inch pieces. Store at room temperature in an airtight container, up to 1 week.

They are just as good as those Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s!

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December 20, 2007

Make your own Truffles!

I can’t believe that Christmas is only a few days away.

I now have a pounding headache to prove it.   *joy*

I stayed up til midnight making these babies:

my loot

In this batch you will find…..

Peppermint Infused Truffles Rolled in Candy Cane Bits:

peppermint infused truffles with candy cane bits

Bourbon Infused Truffles rolled in Trader Joe’s Sweet & Spicy Pecans:

bourbon truffles with sweet/spicy pecan topping

and those same bourbon truffles rolled in Chopped Roasted Pistachios….

bourbon truffles with pistachio topping

Plain Truffles smothered in Cocoa Powder:

plain truffle with coccoa powder dusting

And something festive, cuz you know-it’s that time of year- or something:

plain truffle with festive sprinkles

ok so on with the recipe….

Chocolate Truffles

(Makes about 30)

Recipe from the back of Martha Stewart Treat Packaging

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate chopped
  • 3/4 cup  heavy cream
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter-unsalted & softened
  • 2 tablespoons of flavored liquor (optional)
  • 1-2 cups of the chopped topping of your choice

1. Heat chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture smooth. Remove from heat, add butter  and liquor/flavoring if your heart desires (do it).  Stir until butter is melted.

2. Pour mixture into an 8 inch square baking dish.  Cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for about 2 hours.

3. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a very small (about 1 inch diameter) ice cream scoop (or melon baller), drop balls of chocolate in whatever coating you wish.  Roll to coat.

Store in an air tight container in the fridge until ready to serve.  They keep for up to 2 weeks.

For the Bourbon Truffles, I poured in 2 heaping tablespoons of Maker’s Mark.

For the Peppermint Truffles, I poured in 2 heaping tablespoons of Peppermint Oil.

Each one of the Martha Stewart Boxes I bought fit 4:

inside truffle package

Adding something festive….

truffle central

Stay Tuned for the Peppermint Bark recipe!

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December 16, 2007

Blueberry Muffins

i froze you at the end of september. now you've come back to make me breakfast. egg love  flour and sugar caught making out i really like measuring baking powder for some reason i ended up making a mess. go figure trying not to make a mess....not working stirring those babies UP im paranoid that they will stick fresh outta the oven im a huge fan of butter

“How To” Blueberry Muffins

Recipe from Donna Hay Modern Classics 2

(Makes 12)

Ingredients

2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1-1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.

Place the sour cream, eggs, lemon rind and oil in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Stir the sour cream mixture through the flour and sugar mixture until just combined.

Sprinkle over the blueberries and stir once. Spoon the mixture into 12 x 1/2 cup (4 fl oz) capacity nonstick muffin tins until two-thirds full. Bake for 16 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

For tender muffins that rise well, stir the mixture evenly and only until just combined. Do not overwork the mixture.

***husband approved.  will be making these again.  next time i will be putting some sugar on top for a nice crispy crust***

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around the home, Uncategorized
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December 16, 2007

To Do List (typed on Friday)

-mail the rest of the xmas cards (yes,done)-sleep in! (Saturday-not really/Sunday-yes!)

-make a dessert? (made blueberry muffins from a Donna Hay cookbook)

skip to the good part

-post a recipe (hold your horses- i’ll do that in a sec)

-figure out which cookies to make for xmas (umm good ones? gingerbread ones?)

-take some photos (well yes of course, but here are a few more)

i like this tunnel. dont hold your breath though, it's long rainbow tunnels & prius land 45mph lady. texting on the bridge next to a hot woman....real smart

-finish laundry (3 loads down, two more to go)

-wrap xmas presents (almost done)

-squeeze cats (yes- but maybe more before bed)

-buy xmas presents for the dudes in the family (one dude down, three dudes to go)

-have a cocktail (i’ll get on that now)

-go to grandmas house for lunch/dinner on Saturday (yes and here’s proof)

getting ready to dig in sausage & meatballs in *gravy* mmmmm *gravy* round 1 i'm not drinking fucking merlot! grandma done!

-watch the season finale of Dexter (done! wow! I will miss you, dex!)

– go to Target (yup! what a zoo! frightening!)

-watch some Flight of the Conchords (watched 3 episodes)

sorry jemaine

-straighten up craft room (doing so now)

-work out (yes! feeling the burn, baby!)

Not on the list:

-went to Borders

-made a yummy Potato Leek Soup with croutons (recipe soon)

Now, it’s time to finish straightening up my craft room, wrap some presents with a cocktail, post a recipe, take care of laundry and unwind….. Happy Sunday everyone.

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around the home, out & about, Uncategorized
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December 10, 2007

The calm before the storm

Started off this past weekend with a bang (food wise).

I had a long Lunch at Slanted Door with co-workers:

ED is in rED ginger limeade! rib my favorite item: spring rolls (no pork) green papaya salad imperial rolls- crispy

CONTINUE READING

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around the home, Uncategorized
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December 9, 2007

Turkey, Pesto, Sando

Today’s Lunch:

Turkey Pesto Sandwich with Parmesan Cheese

Take your leftover pesto:

leftover pesto

Spread a LOT of it on two pieces of sourdough toast:

pesto, sourdough

Top each slice with a little bit of parmesan cheese:

pesto sourdough parmesan

Roll up some slices of turkey and put that on top:

pesto sourdough parmesan turkey

Place one slice on top of the other slice:

eat it up

Cut in half (or not) and EAT:

slice it up

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December 8, 2007

Fresh Basil Pesto

Whenever I make pesto, I always try to make a huge batch. Because there’s nothing more disappointing than eating pasta that doesn’t have enough sauce on it!

If you don’t have a food processor, a blender works fine. If you don’t have either- hope your knife skills are excellent!

Ingredients were all from Trader Joes:

  • 2 containers fresh basil
  • 2-3 cloves fresh peeled garlic
  • 1 lemon squeezed
  • a dash of cayenne pepper
  • 1 large handful of pine nuts
  • 4 heaping tablespoons of parmesan cheese
  • fresh ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil

Chop up a few cloves of garlic (I used 3 for this batch)

chopping pepper

Now add the basil. Make sure to leave off the stems. You can see I left one on! Woops!

leafy greens

Make sure to scrap down the sides…

scrap down the sides

Now, start adding your olive oil.

I added a little over 1/4 cup of the oil to get the consistency I wanted.

whizzz bang whirl twirl pesto

I tossed in a handful of pine nuts (they’re even better when toasted)

adding pine nuts

I added 1 fresh squeezed lemon to the mix (prevents discoloration)

A dash of cayenne pepper for spice.

Some fresh ground pepper to even out the flavor….

Now put about 4 heaping tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. (Skip this part if you’re vegan)

The cheese is in place of salt.  It adds a LOT of flavor. Mix that all up!

adding pepper, cayenne & parm cheese

Now we have some pesto!

presto! pesto!

When I made dinner the other night, I added some of the pesto to my shrimp (with red pepper & olive oil) to make jazz them up before grilling:

added some pesto on the shrimp

I put those on skewers (4 to a skewer-except 1 had 5!)

read to go on the grill

I grilled them on high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side!

grilled pesto shrimp

I think this weekend I’m going to have a slice of bread toast with pesto on it. Stay tuned.

10 comments